I’m Dr. Gustav Lo, Medical Director of RegenCen, and I’m going to explain our medical weight loss program.

Weight loss achievability

Weight loss isn’t usually that complicated; it’s just a matter of how many food calories you’re taking in vs. how many you’re burning on a daily basis. But just because it’s simple concept doesn’t make it easy to achieve. Long term weight loss is actually really HARD to achieve – studies show about 93% of overweight people failing to lose 10% of their weight and keep it off for 2 years or more, and that’s in an organized program!

One of the reasons for that extremely high failure rate is that traditional medical weight loss programs have focused heavily on meal substitutes, where there are different kinds of powdered products with protein and vitamins that you mix with water and drink instead of a having a normal meal. The whole idea there was to dramatically reduce your calorie intake with meal substitutes. The long term success rate of diet programs like that is poor, because nobody really likes to replace food like that for very long.

Well, times have changed, and we have new treatments that are #1. more effective, #2. allow you to eat normal food and #3. can easily be continued long term, safely, if you need to. Or it can be short term, or intermittent too.

Skinny Shot Plus and NAD+

Our program is based on newly available prescription products, both injectable and oral, that work very differently than those old meal substitutes. The two injectables we use are what we call the Skinny Shot Plus, which is a combination of vitamins and L-carnitine, and NAD+, which is coenzyme in our mitochondria (if you remember what those are from biology) that helps to increase the aerobic calorie burn – NAD+ boosts the power output of our cells, especially with activity. These are all substances we already have in our bodies naturally, so there’s no real toxicity risk. We’re boosting the levels much higher, which increases our ability to use up the calories we’re taking in, and also the ones we have stored as fat.

Semaglutide

The 3rd component of our program is being talked about a LOT now, and it’s called semaglutide. Semaglutide (or Ozempic, or Wegovy, or Rybelsus – those are all different trade names of the exact same drug), but it’s a prescription medication originally developed for diabetes. I’ve used semaglutide for years in my diabetic patients, and right away when it first came out, the appetite suppressant and weight loss effects were obvious right away. So now, it’s been approved for weight management in non-diabetics.

Semaglutide has two main effects: it slows down absorption of food, and it suppresses appetite. When you absorb calories more slowly, your body has a better chance to use those calories as energy, rather than being forced to store them as fat. The second thing it does is pretty dramatically suppress the appetite – not like the old fashioned amphetamines or speed, but in a very safe way. With semaglutide, if you eat the size meal you would normally eat, you will feel WAY overfull, like for a day. So people naturally start cutting way back on their portion sizes, and they don’t usually feel hungry between meals. The desire to snack goes way down for most people.

The combination of those three components of our program, along with adjusting the types of food you eat and maintaining a good activity and exercise level, usually results in very good weight loss. Now exactly how many pounds, that all depends on how much extra you have when you start the program. As a rule of thumb, 10% loss of body weight is very achievable in a few months time. Our standard program is 3 months, and typically includes weekly injections plus oral semaglutide.

Flexible and customized program designed for longterm success

But our program is also flexible. Everyone’s weight problem is different. We have a lot of patients over 50 – women after menopause find just like that, they’ve gained weight around the middle and the size they’ve been for decades suddenly gone. Men, their metabolism just keeps ticking down as testosterone levels fade, so the weight keeps creeping up, those are METABOLISM problems, now you’ve got a different problem than someone in their 30’s whose metabolisms burns up calories just fine but has a voracious appetite! So we can adjust the program for those issues. People also want to lose different amounts of weight. Many people don’t need to lose 10% of their weight. Maybe you just have a very stubborn 5-10 lbs that won’t budge; sometimes just the Skinny Shot Plus and NAD will give you the boost you need to get it off, without using semaglutide. Other people may be the opposite. Some may just do the initial 3 months and reach their goal, while others want to stay on the program longer because they’re doing well and need to continue doing well for quite a while more to get to their goal. Bottom line is, this program is easy to mix and match between the 3 components, and it’s extendable for the long term – or you can just do it now and then. It all depends on your needs.

You can lose the weight and keep it off. It all starts with a complimentary consultation.

If you’ve decided you want to move forward with the program here at RegenCen, you’ll speak with one of our medical providers who will take a medical history, perform a quick blood draw for basic lab testing including hormone levels, and do a brief physical exam. Then you’ll have a more detailed discussion of your goals, and decide on a program that fits.

To learn more, book a complimentary consultation.