Metabolic Health and Weight
Why does this feel harder now?
Why weight can change through midlife, how GLP-1 medications work, and what medically guided support looks like.
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- Step 1Explainer7 min read
What Is a GLP-1? How These Medications Work, in Plain Language
GLP-1 is a hormone your gut releases after a meal to tell your brain you are full. The medications called GLP-1s, semaglutide and tirzepatide, are longer-lasting copies of it, taken once a week to lower appetite. Here is what the hormone does, how the medications differ from it, what the trials showed, and what taking one involves.
- Step 2Symptoms7 min read
Why Am I Gaining Weight After 40? The Five Causes and What Helps
Weight that climbs on the same habits after 40 usually has five causes stacking at once: lost muscle, less daily movement, lighter sleep, hormone shifts, and stress. Age itself changes resting metabolism very little. Here is what each cause looks like, what a doctor should rule out, and what helps.
- Step 3Comparison7 min read
Semaglutide vs Tirzepatide: Which GLP-1 Is Right for You?
Tirzepatide produced more weight loss than semaglutide in a head-to-head trial, about 20 percent versus 14 percent. Semaglutide has the longer track record, the heart-outcomes data, and the lower price. Here is how the two compare and how a physician decides between them.
Explainers
Metabolism, Explained
GLP-1 Side Effects Month by Month: What to Expect on Semaglutide and Tirzepatide, and What Helps
The common side effects of semaglutide and tirzepatide are digestive, they cluster around dose increases in the first two to three months, and most fade as the dose settles. Here is what each month usually looks like, what helps, and the short list of symptoms that need a same-day call to your physician.
Compounded Semaglutide and Tirzepatide: What They Are, How They're Made, and Whether They're Safe
Compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide are the same molecules as the brand-name GLP-1 medications, made by a licensed pharmacy for an individual prescription. Here is what compounded means, how the vial differs from the pen, why it is not a generic, and how to tell a licensed source from a risky one.
GLP-1 Medications and Perimenopause: Why Weight Changes After 40 and What Helps
Weight gain in perimenopause is driven by estrogen decline and a shift in how the body stores fat, not just calorie intake. GLP-1 medications address the appetite and metabolic piece that diet and exercise alone often can't reach during this transition.
Tirzepatide for Weight Loss: What It Is, How It Works, and How to Get It
Tirzepatide is the molecule in Mounjaro® and Zepbound®, and it works on two appetite signals at once rather than one. That dual mechanism is what separates it from earlier GLP-1 drugs. Here's how it works and how compounded tirzepatide gets you the same molecule at a lower cost.
Symptoms and causes
Why Does This Feel Harder Now?
How-to guides
Beyond “Eat Less, Move More”
GLP-1 Dose Chart: The Semaglutide and Tirzepatide Schedules, Explained
Semaglutide steps 0.25, 0.5, 1, 1.7, and 2.4 mg once weekly; tirzepatide steps from 2.5 mg to 15 mg in 2.5 mg moves. Both climb about every four weeks so the stomach adjusts. Here are the published schedules, what a maintenance dose means, the missed-dose rules, and how a physician sets yours.
GLP-1 Face: Why Fast Weight Loss Changes Your Face, and How to Keep Muscle on a GLP-1
The drawn look people call GLP-1 face comes from losing facial fat quickly, which reveals the elasticity the skin had already lost with age. It happens with any fast weight loss, and the speed is the part you can change. Here is what changes in the face, why muscle matters more, and how to protect both.
How to Increase Your Metabolism After 40: What Actually Works
Resting metabolism drops only modestly with age itself. Most of the change after 40 comes from lost muscle, less daily movement, shorter sleep, and hormone shifts, and every one of those can be worked on. Here is what raises or protects metabolism, what doesn't, and where medication fits.
Research and evidence
Metabolism, Explained
Compounded GLP-1s Are Everywhere. Here's What the FDA Is Actually Doing About It.
Compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide fueled an enormous telehealth weight-loss category during the GLP-1 shortage years. That regulatory window has been closing. Here's the current state of FDA enforcement, the 503A vs 503B distinction, and the shortage framework that enabled the boom.
Sermorelin and Body Composition: What the 12-Week Timeline Actually Looks Like
Sermorelin is commonly prescribed off-label for body composition support, but the research timeline for what changes at 6 weeks, 12 weeks, and 6 months is more specific than most marketing copy suggests. Here's a review of what published trials have actually measured.