Insulin Resistance: When Your Metabolism Works Against You
You eat less, exercise more, and the scale doesn't budge. It's not a lack of willpower—it's a metabolic problem. Insulin resistance causes your body to store fat instead of burn it, and no amount of dieting can overcome that biology. Medical treatment can.
Signs You May Have Insulin Resistance
These symptoms often go undiagnosed for years while the metabolic dysfunction worsens.
Stubborn Belly Fat
Weight concentrates around your midsection and refuses to budge despite diet and exercise efforts.
Post-Meal Fatigue
Feeling tired or foggy after eating, especially after carbohydrate-rich meals, as blood sugar spikes and crashes.
Carb Cravings
Intense cravings for bread, sugar, and starchy foods—your body's misguided attempt to correct blood sugar.
Weight Loss Resistance
Cutting calories and exercising produces little to no results because your hormones override your efforts.
The Insulin Resistance Cycle
Insulin is your body's fat-storage hormone. When you eat, insulin tells your cells to absorb glucose for energy. But when cells become resistant to insulin's signal, glucose stays in your bloodstream and your pancreas produces even more insulin to compensate.
These chronically elevated insulin levels create a metabolic trap: your body stays in constant fat-storage mode. Even when you eat less, high insulin prevents your body from accessing stored fat for fuel. You feel tired, hungry, and frustrated—while the scale refuses to move.
This isn't a failure of willpower. It's a hormonal dysfunction that requires medical intervention to break the cycle. GLP-1 medications like semaglutide and tirzepatide directly improve insulin sensitivity while reducing appetite, attacking the problem from multiple angles.
- 88 million American adults have prediabetes (most undiagnosed)
- Insulin resistance precedes type 2 diabetes by 10-15 years
- Losing 5-10% body weight can dramatically improve insulin sensitivity
- GLP-1 medications improve insulin function independent of weight loss
Our Approach to Insulin Resistance
We identify and treat the metabolic dysfunction—not just the symptoms.
Metabolic Assessment
We start with comprehensive labs including fasting insulin, glucose, HbA1c, lipid panel, and inflammatory markers. DEXA body composition reveals your visceral fat levels—the metabolically dangerous fat around organs.
GLP-1 Medication
Semaglutide or tirzepatide directly improves how your cells respond to insulin while reducing appetite and promoting fat loss. This breaks the cycle that diet alone cannot.
Progress Monitoring
We track not just weight, but metabolic markers and body composition. Success means improving insulin sensitivity, reducing visceral fat, and restoring metabolic health—not just hitting a number on the scale.
Treating the Root Cause
"When patients tell me they've tried everything and can't lose weight, the first thing I check is insulin resistance. More often than not, that's the underlying problem. Once we address the metabolic dysfunction with the right tools, weight loss that seemed impossible suddenly becomes achievable."
— Dr. Josh Lindsley, DO, DABOM
Treatment Options for Insulin Resistance
Medical approaches that target the metabolic dysfunction driving your weight gain.
Semaglutide (Wegovy/Ozempic)
GLP-1 Receptor AgonistOriginally developed for diabetes, semaglutide powerfully improves insulin sensitivity while reducing appetite—ideal for insulin-resistant patients.
- Directly improves insulin sensitivity
- Reduces appetite and food cravings
- 15% average weight loss in trials
- Once-weekly injection
Tirzepatide (Zepbound/Mounjaro)
Dual GLP-1/GIP AgonistThe most effective medication for insulin resistance, targeting two hormone pathways for superior metabolic improvement and weight loss.
- Dual-action insulin sensitization
- Up to 22% weight loss in trials
- Significant HbA1c reduction
- Once-weekly injection
DEXA Body Composition
Precision TrackingMedical-grade body composition analysis that measures visceral fat—the metabolically dangerous fat most linked to insulin resistance.
- Quantifies visceral fat precisely
- Tracks fat vs. muscle changes
- Monitors metabolic risk factors
- 10-minute scan
Metabolic Testing (RMR)
Know Your NumbersMeasure your exact resting metabolic rate to understand how insulin resistance has affected your calorie burn and create realistic targets.
- Exact daily calorie needs
- Identifies metabolic adaptation
- Prevents counterproductive restriction
- 20-minute breath test
Insulin Resistance FAQs
Insulin resistance occurs when your cells stop responding properly to insulin—the hormone that tells cells to absorb glucose from your blood. Your pancreas compensates by producing more insulin, but those elevated insulin levels promote fat storage and make weight loss nearly impossible through diet alone.
Common signs include stubborn belly fat, fatigue after eating, intense carbohydrate cravings, and inability to lose weight despite diet and exercise. Lab markers include elevated fasting insulin, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, and borderline or elevated blood sugar. Many people have insulin resistance for years before it's diagnosed.
Yes, insulin resistance can often be significantly improved or reversed. Weight loss is the most effective intervention—losing just 5-10% of body weight can dramatically improve insulin sensitivity. GLP-1 medications accelerate this process by promoting weight loss while also directly improving how your cells respond to insulin.
They're related but not identical. Insulin resistance is the underlying metabolic dysfunction. Prediabetes is diagnosed when blood sugar levels become elevated—but this happens years after insulin resistance develops. Treating insulin resistance early can prevent progression to prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.
GLP-1 medications like semaglutide and tirzepatide work on multiple levels: they reduce appetite, slow gastric emptying, and directly improve insulin sensitivity at the cellular level. This multi-pronged approach is why they're so effective when diet and exercise alone have failed.
Insulin resistance is linked to PCOS, metabolic syndrome, fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes. It's also common in perimenopause and menopause due to hormonal changes. Treating insulin resistance can improve or prevent many of these conditions.
Serving Fort Worth & Surrounding Communities
Our clinic is conveniently located in the Fort Worth Alliance area, just minutes from communities throughout the DFW metroplex.
Located at 4801 Golden Triangle Blvd Suite 121, Fort Worth, TX 76244
Ready to Fix the Metabolic Problem?
Book a free consultation to learn how we can help you overcome insulin resistance and finally lose weight.