October 21, 2025 • 25 mins
Hitting a metabolic wall in midlife? You’re not alone — and you’re not broken. In this episode, Michele Folan, midlife health coach and former diabetes industry insider, breaks down the science (and the truth) behind microdosed GLP-1 and peptide therapy for women 40+.
Drawing on many years in diabetes and cardiovascular health, Michele explains how incretin hormones like GLP-1 and GIP regulate appetite, satiety, and insulin sensitivity — and why they’ve become game-changers for both metabolic and weight health. You’ll hear:
- The wild origin story of GLP-1 (hint: it starts with the Gila monster)
- Why early GLP-1 drugs revolutionized diabetes care
- How microdosing protocols now support fat loss while protecting lean muscle
- The real goals: improved A1C, fasting insulin, lipids, inflammation, and energy
This isn’t about shortcuts — it’s about layering science-backed tools onto strong habits:
✅ Lifting heavy
✅ Eating enough protein
✅ Prioritizing recovery
✅ Partnering with trusted, physician-led telehealth and vetted compounding pharmacies
Michele also dives into other longevity peptides that support sleep, recovery, cognition, skin, and hair health — plus the role of NAD+ in cellular repair and energy.
If you’ve been “doing everything right” and still feel stuck, this episode connects the dots between modern peptide therapy and midlife metabolism — with zero hype and total transparency.
🎙️ Listen now to understand who’s a good candidate, what results really look like, and how to protect your muscle while improving metabolic flexibility.
👉 Subscribe, share with a friend who’s curious about GLP-1s, and leave a review to help other midlife women find the show.
_________________________________________
1:1 health and nutrition coaching or Faster Way - Reach me anytime at mfolanfasterway@gmail.com
If you’re doing “all the right things” and still feel stuck, it may be time to look deeper. I’ve partnered with EllieMD, a trusted telehealth platform offering modern solutions for women in midlife—including micro-dosed GLP-1 peptide therapy—to support metabolic health and longevity.
https://elliemd.com/michelefolan
✨ Sign up for my weekly newsletter:
👉 https://michelefolanfasterway.myflodesk.com/i6i44jw4fq
🎤 In addition to coaching, I speak to women’s groups, moderate health panel discussions, and bring experts together for real, evidence-based conversations about midlife health. Let's connect for your next event!
OsteoCollective osteoporosis resources and community link: https://app.osteocollective.com/invitation?code=BE98G9
Transcripts are created with AI and may not be perfectly accurate.
Disclaimer: This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing, or other professional healthcare services. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your qualified healthcare provider ...
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Michele Folan - Host (00:00):
Remember calories in, calories out, and
when healthy meant eating drychicken, endless cardio, and
lots of guilt.
Yeah, no thanks.
The faster way changedeverything for me.
And for hundreds of women I'vecoached, we focus on real food,
strategic workouts, and actuallyfueling your body, not
(00:20):
punishing it.
You'll learn how to eat carbswithout the crash, burn fat
efficiently, and build musclethat keeps you strong and
independent for decades.
Because NewsFlash, we're notchasing skinny jeans, we're
building the body that willcarry us when we're 80.
Ready to reset your metabolismand feel incredible again?
Join my next round of FasterWay.
(00:41):
Links in the show notes.
Let's go.
Health, wellness, fitness, andeverything in between.
We're removing the taboo fromwhat really matters in midlife.
I'm your host, Michelle Folan,and this is Asking for a Friend.
(01:02):
Welcome back to Asking for aFriend.
I'm really glad you're here.
I was thinking I need to do asolo show.
I haven't done one in a longtime.
And it was funny, I was justhitting record and my stomach
growled really loud, so I had tostart over.
(01:22):
It's funny how you're here inthe house all by yourself and
you're recording, and somethingas silly as your stomach
growling disrupts your mojo.
But anyway, I have somethingkind of big to roll out.
And it's something that I havethought about long and hard.
(01:47):
If you follow me on Instagram,you may have already heard about
this, but I've decided topartner with a telehealth
company to offer microdose,GLP1, and other peptide
therapies to women and men too,who need more metabolic support.
And I want to walk you throughthe why I decided to do this.
(02:14):
So I want to share mybackground.
And some of you already knowthis, I've probably mentioned,
but I spent 25, 26 years in thepharmaceutical med device arena.
And that was where I spentreally the bulk of my career.
(02:38):
And I spent a lot of that timein the diabetes, metabolic
health, and also cardiovasculardisease areas.
And in 2005, I joined a companycalled AMYLIN, and AMYLIN
developed the first GLP1 tomarket.
