Medical weight loss in Ellicott City, built on your labs

The physician-supervised program is $199 a month and includes your physician visits, prescription and refills, and ongoing dose management; medication is paid separately from the program. If you would rather have the medication included at any dose, the all-inclusive program is $449 or $599 a month, depending on which medication your physician prescribes. Every program starts with a metabolic evaluation: $299, or $249 with our new patient offer through November 30, credited to your first month if you start within 30 days of your plan review. Everything is month to month with no contract, and your full plan and total are confirmed in writing before anything begins. The program is paid out of pocket, and we don't bill insurance for the program or the medication.

It is medicine, not a membership. Your program begins with lab work, body composition analysis, and a physician's evaluation of the metabolic factors behind your weight. Then everything from nutrition to medication is prescribed and adjusted by a physician who specializes in medical weight loss.

Yes, when they are medically appropriate. GLP-1 therapy can be a powerful part of a supervised program, but it works best alongside nutrition, muscle preservation, and lifestyle support, and it is not the right choice for everyone. Your evaluation determines whether medication belongs in your plan.

In published clinical trials reported in the New England Journal of Medicine (the STEP program for semaglutide and the SURMOUNT program for tirzepatide), participants averaged roughly 15% and 20% body-weight reduction respectively over about a year or more of treatment. Your results depend on your dose, consistency, and the habits built alongside the medication. Expect gradual, steady loss over months, not a crash.

Online platforms sell a prescription, and a routine primary care visit can lead to one too, but neither typically includes what a dedicated program does. Your candidacy is screened with a full metabolic evaluation, body composition scan, and health history before any medication is considered, then your dose is titrated to your actual response with scheduled check-ins and monitored labs built in. You leave with a planned maintenance phase, not just a vial or a refill. We tell you what others will not, including when a GLP-1 isn't the right answer.

Nausea and constipation are the most common, especially in the early weeks as your dose increases. Careful titration keeps most cases mild and temporary. Serious risks, such as pancreatitis, are exactly what our screening and follow-up schedule exist to catch. You'll always have a physician team to call, not a chatbot.

It varies, and any clinic that promises a specific number is not being honest with you. Published research shows that losing even 5–10% of body weight can meaningfully improve blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol. We set realistic, individualized targets at your evaluation and track them together.

Most patients begin to see measurable change within the first several weeks, with steady progress building over months. Clinical guidance generally considers a gradual pace of about one to two pounds per week both safer and more sustainable than rapid loss. Regular visits keep the pace honest and the plan adjusted.

No. Our weight loss program is cash pay only, and we don't take insurance for your visits, your plan, your medication or your dose changes. That holds for both options, the supervised program and the all-inclusive program with medication included, and for the metabolic evaluation, whose lab fees are included in its price. Lab work outside your evaluation and program, if your physician orders any, may go through your insurance. We confirm your exact program total in writing before anything begins.

Physician supervision is precisely what makes this approach safe: every recommendation follows a full health history, lab work, and screening. The program is not appropriate during pregnancy or breastfeeding, and certain medical conditions or medications may change what we recommend. That is exactly what your evaluation is designed to sort out.

You move into maintenance: a deliberately planned phase, not an afterthought. Your physician adjusts your nutrition, your medication if you are on one, and your monitoring schedule so your metabolism and habits can hold the new weight. Regain is common without a maintenance plan, which is why we build yours from day one.

They work differently: semaglutide activates only the GLP-1 receptor, while tirzepatide activates both the GLP-1 and GIP receptors, which is why it is called a dual agonist. In their respective pivotal trials, semaglutide averaged a 14.9% reduction in body weight at 68 weeks (the STEP 1 trial) and tirzepatide averaged a 20.9% reduction at 72 weeks at its highest studied dose (the SURMOUNT-1 trial), though individual results vary with dose and consistency. Both are available as an injection (semaglutide also comes as a daily pill), typically dosed weekly for this program, and both share similar gastrointestinal side effects, mainly nausea and constipation, especially while your dose is increasing. Your physician recommends one over the other based on your labs, health history, and how your body responds during titration, not a default preference.

Simple steps help most patients: eat smaller, lower-fat meals, stop before you feel full, and sip water throughout the day. If a dose is causing more than mild, temporary discomfort, your physician can hold you at that dose longer before increasing it, rather than pushing ahead on a fixed schedule, an adjustment a monitored program can make that a one-time prescription cannot. Call the office if you cannot keep fluids down, have persistent vomiting, or develop severe abdominal pain, since that combination needs same-day evaluation.

Often, yes, unless the rest of your plan is built to hold the result. In the STEP 4 trial, participants who continued semaglutide lost an additional 7.9% of body weight between weeks 20 and 68, while participants who were switched to a placebo regained an average of 6.9% over that same period. This is exactly why your plan includes a deliberate maintenance phase, addressing nutrition, activity, and monitoring, rather than an assumption that results hold on their own. Whether and how you eventually reduce or stop medication is a decision you make together with your physician, based on your own response.