Dr. Krista Hennigar, ND

Dr. Krista Hennigar, ND Dr. Krista Hennigar is a naturopathic physician providing primary health care, pain management, and

Dr. Krista Hennigar is a naturopathic physician providing primary health care, pain management, hormone replacement therapy, and aesthetic medicine at Helix Integrative Health in Kelowna, BC.

01/21/2026

There’s a persistent misconception that weight-loss medications “replace” lifestyle changes.
That claim isn’t just inaccurate—it’s not supported by the evidence.

GLP-1 receptor agonists (and similar anti-obesity medications) have never been studied or approved as stand-alone interventions. In clinical trials, they are consistently used alongside nutrition counseling, physical activity guidance, and behavioral support.

Why? Because medications do not:
• build or preserve muscle mass
• improve cardiovascular fitness
• optimize metabolic health through movement
• teach sustainable nutrition skills
• replace sleep, stress management, or recovery

What they do address is the biological dysregulation of appetite, satiety, and energy balance—factors that make lifestyle change disproportionately difficult for many individuals living with obesity.

By reducing chronic hunger, food noise, and weight-defending hormonal responses, these medications can create the physiologic conditions in which evidence-based lifestyle changes become achievable and sustainable.

This isn’t a belief system—it’s how the trials were designed, how the outcomes were achieved, and how obesity is defined:
a chronic, relapsing, biologically mediated disease.

Framing medication as a “shortcut” ignores decades of data and reinforces stigma rather than science.

Medication is not a substitute for lifestyle.
It’s a tool that supports it.

You don’t have to choose between natural weight loss and medical weight care.Most people come in thinking they’ve failed...
01/16/2026

You don’t have to choose between natural weight loss and medical weight care.

Most people come in thinking they’ve failed.

They’ve tried diets, exercise plans, supplements, and programs that promised results.

What they weren’t told is this:
⚪️Weight is not just about calories or willpower.
⚪️Obesity medicine looks at hormones, metabolism, medications, sleep, stress, and biology.
⚪️A holistic approach looks at nutrition quality, gut health, lifestyle, and emotional health.
⚪️The best weight care combines both.

Sometimes that includes medication to reduce food noise.

Sometimes it means addressing sleep deprivation, chronic stress, or insulin resistance.

Often, it’s a personalized plan that evolves over time.
If you’ve felt stuck, judged, or confused by conflicting advice, you’re not broken.

You just deserve care that treats obesity as a medical condition and treats you like a human.

Follow for evidence based obesity medicine, holistic weight care, and compassionate guidance for sustainable weight loss.

01/10/2026

A hard truth?
Most people’s “goal weight” is actually them romanticizing a time in life that had nothing to do with weight.

High school.
Pre-pregnancy.
Your early 20s.

Of course things felt lighter — your life was lighter.

Less stress.
Less responsibility.
More sleep.
More help.
More time for yourself.

You’re not chasing a number. You’re grieving a season.
And that’s human.

But here’s what I see every day in clinic: Once people start losing weight, they stop caring about the exact number they thought they needed.

Because what they were actually craving was:
✨ playing with your kids without pain
✨ clothes you feel incredible in
✨ stamina for the things you love
✨ energy that doesn’t betray you
✨ confidence that isn’t conditional
✨ a future you can picture yourself in
The scale is one tool — not your identity.

If you’re ready to build a future version of you (not a past one), I’m here for the real work.

Let’s clear something up:Most people don’t struggle with knowing what to do.They struggle with doing it consistently in ...
01/08/2026

Let’s clear something up:
Most people don’t struggle with knowing what to do.

They struggle with doing it consistently in real life.

Because here’s the truth I see every single day in clinic:
People already know they need to:
• Eat fewer calories than they burn
• Strength train
• Prioritize protein
• Protect muscle as they age

Lack of information isn’t the barrier.

It’s 2026, information is everywhere.

If knowledge alone worked, Google and TikTok would have solved obesity a decade ago.

So why is it still hard?

