For various reasons, Heather Davis de Waubun, Minnesota, had trouble losing weight.
Davis’ hectic lifestyle has been the biggest obstacle. The mother of four owns a small business – she and her husband, Christian, have and operate a station on Hoot Owl Lake in Clearwater County, Minnesota. High levels of cortisol combined at the start of the perimenopause also contributed to the struggles.
Just like 40 years.
“In the forties, your body says essentially:” Well, I’m not going to cooperate “,” she jokes.
In the fall of 2022, Davis contacted the Essential Health-Park Rapids Clinic and was linked to Brenda NorbyA doctor who helps weight loss patients to navigate on an often prolonged path. The Davis weight management plan, created by Norby and a nutritionist colleague, consisted of a regular exercise, sufficient water consumption and a balanced diet which included three healthy meals per day.
However, Davis did not know the kind of success she hoped for. Seeing that she had made significant and lasting lifestyle changes, Norby was willing to prescribe Wegovy, a weight loss medication. Two years later, Davis is down 80 to 85 pounds, from 230 to around 145-149. She zoomed out just after her initial goal of 165, which was her wedding weight in 2008.
Davis had been on the roller coaster mountains since twenty. The many programs she tried were not durable. Today, Davis is on what she and Norby call a dose of semaglutide maintenance (the semaglutide is what Wegovy is done; Davis has recently moved to a generic form).
The medication was useful, of course, but it would not be effective without acceptance by Davis lifestyle changes. It also attributes the constant education and encouragement that Norby provides. The patient and the supplier connect once a month to see how things are going and determine if changes are necessary.
“It was not only the medication,” she said. “It was a question of overcoming the mental block which comes with the test of losing weight for 10 or 15 years and not being able to do it, no matter how much you try.”
Norby agrees.
“Nothing is durable if you do not change these lifestyle changes,” she says. “If you return directly to your old habits, the weight will come back.”
LEARN MORE: There are several options for weight management at Essentia Health. Talk to your primary care provider to find out more.
Before seeing Norby, Davis feared that any plan forced him to completely cut the candies and fried foods of his diet. She is from Mississippi, where “sugar is a way of life”. But that was not the case. Davis can still eat occasional fried food or the cup of reese peanut butter, but – thanks to the drugs as well as the training of Norby – his interest is slowed down. It includes the importance of moderation.
Davis has 15 -year -old twins; His two other boys are 9 and 6 years old. They provided an excellent inspiration to lose weight and keep it.
“I feel like I can follow them a little better now,” she says. “I feel like I can be more active.” Davis no longer has to cope with regular heat puffs, heart palpitations and painful joints – all of which it has attributed to be overweight.
“Many of these things that have accumulated, I have had enough of that,” she said.
“She was very motivated,” said Norby.
Davis knows that, for some, there is a stigma attached to the weight management plans that integrate medication. Indeed, that is part of the reason she wanted to share her story. Davis’ journey, and improving the quality of life came there, could be very different if Norby had not introduced drugs. Davis was stuck in neutral and needed a boost to resume his progress.
“It’s not a crutch,” she said. “It is something that helped me to happen where I should be. I think the important thing is that sometimes weight loss is almost a dependence. Sometimes people need this additional help, this additional kick in the ass to realize that it is not only me who fails. ” Has it been an easy process? No, but I think it is important to know that there is a little light at the end of the tunnel for those who are ready to put on work. »»