Amie: Aww. You too. It’s such a pleasure. Always so fun to speak with you about nutrition, as far as metabolic health is concerned. And probably the primary way most practitioners are working in metabolic health is fat loss, or changes in body composition, and I know your webinar is going to be deep diving into many aspects of that, and today is really about the conversation around that, what the landscape looks like for practitioners in the “weight loss” space now, and as someone who really is, done a deep dive in this area, and worked in it and for a very, very long time, we’re very lucky to have your expertise here. And I wanna open the chat today by asking you what you’re seeing as a clinician, as far as mistakes being made in the weight loss space. Now, that could be the issues you’re seeing, like patients that are coming to you, doing the mistakes they are making, based on, you know, perhaps AI recommendations or Google searches, but, as a broader conversation, what are you also seeing practitioners are missing when it comes to changing someone’s body composition?

Kira: Oh, that’s such a good question. I really think, you know, as, I’m gonna speak as practitioners, because, I mean, we all have our clients showing up with way too much… I mean, they’re showing up trying to be educated, and I kind of like that, right, that, whether it’s AI or Google, they are advocating for themselves, and trying to learn, and then, booking in with us, they’ve realized they need that next step to really fine-tune it. So, I don’t mind that they come in, and it’s, I enjoy the myth-busting. I think that’s part of our job, rather than being so scared of how much info is out there for people. It’s like, “No, let me just clarify this for you,” and, because they get 60%, 70% of it correct, and then you get to do that fine-tuning. As far as practitioners, I feel like a lot of people are scared of doing weight loss or fat loss, or whatever body composition changes. It, you know, I supervise in student clinics still, as well as clinical practice and educating other practitioners, and it’s amazing how many people will come through, even student clinic, whether they’re naturopaths or nutritionists, and they’re like, “I don’t wanna do weight loss,” and it’s like, that’s, like, 80% of your clients. Let’s fall in love with weight loss. So, I actually think the number-one mistake is not trying to fall in love with it. Yes, it’s frustrating, yes, it’s hard, but we know so much more now than we used to, and there’s so many more tools, online, or just information… We, just our understanding of metabolic health in the last decade is beautifully… We just, we understand so much more of what’s happening, so I think the biggest mistake is not falling in love with it, and then not being prescriptive enough. I feel like they give too-general of suggestions, whereas the client can get that off of wherever, their friends, family, internet. We need to be really specific, and I’m not always talking calorie counting, but we need to specifically tell them what to do and not to, because that’s what they’re paying us for.

Amie: Yes. I think that’s great advice, and I think, I can understand why, you know, practitioners perhaps shy away from it a little bit, or feel nervous, and, because it is a real…and as you say, it’s an area where we do need to be very specific. General information just doesn’t cut it anymore. In fact, it never did. We’ve seen how “move more, eat less” is working out for everybody, and it’s not.

Kira: Yeah. No.

Amie: Well, speaking of which, it is so much more individualized than that. And something that you’re going to be covering in the webinar that’s imminently around the corner is the common body composition types that you see.

Kira: Yeah.

Amie: And of course, that’s going to inform the kind of recommendations that person will receive. Can you just give us a few examples of the typical archetypes that you are treating around shifting body composition? And I’m interested, too, if there are six specific differences here, too. What are we looking at?

