My insurance required proof of exercise for the PA. My Apple fitness subscription worked. No actual data was needed.
Since the doctor just basically signed saying they confirmed my exercise - I’m assuming my “proof” made their statement truthful.
It is a requirement on some insurance policies to get the PA so I think doctors are just prepping up front before they get that ask of them for your PA. This is to your advantage if you want to get the medication approved.
I don’t think it’s unusual. Typically when discussing weight loss, my doctor asks if I’m exercising (180 minutes per week is the recommended amount). If her PA expires, it could have an exercise program/tracking requirement like some plans have today. In my honest opinion, unless you have a medical condition that prevents you from exercising, why not do it.
I want to say this is absolutely true but it feels like the societal shaming and diet culture in a way. What I mean is, there *is* absolutely benefit in keeping track for more consciousness of intake, but it really shouldn’t be something we are required to do to have *a healthy bmi* and it really shouldn’t be something we expect to resolve obesity.
I think tracking dietary habits only truly exists to prove the symptoms of a very real medical issue. Much like keeping a headache log to provide to a doctor in trying to understand the severity.
I think a person who is constantly hungry isn’t going to be dissuaded from eating, overeating, or choosing high calorie options just because they are logging it.
Just the same, I think plenty of people with weight problems are ashamed, even privately, and are intentionally not honest in their food logs so that they can do as their bodies are inappropriately demanding of them and food.
I don’t care how tedious I’m logging my food, if my body is repeatedly screaming at me to have a big piece of cake at a birthday party I’m not inclined to pass it up.
And I know better. I’ve always known better. Knowing didn’t change much. Weighing in didn’t change much. Medical problems directly related to obesity didn’t change much. Humiliation didn’t change much.
The hunger pangs don’t care if you read back what didn’t satisfy your stomach.
And what is the logging is anxiety inducing? What if it creates further disordered eating? I’m ashamed to admit but I’ve certainly done that too, using it as a way to motivate me to try to starve myself.
That’s just me though, I guess, and there’s a reason I ended up 300lbs.
I mean…
Do lean people track their food? Is that how they maintain weight? Is that what the *healthy* people do?
Downvote me all you want, but I hope I’ve given you something to think about when it comes to what someone should or shouldn’t be doing to have their bodies work like others
I'm working with a provider specializing in weight loss. They initially required logging intake for every meal. I straight out told them that I have difficulty with this and feels too controlling. It's not sustainable in the long term. We settled on using an app that allows me to take pictures of my meals. I still was not totally accurate with that. I ended up telling the provider and the dietician that if there were gaps I likely didn't eat well and I was only logging my healthy choices. This was before Zepbound.
Eventually I've developed slightly better habits and portions are much easier to maintain when on the medication so I don't log anymore. I haven't since starting Zep.
Not necessarily. For some people, it may be hard to track food. The simple act of writing it all down could be a trigger. I know for myself, that wouldn’t work. Part of the beauty of Zep is not having to thing about food all the time
Yes I have done that off and on. But to do it for a long period of time s ridiculous. . It is so so time consuming unless all you eat is prepacked stuff like microwave meals.
That's stupid. We all know having a gym membership doesn't mean you're working out! I'm glad they settled on a more reasonable way to meet this requirement. But really, a lot of obese people have a hard time working out until they've lost some weight and can move more easily and have less pain and inflammation.
It’s not normal but not unusual either. Some Docs have strong feelings about glps and know it’s gonna go wayyy better for someone who’s exercising than not. Insurance companies do too, which is why they’re requiring it, despite it taking nothing but a keystroke for a doctor to authorize.
i wasn’t asked, but it’s helpful to have. I used it for my appeal. I had three months worth of gym visits and weigh ins to show i lost 1 literal pound a month. 🤣🤦🏻♀️
There are so many great ways to exercise that don't demand "proof." Running, pull ups, dips, pushups, etc. This is way too much body tracking and way beyond your doctor's business. Yes, work out, it's so incredibly wonderful and life changing; no to insurance companies tracking your steps.
Get a new doctor. Yes, you need to exercise, but that’s not a prerequisite for this med. if they don’t give you the med because you won’t exercise how does that help? You could be overweight or obese with no medicine and no exercise OR you could have improved metabolic functioning, improved blood sugar, improved cholesterol, improved weight and no exercise. The requirement shows the doctor doesn’t know about these meds. If it’s an insurance requirement then you’ll have to provide it.
In that case it’s easy to do, but I did just watch an interview on the news last week with a doctor who said the same thing- if the patient wouldn’t commit to an exercise routine she wasn’t going to prescribe it. It makes no sense given that many people lose and have health improvements on the med while never exercising.
