Weight Loss & GLP-1 Therapy
Weight Management & GLP-1s
Functional Medicine in Boulder, CO
Weight is a symptom of metabolism, and metabolism is something we can actually investigate.
The conversation around weight has been reshaped by GLP-1 medications, and for good reason. Semaglutide and tirzepatide are genuinely effective tools, and for many patients they accomplish something that years of effort could not. But a prescription alone is an incomplete answer. These medications work on appetite and glucose regulation, and they do not address why your metabolism became dysregulated, what happens to muscle mass and nutrient status while you are on them, or what your plan looks like if you eventually come off. Those questions deserve a physician who is paying attention to them.
Restoring your full health at Helios
At Helios, we treat weight as a metabolic and hormonal question rather than a matter of willpower. Our evaluation looks at the systems that actually govern body composition: insulin and blood sugar regulation, thyroid function, cortisol and stress physiology, sex hormones (which shift meaningfully during perimenopause and andropause), inflammatory markers, sleep quality, gut health and microbiome composition, and nutrient status. It is common to find that several of these are working against a patient at once, which is why generic advice so often fails people who are genuinely trying.
Treatment Plans & Outcomes
Treatment is built around what we find. For patients who are appropriate candidates and want them, GLP-1 medications can be part of the plan, prescribed and monitored with attention to dosing, side effects, protein and nutrient adequacy, muscle preservation, and a thoughtful long term strategy rather than indefinite escalation. For patients who prefer not to use them, or for whom they are not indicated, we have a substantial toolkit: correcting the metabolic and hormonal drivers we identify, nutritional and dietary guidance, targeted supplementation, strength and movement recommendations, sleep and stress work, and gut restoration. In practice, many patients do best with a combination, using medication to create room while the underlying physiology is addressed.
What we are not interested in is a number on a scale detached from your actual health. Body composition, metabolic markers, energy, strength, and how you feel are better measures of progress, and they are the ones we track.
If you want a weight conversation grounded in physiology and monitored by a physician, whether or not medication is part of it, we would like to have that conversation with you.
Weight is a metabolic signal, not a character trait. Schedule a consultation and let's look at what is actually driving yours.
I love their Integrative Functional medicine approach. It complements the western medical model and keeps me healthy.
– Chris C., Current Patient