Today on the podcast:
Dr. Lucy Burns is a GP and a lifestyle medicine physician.
She runs a weight loss clinic called Epiphany Medical Weight Loss and co-hosts the Real Health and Weight Loss Podcast where you get real advice from real doctors and professionals to help you lose weight and revolutionize your health, not just now, but permanently.
Lucy has muscular dystrophy which impairs her mobility. In her 20s she managed her weight with exercise. Alas, this is no longer possible and she became overweight/obese and was insulin resistant. Several years ago, she lost 20 kgs by adopting a low-carb lifestyle and currently speaks at conferences for doctors on weight management, as well as events for the general public, and is now considered an expert in this field.
Episode Outline
- 06:59 Dr. Burns’s low-carb journey
- 11:30 The problem with exercise for weight management
- 16:00 Reversing insulin resistance
- 22:02 How to make yourself more metabolically flexible
- 29:36 The biggest misconceptions when switching to low-carb
- 32:11 The reason low-carb works (and who it’s for)
- 35:49 Whether fasting while doing low-carb is helpful
- 38:55 How to minimize the negative effects and rubbish feeling that accompanies the transition
- 43:33 What Dr. Burns knows now that she wishes she knew then
- 46:10 How to determine whether you are insulin resistant
- 50:04 What to be aware of when beginning your low-carb journey
Key Points
- Insulin resistance has its roots in your genetics. There are people who are programmed to be insulin resistant. If you have parents (particularly a mother) with type 2 diabetes, then you have that gene. We can’t judge overweight people at face value because it could very well be their genetics that makes them more susceptible to weight gain than the “average” person.
- If your body is like a fireplace, it has two forms of fuel: kindling, which burns quick and dies down quick; and logs, which burn long. Kindling is like your carbohydrate and logs are like your fat. Our body works optimally when it’s metabolically flexible and you can use carbs and fat at different times while being able to go up to eight hours between meals.
- Low-carb works because you drastically minimize the amount of processed foods you eat, and the satiety that you get from protein and fat in combination will keep you in range of your caloric requirements—unlike that of carbs which are so easy to overeat.
Powerful Quotes by Dr. Burns
- You need to connect food, body, and mind. They are not three separate things.
- A lot of people say, “I want to get fit,” but they don’t actually have a plan on how they’re going to execute that. They just hope it happens.
- I wish I had known how addictive processed foods were and that food companies are wolves in sheep’s clothing preying on me and my vulnerabilities. I now use that in my determination never to line their pockets again.
- Calories do matter, but it’s the quality of the calories that is most important.
Guest Info