(02:59):
They conceptualized it,developed it, and it was
incredibly interesting becauseas a brand new class of drugs
for diabetes, we had to teachdoctors.
So this wasn't just show upwith some lunch and chit-chat.
(03:20):
We had to really get into theweeds with them to help them
understand what these incretinhormones were all about and what
they actually did for people.
And because all they had weresulfonylureas and metformin and
insulin up until that point.
So it was challenging, but somuch fun.
(03:42):
I mean, it was fun to get upevery day and get out there and
spread the word.
We knew that these drugs alsohad the ability to help people
lose weight, although we weren'tallowed to promote it that way.
And as time went on, there weresome other entrants into the
(04:03):
market.
Novo Nordisc came out withVictoza, and then Eli Lilly came
out with one.
So the market really exploded.
And I think I remained somewhatcircumspect over the years
because I wanted to seeoutcomes, you know, safety,
long-term data, because I knewthese drugs were going to get
(04:25):
promoted more broadly for otherthan just diabetes.
And so you kind of think, okay,why am I as being a proponent
of healthy lifestyle, you know,great nutrition and getting out
there and moving your body andlifting weights, why would I all
(04:49):
of a sudden kind of shiftgears, if you will, and partner
with a telehealth company toprovide GLP1 peptide therapies?
And my answer is that because Iwork with women and hundreds of
women at this point, they'redoing all the right things.
(05:11):
They're really frustratedbecause they still feel stuck.
And the data keeps telling methat we've got an opportunity
that we've got thissophisticated tool in the
toolbox that could help somepeople.
(05:32):
I think it's important forpeople to understand what these
hormones do and where they camefrom.
I'm not going to go too deephere, but just bear with me here
because this will start to makesense to you and why they're
effective in weight loss.
The incritin hormones, so I'llsay specifically GLP1 and GIP,
(05:56):
because terzepatide, which is adrug on the market, does a combo
of a GLP1 and a GIP analog.
Okay.
To define incritin hormones,these are gut-derived hormones
that are released after nutrientingestion.
(06:16):
So they are gonna help withinsulin secretion in a
glucose-dependent way.
So if there's glucose there inyour system, your body will
secrete these ncritin hormones.
And there used to be somethought that you would start
secreting GLP1 if you evensmelled food.
(06:37):
Your body would smell the foodand would start to secrete GLP1
in order to prepare itself forthe meal or the food that you
were ready to eat.
GLP1 stands for glucagon-likepeptide 1.
And GIP stands forglucose-dependent insulotropic
polypeptide.
And I can't believe I evenpulled that one out of nowhere.
(07:01):
It's funny when you are usingthese words day in, day out,
that they start to, you just getto know them.
Anyway, this was like goingdown memory lane for me, putting
all my notes together for thispodcast.
So, anyway, what these peptidesdo is they help suppress
appetite, they slow gastricemptying, and they work well
(07:24):
together, as we see intrazepatide.
So, again, I'm not going to gettoo deep into this, but here's
the story.
It was back in the 1990s,scientists discovered exendin 4,
and they found this molecule inthe salivary secretions of the
Gila monster.
(07:45):
Yes, you heard me right.
Like the big lizard.
And it acts similarly to humanGLP1, but it has a much longer
half-life.
Gila monsters only eat a coupletimes a year, which they're
just very efficient at utilizingtheir food.
(08:06):
So what they did was theysynthesized exendin 4 into what
they called exanotide, which wasByetta, which was the drug I
promoted.
And I'm sorry if I'm reallygetting too deep into this, but
it's it is kind of interesting.
And so that made Byetta thevery first GLP1 receptor agonist
(08:28):
used clinically.
And there's no lizard venom inin these drugs or anything.
These are analogues.
So don't worry, no one everinjected any lizard venom into
their into their bodies.
But I think it's kind of a coolexample of how nature
oftentimes gives us a, I don'tknow, a starting template for a
(08:52):
hormone that humans also have,but with better stability when
it gets engineered correctly.
And I believe the doctor, andI've met him, I think his name
was John Eng.
He was the key researcher inidentifying the Gila monster
peptide.
(09:13):
Okay, now that I've totallybored you with my science, I
want to talk about how thesedrugs actually work for weight
loss and metabolic support.
So again, they mimic or theyamplify what your own endogenous
GLP1 does, but in a in a moresustained, stable way.
(09:37):
And I know initially it wasthought, well, why can't we just
do this in a pill?
Why can't why do we have toinject this stuff?