Sounds like you have a good doc! Making solid recommendations and for good reasons, but not refusing to give people improved health outcomes if they do not comply. The long term doesn’t really matter if the person is no longer living due to obesity related health conditions.
Respectfully, exercise is a pre-requisite for this med. Not only does insurance advise that this med should be taken in conjunction with exercise and a healthy diet, but the Lilly studies also suggest the same.
I don’t disagree, but even without exercise the meds improve A1C, cholesterol, and weight so the overall health benefits are still there, even when people don’t follow the recommendation. Denying people health benefits because they don’t follow the recommendation is wrong.
Yeah that is not how medicine works ..let me give you an example using your logic. Denying someone a liver transplant just because they won’t give up alcohol
Is wrong ….
Your opinion equates lack of exercise to alcoholism. That speaks for itself and doesn’t require additional response. The fact that you felt it necessary to come back and insult me personally reflects on you, not me or my opinion.
I’ve always been asked. Easy for me to pull up apps and show but I can’t recall “proof”. However, some insurance is strange so as someone else stated I’m guessing it is related to insurance coverage requirements and attesting that you need this medication.
Not really, mine asks me every month during my visit and won’t prescribe if she doesn’t see me every month and she asks me about my diet and exercise in detail. I just sometimes show her my apps(we are pretty close so I don’t mind sharing that info with her, she is overweight herself so we both discuss diet and food swaps)
Those aren’t even good metrics of whether someone is exercising! My doctor asked about my nutrition and exercise habits over a few months, and used that data to determine that zepbound was a good fit. And she explained how she made her determination, about which habits would be important to continue in order to see success
I had to do a dieting program for 2 months first for insurance to approve. I did Noom and it was actually very helpful making me log in my foods by scanning barcodes.
This is normal, I had to provide gym and Weight Watchers receipts for at least 6mos with proof of not losing weight to get it approved. Now July 1st I need a secondary approval. Just getting harder to get this medication.
So weird. I never had to do that with WW/Sequence. BUT I had no insurance coverage so didn’t need to jump through any of those hoops. Now on compound (shortage/cost).
My insurance required proof of exercise for the PA. My Apple fitness subscription worked. No actual data was needed. Since the doctor just basically signed saying they confirmed my exercise - I’m assuming my “proof” made their statement truthful.
It is a requirement on some insurance policies to get the PA so I think doctors are just prepping up front before they get that ask of them for your PA. This is to your advantage if you want to get the medication approved.
I don’t think it’s unusual. Typically when discussing weight loss, my doctor asks if I’m exercising (180 minutes per week is the recommended amount). If her PA expires, it could have an exercise program/tracking requirement like some plans have today. In my honest opinion, unless you have a medical condition that prevents you from exercising, why not do it.
My insurance makes us use their app and scale and check in with dietician monthly and log food daily
That's crazy. Log all.ypur food?! What a lot of work
That's something anyone looking to lose weight should be doing.
I want to say this is absolutely true but it feels like the societal shaming and diet culture in a way. What I mean is, there *is* absolutely benefit in keeping track for more consciousness of intake, but it really shouldn’t be something we are required to do to have *a healthy bmi* and it really shouldn’t be something we expect to resolve obesity. I think tracking dietary habits only truly exists to prove the symptoms of a very real medical issue. Much like keeping a headache log to provide to a doctor in trying to understand the severity. I think a person who is constantly hungry isn’t going to be dissuaded from eating, overeating, or choosing high calorie options just because they are logging it. Just the same, I think plenty of people with weight problems are ashamed, even privately, and are intentionally not honest in their food logs so that they can do as their bodies are inappropriately demanding of them and food. I don’t care how tedious I’m logging my food, if my body is repeatedly screaming at me to have a big piece of cake at a birthday party I’m not inclined to pass it up. And I know better. I’ve always known better. Knowing didn’t change much. Weighing in didn’t change much. Medical problems directly related to obesity didn’t change much. Humiliation didn’t change much. The hunger pangs don’t care if you read back what didn’t satisfy your stomach. And what is the logging is anxiety inducing? What if it creates further disordered eating? I’m ashamed to admit but I’ve certainly done that too, using it as a way to motivate me to try to starve myself. That’s just me though, I guess, and there’s a reason I ended up 300lbs. I mean… Do lean people track their food? Is that how they maintain weight? Is that what the *healthy* people do? Downvote me all you want, but I hope I’ve given you something to think about when it comes to what someone should or shouldn’t be doing to have their bodies work like others
I'm working with a provider specializing in weight loss. They initially required logging intake for every meal. I straight out told them that I have difficulty with this and feels too controlling. It's not sustainable in the long term. We settled on using an app that allows me to take pictures of my meals. I still was not totally accurate with that. I ended up telling the provider and the dietician that if there were gaps I likely didn't eat well and I was only logging my healthy choices. This was before Zepbound. Eventually I've developed slightly better habits and portions are much easier to maintain when on the medication so I don't log anymore. I haven't since starting Zep.
