Women’s Health & Weight Loss
Medically reviewed by Robert Fortino, DO · Updated September 2026
Feeling strong and steady in your own body is a goal worth pursuing, no matter what stage of life you’re in. When you’re eating well and staying active but your body isn’t responding in the way you had hoped, it helps to have a doctor who understands why.
Dr. Robert Fortino opened one of the region’s first medical weight loss practices and has nearly 30 years of experience. He takes the time to look at what’s really behind the changes you see in your body, from shifting hormones to sleep and muscle loss, and explains it in plain terms. From there, he builds a plan designed to help you feel stronger, healthier, and more like yourself again.
Book an evaluation to start a plan built around you and your weight loss goals.
Weight Loss Built Around Women’s Health.
Why Weight Loss Is Harder for Women
Most of the weight advice you’ve heard was written as if every body works the same way. It doesn’t. Women face a different set of hurdles: hormones that shift with each decade, schedules that keep them busy, and bodies that build and hold muscle differently. Understanding these factors helps Dr. Fortino build a plan that works with a woman’s body instead of against it.
If your hips and thighs have always been the last places to slim down, there’s a reason. Estrogen tends to direct fat there (a pattern called gynoid fat distribution), and the fat tends to be slow to respond to diet and exercise.
When perimenopause arrives, estrogen dips, and the link between estrogen and weight shows up in a new way: fat can start to collect around your middle, even if your habits haven’t changed.
Because the body can’t target fat loss to one area, Dr. Fortino’s weight loss treatment for women focuses on overall fat loss while helping preserve lean muscle, with a tailored plan that includes nutrition, strength training, body composition tracking, and medication when appropriate.
Chronic stress and poor sleep can both make weight loss harder for women. Ongoing stress raises cortisol, which can lead to more fat stored around the midsection, while short or disrupted sleep can increase hunger and cravings. Dr. Fortino reviews sleep and stress as part of every woman’s evaluation and builds them into her tailored weight loss plan.
Crash diets and extreme calorie restriction may lead to short-term weight loss followed by regain. Additionally, eating too little can cause muscle loss, lower daily calorie burn, stronger hunger and cravings, fatigue and nutrient deficiencies, and, in some women, changes to the menstrual cycle.
Yo-yo dieting can leave women feeling like they’ve failed when the approach itself was the problem. Instead of extreme restriction, Dr. Fortino provides women with a tailored plan that involves adequate protein and nutrition, strength training guidance, body composition tracking, and medication when appropriate. Regular follow-up visits keep your plan moving with you, including what maintenance could look like down the road.
Your Health Matters, Too.
It’s Time to Put Your Health First.
Reclaim your energy and motivation.
Health Programs Built Around Real Women
Many women juggle work, children, aging parents, and household chores, and their own health often comes last. Weight loss has to fit that reality. That’s why Dr. Fortino’s plans are practical, built around your schedule, and focused on changes you can maintain, not a one-size-fits-all diet.
Medical Weight Loss for Women
For many women, the missing piece isn’t effort. It’s a physician looking at the whole picture. After an in-person assessment of your metabolism, hormones, and body composition, Dr. Fortino may recommend GLP-1 medications (such as semaglutide or tirzepatide) alongside high-protein nutrition and strength training to protect muscle and build long-term health.
Solutions for Low Iron in Women
If you’re winded on the steps or foggy by mid-afternoon, a vitamin or mineral imbalance could be behind it. Heavy periods, pregnancy, and eating less on a GLP-1 can all lower your iron. Iron helps carry oxygen to the muscles and brain, so low levels can make exercise harder and a weight loss plan harder to stick with.
Dr. Fortino can check iron levels, including ferritin, as part of your evaluation when symptoms suggest a deficiency. He will then adjust your tailored plan to include iron-rich foods or supplements when needed.
B12 Shots for Women
B12 doesn’t cause weight loss, but running low can drain the energy you need to stay active. Risk climbs with age, a very low-calorie or plant-based diet, and medications like metformin or acid reducers. If testing shows you’re low, Dr. Fortino may suggest B12 shots.
Probiotics for Women
Constipation is one of the most commonly reported side effects of GLP-1 medications such as tirzepatide and semaglutide. GLP-1s slow digestion on their own, and eating less, drinking less water, and getting less fiber can add to it. Dr. Fortino helps women manage constipation with fiber, hydration, physical activity, dose adjustments, and, when appropriate, a probiotic that may support regularity. It’s one way he helps make your medication easier to stay on.
Dr. Fortino: An Experienced & Compassionate Provider in Women’s Health Care
If you’ve ever brought up your weight at a checkup and left with nothing more than “eat less, move more,” you know how discouraging that feels. Dr. Fortino sees weight as a medical issue, not a willpower problem. He asks about your hormones, sleep, stress, and medical history, and then explains what’s happening in plain terms and builds a plan with you.