Well, it's because it would bedegraded too quickly in the
digestive tract if we were totake a pill.
Now there are oral versionsnow, and we'll talk about that,
(09:58):
but and I don't know how theyget by with that because I think
it was like DPP4 or somethinglike that would degrade the
enzyme and so or the peptide.
And so that's why we couldn'tsell this as an oral medication.
That's why it had to beinjected.
So, what do these drugs do?
They reduce appetite and hungersignals at the brain, they slow
(10:22):
gastric emptying so that youfeel fuller longer, and they
improve insulin sensitivity.
And we don't need to go intothat, but there's these effects
on the brain and the satietycenters and the reward pathways,
which is why they are studyingthese peptides, the GLP1
(10:44):
peptides, in things likeaddictions, alcohol, drug
addictions, because it does workin the reward pathways in the
brain.
And there's GLP1 receptors allover your body.
So Lord knows, we we have noidea what these drugs can do
down the road.
And there's probably some, Iwould say, ancillary, maybe some
(11:08):
down-the-line benefits of youknow cardiovascular and kidney
benefits, because if you arereducing glucose load in the
body, you're also helping thosemicrovascular conditions that
you get with cardiovasculardisease and kidneys.
(11:29):
There are some caveats andtrade-offs with this class of
drugs.
So there are some side effects.
There is nausea, which tends tobe dose-dependent for most
people.
When you're microdosing, you doalleviate a lot of the
potential for nausea and losinglean body mass if you are not
(11:54):
conscious of eating enoughprotein and doing resistance
training.
And that has been probably mybiggest frustration.
So I've worked with clients whohave been on GLP1s or are
currently on them.
And I really find there is ahuge gap in the amount of
education that people arereceiving when they are starting
(12:17):
these drugs.
And so that's something that'svery important to me and
something that I'm going tofocus on.
Even if people aren't workingwith me as a client per se,
those are some of the thingsthat I want to really emphasize
and ensure that they have thebest experience possible because
(12:38):
I'm not just concerned aboutthe weight loss potential, but I
am also really wanting them tohave the long-term benefits and
satisfaction down the road bythem maintaining their muscle
mass.
So, so incredibly important.
Let's take a minute to talkabout peptides.
(13:00):
I keep using that term, and Iwant to make sure you understand
what they are.
It sounds a little science-yand even a little intimidating,
but it really doesn't have tobe.
Peptides are simply shortchains of amino acids, basically
the building blocks ofproteins.
They act like messengers in thebody sending signals to tell
(13:22):
your cells what to do, whetherthat's to repair tissue, make
collagen, build muscle, or toregulate metabolism.
So, no, this isn't somesynthetic futuristic thing.
Your body already makespeptides naturally.
The problem is that as we age,our natural production slows
(13:45):
down, just like it does withcollagen, growth hormone, and
well, most things after 40.
That slowdown can impact howefficiently we build or repair
muscle, recover from workouts,sleep, burn fat, and even
maintain our skin and hair.
(14:06):
I mean, we all know our skinhas changed and our hair
certainly isn't what it was whenwe were 30.
At least mine isn't for sure.
Here's where medical gradepeptide therapy comes in.
Through targeted support,things like GLP1 analogs, which
we've talked about for metabolichealth, or other peptides that
(14:28):
may support recovery, sleep, orlean muscle preservation, we
can, in some cases, nudge thebody to perform a little closer
to how it did when we wereyounger.
Now, this is not about turningback the clock or chasing youth.
It's it's about optimizingfunction and helping your body
respond better to all the goodwork that you're doing.
(14:51):
And back to the nutrition, thestrength training, sleep, stress
management, all of it.
Okay.
And while I'm never going tomake any medical claims or
promises of miracles, I'm hereto educate you because for many
women in midlife, especiallythose who feel like they've hit
(15:12):
a brick wall with theirmetabolism, with their energy,
and even recovery, peptides canbe one more way to bridge that
gap and keep moving forward withconfidence.
So if you've been curious oryou've heard the word peptides
thrown around but didn't knowwhere to start, now you know.
(15:34):
They're naturally occurring,they work by communication, and
they're being used more and morein longevity and metabolic
health circles for a reason.
I should tell you a little bitabout my process and how I
landed where I did.
This telehealth company, theyare, I think women focus, but
(15:58):
men and women are clients there.
So I don't wanna I don't wantto leave the guys out because
they are certainly very welcomedas customers here.
But you can find a GLP1anywhere online.
That's not that's not hard todo.
Nume and all these othercompanies are offering GLP1
(16:20):
therapy.
