Doctor's Guide to Effective Fat Loss for Women with Dr. Michelle Levitt

Hey guys, Dr. Josh Axe here along with Dr. Michelle Levitt. Hey, Dr. Michelle, glad you're here with us today.

Great to be here.

Today, we're going to be talking about ancient medicine today and really effective ways to lose fat for women quickly. And Dr. Michelle here has an incredible background. She's a medical doctor, pediatrician, and she's a childhood obesity expert. And so, we're going to talk about, again, how to lose that fat fast, all natural using supplements and diet. And other techniques here today. And by the way, if you are watching this video live, hey, do us a favor, punch that share button, click that live button, help us spread the word because there are millions of women today struggling with weight gain and unable to lose some of that weight. And unfortunately, that extra weight can increase your risk of cancer, of heart disease, of diabetes, a number of other health conditions as Dr. Michelle is going to talk to us about here today. But step number 1 we're going to talk about here is ditching the scale. Dr. Michelle, what do you recommend as you work with women to lose fat, body fat? Why do you recommend they ditch the scale? And let's talk about some of the others here, maybe mention why they should stop yo-yo dieting as well.

Okay, so ditching the scale I think is really important because we get too focused on the weight number. And in women, the weight number can change daily from 1 to 5 pounds based on water weight or whatever. So if you're weighing every day, you just get obsessed and also very discouraged. So I usually recommend that you ditch the scale and actually go by things more like how your clothes fit, maybe Measurements, especially around your waist. And also focusing on the fact that the weight number is not what we want. We want fat loss, not weight loss.

That's good.

So when we lose weight, we just get to be a smaller same size, right? So if we're apple-shaped, we get to be a smaller apple. We want fat loss where we change our body composition. So that's why the weight on the scale doesn't even matter. So stopping yo-yo dieting, you want to get into eating less and exercise more does not work. So people eat less, exercise more, go on a diet, then they go off the diet, then they go on the diet. But it's been proven over and over that eating less, exercise more does not work, so stop the yo-yo dieting.

Yeah, great, great stuff here. And again, I think a lot of people today get burnt out with the yo-yo dieting. And I think that's— diets themselves have been one of the— unfortunately can have negative side effects with a lot of people. But I remember I grew up in more of the— fitness industry in terms of in high school and even college and eating like egg whites with brown rice and canned tuna. It was so dry. It was just terrible.

Yeah.

But I think a lot of people sort of make themselves miserable with these diets today rather than eating things that are both healthy but also can taste good as well. And find the right fit for you. I'll just mention with this one a few ground rules here. You know, everybody's body is different, right? Why don't you actually just, you know, I mean, have you experienced that in working with— I know you've worked with thousands of women in helping them lose weight, but especially body fat. Everybody's body is different, right?

Absolutely, yeah. So not only different body shape and composition, but different stresses. So if you've been chronically yo-yo dieting, you have chronic stress and high cortisol, you're going to respond differently to certain kinds of diets than a person who's not under as much stress. So basically, I tell families— I'm used to working with kids, but when I work with women, I tell women, you have to find the fit for you. So we may start with one type of diet plan, but we may And we shift it based on what's happening. So I have people pay attention to hunger, energy, mood, and cravings, and also results. So whether their labs change or their body composition changes, we adjust constantly based on what's happening with their body so we find the perfect fit, what they land on when they find the perfect fit for fat loss.

That's good. And we'd love to hear from you right now here on Facebook Live. And hey, if you're a person that's done a yo-yo diet, let us know the yo-yo diet that didn't work for you, or maybe there's a diet that did work for you. Again, you know, I know that we've both seen things like the ketogenic diet work for some people, whereas maybe a diet that's more plant-based, just lots of fruits and vegetables, work better for somebody else. So we know everybody's body is different. So that's one of the most important keys is listen to your body. Now, we have a prescription here as food is medicine here from Dr. Michelle. So we're going to talk about your fat loss prescription here today. All right. Talk about the importance of breakfast.

Okay, so you mentioned ketogenic diet actually, which kind of goes along with powering up your breakfast. So you could do it a couple of different ways, which we'll get to in the next couple of slides about intermittent fasting. But you don't always have to eat breakfast. So that's one point. So you may not feel good eating breakfast or you might feel better not eating breakfast. But that's been pushed into us for so many years. You have to eat breakfast, don't skip breakfast. If you skip breakfast, you don't lose weight. It's just not true, simply not true. What I say, the type of breakfast that's not working is a sugar-laden breakfast. So the typical standard American breakfast, donuts, muffins, pancakes, juice, toast, those things all just spike up the blood sugar and are not effective for fat loss. So a power-up breakfast that I recommend is one that has protein, fat, and fiber. And you have to have those 3 keys if you're going to eat breakfast.

