Weight and Metabolic Care
Physician-led. Evidence-based. Personalized.
At Empower Lifestyle Medicine, we support men and women with comprehensive weight and metabolic care—combining sustainable lifestyle strategies with GLP-1 medications when appropriate to help you lose weight, improve metabolic health, and keep the results.
Comprehensive metabolic, cardiovascular and weight history evaluation
Individualized use of weight loss medications, including GLP-1 medications, as appropriate
Continuous support and careful management of medication side effects
A doable plan for lifestyle changes that you can sustain, including nutrition, exercise, sleep and stress reduction; and continuous help to implement these changes
A strategy for limiting muscle loss and optimizing fat loss
Lab monitoring of key metabolic and cardiovascular biomarkers
Management of blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure in coordination with your primary care physician
What We Offer
Membership: Our 3 Step Program
Step 1: Comprehensive Initial Assessment
Your membership starts with a comprehensive 60 minute appointment with your physician. During this session, we’ll do a detailed review of your medical history, current medications and supplements, discuss your symptoms and clarify your health goals. We will also do a deep dive into your current lifestyle practices, including exercise, nutrition, sleep and stress levels. This is your chance to share what’s most important to you, allowing us to create a personalized plan that aligns with your lifestyle and aspirations.
Advanced Diagnostic Studies:
As part of the initial assessment, you and your physician will determine which advanced diagnostic tests are appropriate for you to better understand your unique health profile. By evaluating these biomarkers and studies, we can pinpoint underlying issues, assess your individual health risks, and tailor your treatment plan more effectively. Advanced diagnostic tests may include any of the following (as appropriate, billed separately):
Comprehensive laboratory panels
DEXA scan for body composition and bone density
Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) and VO₂ Max testing
Cancer screening (Galleri test, low dose lung CT, cologuard)
Coronary calcium CT
Step 2: Personalized Plan Development
At your second 60 minute appointment with your physician, we will review the results of all your advanced diagnostic studies and what they mean for you, your health issues and what your health risks are for the future. We will also review your personalized plan for achieving your goals and optimizing your health, which we will have developed based on your initial assessment and analysis of your diagnostic studies. This plan will include lifestyle change recommendations such as exercise regimen, nutrition, sleep and stress, as well as recommended treatments, supplements or medications. We will send indicated prescriptions at this time, including hormone therapy and GLP-1 medications as clinically indicated.
Step 3: Execution and Continuous Guidance
Once your personalized plan is in place, we’ll begin the implementation process, guiding you every step of the way. You’ll receive continuous support through monthly 30 minute appointments with your physician during which we will review your progress on short term goals, assess metrics that are important for your goals such as blood pressure and weight, assess your response and side effects to any medications, and make adjustments as needed. We will be with you throughout your journey, offering encouragement and making sure you have all the tools you need to achieve and maintain your long-term health goals. We generally will repeat labwork every 3-6 months to assess progress. You also have unlimited, direct access to your physician through secure messaging during your membership for support and questions.
Membership Details
$300 Registration Fee + $250 Per Month
Cancel anytime - there is no time commitment required!
Registration fee is waived if you pay for a year upfront
All visits can be either in-person in Gainesville, FL or virtual
Available to any adult residing in Florida
Includes free access to all of our workshops and classes
Your Questions, Answered
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Unlike online programs, our membership is holistic, personalized care. You will meet one-on-one with your doctor monthly to assess your progress, manage side effects, and adjust medication dosing as needed. We will be by your side every step of the way, making sure you are losing weight in a healthy, sustainable way.
Because we are a Lifestyle Medicine Practice, we will also work with you to make sure you are optimizing your nutrition, exercise, sleep and stress management, so that you are not just losing weight, but getting healthier in the process.
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Both! We can prescribe either, and will complete the prior authorization process to determine if your insurance will cover brand name medications if needed.
However, the vast majority of our patients choose compounded GLP-1 medications because they are much more cost effective. We utilize Strive Pharmacy, a national 503A compounding pharmacy with an excellent quality assurance process including sterility and purity testing.
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Yes, all of our physicians have undergone additional training in Obesity Medicine. And two of our physicians, Dr. Olga Ihnatsenka and Dr. Anamaria Yeung, are Board Certified in Obesity Medicine by the American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM).
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Visits are not billed to insurance. This allows for longer visits, deeper care, and proactive planning. Labs, imaging, and medications may be billed to insurance or offered at cash rates. You can use HSA funds to pay for this program.
Direct care clinics, such as ours, offer an innovate alternative payment model that improves your access to your physician for a flat monthly fee. Instead of being limited by insurance, both you and physician are able to spend increased time focusing on your needs and goals. You don't need to worry about not being able to get an appointment for months on end, and not hearing back from messages for days. We have eliminated these problems for you. And no worries about insurance denying a claim. -
We are currently accepting patients 18 years and over who are residents of Florida.
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We work with your primary care physician, but we don’t replace your PCP.
Often our members end up needing to reduce their high blood pressure or cholesterol medications, or get off of them completely, while working with us. We will manage your dose reduction or work with your PCP.
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Our membership includes:
Monthly visits with your physician, either in-person in Gainesville, FL or virtual.
Free access to any of our workshops and classes.
Medication management.
Complete Lifestyle Medicine assessment and plan.
Ordering and review of advanced diagnostic tests including labwork.
The cost of labs and other diagnostic tests, and medications is NOT included in the membership.
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Yes! There is no time commitment required. However most of our patients choose to continue their membership for 6-12 months as they find, often for the first time, that they are able to truly understand how to improve their health and make sustainable changes.