Dr. Fortino trained at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and built one of the region’s first medical weight loss practices. Over nearly 30 years, he’s worked with women through postpartum recovery, perimenopause, and the shift to GLP-1 medications, so he can often spot patterns early.
From your first visit, Dr. Fortino or a licensed member of his clinical team leads your evaluation, and Dr. Fortino oversees whether medication is medically appropriate and how your dose is adjusted, with his team supporting you at every visit. He’s a member of the Obesity Medicine Association (OMA) and The Obesity Society (TOS), two organizations focused on advancing obesity medicine.
You deserve a doctor who looks at you as a person and not a number on a chart. As a DO, Dr. Fortino is a fully licensed physician trained to look at the full picture — how your hormones, sleep, muscles, joint health, and metabolism affect one another. Your plan is then designed with all of these factors in mind to help you feel stronger, sleep better, and move with more ease, not just to achieve a smaller number on the scale.
A Plan That Works With Your Body.
Should a Visit With Dr. Fortino Be Part of Your Next Steps?
A lot of women wonder whether their weight concerns are “serious enough” to bring to a doctor. If your weight is affecting your energy, your health, or how you feel day to day, that’s reason enough. For further insight, here are a few situations that often bring women to Dr. Fortino’s offices in Philadelphia and South Jersey.
When habits that used to work suddenly don’t, menopause may be part of the reason. Falling estrogen can speed muscle loss, slow your metabolism, and make hunger harder to manage. Dr. Fortino checks your thyroid and blood sugar, tracks muscle and fat, and builds a plan around protein, strength training, and medication when appropriate to help you manage hormonal weight gain.
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal condition that often comes with insulin resistance, which can make weight gain easier and weight loss harder, especially around the belly. Since losing even a modest amount of weight can improve PCOS symptoms for many women, Dr. Fortino may recommend high-protein, blood-sugar-friendly nutrition and strength training. If you meet the criteria for weight loss medication, he may also discuss whether a GLP-1 fits your plan.
Your body did something incredible, and it deserves a gentle, patient recovery plan afterward. Once your OB clears you, Dr. Fortino builds care around your energy, muscle, and, if you’re nursing, milk supply, often starting with nutrition, proper hydration, and light activity like stroller walks around the park. Dr. Fortino does not prescribe weight loss medications while you’re breastfeeding.
If you’ve done the apps, the shakes, and the Monday restarts but haven’t been able to reach your goals, you haven’t failed. Those approaches simply weren’t built around your body. Dr. Fortino starts with labs and a seca body composition scan, so your plan is built around your specific needs. He then adjusts your plan at regular check-ins as needed.
Questions? We’re Here to Help.
Life gets hectic—we get it. But YOUR health matters.
Take a moment for yourself. You deserve it.
Women’s Weight Loss FAQs
Taking the first step is easier when you know what to expect. Below are straightforward answers to the questions women ask most often before their first visit with Dr. Fortino. If yours isn’t here, the team is happy to help.
How Long Does Weight Loss Treatment Take for Women?
Every woman’s path is her own, so there isn’t a standard timeline. How long you stay in treatment depends on your health, your goals, how your body responds, and where you are in life, from postpartum to menopause. Dr. Fortino reviews your progress at each visit and adjusts the plan with you.
Does Insurance Cover Weight Loss Care for Women?
Dr. Fortino’s practice doesn’t accept insurance, so your care can stay focused on what you need rather than what a plan will approve. Our offices accept cash, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, debit cards, and FSA and HSA cards.
Will I Lose Muscle on a GLP-1?
Some muscle loss can happen with any weight loss, which is why Dr. Fortino’s plans are designed to help preserve lean muscle through high-protein nutrition, strength training, and careful dosing. Regular seca body composition scans track fat and muscle separately, so changes can be spotted and addressed as needed.
How Can I Lose Weight During Menopause?
Losing weight during menopause works best with a plan that helps protect muscle while reducing fat, rather than simply eating less. Dr. Fortino offers physician-supervised weight loss for women focused on:
- High-protein nutrition to help preserve muscle and help control hunger
- Strength training two to three times a week to help maintain muscle and bone
- Better sleep, since night sweats and poor sleep may increase cravings
- Lab testing, including thyroid and blood sugar, to rule out other causes
- Weight loss medication, such as GLP-1s, when appropriate
- Body composition tracking to measure fat loss and muscle, not just weight
Please keep in mind that individual results may vary.
How Can I Lose Weight After Pregnancy?
Postpartum weight loss works best when it’s gradual and protects your energy, milk supply, and muscle. Most women start after their postpartum checkup, once their OB-GYN clears them for activity. Weight loss medications are not prescribed while breast feeding.
Make Your Next Appointment About You
You probably keep track of everyone’s appointments, from the kids’ checkups to your parent’s cardiologist. Now, it’s time to focus on your needs. Dr. Fortino and his team will listen to your concerns, look at the whole picture, and build a plan around your body and your goals. Schedule your in-person evaluation and start a weight loss program that puts you first.