That's great. So remember that, and that's a huge tip for you. When you're eating breakfast, as Dr. Michelle said, protein, healthy fat, and fiber. And really, that goes for really every meal during the day as she's saying here. Let's talk about your fat loss plate. I'd love to hear from you, Dr. Michelle, what for you or the patients you're working with, what does a typical breakfast and lunch or dinner look like for yourself or the people you work with?

Okay. So typical breakfast, I usually recommend a green smoothie, quick and easy. So you can actually put protein, fat, and fiber all in the smoothie and then that's kind of like your entire plate as well. Mix some leafy greens with water, blend that up, add a protein source and a fruit source and a healthy fat source, boom, power breakfast.

Love it. So what are some of your favorite, let's say, fats, proteins, and even fruit that you might add into it? Like, you know, what have you had this week?

I usually recommend, and what I usually eat is berries. So any kind of berries, raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, they're high in fiber, high antioxidants, lower in sugar. So berries are a big go-to for smoothies. Fats, definitely just throwing in a tablespoon of coconut oil, chia seeds, flaxseeds. black seeds, even throwing a whole avocado in or half avocado because it makes it nice and creamy and just like filled with fat and fiber. And then protein sources, that's where it gets a little bit touchy because you're not going to throw a chicken breast into your smoothie. So full-fat organic pasture yogurt, Greek yogurt is okay. I usually just use something quick like a plant-based protein powder or bone broth powder or a really good quality whey protein powder if you can, you know, make sure you find a good source. So that's an easier way to do smoothies.

Great stuff. Awesome. All right. And then—

Oh, you mentioned lunch and dinner.

Yeah, yeah. So what about dinner?

Give us an example of dinner. So the fat loss plate, lunch and dinner would be really the same. So my fat loss plate is 3/4 of your plate is vegetables. And it doesn't have to be all the same kind. Typically, I recommend several different kinds. So maybe a raw salad with some cooked roasted cruciferous vegetables. And then about the palm of your hand size of protein. And then the other part of your plate, healthy fat or adding on healthy fats. And then the fruit and starch, not necessary. So especially for weight loss. Ketogenic diet has been shown to be really effective. Again, not for everybody, but I usually have you add in the starch or fruit, the sugar source, maybe after the first 14 to 21 days depending on what results you're getting to get you off your sugar cravings and start using fat as fuel. And adding just maybe bites of starch in based on your hunger, energy cravings, mood, sports performance, and results.

Yeah, and we'd love to hear from you right now. If you've ever followed a ketogenic diet or versions of the paleo diet that's more plant-based and organic-based, we'd love to hear from you if you've ever seen results with that diet as well as Dr. Michelle here is talking about. So let's talk about intermittent fasting or carb cycling.

Okay. So a couple of different approaches to the way we eat our foods. So intermittent fasting, you'll see several different ways. So basically what it means is not eating for a certain period of time. So we all intermittent fast when we sleep, right? So whether you sleep for 7 hours or 10 hours, you're getting 7 or 10 hours of fasting. And then in the morning, you break the fast, which is called breakfast. Intermittent fasting is basically kind of saying give your body a break. Let your body have a chance to digest the food. And by going for a certain long period, it's different based on which model you're following, but start using fat as fuel instead of the food you just ate. So basically every time we eat, we're just using that fuel. So it also uses the principle of not— like a lot of people will be like, oh, I'm going to go work out, I'm going to eat a banana. So your body is just burning the banana when you work out instead of using fat as the fuel source.

Yeah, so one of my questions would be, Are there any, you know, like, let's say side effects? Like, I know if my wife, and listen, babe, if you're watching, forgive me, but if my wife misses a meal, she gets really hangry. I don't know if there's any women watching this who get like, you know, you miss a meal and you get a little bit crabby. Hey, guys too, we know this, but—

Yeah, some of the side effects, again, getting hangry for sure. And it's also not for everybody. So some people, just the way their blood sugar fluctuates or, you know, but if you're eating the right food at the previous meal, You should be able to sustain the fast. But you do have to listen to your body and that's why intermittent fasting is not for everyone. And also, sometimes it doesn't work well for women to intermittent fast every day, especially if you have thyroid issues.