What I liked about EllieMD wasthat they have this microdosing
philosophy.
These are physician-ledprotocols.
You've got flexible dosingbecause you're you're drawing
this up in a syringe.
You're not, it's not a staticpen that has like one dose or
(16:40):
two doses.
We can take this all the waydown for people that really want
to start start low and go slow.
So I really I like that.
Some states require that youhave uh a face-to-face virtual
meeting with a doctor to discussyour intake form.
It just depends on the state.
(17:01):
But what really got meinterested was the fact that
they have very closely vettedthese compounding pharmacies
that they work with around theUnited States.
That to me was importantbecause you really want to make
sure that the product thatyou're using is coming from a
(17:24):
reputable compounding pharmacy.
And I want to assure you onething.
I am not pushing the firstthing that came to me.
I looked under the hood, andthis is a company whose approach
I trust with my reputation.
But I want to emphasize as wellthat this is not a magic pill.
(17:47):
The clients who see the bestresults do the lifestyle work.
And I think we should definewhat success looks like because
we don't just want weight loss,we want fat loss.
We want to preserve muscle,even gain muscle during this
process.
We want to see better metabolicmarkers like glucose, we want
(18:12):
to see your HBA1C improve, yourfasting insulin, your lipids,
that's another big one.
Improved hunger control, andimproved energy.
And here's the other one thatthey don't talk about a lot, but
improved inflammation.
We all got inflammation.
(18:32):
Our joints hurt, you know,we're achy, we're puffy, our
faces are puffy, our bellies arepuffy.
And these drugs also addresssome of that inflammation that
we get.
When I've worked with clients,and why I get kind of excited
about the GLP1 class is many ofmany of them will share with me
(18:54):
their most recent lab data.
And they get really frustratedbecause they're trying to do all
the right things, they'reeating well, they're exercising,
and their numbers are going inthe opposite direction.
And some of that's aging, someof that is the decline in
estrogen.
But if we can help blunt thatand start to reverse that
(19:20):
process, maybe some of thoselabs will come back a little bit
better and we'll get a betterreport card from our doctors.
That's my hope.
But here's the thing (19:29):
my main goal for anyone starting on
peptide therapy is that theyhave lifestyle, their nutrition,
their fitness, particularlyweight-bearing and weight
training exercise, that we getall of that nailed down while
(19:53):
you're on these peptides, sothat eventually if you decide to
go off, you have all of thesewonderful habits already built
in to help you sustain yourresults.
And this is really aboutmindset too.
I see this as a support.
(20:13):
This is adjunct therapy to allyour wonderful efforts that you
make.
This is not a substitute,again, not a magic pill.
For those of you already withme, this doesn't replace what
you're doing.
We're gonna we'll layer this onif you choose.
And if you choose that youdon't want to go this route,
(20:38):
absolutely fine.
I'm just putting this out thereas uh, like I said, another
tool in the toolbox for newclients.
I'll be giving you lots ofguidance, walk you through the
process from the coaching side,but there's a doctor there at
the telehealth company that willmake suggestions and help you
(21:03):
through that.
That's not my job.
I do not prescribe.
I am kind of like thetranslator, the support system
between the medical telehealthpiece and the metabolic coaching
piece.
So who's a good candidate?
Women in midlife who aremetabolically stressed, you've
(21:23):
tried diet and movement, youfeel like you've done it all,
but you feel stuck.
You may be showing signs ofinsulin resistance, maybe your
fasting insulin has beencreeping up, your A1C is
creeping up, or maybe you havefull-blown pre-diabetes, you
struggle with your appetite andfood cravings.
(21:45):
And if you're one of thosepeople that needs a jump start
or you need a push over thefinish line, again, I'm leaving
that up to the medicalprofessional to deem who is the
best candidate and what peptidesare are best suited for that
person.
I should probably give you aquick overview of what
(22:07):
EllieMD offers.
We have GLP1 only programs, sothose are just semaglutide or
semaglutide, however you want tosay it.
There's GLP1 plus GIP, that'sthe combo, that's tirzepitide.
There are NAD plus therapies,there's oral versus injections,
(22:32):
so there they offer both formsin many of these.
Other supporting peptides thatare sold are some for cognitive
support, anti-aging, sexualhealth, and desire, skin and
hair.
I don't make any claims, butdirect people to the website to
(22:52):
look at all the offerings.
Again, I my role iseducational, coaching, and
integration.
If you're curious, I'd love totalk you through whether this
might be a good fit for you.