Kira: Well, I mean, there’s so many different ways to look at body composition and archetypes of people. You know, if you go back in traditional medicine, Ayurvedic, you know, split up… I’m not teaching on Ayurveda, but they split apart, you know, we all have different ratios of what we call doshas. I’m not going into that. But in the West, or, you know, yeah, in the West, if we go and look at body types, like ectomorph, endomorph, that’s a little bit hard to get your head around, so I’m actually gonna introduce the system I understand, with six body types, but I’m gonna quite simplify it, for just looking at, you know, when we say we have to do individual medicine, or individual health for people, looking at… So, we’re gonna break it down by male and female, or assigned male/female at birth. We’re gonna look at body shape. We’re gonna look at muscle mass. Is this person, you know, by sex, we have different ratios of fast twitch to slow twitch fibers, which I know is not that big of a deal in… Well, it is a big deal, because it depends how better we are at fat burning or not. We’re also looking at, you know, where we store fat, depending on sex, how that makes us more metabolically flexible or not. So, I really wanna bring in kind of that big-picture view of who has better access to doing what, and then how our hormones come in and interfere, and help or don’t help with such situations. And also, just, different body types have different, I’m gonna go a lot into chrononutrition, and, you know, because we’re not all supposed to wake at the same time and go to bed at the same time. We’re not actually all supposed to have breakfast at the same time, so I’m gonna go into the body types more likely to gain weight, and we’re gonna look at their chrononutrition or chrono life, that should be kind of focused. Because we all say to people, “Oh, circadian rhythm,” you know, blue light, you know, we go through all the stuff, but we then don’t individualize it, so I’m actually gonna try to take it to that next level of even which systems get more stressed out, depending on body type and things like that. I hope that made sense yes

Amie: Yes, that makes perfect sense. And I really appreciate that there’s those lenses to look at each of your patients through, in order to triage what needs to be done, and then refine it. I think, you know, circadian biology has had a huge spotlight thrown on it in the last few years, which of course is incredibly powerful, but understanding your own particular biology is the level beyond that, so, on the micro, micro scale.

Kira: Yeah.

Amie: I’m curious to know what is the most common patient type you see. Is there a thread, or is it a bit of a mixed collection?

Kira: Ooh. It is mixed, especially if you’re working with people hitting perimenopause and beyond, because the body types that kind of got away with a lot, that have never had to look at weight loss, all of a sudden, hormone cascades are changing, life situations are changing, and, you know, we’ve all heard that “what I used to do isn’t working anymore.” So, that’s a big thing, because then you have these people who haven’t had to be aware now need to be aware. They don’t always, they’re not always the easiest clients to work with, because they haven’t had to worry about it in the past. Whereas, yes, there are two or three body types that are, you know, more sensitive to cortisol, more sensitive to stress, especially in the morning, and they will put on weight a lot quicker, harder to take it off, more likely to have thyroid issues, so, yeah, we are gonna kind of look at what that is, and better rhythms for those people, definitely bringing it down, you know, even to the point of, yes, we all know we need to eat protein. You know, I used to rabbit on about protein forever, and all my ex-students that are practitioners are always like, “Anytime I think of protein, I think of you,” and now, it’s like, that is the big thing. And I wasn’t, you know, I was just coming from a science background, always, but it’s funny that it’s now so prevalent. But there’s minor changes on how you deliver the protein and the timing of it, depending on body type, or what the person is trying to do. So, it’s also playing with that individually, and, you know, amounts, and how to look at it. How to calculate stuff. That’s, I’m gonna go into that.

Amie: Yes. Yes. Absolutely. That sounds fantastic. And I’m, love to ask you a little bit more about hormones. So, you know, I also love the fact that perimenopause is now something that has exploded across, you know, the internet, and women of our generation are quite happy to speak about it, when previously, it was very much a subject that you didn’t talk about.

Kira: No.

Amie: Tell me, what are you seeing, like, hormonally, that, the influences that are impacting women when they reach that chapter, and, you know, of course there are women who’ve maybe struggled with weight their whole life. But for the others, where things were quite balanced until that hormone started to shift, what are you seeing starts to get wobbly or out-of-relationship with the other hormones?

Kira: I mean, well, there’s always thyroid, right? We’re always gonna have to look at that, but really looking at what has happened to their overall metabolism, not just thyroid, but how they’re, you know, what’s going on with their gut, how they’re producing digestive enzymes, versus what’s going on with leptin and ghrelin and insulin resistance that wasn’t there before, and all of a sudden, it is, because they’re losing muscle mass, and through dietary and lifestyle and stress, so the… I mean, every hormone?

Amie: Yes.