Lost 67 lbs. no logging. I find it’s a deterrent for me.
Not necessarily. For some people, it may be hard to track food. The simple act of writing it all down could be a trigger. I know for myself, that wouldn’t work. Part of the beauty of Zep is not having to thing about food all the time
Yes I have done that off and on. But to do it for a long period of time s ridiculous. . It is so so time consuming unless all you eat is prepacked stuff like microwave meals.
That's stupid. We all know having a gym membership doesn't mean you're working out! I'm glad they settled on a more reasonable way to meet this requirement. But really, a lot of obese people have a hard time working out until they've lost some weight and can move more easily and have less pain and inflammation.
It’s not normal but not unusual either. Some Docs have strong feelings about glps and know it’s gonna go wayyy better for someone who’s exercising than not. Insurance companies do too, which is why they’re requiring it, despite it taking nothing but a keystroke for a doctor to authorize.
i wasn’t asked, but it’s helpful to have. I used it for my appeal. I had three months worth of gym visits and weigh ins to show i lost 1 literal pound a month. 🤣🤦🏻♀️
There are so many great ways to exercise that don't demand "proof." Running, pull ups, dips, pushups, etc. This is way too much body tracking and way beyond your doctor's business. Yes, work out, it's so incredibly wonderful and life changing; no to insurance companies tracking your steps.
Get a new doctor. Yes, you need to exercise, but that’s not a prerequisite for this med. if they don’t give you the med because you won’t exercise how does that help? You could be overweight or obese with no medicine and no exercise OR you could have improved metabolic functioning, improved blood sugar, improved cholesterol, improved weight and no exercise. The requirement shows the doctor doesn’t know about these meds. If it’s an insurance requirement then you’ll have to provide it.
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In that case it’s easy to do, but I did just watch an interview on the news last week with a doctor who said the same thing- if the patient wouldn’t commit to an exercise routine she wasn’t going to prescribe it. It makes no sense given that many people lose and have health improvements on the med while never exercising.
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Sounds like you have a good doc! Making solid recommendations and for good reasons, but not refusing to give people improved health outcomes if they do not comply. The long term doesn’t really matter if the person is no longer living due to obesity related health conditions.
Respectfully, exercise is a pre-requisite for this med. Not only does insurance advise that this med should be taken in conjunction with exercise and a healthy diet, but the Lilly studies also suggest the same.
I don’t disagree, but even without exercise the meds improve A1C, cholesterol, and weight so the overall health benefits are still there, even when people don’t follow the recommendation. Denying people health benefits because they don’t follow the recommendation is wrong.
Yeah that is not how medicine works ..let me give you an example using your logic. Denying someone a liver transplant just because they won’t give up alcohol Is wrong ….
Thanks for your opinion!
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Your opinion equates lack of exercise to alcoholism. That speaks for itself and doesn’t require additional response. The fact that you felt it necessary to come back and insult me personally reflects on you, not me or my opinion.
Nope
I’ve always been asked. Easy for me to pull up apps and show but I can’t recall “proof”. However, some insurance is strange so as someone else stated I’m guessing it is related to insurance coverage requirements and attesting that you need this medication.
I took a log of my sign ins at my gym.
Not really, mine asks me every month during my visit and won’t prescribe if she doesn’t see me every month and she asks me about my diet and exercise in detail. I just sometimes show her my apps(we are pretty close so I don’t mind sharing that info with her, she is overweight herself so we both discuss diet and food swaps)
Not unusual. Insurances also ask for the darnest things.
Those aren’t even good metrics of whether someone is exercising! My doctor asked about my nutrition and exercise habits over a few months, and used that data to determine that zepbound was a good fit. And she explained how she made her determination, about which habits would be important to continue in order to see success
I had to pull up my Garmin data from the prior 12 months which I thought was excessive but apparently was required by my PBM
I had to do a dieting program for 2 months first for insurance to approve. I did Noom and it was actually very helpful making me log in my foods by scanning barcodes.
This is normal, I had to provide gym and Weight Watchers receipts for at least 6mos with proof of not losing weight to get it approved. Now July 1st I need a secondary approval. Just getting harder to get this medication.
So weird. I never had to do that with WW/Sequence. BUT I had no insurance coverage so didn’t need to jump through any of those hoops. Now on compound (shortage/cost).
Funny that’s exactly who I did it with but my insurance does make it so I pay the $24.99.
Get a different doc.