(23:13):
You can again reach out to meat mfolanfasterway at gmail.com.
If you decide you just want togo on the website, please use
this link.
It's EllieMD, that'sE-L-L-I-E-M-D.com forward slash
Michele Folan and Michele spellwith one L.
These links will also be in theshow notes, so you can check
(23:35):
them out there.
I'm just super excited aboutthis.
I again don't take thispartnership lightly.
This is a new frontier for me,too, and I'm honored to walk
with you.
Don't be shy.
If this is something you'vebeen thinking about, it's been
kind of weighing on you.
We can chat about it or just goon the website, just check it
(23:58):
out.
I want you to feel good aboutyour decision to maybe pursue
this or not, right?
It's okay.
I'm happy if you want tocontinue your health journey
doing this with diet andexercise and good, just good
habits.
Because lifestyle, muscle,food, and habit work should
(24:23):
always remain the foundation.
Peptides are support, not asubstitute.
And I think you know that.
Thanks for listening.
Share this episode if itresonates with you, and I'll see
you at the next episode.
Thank you for listening.
Please rate and review thepodcast where you listen.
And if you'd like to join theAsking for a Friend community,
(24:45):
click on the link in the shownotes to sign up for my weekly
newsletter where I share midlifewellness and fitness tips,
insights, my favorite finds, andrecipes.
Remember calories in, calories out, and
when healthy meant eating drychicken, endless cardio, and
lots of guilt.
Yeah, no thanks.
The faster way changedeverything for me.
And for hundreds of women I'vecoached, we focus on real food,
strategic workouts, and actuallyfueling your body, not
(00:20):
punishing it.
You'll learn how to eat carbswithout the crash, burn fat
efficiently, and build musclethat keeps you strong and
independent for decades.
Because NewsFlash, we're notchasing skinny jeans, we're
building the body that willcarry us when we're 80.
Ready to reset your metabolismand feel incredible again?
Join my next round of FasterWay.
(00:41):
Links in the show notes.
Let's go.
Health, wellness, fitness, andeverything in between.
We're removing the taboo fromwhat really matters in midlife.
I'm your host, Michelle Folan,and this is Asking for a Friend.
(01:02):
Welcome back to Asking for aFriend.
I'm really glad you're here.
I was thinking I need to do asolo show.
I haven't done one in a longtime.
And it was funny, I was justhitting record and my stomach
growled really loud, so I had tostart over.
(01:22):
It's funny how you're here inthe house all by yourself and
you're recording, and somethingas silly as your stomach
growling disrupts your mojo.
But anyway, I have somethingkind of big to roll out.
And it's something that I havethought about long and hard.
(01:47):
If you follow me on Instagram,you may have already heard about
this, but I've decided topartner with a telehealth
company to offer microdose,GLP1, and other peptide
therapies to women and men too,who need more metabolic support.
And I want to walk you throughthe why I decided to do this.
(02:14):
So I want to share mybackground.
And some of you already knowthis, I've probably mentioned,
but I spent 25, 26 years in thepharmaceutical med device arena.
And that was where I spentreally the bulk of my career.
(02:38):
And I spent a lot of that timein the diabetes, metabolic
health, and also cardiovasculardisease areas.
And in 2005, I joined a companycalled AMYLIN, and AMYLIN
developed the first GLP1 tomarket.
(02:59):
They conceptualized it,developed it, and it was
incredibly interesting becauseas a brand new class of drugs
for diabetes, we had to teachdoctors.
So this wasn't just show upwith some lunch and chit-chat.
(03:20):
We had to really get into theweeds with them to help them
understand what these incretinhormones were all about and what
they actually did for people.
And because all they had weresulfonylureas and metformin and
insulin up until that point.
So it was challenging, but somuch fun.
(03:42):
I mean, it was fun to get upevery day and get out there and
spread the word.
We knew that these drugs alsohad the ability to help people
lose weight, although we weren'tallowed to promote it that way.
And as time went on, there weresome other entrants into the
(04:03):
market.
Novo Nordisc came out withVictoza, and then Eli Lilly came
out with one.
So the market really exploded.
And I think I remained somewhatcircumspect over the years
because I wanted to seeoutcomes, you know, safety,
long-term data, because I knewthese drugs were going to get
(04:25):
promoted more broadly for otherthan just diabetes.
And so you kind of think, okay,why am I as being a proponent
of healthy lifestyle, you know,great nutrition and getting out
there and moving your body andlifting weights, why would I all
(04:49):
of a sudden kind of shiftgears, if you will, and partner
with a telehealth company toprovide GLP1 peptide therapies?