Kira: Just that whole cascading impact of loss of progesterone, and then the nervous system, you know, everything having to resettle itself on a different level of hormones, and the impact that that has, especially to their nervous system. I mean, that cascade of what can happen, right? So, you’re, you know, you can’t regulate the nervous system as well, cortisol goes up a little bit, and then you’re not sleeping as well, and then everything gets thrown out. And I, you know, I think, especially peri and beyond, that cortisol/melatonin/sleep architecture is so, oh my gosh, so crazy, tricky, but not, if we go after it. It’s just a lot of work, right?

Amie: Yes, absolutely.

Kira: You know, I mean, slightly separate to this, but it’s hilarious, if you ever, you know, most of us are friends with a bunch of other naturopaths, and if you’d travel or go to a conference with naturopaths, it’s hilarious if you share a house, and you’re all… Okay, so, my friends are all my age, which is peri and even menopause. The amount of stuff…we would all show up, like, our night protocol of what people are taking is, like, it’s absolutely hilarious what goes on. You know, in the, and I’m laughing about that, but in the webinar, we are going into kind of, especially top five things that I use… We will talk about more than five supplements, or some five nutrients, but it’s just, it’s so funny, the different combinations that people… You know what I’m talking about, right, people show up with. And I think it’s just… But we are practicing what we preach, and…

Amie: Absolutely.

Kira: …you know, we’re all working on it with our own bodies as well, right?

Amie: Yes. Well, I’m traveling at the moment, and I’m actually just laughing hysterically on the inside, because I have a sleep kit…

Kira: Of course you do.

Amie: …that has my red/blue blockers. I’ve got a little red light that I use, instead of blue light. I’ve got melatonin, and I’ve got mouth tape. I’ve got my magnesium oil. I’ve got my, you know, my essential oil stick. I mean, it’s hilarious, and I’m like, this is just a, like, a rite of passage for perimenopause, I feel. And you’ve made a good point about the melatonin/cortisol piece, because that also significantly influences leptin.

Kira: Yes.

Amie: I know for, you know, it’s such a catch-22, because when progesterone starts to subside, and the nervous system becomes a lot more sensitized, that impacts sleep. But knowing that leptin is required to dock between 10 p.m. and midnight to the hypothalamus if people are still awake or they’ve been exposed to blue light till 9 p.m., and then they switch the light off you can inadvertently…

Kira: Or they’re eating later, too, right?

Amie: Yes. Yes. Far too late.

Kira: Nighttime snacking…

Amie: Yes. Absolutely. You can be inadvertently setting these things up, and it’s those habitual choices that can end up placing you down a road that you never intended to see yourself hit.

Kira: No. No. No. And that leptin/ghrelin, what signals what, and just, you know, we’re learning so much more about it lately too, with all the GLP-1 and other medication coming out. We are really getting into that finite of what the body is doing and how, and it’s, I think it’s such an… I mean, I’ve always been fascinated by weight loss. But it’s such a fascinating area at the moment. It’s like… And I don’t even know what the percentages are anymore, 65%, 70% of the population is overweight or obese. Eighty percent are probably trying to lose weight, even if it’s those last two or three kilos. It’s just, it’s such an area to…like I say, you need to fall in love with it. I don’t have to sell it to you, but…

Amie: Yes.

Kira: Yeah.

Amie: Well, there isn’t one health condition that isn’t impacted by metabolic syndrome, for a start. And, carrying extra body fat, and/or being underweight in muscle, lends itself to other, you know, degenerative aging, you know…

Kira: Everything.

Amie: …metabolic diseases.

Kira: Yeah. Yeah.

Amie: And so, regardless of what a patient is coming in to see you for, if their body composition is outside of ideal, it’s an opportunity to really support somebody…

Kira: Yeah.

Amie: …to feel better, and improve their other parameters too.