Yeah, great point. And I've seen that as well in working with a lot of women with thyroid issues is that case as well. But I think once they get on a healthier diet, they actually can eventually move to this diet as you're saying. And the other thing is this, is that, you know, Sometimes you've got to go through this sort of detox or this transformation period for your body because I remember when I first got on a ketogenic diet, it was more than 10 years ago, about 12 years ago. I did the ketogenic diet for a while and I remember the first 3 days I was really sluggish. Then I felt a little bit better, but really for 2 weeks I was tired. And then after 2 weeks I just felt like, wow, like I just broke through this plateau, started feeling great every day. Really incredible balanced level of energy all day. But I think at first, sometimes when you're really changing things, you can have some of those side effects. But again, there's a positive result in the end, which is fat loss as we're talking about.

Right.

So let's talk about exercise time. What do you recommend for people, women who want to burn that body fat? And really, you know, I think a lot of times with women too, again, they think too much about— you mentioned this— about weight. Not enough about losing the fat because you look at, I'm just throwing a celebrity out there, like Jennifer Garner or certain track athletes. I mean, they are really fit. I mean, they're thinner, but yet they've got some muscle tone, they're fit. In order to do that or build a certain type of body and lose fat at the same time, what type of exercise do you recommend and how much?

So exercise, I recommend actually working out smarter, not longer. So typically within that weight loss type mentality of looking at the weight on the scale, we have these long steady-state periods of cardio where I got to go run for an hour a day or get on the elliptical for an hour a day. So I recommend mixing in a couple of things. Don't be afraid of heavy weight training.

Yeah.

Add that in 2, 3 times a week, heavy strength training. And then mix in high-intensity interval training.

Yeah.

And so what that is, I think you term it burst training, same thing where you're bursting at a hard high intensity for a short interval and then resting and then repeating that process. And that type of exercise can be as short as 15 minutes.

Yeah.

So that's a great way to add in if you're short on time, add some burst training in. And then I definitely add in for fat loss for women restorative type exercise. So you don't have to exercise hard and long every single day. It's not effective. You have to build in some restorative days. And actually restorative exercise goes really well with that, with the burst training. So you do like a 10-minute or 15-minute HIIT and then do like a 30-minute restorative walk. And your body is just using— you've already like released the fat out of the fat cells and now you're burning the fat just on your walk.

Yeah. And, you know, one of the things that's so great, Dr. Michelle, about walking this time of year, you know, whether it's spring or early morning in the summer or late evening or in the fall, is that, you know, people can get multiple benefits, especially if they get a trail. You know, they can get some of that vitamin D, some of those grounding effects if you kick off your shoes. But, you know, some of those things can help with that cortisol issue that you mentioned before as well.

Uh-huh.

Any lifestyle changes that are important when it comes to, you know, So the big one is definitely the recharging and de-stressing.

So we are typically chronically high in cortisol from yo-yo dieting, focusing on the weight, exercising long and hard. So basically just completely revamping your thinking and adding in those restorative exercises, maybe some yoga, some walks.

Yeah.

And then lifestyle change, just as in you have to kind of prepare for changing how you're going to eat, getting everything ready so that you're prepped for success.

Yeah, it's brilliant. It's one of the things, and that's one of the things I love about what you teach, Dr. Michelle, is that it's very holistic. It's integrative medicine. It's functional medicine and what you're teaching people. Because a lot of times, I mean, women, this is a crazy thing today. People will go into their doctors and they will just literally sometimes be prescribed a pill and not even given any dietary advice, or the dietary advice is weigh yourself, exercise more, and eat less. It's like—

Right, right.

Wow, thanks a lot.

Yeah.

So it's just not effective there at all. I know my mom, just to give you an example of this too, my mom battled a number of health conditions, thyroid issues, cancer, had some weight issues. And one of the things she started doing, I mean, de-stressing was probably the most important thing she did to lose body fat. In fact, she lost about 16 to 18 pounds in just a month because— and it wasn't even by going on a diet. She had to get healthier. But one of the things she started doing was, you know, we started scheduling in like times to de-stress. And for her, like going walking around the mall or she started walking a lot and getting outdoors and that was a big thing.

Right. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

All right, let's talk about exercise tomorrow. So we touched on a few of these things. So Dr. Michelle here talked about weight training. So let's just mention this quickly. Women tend to think They're lifting heavy because you said heavy weights earlier. They tend to think they're going to get bulky and maybe very muscular. What's the truth in weight training for women?

Yeah, the truth is women don't make enough testosterone to get bulky, so it's just not an issue.

Yeah, and if you ever see a woman who is a bodybuilder, she's on a synthetic steroid. I mean, that's the absolute truth. You see their jawline changes, there are physiological changes. That's not from the weight training. That's from the synthetic supplementation of steroids.

