New tools for weight loss can be life-changing, though complicated 

It was research in the 1980s into the dietary habits of the Gila monster, a lizard of the desert Southwest, that led to the creation of the GLP-1 class of medications – drugs that help the body feel full longer and manage blood sugar – now in use under names such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro. 

Bariatric surgery, another popular approach to addressing the health risks of obesity, dates back further, to surgeries in the 1950s that were determined to have too many debilitating side effects and were discontinued, according to information from the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. What has evolved as gastric bypass surgery today also has lifelong side effects, but with proper management can drastically improve life for those who have it.  

For two Catholic parishioners who have used these relatively recent approaches to reduce their weight, the medication or surgery is just one part of life changes they discussed with the Catholic Review. 

Pablo Sainz, director of video and audio production for Church of the Nativity in Timonium, explained that at 6-foot-5-inches tall he’s always been “a big guy.” Though he wasn’t particularly overweight as a youth, in his early 20s, with the combination of a mostly sedentary job with crazy hours and readily available snacks, his weight crept up steadily. By 2019 he hit an all-time high, well over 300 pounds, he said. 

In February 2024, after taking a GLP-1 medication for a year, he’d lost 65 pounds. He said climbing stairs no longer leaves him out of breath, he sleeps better and he even stopped using a sleep apnea machine most of the time. He’s dropped several sizes in clothes and no longer has to exclusively shop at big-and-tall stores. 

When he began taking a GLP-1 medication, he suffered some mild side effects common to the class of drugs as well as some changes in vision, which may or may not be related, Sainz said. But those have generally gone away. 

“I have more energy and I’m happy,” Sainz said. “My bloodwork is great.” 

Sue Parks, a parishioner of St. Francis de Sales in Abingdon, had bariatric bypass surgery in 2019 at Ascension St. Agnes Hospital in Baltimore after a diagnosis of diabetes shook her to the core.  

“I had toyed with weight loss my whole life,” she said. “My father died at age 58 from complications from diabetes. I had been diagnosed before as pre-diabetic, but this diagnosis really threw me.” 

That news began a process of research into how she could get a grip on diabetes, focusing on drastic weight loss. A year of research, preparation, counseling and meeting short-term weight loss goals to prove her commitment to the process brought her to have bariatric bypass surgery in October 2019. 

Today, Parks is more than 100 pounds lighter than her peak weight, she said. She no longer takes medication for diabetes, cholesterol and high blood pressure. She will need to be on nutritional supplements and vitamins for the rest of her life, however, she said.  

“There’s nothing easy about the surgery,” said Parks, whose husband is Catholic Review visual journalist Kevin J. Parks. Afterward, there are tubes and drains “and so much pain I was crying.” It’s been worth it for her, she said, even though “it’s constant work. It’s not a magic pill.” 

“I definitely have a lot more energy,” Parks said. “I can do more with my three grandkids. I can go on walks without becoming winded and when I travel on airplanes I don’t need seatbelt extenders.” She’s also been able to put off arthritis- 
related knee surgery.  

Her outlook on life has changed, too. “It definitely changes your views,” she said. “I’m more confident about myself.” 

Dr. Wendie Grader-Beck is a pediatric and family medicine physician at University of Maryland St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson. She said the words she chooses are a part of the delicate approach to discussing weight loss, whatever method patients choose. For instance, she said the concept of a diet is where people get into trouble.  

“A diet means suffering,” is how people think of it, she said. “Instead, think of it as dietary choices, a series of small changes that add up.” 

There are many paths to successful weight loss, Grader-Beck said. A common denominator for many people who succeed is a support system, whether family, a group such as Weight Watchers or the programs for those considering bariatric surgery. “Sometimes I will send someone to a bariatric program for the support,” she said. 

Grader-Beck tries to treat patients’ concerns about weight with understanding and careful attention to helping keep them on track. Part of that is helping patients focus on small successes.  

“It’s a big task to lose weight,” she said, “but it’s a delicate process. People have so much shame around weight.”  

Both Sainz and Parks said their families have been their main source of support in staying on track. 

Parks said even years later, she constantly tracks what she eats, keeping a journal. She drinks nothing but water, and follows a strict schedule of three meals and two snacks a day.  

“I don’t eat fried foods and I can’t drink while I’m eating,” she said. “I have to wait a minimum of 30 minutes after eating. It’s an entire change of lifestyle. With bariatric surgery you have to be willing to do all this. But you also need support from your family.” 

Sainz said his family members have adjusted their food choices in keeping with his, such as by no longer using coffee creamers with full fat and sugar.

When Sainz hit his peak weight in 2019, he said, he joined a gym and, with his family, began working out three times a week. The gym’s closure during the Covid-19 pandemic got him off track. Even when the gym reopened, “I returned, but the need to be masked killed the mood and I canceled my membership.” 

Sainz described his experience with his physician as the opposite of the support he needs. 

For years, Sainz’s doctor had warned him he needed to lose weight, but “I never had crazy bloodwork. My glucose was just a little bit high and my cholesterol levels were good.” Reluctant to be put on any kind of medication, he convinced himself it wasn’t necessary. 

Eventually, the doctor pushed hard for him to have bariatric surgery, Sainz said. He attended some of the initial inquiry meetings, but he was hesitant. 

Although his doctor prescribed the GLP-1 medication for him, Sainz said most of what he hears from his physician still is warnings such as “you can’t be on this forever.” 

“My doctor has never congratulated me” on his weight-loss progress, he said. That leads him to warn people considering any kind of a drastic weight loss approach to not “let one physician push you one way or another, or let them wear you down.” 

“Not every pathway to weight loss is right for everyone,” Sainz said. “You have to weigh your own individual challenges, what is right for you and the possible side effects.” 

He said his family, friends and coworkers form his support network. “I suggest getting as much support as possible.”  

Recent U.S. weight-loss and obesity trends 

As of 2021-23, 40.3 percent of U.S. adults aged 20 and older had obesity, with the highest prevalence in adults aged 40-59 (46.4 percent)  (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023) 

From 2022 to 2023, prescriptions for GLP-1 drugs among U.S. patients with obesity more than doubled – up 105.7 percent, while bariatric surgery rates fell by 8.7 percent.  (Mass. General Brigham, 2024) 

In the same period, prescriptions for GLP-1s rose from 2.16 to 4.43 per 1,000 patients, while bariatric surgery declined from 0.23 to 0.21 per 1,000.  (Mass. General Brigham, 2024) 

About 12 percent of U.S. adults report having used a GLP-1 agonist medication for weight loss or diabetes management.  (JAMA Network, 2024) 

Despite their rise in visibility, fewer than 1 percent of Americans with obesity have received either GLP-1 therapy or bariatric surgery – underscoring a major gap in access to treatment.  (Mass. General Brigham, 2024) 

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