Kira: Oh, gosh, yes. And even, you know, with everyone looking at, you know, peptides, GLP-1s, and all of those things, you know, that’s an opportunity for us, to support, because everyone’s, you know, “Oh, my gosh, they’re losing too much muscle mass. They’re losing all this muscle mass along with the body fat.” Yes, that’s true, but that’s also, yes, it might be a little bit accelerated, but that’s what happens in weight loss anyway. You can’t spot lose unless you’re really overweight and under-muscled, if you just start a weights program at the same time you’re doing weight loss, but you have to be very unfit for that. It is possible to kind of lose body fat and gain muscle, but most of us can’t do that. And so, yes, there’s all these…they’re not, are they side effects of the medication or side effects of just weight loss? But that’s where we have this beauty to step in and teach everybody all the things, the other things they need to be doing, to try to maintain muscle mass, because sarcopenia is a huge issue, not just perimenopause and beyond, but for everybody. You know, they’re now saying longevity-wise, how much muscle you hold, huge impact on longevity, because actually, what they should be saying is how many mitochondria you have still functioning really optimally…

Amie: Yes.

Kira: Yeah.

Amie: Yes. I think sarcopenia, I particularly see that most commonly in women…

Kira: Yeah.

Amie: …far less commonly in men. I think diet culture, and restriction, and in that old, you know, fat, like, a low fat diet…

Kira: Yeah.

Amie: …therefore typically, low protein, is a major issue. In fact, thinking of an old client who was, it was the perfect storm, an aerobics instructor, you know, in their 80s, 90s…

Kira: Yep. Yes.

Amie: …so, doing six hours of cardio a day, and restricting, restricting, and she got down to one meal per day, and she was, I think, 35, 40 kilos overweight in fat, but, like, 12 kilos underweight in muscle, and in perimenopause, and it was just such an unfortunate set of circumstances, but you can see how those habitual choices really led her down that path. So, yeah, sounds like you’re going to be deep-diving into all of that in there in the webinar.

Kira: Yeah.

Amie: I’d love to hear your thoughts on… We already touched on it. We, you know, we might see patients coming into our clinic for weight loss, or, they clearly do need to lose some body fat, as part of, you know, addressing their health. What happens if they’re on a GLP-1? Either they’re about to start, they’re already on one, they’ve been on it for a while. How does that shift the advice that you might be giving? Is there extra things you have to consider? Are the things you would do differently?

Kira: You know, I thought about that, because you and I were talking earlier, and you just really… I don’t actually think what we have to tell them changes that much, but we just have to really reinforce certain important things, probably like chrononutrition, protein amounts. We’re gonna have to… Well, what does change? They have no appetite, or very low appetite. So, actually knowing they are gonna under-eat calories, but that’s part of the point of them being on a GLP-1. So, really focusing on what macros they need to be doing and when, as well as fiber, and keeping that gut motility going, but…you know, the health of that becomes really important. And, again, exercise. You know, I don’t…I’m not a exercise physiologist. I’m not a personal trainer. I pick plenty of people I refer them to. But, you know, I won’t do weight loss with a client unless they’re exercising. I’m like, “You got till your second appointment to be moving. I will refer you to whatever you need.” But if they’re not exercising, I don’t want to be doing weight loss with them, or fat loss, because, A, it’s gonna be so much slower, B, I’m trying to upregulate their fat adaptation, I want the exercise for holding the muscle. Like, yeah.

Amie: Yes.

Kira: We’re trying to avoid… And I will go into the lecture a little bit on adaptive thermogenesis. Like, how the… You know, when we under-eat calories, because it is calories in, calories out, plus about 50 other things, but we still do need to talk calories. You know, the body knows what to do to save itself in times of famine, and it has this adaptive thermogenesis, where it just turns everything down, so it doesn’t need as much. Or even just looking at the idea, once you’re smaller, you have to eat less, and people forget that, right? They’re like, “Oh, I’m 30 kilos less. That means I need less calories per day.” So, just that whole, how all of that combines together, it’s important for everybody, but especially when people are doing a GLP agonist.

Amie: Mm. Yeah. So, it almost sounds like the requirements are very similar, but there are some additional constraints…

Kira: Yeah.

Amie: …like a loss of appetite, which might impact protein, you know…

Kira: Yeah. Fiber.

Amie: …consumption, for example. Fiber. Yeah, all of those…

Kira: The new superfood.

Amie: Yes. Yes, the new superfood. I’m so here for it, though.

