Our approach
The chart ends here. Your life doesn't.
Beyond the numbers
Five areas worth checking in on, alongside the numbers
GLP-1 medicines are measured in pounds and lab values. The people taking them live in a much bigger world. These five areas keep that world in view, for patients and for the clinicians who support them.
Mood, stress, anxiety, and the quieting of food noise. What surfaces when food stops covering feelings.
Body image, self-concept, and the lag between a changing body and a changing sense of self.
Partners, family, friends, and the many ways shared meals shape connection.
Movement, sleep, routines, and the habits that help change last.
New experiences, purpose, joy, and the life the numbers were meant to make room for.
About
Dr. Tom Rutledge
Thomas Rutledge, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist living in Fayetteville, North Carolina. For more than two decades he was a staff psychologist at the VA San Diego Healthcare System and on the faculty of the UC San Diego Department of Psychiatry, rising to Professor-in-Residence. At the VA he was the lead psychologist for a multidisciplinary weight control clinic, conducting pre-surgical bariatric evaluations and treating emotional and binge eating.
His research on how psychology shapes eating, weight, and heart health spans more than 110 peer-reviewed articles, and his newest work tracks changes in mood, psychiatric symptoms, and eating behaviors during GLP-1 treatment. He translates that science for everyday readers through six books, his Psychology Today blog, The Healthy Journey, where several articles have been named Essential Reads, and his weekly Substack, GLP-1: Beyond the Numbers.
PhD in Clinical Psychology, University of British Columbia · Postdoctoral fellowship in cardiovascular behavioral medicine, University of Pittsburgh
Media & speaking
Interviews, podcasts, and talks
Dr. Rutledge speaks with journalists, podcast hosts, and clinical audiences about the psychological side of GLP-1 treatment.
Talks and interviews on
Suggested introduction
Dr. Thomas Rutledge is a licensed clinical psychologist, a former UC San Diego professor, and the author of GLP-1 Journeys. He has spent more than 20 years treating and studying the psychology of eating and weight, and he writes GLP-1: Beyond the Numbers on Substack and The Healthy Journey blog for Psychology Today.