Virtual Insulin Resistance & Metabolic Care
Online Insulin Resistance Treatment With Ongoing Support
Understand your metabolic health and receive a personalized treatment plan from a triple board-certified endocrinologist and obesity medicine specialist, with ongoing health coaching to help you put that plan into action.
Virtual self-pay care in Florida, New York, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Metabolic Membership: $225 per month. Comprehensive consultation: $435. No referral required.
Beyond the Scale: Real Answers for Insulin Resistance
Struggling to lose weight despite real effort? Energy crashes, sugar cravings, or a diagnosis you never got a real plan for? Insulin resistance affects far more than the number on the scale, and treating it takes more than a prescription.
You May Benefit From a Metabolic Evaluation If
- You’ve been told to “just lose weight” without a real explanation of why it’s hard
- Weight climbs easily, especially around your midsection, despite genuine effort
- You get energy crashes, shakiness, or intense cravings a few hours after eating
- You have dark, velvety patches of skin on your neck, underarms, or groin
- You’ve been diagnosed with prediabetes or insulin resistance but only given generic advice
- You’ve tracked calories, tried diets and apps, and the results never matched the effort
What Is Insulin Resistance?
Insulin resistance develops when the body’s cells become less responsive to insulin. In its earlier stages, the pancreas may produce more insulin to keep blood glucose within the normal range. This means that fasting glucose and A1C can sometimes appear normal even while the body is working harder to maintain them.
Over time, insulin resistance can increase the risk of prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, and other metabolic complications. Identifying the broader metabolic pattern allows treatment to begin before blood sugar becomes the only concern.
Insulin resistance responds well to the right combination of medical management and sustained lifestyle change.
“Sustained” is the part most people are never actually supported through.
Insulin Resistance Testing That Looks Beyond Routine Screening
Routine metabolic screening often focuses on fasting glucose and A1C. These tests are important, but they may not show the complete metabolic picture.
When clinically appropriate, Dr. Bernal may also order tests that are not always included in routine screening, such as a fasting insulin test, and calculate HOMA-IR, the Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance. HOMA-IR is calculated using fasting glucose and insulin and can provide additional insight into insulin sensitivity.
Results are interpreted together with the patient’s symptoms, medical history, body composition, cholesterol and triglycerides, liver health, medications, and conditions such as PCOS or prediabetes. No single laboratory result tells the entire story. The goal is to identify meaningful metabolic patterns and use that information to create a personalized treatment plan.
Why the Scale Isn’t Enough
The scale can’t tell you whether you’re losing fat, losing muscle, or holding steady while your metabolic health quietly improves or worsens. That’s why we track body composition, not weight alone, and teach you how to measure it:
- An at-home body composition device, with guidance on what to buy and how to read it
- A simple, supervised skinfold measurement, no equipment required
- Interpretation of a professional scan, if you’ve had one or want one
A device or a scan gives you a number. Turning that number into a plan is the part that changes your health, and the part most services skip.
What the Metabolic Membership Actually Includes
- A full endocrinology evaluation with Dr. Bernal, the same assessment used to diagnose and treat insulin resistance and related hormonal conditions
- Regular visits to monitor labs, medications, and progress over time
- A dedicated health coach working alongside your medical care, not separate from it
- Body composition tracking, taught and interpreted by our team
- A personalized plan covering nutrition, movement, sleep, daily habits, alcohol and smoking, and the emotional patterns tied to eating
- Ongoing accountability between visits, with the plan adjusted as you go
- Evidence-based medicine throughout. No fads, no gimmicks.
Information Isn’t the Problem. Follow-Through Is.
Most patients already know they should eat better, move more, and sleep well. What’s missing is a plan that fits their actual life, medical guidance behind it, and someone holding them accountable week to week. That combination is what the membership provides.
Meet Dr. María Bernal Riera
Dr. Bernal is a triple board-certified endocrinologist and obesity medicine specialist who helps patients understand complex hormonal and metabolic symptoms that are often addressed separately, or dismissed entirely. Her approach combines evidence-based medicine, careful evaluation, and a treatment plan designed around each patient’s health and goals.
- Board Certified · Internal Medicine
- Board Certified · Endocrinology
- Board Certified · Obesity Medicine
Specialist Care Designed Around You, Not Insurance Limitations
Apex is a self-pay telemedicine practice and does not bill insurance. This allows for longer appointments and a level of ongoing support that insurance-based care isn’t structured to provide.
- Metabolic Membership $225/month
- Initial comprehensive consultation, optional starting point $435
- Available to patients in Florida, New York, Minnesota, Wisconsin
- Referral Not required
If you’ve been searching for insulin resistance treatment in Florida, you can be evaluated and managed entirely from home. Care is delivered by telemedicine throughout Florida, New York, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is insulin resistance the same as diabetes?
Not the same, but closely related. Insulin resistance usually comes first, then prediabetes, then type 2 diabetes if it goes unaddressed. Some people search for diabetes resistance treatment when what they mean is insulin resistance treatment, and treating it early is how you lower the risk of progressing.
I searched for a diabetic doctor near me. Is this the same thing?
Close. Dr. Bernal is an endocrinologist, the specialist who treats diabetes, prediabetes, and the insulin resistance behind both. As a prediabetes doctor in Florida practicing entirely by telemedicine, she can see you from anywhere in the state, along with New York, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
Do I need a diagnosis of insulin resistance to join?
No. Many patients join with symptoms and suspicion but no formal diagnosis. Evaluation is part of the process.
What if I already own a body composition device or have had a scan?
We’ll help you interpret it and build it into your plan. If you don’t have one, we’ll guide you toward an option that fits your needs and budget.
Is this just a diet or coaching program?
No. It’s physician-led medical care, with coaching built in to support the plan your endocrinologist sets, not a generic wellness program.
Do you accept insurance?
Apex is a self-pay practice and does not bill insurance directly. Some patients use HSA/FSA funds or submit for out-of-network reimbursement.