And my answer is that because Iwork with women and hundreds of
women at this point, they'redoing all the right things.
(05:11):
They're really frustratedbecause they still feel stuck.
And the data keeps telling methat we've got an opportunity
that we've got thissophisticated tool in the
toolbox that could help somepeople.
(05:32):
I think it's important forpeople to understand what these
hormones do and where they camefrom.
I'm not going to go too deephere, but just bear with me here
because this will start to makesense to you and why they're
effective in weight loss.
The incritin hormones, so I'llsay specifically GLP1 and GIP,
(05:56):
because terzepatide, which is adrug on the market, does a combo
of a GLP1 and a GIP analog.
Okay.
To define incritin hormones,these are gut-derived hormones
that are released after nutrientingestion.
(06:16):
So they are gonna help withinsulin secretion in a
glucose-dependent way.
So if there's glucose there inyour system, your body will
secrete these ncritin hormones.
And there used to be somethought that you would start
secreting GLP1 if you evensmelled food.
(06:37):
Your body would smell the foodand would start to secrete GLP1
in order to prepare itself forthe meal or the food that you
were ready to eat.
GLP1 stands for glucagon-likepeptide 1.
And GIP stands forglucose-dependent insulotropic
polypeptide.
And I can't believe I evenpulled that one out of nowhere.
(07:01):
It's funny when you are usingthese words day in, day out,
that they start to, you just getto know them.
Anyway, this was like goingdown memory lane for me, putting
all my notes together for thispodcast.
So, anyway, what these peptidesdo is they help suppress
appetite, they slow gastricemptying, and they work well
(07:24):
together, as we see intrazepatide.
So, again, I'm not going to gettoo deep into this, but here's
the story.
It was back in the 1990s,scientists discovered exendin 4,
and they found this molecule inthe salivary secretions of the
Gila monster.
(07:45):
Yes, you heard me right.
Like the big lizard.
And it acts similarly to humanGLP1, but it has a much longer
half-life.
Gila monsters only eat a coupletimes a year, which they're
just very efficient at utilizingtheir food.
(08:06):
So what they did was theysynthesized exendin 4 into what
they called exanotide, which wasByetta, which was the drug I
promoted.
And I'm sorry if I'm reallygetting too deep into this, but
it's it is kind of interesting.
And so that made Byetta thevery first GLP1 receptor agonist
(08:28):
used clinically.
And there's no lizard venom inin these drugs or anything.
These are analogues.
So don't worry, no one everinjected any lizard venom into
their into their bodies.
But I think it's kind of a coolexample of how nature
oftentimes gives us a, I don'tknow, a starting template for a
(08:52):
hormone that humans also have,but with better stability when
it gets engineered correctly.
And I believe the doctor, andI've met him, I think his name
was John Eng.
He was the key researcher inidentifying the Gila monster
peptide.
(09:13):
Okay, now that I've totallybored you with my science, I
want to talk about how thesedrugs actually work for weight
loss and metabolic support.
So again, they mimic or theyamplify what your own endogenous
GLP1 does, but in a in a moresustained, stable way.
(09:37):
And I know initially it wasthought, well, why can't we just
do this in a pill?
Why can't why do we have toinject this stuff?
Well, it's because it would bedegraded too quickly in the
digestive tract if we were totake a pill.
Now there are oral versionsnow, and we'll talk about that,
(09:58):
but and I don't know how theyget by with that because I think
it was like DPP4 or somethinglike that would degrade the
enzyme and so or the peptide.
And so that's why we couldn'tsell this as an oral medication.
That's why it had to beinjected.
So, what do these drugs do?
They reduce appetite and hungersignals at the brain, they slow
(10:22):
gastric emptying so that youfeel fuller longer, and they
improve insulin sensitivity.
And we don't need to go intothat, but there's these effects
on the brain and the satietycenters and the reward pathways,
which is why they are studyingthese peptides, the GLP1
(10:44):
peptides, in things likeaddictions, alcohol, drug
addictions, because it does workin the reward pathways in the
brain.
And there's GLP1 receptors allover your body.
So Lord knows, we we have noidea what these drugs can do
down the road.
And there's probably some, Iwould say, ancillary, maybe some
(11:08):
down-the-line benefits of youknow cardiovascular and kidney
benefits, because if you arereducing glucose load in the
body, you're also helping thosemicrovascular conditions that
you get with cardiovasculardisease and kidneys.
(11:29):
There are some caveats andtrade-offs with this class of
drugs.
So there are some side effects.