Right, absolutely. And muscle burns fat, so if you want to change your body composition, you have got to build lean muscle mass. So muscle burns fat. So you've got to lift heavy to get the muscles.

Great stuff. And it doesn't have to be, you know, 20 minutes a few days a week can make a big difference there. We talked about HIIT training and burst training, restorative movement as Dr. Michelle talked about. Some of those different forms of movement are great. And then let's talk about some lifestyle tips here. By the way, if you're enjoying this live training here with Dr. Michelle Lovett and myself, and Dr. Michelle is a pediatrician and she is an expert in childhood obesity, hey, do us a favor right now. There are a lot of women right now struggling with losing the extra body fat. Punch that share button, click that like button, help us spread the word on how to use food and lifestyle as real medicine, which is what I love here about Dr. Michelle. She practices integrative and functional medicine, helping people get well and lose the weight naturally. So let's talk about sleep and stress here. How important are those when it comes to weight loss? And if somebody is not getting a lot of sleep or enough, what does that do to the body hormonally?

So yeah, we talked a little bit about stress, but sleep is actually another— one of the most important factors. So we always talk about exercise and nutrition, exercise and nutrition. We cannot forget about sleep. Sleep is almost the most important. So sleep at night is when our hormone resets and re-regulates and the good growth hormone and things come out. But if we don't get enough sleep, the body actually releases the hunger hormones and the ghrelin action, we're hungry more. So it's really proven. And I've done it before with staying up late studying or doing something and I thought, oh, I'm like eating so much today. And it's because I didn't get enough sleep the night before, which will just sabotage your fat loss efforts.

That's big. Big stuff. So she's talking about some of these hormones like ghrelin and leptin. And you've had this, if you're a person watching this as well and you've had those hunger cravings where you're like— I think for most people, the reason why their diets crash is those cravings.

Yeah.

They cannot get over those cravings for carbohydrates. But again, a big part of that, Dr. Michelle, I just want to hit on this because it was such a brilliant tip by her, you've got to get good quality sleep or your hormones are not going to be balanced and those hunger cravings can just So again, getting good sleep, keeping stress levels low. And then in terms of supplementation, what are some of the supplements that you recommend to women who are trying to both lose fat but also just stay healthy, especially hormonally?

So basically, you have to— obviously, this will go with the hormonal balance as well. You have to listen to the woman. So she may, you know, if she's experiencing more stress, we might add in some adaptogens like ashwagandha.

Right.

And so I actually— almost everybody needs to add that in just because everyone's under stress. There's no— but also just simple ones like vitamin D, omega-3, probiotic. Probiotic helps reset the healthy gut flora, which actually will help your fat loss attempts. And then hormone balance. Basically, you have to figure out, do you have thyroid symptoms? Are you doing all these things correctly but you're still not seeing results? There may be a bigger hormone imbalance than we see, which may be a thyroid or adrenal issue, or women's hormones may be out of whack depending on the age of the woman.

Right.

Yeah. So balancing out the testosterone with estrogen and progesterone based on the age of the woman and what they're experiencing.

Great advice. So Dr. Michelle's advice, remember these supplements, ashwagandha, great for thyroid and adrenals. She mentioned an omega-3 supplement can be great there as well. Probiotics are key as well. And then for hormone balance, she kind of mentioned ashwagandha there. Other adaptogenic herbs can really help the body here as well. And hey, I want you guys to check out Dr. Michelle's website. And again, it's DrMichelleLeavittMD. You can see her website here. DrMichelleMD.com. She's got some great information on there in terms of how to lose weight naturally for women, how to lose the body fat both for women as well as children as well, which is really where she's an expert, both in women and childhood weight loss there as well.

Yeah.

And by the way, again, if you've enjoyed this live training, you know, we want to say thanks for all of you that have been, you know, hitting that share button, like button, helping us spread the word. There are so many women out there that struggle with not being able to lose the weight. And, you know, the biggest thing that affects is not only, you know, heart health or cellular health or hormonal health, it's really self-esteem. And I think for a lot of women, you're going to see if you can follow the advice that Dr. Michelle lays out for you on her website, you're going to see some great results in losing that body fat fast, keeping it off, and being healthy at the same time. So, Dr. Michelle, thanks for being part of the program. And thanks, guys, for watching Ancient Medicine Today.

Thank you.

Hi, Dr. Axe here. I want to say thanks so much for checking out this YouTube video. And also, don't forget to subscribe if you want to get more great content on things like herbs, essential oils, natural remedies, and how to use food as medicine. Also, check out more of our content on my YouTube channel. Thanks for watching.