Kira: It’s totally the new superfood. It’s so funny. I’m so glad to see the back side of kale, I can’t even tell you. I don’t like kale. I have to admit that, [inaudible 00:21:20] Other greens are good.

Amie: Yes.

Kira: Yeah, fiber. Huge. Huge.

Amie: [crosstalk 00:21:24] fiber. Yeah, thank goodness protein’s shuffled over to make some room for that. Yeah.

Kira: [inaudible 00:21:31] tandem. I just need them holding hands, is what I need.

Amie: Yes, yes. Yes.

Kira: Fiber and protein.

Amie: Yes.

Kira: Yeah.

Amie: I love it. Well, speaking of, like, those aspects, we’ve got those macro aspects, where we’re, you know, managing caloric intake. We’re looking at the ratio of the macronutrients, and how that serves their goals, and how their body’s responding to that, in addition to an exercise program of some description.

Kira: Yeah.

Amie: If we were to drill down more into micronutrients now, I’d love to hear about your favorite children…

Kira: Yeah.

Amie: …as far as supplements go, when it comes to, you know, changing body composition. And I think it’s important we’re clear what that means, because weight loss, when we say weight loss, we really mean fat loss.

Kira: Yes.

Amie: However, with body composition changes, there’s often a requirement there, also, to increase muscle, or we might have someone who, you know, colloquially is referred to as “skinny fat.” They’re actually not overweight, but they’re horribly under-muscled…

Kira: Yep.

Amie: …and therefore, you know, even insulin resistant to a degree…

Kira: Yes.

Amie: …even though they are slim. But if we were to sort of just talk generally, what are some of the tools you often find yourself recommending as part of a protocol?

Kira: So… Oh, my gosh. Where’s the list?

Amie: Yes, where’s the list?

Kira: The things that I really go into…

Amie: I wanna say creatine, because I know… Yeah, creatine, I feel like’s a superhero at the moment.

Kira: Creatine is another superhero. Although there are times where we shouldn’t be doing it, but yes. Creatine, like, my top five, probably, that I’m onto at the moment with clients would be creatine, protein powders, but also collagen. I use a lot of collagen with clients. Even though it’s not a whole protein powder. We’re gonna go into that. There’s a time and a place for collagen, which I love. And, yeah. Great, satiating. Long story. We’ll go into it. Magnesium. How could we not do magnesium? That’s probably, if I can only give one, it’s probably magnesium. You know, the clients that are like, “I’ll take one supplement,” and you’re like, “Oh, I don’t know what to do.”

Amie: Yes.

Kira: And I am going into OEA. Don’t make me pronounce the word. But for those not doing GLP-1s, we have OEA, which I love, and have been playing a lot more with clients over the last, you know, six months or so. So, I’m gonna go into explaining a little bit about how that works and how that gets used, but yeah, those are probably… I mean there’s some, you know, you got your B vitamin… I can hear everybody else going, “But what about this,” you know B, and zinc, and…

Amie: Yes. Yes.

Kira: …inositol, and, I mean, there’s a… You know, you got your berberines, and you’ve got, like, [vocalization 00:24:17] You know, your nervous system herbs. Like, I don’t even have time to go into that, but, you know, if you’re not chilling the person out, or getting them to sleep, it’s not gonna happen, so… Yeah.

Amie: Yes. Yes.

Kira: Oh, my gosh. I don’t even… Yeah. I could list a thousand things.

Amie: Yes.

Kira: But those are one of my biggies. Or those are the biggies. OEA, magnesium, creatine, collagen. What did I forget? Those are kind of my big focus in this one…

Amie: Yes.

Kira: …just because there’s so much impact on, like, the insulin resistance, and energy production, and… Yeah.

Amie: Yes. Can we chat a little bit more about OEA for a moment…

Kira: Yeah.

Amie: …only because it is a fairly new ingredient…

Kira: It is.

Amie: …to the Australian market, and I think practitioners are still getting their heads around that. PEA has been around for a while. This certainly sits in the same family…

Kira: Yeah.

