What Happens to a Body Battling Obesity
Happy Sunday,
In honor of Mother’s Day, I want to acknowledge something I see often...
Many people — especially mothers — spend years showing up for everyone else while quietly putting their own needs on pause. The late nights. The skipped meals. The stress. The constant care. Over time, it adds up — and health starts to take the backseat.
So if that’s been you — even in small ways — I just want to say thank you.
Thank you for all the unseen effort.
Thank you for your resilience.
If today feels like a good moment to turn a little of that care back toward yourself, you’re allowed to do that. In fact, I’d say it’s time.
If you’re someone who’s been carrying extra weight — maybe for years — I want you to hear this first...
It’s not just about willpower.
Obesity is a real, measurable medical condition. It’s not about laziness or lack of motivation. And if it feels like your body is working against you, in a lot of ways… it is.
Today, we're going to look at what happens in the body when someone is living with obesity — from hunger hormones to metabolism to energy regulation — and tools that can help bring those systems back into balance.
Let’s break it down together...
What Happens to a Body Battling Obesity?
Your body has a system — mostly in your gut and brain — that controls hunger, fullness, and energy balance. When everything’s working well, your body says:
“I’m hungry.”
“I’ve had enough.”
“Let’s move.”
“Let’s rest.”
But with obesity, those signals often go offline.
Here’s why:
Over time, the body becomes leptin-resistant — which means even when you have plenty of stored energy (fat), your brain thinks you’re starving. So you feel hungrier, especially for high-carb or high-fat foods.
At the same time, ghrelin, the hunger hormone, stays elevated — making cravings more intense and harder to satisfy.
And your metabolism? It often starts to slow down. Not because your body wants to punish you, but because it’s trying to conserve energy. That’s part of what makes weight loss so frustrating — your body is doing its job too well.
Okay, so what helps?
For some people, lifestyle change alone can be enough — but for many, it’s not. That’s where medications like semaglutide (Wegovy, Ozempic) or tirzepatide (Zepbound, Mounjaro) come in.
They mimic a hormone your body naturally makes called GLP-1, which:
- Tells your brain, “Hey, we’re full.”
- Slows down how quickly food moves through your stomach
- Supports blood sugar balance and insulin sensitivity
In plain terms: you feel satisfied with less, cravings quiet down, and your body starts to listen to its natural hunger cues again.
It’s not a magic bullet — but it’s a biological reset button that gives you space to change the patterns that may have felt impossible to shift before.
What else matters?
Remember: medication is one tool — not the solution.
Whether you’re on a GLP-1 or not, your body still needs a foundation:
- Protein and fiber to stay full and protect muscle
- Movement that feels good, not punishing (a walk counts)
- Sleep to regulate hunger hormones like leptin and ghrelin
- Stress reduction — because chronic stress raises cortisol, which drives fat storage
Every time you take a step in one of these areas, you’re not just “losing weight” — you’re rebuilding metabolic trust.
One more thing I want you to know...
Obesity isn’t your fault.
But healing? That can be your process. Your choice. Your comeback story.
And if you qualify — meaning your BMI is over 30, or over 27 with a related condition like high blood pressure, sleep apnea, or type 2 diabetes — then medications like semaglutide or tirzepatide might be an option worth exploring. If you don't know your BMI, you can look it up here, I've created a calculator for you.
You don’t have to do everything at once. You just have to keep going.
You don’t need to fix your body.
You need to work with it.
And I’ll be right here to help you do that.
