GLP-1 Changed Shelley’s Life

Watch Shelley share her story.

When trying to lose weight through all of the traditional approaches, Shelley Gabbard was running into an issue that many others may also be familiar with—a bit of success, followed by a rebound.

“From my mid-20s until the time I was 57 I tried every diet, every program… everything you could think of,” said Shelley of her decades-long strategy that never yielded the permanent results she was after. “I might take a little bit of weight off, but it always came back.”

The constant back-and-forth was tiresome and demoralizing, and at times it made Shelley want to quit trying.

“I was just spiraling and ballooning, I couldn’t walk from the car to the grocery store… it was really difficult for me to get around,” she said about the way she was feeling at that time.

Things changed for Shelley when one day she received a bit of a personal wake-up call. Shelley was invited to the zoo with some family, and felt it necessary to decline because she was unsure of her ability to get around.

“At that time, I was very overweight. I had to say no to the zoo,” she remembered. “I realized then that I was at a crossroads.”

After seeing more and more buzz on social media surrounding the positive results of GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, Shelley decided to take the plunge and schedule a consultation with the TriHealth Weight Management team.

The TriHealth Comprehensive Weight Management Center is an all-encompassing program designed to help patients achieve their health goals, addressing the mental, emotional and behavioral aspects to weight management in addition to just the physical components.

After her consultation, Shelley’s physician, Dr. Katherine Lyons, agreed that she would be a good candidate for a GLP-1. Shelley began treatment soon after, and she instantly had a breakthrough.

"I would have breakfast and I'd be thinking about lunch, at lunch I'd be thinking about dinner," Shelley said. "You hear people talk about food noise, and I had a lot of food noise."

She also stressed that although the GLP-1 is a tool that helped enable her to make healthier choices, it’s not a magic solution.

“It’s not like you just take a shot and then everything is easy, there’s still a lot of work and effort that goes into it,” Shelley emphasized. “But this medication makes it doable. It’s not the success… I am, with it.”

Shelley is currently down more than 80 pounds, and she has been a much happier participant in her own life since.

“I have a King’s Island pass and I spent all summer at King’s Island last year with the kids,” Shelley said with an excited grin. “It feels like a new life.”

Learn more about TriHealth Weight Management and schedule a consultation today.