Mark “Shep” Shepherd — 59 years old, 50 lbs lost, 35 years in medical devices.

Section 1

My GLP-1 Story

I started Mounjaro (tirzepatide) in January 2025 at the direction of my physician. I was 58 years old, living in Udon Thani, Thailand, navigating GLP-1 access from outside the U.S. healthcare system. That international perspective turned out to be a feature, not a bug — it forced me to understand the medication, the biology, and the habits on my own terms, without a clinic holding my hand every week.

I had thirty-five years of clinical exposure behind me. I knew what doctors knew about obesity pharmacotherapy because I had spent decades in their offices. What I did not have was personal skin in the game — until I did.

The medication does real work — Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound are the most clinically significant obesity pharmacotherapies in a generation. But they do not build the habits that preserve lean mass while you lose weight, and they do not teach you what maintenance actually looks like. That gap is what I set out to fill.

By October 2025, I had hit my goal. I was fifty pounds lighter at 59 years old. In May 2026 I published Your First 9 Months on GLP-1 — The S.H.E.P.S. Method℠. Everything in the book is what I actually did, not what I theorized from the sideline.

Section 2

The Five Habits Behind The Method

S.H.E.P.S. is an acronym for the five daily practices I built my protocol around. I am not a physician and this is not medical advice. These are the habits I followed, documented in real time, that I believe made the difference between losing fifty pounds and losing fifty pounds while preserving the lean mass that makes it matter.

The full rationale behind each habit — including the clinical reasoning I pulled from my device career, the exact targets I used, and the mistakes I made in the first ninety days — is in the book. Get the book here.

Section 3

35 Years in Medical Devices

I was born in 1966. I spent thirty-five years in medical device sales, the last twenty-six of those with Medtronic — the largest medical device company in the world. I called on ENT surgeons across Northern California. I was twice named U.S. Representative of the Year at Medtronic.

What that means practically: I have spent thirty-five years inside operating rooms and clinic exam rooms watching how physicians make treatment decisions, how medical evidence gets translated (and sometimes mistranslated) into clinical practice, and how patient outcomes diverge from what the trials predicted.

• 35 years total in medical device sales (career start: 1991)
• 26 years with Medtronic, calling on ENT surgeons in Northern California
• Two-time U.S. Representative of the Year at Medtronic
• Front-row view of how obesity pharmacotherapy moved from the margins to the mainstream

I am not a physician, a registered dietitian, or a licensed healthcare provider. I do not diagnose or treat. What I bring is thirty-five years of clinical adjacency — the pattern recognition that comes from watching medicine practice — applied to my own patient experience on GLP-1.

In April 2026 I founded Maps Health Network, LLC, the parent company of The S.H.E.P.S. Method℠, GLP-1 Maps℠, and the GLP-1 Receptionist℠. I currently live and work in Udon Thani, Thailand.

Section 4

Why I Wrote This Book

When I started Mounjaro, I searched for a patient-authored, experience-based guide to GLP-1 from someone who had actually done it. I did not find one that satisfied me. What existed was either clinical literature (written for providers), marketing content (written for conversions), or anecdotal forum posts (useful but unstructured).

I had the clinical exposure to read the trials and understand the pharmacology. I had the personal experience of being a 58-year-old patient on Mounjaro for nine months. And I had a framework — the five habits I had built into a repeatable daily system — that produced a fifty-pound result in nine months.

That is the gap this book fills. It is not a medical textbook. It is not a diet plan. It is a patient-authored, experience-rooted playbook written for anyone starting or currently on Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, or Zepbound who wants to get the most out of the medication they are already taking.

Beyond the book, I have built several tools inside the GLP-1 Maps℠ network to help patients navigate access, insurance, and provider-finding. GLP-1 Receptionist℠ is an AI-assisted front desk for clinics offering GLP-1 therapy. GLP-1 Maps Patient Concierge System℠ connects patients with verified providers. All of it is built on the same premise: patients deserve better infrastructure.