Hi, I'm Helaine.
Welcome to my first Issue of a new project I’m excited to put out into the world... Making sense of the GLP-1 craze together 😎
A quick backstory on how I found myself starting this… backing up, in 2014 I founded CityRow - a fitness company I built and scaled for a decade before selling it in 2024. I wrote a book called Making Waves. I host a podcast called Step Into Next. And somewhere in the middle of all of that, I decided to take my health into my own hands and went on Zepbound.
My journey has been full of things nobody warned me about. The first injection I cried through on FaceTime. The food noise that suddenly went quiet. The 40 pounds I lost and the complete absence of anywhere trusted to turn when I had questions. I navigated it mostly alone - and I'm someone who is pretty savvy about this stuff, had a doctor I trusted, and friends who were on it too.
What continues to shock me and why you’re reading this - most people have none of that.
It’s clear - this space is enormous, accelerating, and almost completely unsupported. Millions of people are starting this journey every month and everywhere you turn or click, someone is trying to sell you something to capitalize on the uncertainty and lack of foundational support.
I think that needs to change and want to be part of helping everyone make sense of the noise. Where to focus, what to dismiss and where to put your limited financial and energy resources into making this journey successful in the short and long term.
What am I doing? Every week I'm going to help you make sense of what's happening — the news, the noise, what actually matters, and what you can ignore. No agenda. No supplements to sell you. And, we can work through the emotional pieces of this also.
Quick Story & My Story…
A friend called me this week, excited about getting her first dose of pills. She was ready to start…but she wanted to wait until after her annual gyno appointment because she didn't want to have to disclose to her doctor that she was on it 🤯
I said: “You know there's a pretty good chance she's on one too…”
She paused. "You're probably right. She really did look fantastic.😂 "
The shame is real. And it's hopefully subsiding. But that's also part of why I'm writing this.
If you want my full story, the fitness founder on Zepbound, why I kept it quiet for two years, and why I'm done doing that, it's here, and it’s raw.
Onto the good stuff…
💡 Things I Found Interesting This Week
The pill revolution just happened and it’s astronomical. Two oral GLP-1s now exist. The Wegovy pill launched in January, Foundayo (Eli Lilly) hit pharmacy shelves this month. We went from $1,000-plus per month and only a needle to $149 self-pay, $25 with insurance, available at your local pharmacy or Amazon same-day delivery 🤯 That is a historic access shift. I'm going deep on exactly what each option is, what's different, and what the data actually says - next week’s issue.
The stigma is still very real. The American Psychological Association's journal noted that women who lost weight on GLP-1s were judged more harshly than those who lost weight through diet and exercise. A woman spoke to CNBC about Wegovy and wouldn't give her last name. My friend wouldn't tell her gynecologist.
This is a category I'm going to dig into properly because I think the shame is both subsiding and deeply embedded at the same time - and understanding it matters for all of us navigating this.
Target is redesigning its floor plan for this cohort... More shelf space for protein and supplements, explicitly tied to GLP-1 demand. When one of the largest retailers in the country reorganizes its stores around a category, that’s a big deal.
Households with a GLP-1 user are projected to represent 35% of all U.S. food and beverage sales by 2030. It’s not just Target, the entire food industry is quietly reorganizing around this journey. Danone is already reformulating products. CPG giants are not waiting to see if this is real, they know it is and want to capitalize.
This article runs down how the top food manufacturers are responding to the GLP-1 market; Lindt Chocolate’s response is my favotite 10x
Something called "GLP-3" is all over the internet and it's not what you think. GLP-3 isn't a real hormone - it's a nickname for Retatrutide, a triple agonist drug in Phase 3 trials from Eli Lilly. Phase 3 data showed up to 28.7% average weight loss (compared to Zepbound (avg. 20.2%) and Wegovy (avg. 13.7%). No, its not available yet. But it’s coming and a very clear signal that this category is nowhere near its ceiling.
Nearly 1 in 8 American adults has now used a GLP-1 medication. Let that land.
🤖 Sharing My Favorite Hack
Keeping track of what you're actually eating on a GLP-1 is genuinely hard - appetite suppressed, eating less, but your protein and fiber requirements haven't changed, in fact they are more important than ever. The thing that has worked best for me is an ongoing AI chat where I log my food and it flags patterns, low protein days, and what to adjust. Sometimes it flat out tells me what to make or order for dinner. I built a starter version you can use as a jumping off point. It’s pre-loaded with the learnings, key questions and numbers based on what I've learned over two years. [Link here.]
💬 What I'm Hearing
One thing surfaces in almost every conversation and survey response I've collected:
"I want support from someone I'm not in a financial relationship with. Someone I can actually trust. And I want help cutting through the clutter."
That is exactly what this is trying to be.
If you have three minutes, I have a short survey shaping what I build next and would appreciate your thoughts. [Fill it out here.]
And reply and tell me what you want to hear from the next installment 😎
Keep making waves,
Helaine
Helaine Knapp is the founder of CityRow, a fitness company she built and scaled for a decade before selling in 2024. She is also the author of Making Waves, host of the Step Into Next podcast, and an executive advisor and coach working with founders and leadership teams navigating growth and transition. She has been on her own GLP-1 journey for nearly two years and is building something for everyone navigating this one.
This newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making any changes to your medication, diet, or health routine.