Because you’re not fighting a knowledge gap—
You’re fighting biology, hormones, appetite cues, metabolic adaptations, chronic stress, emotional eating pathways, sleep debt, decision fatigue, and an environment built around hyper-palatable food.

And doing that alone?
While running a household, a career, relationships, a schedule, and everything else?
That’s not a lack of willpower.
That’s an impossible load to carry.

This is why white-knuckling doesn’t work.
Because it’s not a long-term plan.
It’s survival mode disguised as discipline.

Real change happens when you have:
✨ Structure
✨ Accountability
✨ Clinical support
✨ Tools that match your physiology
✨ A strategy that considers your life, not a textbook version of it

You don’t need to “try harder.”
You deserve support that actually works with the complexities of being human.

If you’re ready to stop doing this alone, my door is open.

12/31/2025

Working in obesity medicine has taught me this:
most people aren’t lacking motivation—they’re exhausted from being blamed.

So as this year closes, let’s be clear about one thing:
your body is not a moral project, a resolution, or a reflection of your worth.

Health is not linear.
Progress is not always visible.
And rest is not giving up.

If all you did this year was stay engaged with your care, ask better questions, or survive a difficult chapter—
that counted.

No glow-up required.
Just continuity, compassion, and permission to keep going.

12/12/2025

Holiday eating while on a GLP-1 doesn’t have to be stressful.

Remember the big 3:
🥩 Protein first
🦋 Slow down
😌 Stop at comfortable, not stuffed

You can enjoy the holidays and honor your meds + your body. ❤️✨

The holiday season is basically a four-week obstacle course of appetizers, emotional triggers, and relatives who say thi...
12/09/2025

The holiday season is basically a four-week obstacle course of appetizers, emotional triggers, and relatives who say things like, “Should you be eating that?” So no, you don’t need perfection — you need a strategy.

The grounding question:
➡️ “What choices will help me feel good tonight… and proud tomorrow morning?”

❌Not “What would diet culture do?”
❌Not “How can I punish myself tomorrow?”
Just: How do I want to feel?

Maybe that means eating the foods you genuinely love — not the ones you eat because they’re there.
Maybe it means stopping before you’re overly full.
Maybe it means having the traditional dish your grandma makes because that memory matters more than a number.

Here’s the underrated reframe:
💪🏽This might be the best month to build muscle.💪🏽

Holiday calories + strength training = metabolic upgrades, not setbacks.

You’re not “blowing it.” You’re fueling recovery and performance.

✨And remember: food is also joy, culture, connection, and nostalgia.✨

You’re a human living a human holiday season — not a robot programmed for macros.

Your success is measured by:
✔ how regulated your nervous system feels
✔ how aligned your choices are
✔ how you speak to yourself
✔ AND your physical progress
…not just the scale.

Most people don’t realize this, but your metabolism is doing far more right than wrong — even when it feels like your bo...
12/03/2025

Most people don’t realize this, but your metabolism is doing far more right than wrong — even when it feels like your body is fighting you.

Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the amount of energy your body uses at rest just to keep you alive. Think: heartbeats, breathing, hormone production, brain function, digestion, repair. This accounts for around 70% of your total energy burn, which means your day-to-day metabolism is mostly determined before nutrition or exercise even enter the picture.

And here’s the part that surprises almost everyone:
👉 Your BMR increases as body weight increases.
👉 Bigger bodies burn more energy at rest.
👉 Your metabolism isn’t broken — it’s adapting.

So when someone says “I swear I don’t eat much, but nothing changes,” it’s rarely because their metabolism is damaged. It’s usually because the signals that regulate metabolism — like hunger hormones, sleep quality, stress load, muscle mass, prior dieting, inflammation, gut-brain signaling, medications, and even nervous-system tone — are out of sync.

This creates the experience of a slow metabolism, even when the actual engine is working hard.

This is where real data matters.

Generic calorie calculators can’t measure your BMR. Fitness trackers can’t measure your visceral fat. Scales can’t measure your muscle mass or cellular health. And guessing based on age/height/weight only gets you so far.

