At Coastal Carolina Internal Medicine, we understand that weight loss is about more than just a number on a scale. It’s developing better lifestyle habits, reducing your risk of heart disease, and improving your quality of life.
The process of losing weight looks different for everyone. Some people may be able to rely solely on proper diet and exercise to reach their goals. Others may benefit from having extra support with weight loss injections like semaglutide and a custom plan tailored specifically to their body’s unique needs.
Fortunately, we offer medical weight loss in Jacksonville, NC, which allows us to personalize your treatment and monitor your progress. When you come to our office, you receive more than a diagnosis or prescription; you also receive support, guidance, and education.
If you’re interested, or even hesitant to try another weight loss program, read this blog where we break down the basics of weight loss injections and how our team can support your journey.
Why does weight loss feel impossible?
Hitting a plateau in your weight loss journey despite a good diet and exercise routine can be discouraging. Unfortunately, sometimes losing weight requires fighting your own biology.
This doesn’t mean that weight loss is hopeless. Instead, we must identify and address the underlying causes of your progress slowdown. Uncontrollable factors can affect your weight, including the following:
Hormones
Your hormones influence your appetite, blood sugar levels, and body fat distribution. There’s a delicate balance between foods being used as energy sources, and foods being stored as fat for later.
Insulin and glucagon regulate how your body breaks down, stores, and uses the foods you eat as its source of energy. Once you eat, food breaks down into glucose (sugar), which enters your bloodstream to fuel your cells. Insulin helps lower blood sugar levels and moves it from your bloodstream into your cells to be used for energy. To maintain balanced blood sugar, glucagon elevates glucose levels, helping you stay energized. When your body doesn’t properly respond to insulin, it can lead to diseases like type 2 diabetes.
Leptin and ghrelin are two hormones that regulate our appetite and satiety (sense of fullness). Leptin, produced by fat cells, reduces hunger and signals to the brain when you’re full and have enough energy stored. In contrast, ghrelin, produced in the stomach, sends hunger signals to the brain, notifying when it’s time to eat. If you’re struggling with obesity, your body may not respond to leptin’s satiety signals, which leads to increased hunger and weight gain.
There’s a two-way street between hormones and obesity; hormone imbalances contribute to weight gain, and excess weight affects hormone balance.
Genetics
Your genes determine your appetite, satiety, cravings, body fat distribution, and metabolism. It’s hard to determine just how much of an influence your genes have on weight disorders. For those with a strong tendency towards obesity, typical diet and exercise may yield short-lived results.
How Medical Weight Loss Can Help
We take an individualized approach to your weight loss journey. Unlike fad diets and exercise regimens, which leave you burnt out and exhausted, medical weight loss in Jacksonville, NC, targets the factors beyond your control.
With your doctor’s help, you’ll get more than medication; you’ll also receive advice on nutrition and exercise. This means you’re not on a solo journey of guesswork and, ultimately, self-defeat. Now, you have the guidance and expertise of a medical professional to help you reach your goals sustainably.
What is semaglutide?
Semaglutide is an FDA-approved medication for chronic weight loss. Originally, these weekly injections were designed to treat patients with type 2 diabetes by stimulating insulin production and regulating blood sugar levels.
Now, we recognize their ability to help you lose weight by mimicking the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) hormone that’s produced in your pancreas and small intestine.
As you eat, your intestines release the GLP-1 hormone to signal to the brain that you’re full and should stop eating. Semaglutide injections replicate this process, “tricking” your brain into thinking you’re satisfied with smaller meal portions. Additionally, they slow the digestion process, which keeps you feeling full for longer, so you feel less compelled to snack in between meals.
Many refer to these as a “quick fix” or a “miracle drug.” We don’t agree with those titles. Semaglutide only works in conjunction with a healthy diet and plenty of physical activity. It’s a tool to help guide you to learning healthier lifestyle choices.
Comprehensive Consultations
The consultation begins with getting to know you. We will review your medical history, discuss previous unsuccessful weight loss attempts, and examine your lifestyle and eating habits. We also offer comprehensive tests and a body composition scan to understand your health and wellness needs. From there, we will develop a customized plan for you based on your unique biology.
Effective Treatment Plans
For medical weight loss in Jacksonville, NC, we expect you to visit our office monthly so we can monitor your progress. If we prescribe semaglutide, we will teach you how to administer the weekly injections yourself in rotating sites such as the stomach, thighs, or upper arms. We encourage you to be open and honest with us. Let us know how well you’ve stuck to the nutritional guide, exercise plan, and weekly injections. Use this opportunity to discuss side effects, so we can adjust your dosage if necessary.
Side Effects
Some people notice nausea, bloating, and gastrointestinal discomfort after starting their treatment. Usually, your body adjusts and these side effects should subside after a few weeks.
How long will treatment last?
