Robert Buckley has made several previous attempts at losing weight throughout his life, with varying success over the years. However, the weight always seemed to slowly come back on, and as he got older, it became harder to lose.
“It wasn’t until 2021 that I heard about insulin resistance and found a way to get my weight loss started again,” said the 66-year-old. Insulin resistance happens when your body does not respond as well as it should to insulin, a hormone that helps control the amount of sugar – glucose – in the blood.
As a patient with type 2 diabetes, Robert had a hemoglobin A1c – a blood test that measures the average blood sugar or glucose. He began taking Metformin, which is used to treat high blood sugar levels caused by diabetes.
“After speaking to my endocrinologist, I came to Valley LifeStart: The Center for Weight and Wellness™ for medical supervision, healthy monitoring of weight loss, nutritional consultation, accountability, and eventually glucagon-like-peptide-1 (GLP-1) treatment.” GLP-1 injections help the body to regulate blood sugar, appetite, and digestion, more recently used and known as weight loss injections.
For the first 12-18 months under Valley’s care, Robert used lifestyle interventions rather than fad diets, which has helped him achieve great results and improve his overall health. In the most recent 18 months, Robert has been using Ozempic. After starting his weight loss journey with Valley, Robert has maintained a more than 60-pound weight loss for over a year and a half.
“Coming out of the holidays, weight can creep up, but that is another area where Valley LifeStart provides value to me. By making regular visits to see NancyAnne Tallis, APN, I have support through third-party accountability. It just works!” said Robert.
As he nears the time to come off Ozempic, Robert is confident that through consistent consultations he will be able to make the transition easily.
“The staff at the center, specifically NancyAnne, have been personal, encouraging, compassionate, empathetic, supporting, understanding, and more,” said Robert. “This is important because I am a person who, when faced with difficult or stressful times, makes bad food choices. At Valley, I didn’t have to go through this journey alone. When I went through my ups and downs and needed to communicate with the center, they were always there.”
“Losing a life-changing amount of weight and keeping it off is too difficult without a support system, and Valley has been that for me.”
For more information about Valley’s nonsurgical medical weight management options, please visit ValleyHealth.com/WeightLoss.