Speaking truth to empowerment: When health care provider Rachel Johnson, of Town and Country, isn't assisting patients with achieving sustainable weight loss or navigating successful anesthesiology during surgeries, she's cheering race cars driven to championships by her husband's racing team at St. Louis-based Archangel Motorsports.
Rachel's career in anesthesia adds to her knowledge and understanding that people crave medical guidance, compassion, accountability and a plan designed for real life. Hence, she opened a Medi Weightloss clinic in Chesterfield at 510 Baxter Road, Ste. 8, as co-franchisee with her husband, Michael Johnson. "It's a place of medical oversight with a warm, judgment-free environment, which gives people confidence to start, structure to stay committed and lifelong tools to maintain success. We teach patients how to fuel their bodies, understand their biomarkers, build sustainable habits and maintain results with confidence," Rachel explains.
This professional also anchors a loving home to support her husband's victorious business endeavors, nurture three children and caretake their two rescue dogs, Louie, an Australian shepherd, and Rosie, a chihuahua/beagle mix.
As a nurse anesthetist, she's still affiliated with multiple hospitals, such as Missouri Baptist and Barnes West County.
Back To The Beginning
Rachel's passion and dedication to helping people began when she was only 17 years old. "I first worked as a nursing assistant in a hospital. Then I become an RN, working in critical care. I eventually went back to get my doctorate's in anesthesiology (DNAP) at Webster University," she recalls.
She says at one point in her career, she made a shift mentally and physically from treating people in hospitals to wanting to help them proactivity by working to prevent health issues. "I wanted to bridge that gap to optimize others' health."
Rachel says primary care physicians now are under such production restraints when seeing patients in 15-minute visits, they don't get to provide the attention to patient details like they want to. "That's why at our weightloss center, the first patient visit is typically an hour and a half. We want to provide an appropriate amount of time and resources to develop truly one-on-one, personalized plans."
She says they use true science and true tools to measure a variety of health and biometric data points to guide evidence-based weight loss programs for each person, including accurate genetics, BMR (basal metabolic rate) and BMI (body mass index). Instead of only tracking total weight, she says they focus on comprehensive metrics to monitor fat loss, muscle preservation and metabolic health.
Nature Of Yo-Yo Weight Journeys
"Most weight management programs fail because they rely on restriction, willpower or trends instead of individualized care. With our Medi Weightloss plans being medically supervised, data-driven and tailored to each patient through body composition analysis, nutrition counseling, evidence-based protocols and weekly provider support, we help people actually achieve their weight goals," proudly explains Rachel.
Assisting patients with taking control of their preventive health is key. Rachel says so many patients come to the clinic as weight-conscious people who have shame-based narratives dominating their mindsets.
"We work predominantly with women, and people don't realize that changing hormones play such a major role in our weight management and stubborn belly fat," Rachel asserts. "They're so relieved to find out that challenging management of overall weight is not all their fault, or from lack of trying. Sure, people can eat less and work out more to lose weight, but they're usually losing the wrong components, such as water and muscle mass, rather than fat."
She reminds that those who try starving themselves to weight goals often experience foggy mental health, because "our brains still need to be fed." And, weight lost in this manner tends to come quickly back.
In the age of GLP-1 medications, Rachel says people are flooded with ads promising quick weight loss, often without proper medical oversight. She states it's imperative to remember that all medications are "not magic bullets" and they can cause real side effects.
"At Medi Weightloss, we prescribe GLP-1s when appropriate, but we never rely on medication alone. We pair it with comprehensive plans, accountability and weekly monitoring to protect lean muscle, support long-term metabolism and keep patients safe. GLP-1s can be powerful tools, but only when used responsibly and in the right clinical context. Our goal is to help patients achieve results that last, not lose weight rapidly, only to regain it later," Rachel says.
She shares that it's common for Medi Weightloss patients to lose 10 pounds in their first week of working with her and her team, and then up to 30 pounds in the first few months.
Next Steps
Rachel's vision is to expand Medi Weightloss across the St. Louis region with future clinics serving as supportive wellness hubs, offering medical weight management, nutrition education, body composition testing, IV therapy and ongoing guidance.
She says she hopes to continue her public speaking engagements, such as through chamber of commerce, YMCA and Missouri Athletic Club events, to encourage others to realize that achieving desired weight goals is real and achievable.
"By addressing foundational health, we can reduce chronic disease, improve energy and confidence, and help people experience wellness as a lifestyle rather than a struggle. When people feel good in their bodies, they show up differently in every part of their lives," she says.
"It's truly more about what's safe and what's not among health care options. I want everyone to have a voice in their own health so they can own it. And I want everyone to have accurate, safe information when making health care choices and decisions."