Amie: …but has a different role to play entirely, and most specifically around satiety signaling, and therefore…

Kira: Yeah.

Amie: …appetite regulation, and it’s being positioned… I shouldn’t say it’s being positioned. Let’s say the word on the street is…

Kira: The how it’s being useful.

Amie: How it’s being used is to reduce food noise, which of course is what GLP-1s are, you know, touted for. And I’d love to hear your reflections on what it’s doing, and what you’re seeing, how it’s actually working in clients, like, what kind of feedback you’ve been getting.

Kira: Yeah. So, I’m gonna leave how it’s doing it for the lecture…

Amie: Okay. Great.

Kira: …because to just come out with it, I’m gonna get it wrong, so I’m gonna wait for my slides on that…

Amie: Yes. Great.

Kira: …as for clients, because I think, yeah, we’ll go into that. Not too deep. There’s lots of information…yeah. But, look, food noise, I love the term food noise. I just think and… I know it’s been around for a while, but it’s starting to really be there. And, you know, food noise versus satiety, and when there is good satiety, there is no food noise, or there’s less food noise. And I’m just finding it amazing. People, you know, some people feel a bigger impact than others. I play around with, usually I’ll give it twice a day, but we’ll play around, trying to give it before meals, but if they forget, they’ll do it after. I’m tending to position it before the meals where they have their bigger issues, especially. Like, for the majority of my clients, and for myself, I know my food noise is much worse in the evening, right? I can forget to eat during the day. I do eat, but… I love food too much to not eat, but I know when I start hitting lunch, and then to dinner, especially, my food noise is hideous. So, with a lot of clients, we have that discussion. You know, one of my things in weight loss is to change one meal at a time with clients, right. If you have to overhaul the whole diet, besides, you know, protein amounts, all this stuff, I’m like, “Let’s start with breakfast. Let’s do just an amazing breakfast,” that’s, like, on point. We’ll go into the lecture for 80 reasons why that’s the big meal to really go after first. But then, you know, lunch, for some people, depending on where they are, it could be really hard to access a good lunch, or there’s too many options if they’re, you know, out of the house. So, I will often use it right before lunch, or I especially use it before dinner, just to kind of curb that food noise that occurs, especially after dinner, and so much of that is more emotional than physiology…

Amie: Yes.

Kira: …for clients. And so really addressing it, and having, yeah, I’ve just found it really…just, you know, does it completely get rid of it? No. But just that quieting is fantastic. And people that don’t want to do GLP-1s, which is a lot of people, they feel… It’s not a perfect replacement by any means, but GLP-1s are also not perfect. It’s just such a great adjunct to feel supported in that area. I’ve definitely had…you know, some people are like, it was completely a game-changer, and other people are like, “Oh, I can feel it, but not,” you know…

Amie: Yes. It’s not massive.

Kira: …depends on all their other drivers, right?

Amie: Yes. Absolutely. I think, and again, that comes down to the role of personalizing your protocols, which I know you’re going to go into…

Kira: Yep.

Amie: …for each of those presentations.

Kira: Yeah.

Amie: Another thing that you’re covering is the often-overlooked drivers of fat loss or fat gain. And you mentioned chrononutrition. You’ve touched on sleep, stress, cortisol patterns, appetite hormones, but something else that you are going to be speaking about, and I’d love to just hear a little bit more about it from you today, is non-exercise activity thermogenesis.

Kira: Yes. Yep.

Amie: What is that? How are we utilizing that for our patients?

Kira: Yeah. So, we will go into exercise in general. Again, I can’t be too descriptive on that, but, you know, we all know we need to be doing strength training, but we also need to be doing aerobic exercise, or zone two, which we call, and I actually have some zone information for everyone, because everyone’s talking zones, and they’re like, “I don’t know what zone two is. I don’t know what zone…” you know. Any exercise is awesome exercise, in my opinion. And so, again, that’s our most controlled part of our metabolism. It’s what we can have the biggest effect on, is how much we move or not. Whereas NEAT, or N.E… Non-exercise… Oh, my god. Anyway.