There is nausea, which tends tobe dose-dependent for most
people.
When you're microdosing, you doalleviate a lot of the
potential for nausea and losinglean body mass if you are not
(11:54):
conscious of eating enoughprotein and doing resistance
training.
And that has been probably mybiggest frustration.
So I've worked with clients whohave been on GLP1s or are
currently on them.
And I really find there is ahuge gap in the amount of
education that people arereceiving when they are starting
(12:17):
these drugs.
And so that's something that'svery important to me and
something that I'm going tofocus on.
Even if people aren't workingwith me as a client per se,
those are some of the thingsthat I want to really emphasize
and ensure that they have thebest experience possible because
(12:38):
I'm not just concerned aboutthe weight loss potential, but I
am also really wanting them tohave the long-term benefits and
satisfaction down the road bythem maintaining their muscle
mass.
So, so incredibly important.
Let's take a minute to talkabout peptides.
(13:00):
I keep using that term, and Iwant to make sure you understand
what they are.
It sounds a little science-yand even a little intimidating,
but it really doesn't have tobe.
Peptides are simply shortchains of amino acids, basically
the building blocks ofproteins.
They act like messengers in thebody sending signals to tell
(13:22):
your cells what to do, whetherthat's to repair tissue, make
collagen, build muscle, or toregulate metabolism.
So, no, this isn't somesynthetic futuristic thing.
Your body already makespeptides naturally.
The problem is that as we age,our natural production slows
(13:45):
down, just like it does withcollagen, growth hormone, and
well, most things after 40.
That slowdown can impact howefficiently we build or repair
muscle, recover from workouts,sleep, burn fat, and even
maintain our skin and hair.
(14:06):
I mean, we all know our skinhas changed and our hair
certainly isn't what it was whenwe were 30.
At least mine isn't for sure.
Here's where medical gradepeptide therapy comes in.
Through targeted support,things like GLP1 analogs, which
we've talked about for metabolichealth, or other peptides that
(14:28):
may support recovery, sleep, orlean muscle preservation, we
can, in some cases, nudge thebody to perform a little closer
to how it did when we wereyounger.
Now, this is not about turningback the clock or chasing youth.
It's it's about optimizingfunction and helping your body
respond better to all the goodwork that you're doing.
(14:51):
And back to the nutrition, thestrength training, sleep, stress
management, all of it.
Okay.
And while I'm never going tomake any medical claims or
promises of miracles, I'm hereto educate you because for many
women in midlife, especiallythose who feel like they've hit
(15:12):
a brick wall with theirmetabolism, with their energy,
and even recovery, peptides canbe one more way to bridge that
gap and keep moving forward withconfidence.
So if you've been curious oryou've heard the word peptides
thrown around but didn't knowwhere to start, now you know.
(15:34):
They're naturally occurring,they work by communication, and
they're being used more and morein longevity and metabolic
health circles for a reason.
I should tell you a little bitabout my process and how I
landed where I did.
This telehealth company, theyare, I think women focus, but
(15:58):
men and women are clients there.
So I don't wanna I don't wantto leave the guys out because
they are certainly very welcomedas customers here.
But you can find a GLP1anywhere online.
That's not that's not hard todo.
Nume and all these othercompanies are offering GLP1
(16:20):
therapy.
What I liked about EllieMD wasthat they have this microdosing
philosophy.
These are physician-ledprotocols.
You've got flexible dosingbecause you're you're drawing
this up in a syringe.
You're not, it's not a staticpen that has like one dose or
(16:40):
two doses.
We can take this all the waydown for people that really want
to start start low and go slow.
So I really I like that.
Some states require that youhave uh a face-to-face virtual
meeting with a doctor to discussyour intake form.
It just depends on the state.
(17:01):
But what really got meinterested was the fact that
they have very closely vettedthese compounding pharmacies
that they work with around theUnited States.
That to me was importantbecause you really want to make
sure that the product thatyou're using is coming from a
(17:24):
reputable compounding pharmacy.
And I want to assure you onething.
I am not pushing the firstthing that came to me.
I looked under the hood, andthis is a company whose approach
I trust with my reputation.
But I want to emphasize as wellthat this is not a magic pill.
(17:47):
The clients who see the bestresults do the lifestyle work.
And I think we should definewhat success looks like because
we don't just want weight loss,we want fat loss.
We want to preserve muscle,even gain muscle during this
process.
We want to see better metabolicmarkers like glucose, we want
(18:12):
to see your HBA1C improve, yourfasting insulin, your lipids,
that's another big one.