Semaglutide treatments may last 3 to 12 months, allowing you to reach your goals and learn better eating and lifestyle choices.
Results
You will feel the results before you see them. After 1 week, you’ll notice a reduced appetite from semaglutide. If you follow our personalized weight loss plan, you can expect to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, resulting in close to 50 pounds a year. Still, you can expect to see a difference in your physique around 6 to 8 weeks after your first treatment.
Holistic Meets Medical Weight Loss
In Jacksonville, NC, you have a team of nurses and physicians to help you stay on track. While we never recommend crash dieting, we do recommend maintaining a calorie deficit, which means consuming fewer calories than you burn. Individual needs differ, so consult our staff for personalized dietary and caloric guidance to ensure you stay healthy.
Dietary Guidance
Our dietary recommendations will mostly focus on replacing foods that are high in calories, fat, and sugar with lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables. Because semaglutide regulates blood sugar, appetite, and cravings, you will feel satisfied and satiated with your new, balanced diet.
Exercise Recommendations
We recommend starting light and building up. Aerobic exercises like walking, jogging, and swimming help your body build up stamina. As your journey continues, we will start incorporating more muscle-building exercises into your workout routine.
Benefits of Weight Loss
Fortunately, the benefits of weight loss actually aid in helping you make the necessary changes needed to reach your goals. After starting your treatment, you may experience the following:
Better Sleep
Researchers have found a link between obesity and sleep-related concerns like insomnia and sleep apnea. Weight loss may ease pressure on your upper airways, improving breathing and lowering sleep apnea risk, which leads to improvements in sleep quality.
Additionally, disrupted sleep throws off your hunger (ghrelin) and satiety (leptin) hormones, which then causes increased feelings of hunger, leading to higher calorie intake. Medical weight loss in Jacksonville, NC, can help improve sleep and balance these hormones, promoting overall health and wellness.
Relieved Joint Pain
Losing weight reduces pressure on weight-bearing joints like the knees, spine, and hips, helping to slow the progression of osteoarthritis. Excess weight strains these joints, which contributes to pain, inflammation, and wear and tear. So by shedding the weight, you alleviate discomfort and minimize future damage.
When you experience relieved joint pain, you also enjoy improved mobility! This can help make following your exercise routine easier.
→ If you’re struggling with arthritis, we provide services to help manage and improve symptoms. Visit our arthritis specialist in Jacksonville to learn more!
Improved Energy
When you look at the benefits of weight loss, you’ll notice they create a positive cycle. Better sleep leads to higher energy levels, and with more energy and less joint pain, you’re able to sleep without disruption. The reduced strain on your body can also help alleviate daytime fatigue. All of these benefits can fuel your confidence and provide you with a better quality of life.
Supporting Your Weight Loss at Coastal Carolina
We offer many services to help you sustainably reach your weight loss goals. Depending on your needs, we may recommend the following treatments to complement your medical weight loss in Jacksonville, NC.
IV Hydration
While you’re maintaining a calorie deficit and exercising regularly, you may need help getting adequate vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants in your diet. IV Hydration delivers these nutrients directly into your bloodstream and to your cells for optimal absorption. Not only can IV infusions give you energy for your workout routines, but it can also relieve joint pain, fatigue, and migraines as well.
Emsculpt NEO
Emsculpt NEO tightens and tones your body without surgery. By using radiofrequency (RF) energy, it melts fat while high-frequency electromagnetic (HIFEM) energy contracts muscles to build them. We recommend a series of 4 to 6 sessions to see results, each session lasting around 30 to 60 minutes. We recommend staying hydrated and maintaining a healthy diet while receiving this treatment.
ExoMind
When people struggle with binge eating, they feel they don’t have control, and eat large quantities of food in a short period of time. This causes feelings of depression, anxiety, and shame. Coastal Carolina encourages you to discuss this disorder with us, allowing us to assist you with mindful services instead of trying to control your urges yourself.
ExoMind by BTL is a non-invasive brain stimulation treatment designed to address depression, anxiety, and excessive eating disorder. This advanced device uses magnetic stimulation to revitalize neural pathways, leading to better brain function, emotional balance, and overall wellness. It targets areas of the brain linked to emotional regulation, cognition, and self-control.
Meet the Team Supporting Your Weight Loss and Wellness Journey
Think of our office as a one-stop shop for aesthetics, wellness, and primary care. We offer everything from allergy medication to aesthetic services like Hydrafacials. When you come to us for your medical weight loss in Jacksonville, NC, we provide you with all the guidance and resources you need to succeed. We want to help improve your quality of life and boost your self-esteem. If you’re ready to start the weight loss journey, you can request a consultation with us.
You can also start now by trying our treatment planning tool. After we receive your submission, a member of our team will reach out with treatment options and consultation openings.