Our new InBody BIA testing gives a full metabolic snapshot, including:
• your true, measured BMR
• skeletal muscle mass
• body fat
• segmental muscle distribution
• how your body changes over time — not just on the scale

This allows us to create a plan that’s:
✔️ personalized
✔️ realistic
✔️ biology-informed
✔️ supportive of appetite, hormones, sleep & metabolism
✔️ and actually sustainable

If you’ve ever wondered “Is my metabolism slow?” or “How many calories does my body burn?”, this test gives you the clarity and confidence you’ve been missing.

✨ DM “BMR” to book your InBody scan and get a personalized metabolic assessment. Your body deserves data — not diet culture. ✨

11/28/2025

Most people don’t struggle because they don’t know what to do… they struggle because their body, life, and biology don’t always respond to the basics.
⁣
If you’ve tried protein, movement, tracking, accountability — and still feel stuck — it’s not a failure. It’s a signal.
⁣
Sometimes lifestyle changes need medical support to actually work the way they’re supposed to. And that’s where we look deeper, personalize a plan, and (if appropriate) consider medication or other tools.
⁣
You’re not starting from zero — you just deserve support that matches your reality.

If your plan renews in January (and most do), this is your friendly end-of-year nudge:Unused benefits usually don’t roll...
11/25/2025

If your plan renews in January (and most do), this is your friendly end-of-year nudge:

Unused benefits usually don’t roll over.

So if you’ve still got coverage sitting there quietly collecting dust, now’s the moment to put it to work.
Here are some ways you can use your benefits before year-end:
• Metabolic Strategizing & Medical Weight Loss
• Therapeutic Botox (migraines/TMJ/hyperhidrosis)
• IV therapy
• Neural therapy / Scar Therapy
• Prolotherapy Pain Management
• General naturopathic visits & follow-ups

I’ll be out of office Dec 23–Jan 5, so December tends to book up fast.

If you need prescription refills over the break, please check those now—there will be no one in office to process refills, calls, or emails during that time.

We offer direct billing for most plans, which makes things even easier.

If you’ve got benefits left, consider this your official sign to treat your future self. ✨

DM or book online to grab your spot before the last-minute rush hits!

Here’s the hard truth most people never hear:Weight maintenance is not a different program.It’s the long-term version of...
11/22/2025

Here’s the hard truth most people never hear:

Weight maintenance is not a different program.
It’s the long-term version of what it took to get the weight off.

If the routine that got you to your lowest weight required:
❌white-knuckling
❌skipping meals
❌6 workouts/week you secretly hated
❌constant “clean eating”
❌perfection to the point of exhaustion
…then your biology already knows it wasn’t sustainable.

Your metabolism is not judging you — it’s adapting to you.

And here’s something no one tells you:
👉 Your “dream weight” might not be your maintainable weight — and that’s okay.

Your ideal weight is the one you can sustain with:
👍🏼meals you actually eat
👍🏼movement you don’t resent
👍🏼sleep you actually get
👍🏼stress levels you can function under
👍🏼a social life that exists
👍🏼metabolic health, not burnout

If you build a life you can maintain, you’ll maintain the weight that comes with it.

Sustainability isn’t boring — it’s freedom.

Save this. Share this. Someone needs this reminder today.

11/20/2025

Social media makes weight loss look so simple…
“Just a new supplement.”
“Just Sunday meal prepping.”
“Just vitamins.”
“Just a little walking.”
“Just a quick fix.”

But the truth?
People share what they want to share — and sometimes they leave out the hard parts, the messy parts, or the parts they don’t feel ready to talk about… including the tools, medications, or support they might be using behind the scenes.

Your path doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s to be valid.

✨ Your body. Your pace. Your story. ✨

Address

#110-810 Clement Avenue
Kelowna, BC
V1Y7C9

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 12pm
Tuesday 9am - 4pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9pm - 8pm
Friday 9am - 4pm

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