Improved hunger control, andimproved energy.
And here's the other one thatthey don't talk about a lot, but
improved inflammation.
We all got inflammation.
(18:32):
Our joints hurt, you know,we're achy, we're puffy, our
faces are puffy, our bellies arepuffy.
And these drugs also addresssome of that inflammation that
we get.
When I've worked with clients,and why I get kind of excited
about the GLP1 class is many ofmany of them will share with me
(18:54):
their most recent lab data.
And they get really frustratedbecause they're trying to do all
the right things, they'reeating well, they're exercising,
and their numbers are going inthe opposite direction.
And some of that's aging, someof that is the decline in
estrogen.
But if we can help blunt thatand start to reverse that
(19:20):
process, maybe some of thoselabs will come back a little bit
better and we'll get a betterreport card from our doctors.
That's my hope.
But here's the thing (19:29):
my main goal for anyone starting on
peptide therapy is that theyhave lifestyle, their nutrition,
their fitness, particularlyweight-bearing and weight
training exercise, that we getall of that nailed down while
(19:53):
you're on these peptides, sothat eventually if you decide to
go off, you have all of thesewonderful habits already built
in to help you sustain yourresults.
And this is really aboutmindset too.
I see this as a support.
(20:13):
This is adjunct therapy to allyour wonderful efforts that you
make.
This is not a substitute,again, not a magic pill.
For those of you already withme, this doesn't replace what
you're doing.
We're gonna we'll layer this onif you choose.
And if you choose that youdon't want to go this route,
(20:38):
absolutely fine.
I'm just putting this out thereas uh, like I said, another
tool in the toolbox for newclients.
I'll be giving you lots ofguidance, walk you through the
process from the coaching side,but there's a doctor there at
the telehealth company that willmake suggestions and help you
(21:03):
through that.
That's not my job.
I do not prescribe.
I am kind of like thetranslator, the support system
between the medical telehealthpiece and the metabolic coaching
piece.
So who's a good candidate?
Women in midlife who aremetabolically stressed, you've
(21:23):
tried diet and movement, youfeel like you've done it all,
but you feel stuck.
You may be showing signs ofinsulin resistance, maybe your
fasting insulin has beencreeping up, your A1C is
creeping up, or maybe you havefull-blown pre-diabetes, you
struggle with your appetite andfood cravings.
(21:45):
And if you're one of thosepeople that needs a jump start
or you need a push over thefinish line, again, I'm leaving
that up to the medicalprofessional to deem who is the
best candidate and what peptidesare are best suited for that
person.
I should probably give you aquick overview of what
(22:07):
EllieMD offers.
We have GLP1 only programs, sothose are just semaglutide or
semaglutide, however you want tosay it.
There's GLP1 plus GIP, that'sthe combo, that's tirzepitide.
There are NAD plus therapies,there's oral versus injections,
(22:32):
so there they offer both formsin many of these.
Other supporting peptides thatare sold are some for cognitive
support, anti-aging, sexualhealth, and desire, skin and
hair.
I don't make any claims, butdirect people to the website to
(22:52):
look at all the offerings.
Again, I my role iseducational, coaching, and
integration.
If you're curious, I'd love totalk you through whether this
might be a good fit for you.
(23:13):
You can again reach out to meat mfolanfasterway at gmail.com.
If you decide you just want togo on the website, please use
this link.
It's EllieMD, that'sE-L-L-I-E-M-D.com forward slash
Michele Folan and Michele spellwith one L.
These links will also be in theshow notes, so you can check
(23:35):
them out there.
I'm just super excited aboutthis.
I again don't take thispartnership lightly.
This is a new frontier for me,too, and I'm honored to walk
with you.
Don't be shy.
If this is something you'vebeen thinking about, it's been
kind of weighing on you.
We can chat about it or just goon the website, just check it
(23:58):
out.
I want you to feel good aboutyour decision to maybe pursue
this or not, right?
It's okay.
I'm happy if you want tocontinue your health journey
doing this with diet andexercise and good, just good
habits.
Because lifestyle, muscle,food, and habit work should
(24:23):
always remain the foundation.
Peptides are support, not asubstitute.
And I think you know that.
Thanks for listening.
Share this episode if itresonates with you, and I'll see
you at the next episode.
Thank you for listening.
Please rate and review thepodcast where you listen.
And if you'd like to join theAsking for a Friend community,
(24:45):
click on the link in the shownotes to sign up for my weekly
newsletter where I share midlifewellness and fitness tips,
insights, my favorite finds, andrecipes.
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