Amie: Activity. NEAT. It looks like neat.

Kira: Activity thermogenesis. We got it. We got it. NEAT, NEAT, well, however you’re supposed to… I’m sure in different countries, we can say it differently.

Amie: Yes.

Kira: That is your incidental movement, literally. It’s, like, the scientific word for that. So, how much you shake. You know, are you a leg shaker? Are you a fidgeter? You know, those people that are constantly moving actually have a much higher NEAT than the people that don’t. But also, like, having a stand-up desk, going for a 15-minute walk after you eat, which is incredible for your metabolism and glycemic control. But all those incidental movements. But the problem is, as we calorie restrict, which we have to do in weight loss or fat loss, your body naturally tells you not to move as much. Like, there’s actual biochemistry saying slow it down, sit on the couch, and literally don’t shake. Like, it’s amazing how the body tries to make you adapt, so… Also just having…you know, NEAT is about being aware of the fact that are you or are you not moving? I’m sitting at a stand-up desk right now. Yes, I won’t do a podcast standing, because I am a fidgeter, and I already move enough. I know that. But having my stand-up desk versus using it are two different things, right? So, it’s about remembering all that stuff we need to be doing as well. So, we’ll look into that.

Amie: Yes. Okay. This, I’m already excited for this webinar. I am absolutely going to be on there live.

Kira: Yeah.

Amie: I’m also really excited to listen to what you have to say about some of the other mistakes I think practitioners can make, overlooking, I guess, the warning signs or the patterns around under-eating, over-training, poor recovery. Can you speak to that a little bit today?

Kira: Yeah. Yeah. So, I think…and this is Kira opinion more than science, but I, you know, as a sports nutritionist, and people joining have maybe been in other metabolic health… I did female metabolic health last year for Designs for Health. Learning to eat around exercise has massive impact on your glycemic control, and what you can and, what you should or shouldn’t eat around training gives you so much more options. And so, we’re really gonna talk about how do you eat around training, and why that is important for fat loss, versus, you know, doing the wrong… You know, you do all this exercise, and then not fueling properly around exercise actually can cripple you a little bit metabolically. Like, not massive. That’s probably a big statement, but it can cause problem… It puts the brakes on things that you’ve, shouldn’t be doing. So, we’re gonna talk about that. We’re gonna talk about… I mean, under-eating for the volume of training, we’ll see how far I can get into that. I did talk about that a lot last year for Designs for Health, but we will touch on it, about eating at the right time for your body feeling safe, to be like, “Oh, yeah. It’s okay to let go of this body fat.” So, we do go into that.

Amie: Mm. Fantastic.

Kira: Sounds like I need six hours.

Amie: Yes. We do. We need, like, a part two and a part three.

Kira: I know. I know.

Amie: Download your brain.

Kira: I know. We were talking before this started, and I’m playing, you know, the last-minute playing with my slides, and I’m like, Oh, my god. Like what do I’m gonna say versus not say?” but anyway. We’ll get there.

Amie: Yes. Yes. We will get there, absolutely. Well, I think, you know, one of the other aspects I find practitioners really challenged by when it comes to fat loss clients, is when their patients arrive at a point where they have been adhering to everything, but they plateau.

Kira: Yes.

Amie: Can you share with us, like, some of the big reasons why a patient could be doing everything that you’ve said, and on paper, it should be working, but it doesn’t?

Kira: Yeah. Yeah.

Amie: Or it stops working?

Kira: Yeah. Yeah. So, that, you know, the dreaded plateau. You know, the way I try to explain it to my clients too is, it’s okay to plateau. It’s your body settling, and sorting out its kind of “new you,” and then we can pause for a moment, and then go at it again. So, I do try to premise plateaus as not being a bad thing. Your body’s trying to kinda, yeah, as I said, reorient itself. Why we hit plateaus? Your body gets used to the exercise you’re doing. We actually need to change up exercise. [inaudible 00:34:49] You know, you don’t jog on Mondays, and weights on Tuesday… Like, you don’t do the same thing forever. You have to change it up. As I talked about…