This Weight Loss Diet Helped Her Lose 100 Pounds (Without Cutting Pizza!) | Ilana Muhlstein

Ilana Muhlstein: [00:00:00] These are like basic principles I do with everyone. Water first, veggies. Most water helps you feel full. It helps you feel energized. It improves your mood. It actually keeps your stomach from rumbling. There's so many reasons and ways in which water helps with weight loss. Veggies are your best friend 'cause that's what your stomach loves to fill up on for very low calories.

And then all the other benefits it's doing for your gut health and microbiome, which can be helpful for your metabolic health and so much more. So veggies really are your best friend. 

Dr. Brighten: I talk about how important fiber is, especially as you get into perimenopause menopause. If you're not hitting 25 grams or more a day, belly fat will be upon you.

The research is clear. People will say, I disagree. You do not. You need fiber. What do you say to that? 

Narrator: Ilana Stein? 

Narrator 2: Is a world renowned dietician, bestselling author, and the creator of the groundbreaking two B mindset weight loss program that has transformed hundreds of thousands of lives. 

Narrator: Once a teen who weighed over 200 pounds and struggled with emotional eating, 

Narrator 2: Alana lost 100 pounds and turned her journey into a mission [00:01:00] making healthy living feel.

Easy, empowering and sustainable 

Narrator: with over 3 million followers, the bestselling you can drop at book and podcast. 

Narrator 2: Her hit video programs with Beachbody and her number one rated healthy meal delivery service, Alana Meals. 

Narrator: She's become the go-to voice for realistic, results driven nutrition that actually works.

Ilana Muhlstein: Fiber's also a sweeper. It's also like the broom that just clears junk out of our body. So without it. 

Dr. Brighten: What are the red flags of weight loss plans that people should know about? If you see these red flags walk away, this is not going to result in the kind of weight loss you want, which is sustainable and good for your hormones.

Ilana Muhlstein: Huge red 

Dr. Brighten: flag is anything. Welcome back to the Dr. Brighten Show. I'm your host, Dr. Jolene Brighten. I'm board certified in Naturopathic endocrinology, a nutrition scientist, a certified sex counselor, and a certified menopause specialist. As always, I'm bringing you the latest, most UpToDate [00:02:00] information to help you take charge of your health and take back your hormones.

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Don't forget to subscribe, leave a comment, or share this with a friend because it helps this podcast get out to everyone who needs it. Alright, let's dive in. You lost over a hundred pounds. You've been able to keep it off. So I [00:03:00] think a big question people have is what was the biggest mindset shift that helped you achieve that goal?

Ilana Muhlstein: Uh, so, uh, it's such a great question. I struggled with my weight as early as I can remember. I was always the chubby kid. I was always the bigger kid in class and I never wanted to be. Mm-hmm. You know, and so weight became my biggest struggle. It was the thing I was known for. At eight years old, I was sent to fat camp in upstate New York and I had to lie to my friends that I was gonna sports camp 'cause I was so ashamed by it.

Yeah. And I remember my biggest thought in my head constantly was. Like I would just pray to God, give me a different body. Just give me a different body. Give me different circumstances. Let me be the naturally thin girl in the class. Mm-hmm. Who. Has no relationship with food. It's just, it's nothing to them.

And I kept wishing and praying and it never came. And so at 13, 12, 13 years old, I was going to high school and I was at weight loss, fat [00:04:00] camp, whatever you wanna call it, for my maybe fifth or sixth year at that point. And I just remember looking down at my body and being like. You only have one body, you might as well make it rock.

You're not getting this magic potion gift. Yeah. There is no genie. There are no three wishes. It's all onto you. Make the most out of it. And that was my biggest mindset shift that I'll never forget. Just like looking down and finally taking ownership and realizing it's not my parents' fault, it's not my genetics, it's not my circumstances, it's me and I can do this.

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. 

Ilana Muhlstein: That's 

Dr. Brighten: a huge epiphany to have that young. I feel like I probably wasn't until like 27, 28, where I was like, wait, like your body, this is the one you got. You gotta embrace it, you gotta love it. I feel like it came so much later for me. The fat camp you brought up. What happens at Fat Camp? What 

Ilana Muhlstein: is that exactly?

There literally is an MTV show. There's a movie heavyweights that they would show us in camp. Um, it's [00:05:00] all true. Um, it was the same weight loss camp that was featured on that MTV series. I remember wearing a hoodie hiding from the cameras all summer because. I didn't tell my friends I was there. Uh, but you know, you get in, they weigh you, they measure you.

You take before pictures. There are after pictures every week. Your bunk has a. Scale day. When you guys go on the scale, you're all high fiving. How much did you lose? How much did you lose? Uh, your parents and friends can't send you packages without them getting investigated. You have kids sucking on Advil tablets because they're sugar coated.

You have, gosh, sneaking candy and gummy bears. Yeah, all true, all real. I never did that though. I always looked at it as like, make the most of it. Lose as much weight as possible. And I think my parents sent me before. I even realized what was going on. And so I'm very blessed and lucky that at a very young age, I actually have a very positive association with weight loss.

Mm-hmm. Because it was summer camp and I would go and I [00:06:00] would come out looking great, getting a million compliments. My parents would buy me new clothes, except by December, January, all the weight had come back. Mm-hmm. And by the next summer it was all back in Moore. So camp was almost like my refuge, like it was exciting and I.

Adopted that yo-yo dieting pattern probably very early where I would almost feel like I could eat whatever I want during the school year. 'cause I knew I was going back to weight loss count. Ah. And I only realized that later on in life that I was probably yo-yo dieting the way people traditionally do it now where they, you know, eat like binge before Monday morning.

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. And yo-yo dieting, we know sets you up for Metabolic Mayhem. Can you talk a bit about that? 

Ilana Muhlstein: Absolutely. I also think it's important to note that it's not. Just metabolic mayhem. It does horrible things to your skin and your body. Mm-hmm. And I know everyone always asks me like, what do you do with excess skin?

Like, I wanna lose weight, but I have excess skin. I'm like, of course there's skin. Like I have skin everywhere. But it's really that. Let's hope so. Yeah. But [00:07:00] there, especially after three kids, but it's really that yo-yo dieting pattern that I see people go into for so long. Mm-hmm. That really messes with your body shape and skin tone and like stretches you out and then and leaves you so.

Yeah, absolutely. It messes with people's metabolism, especially when they do horrific diet plans. I won't name, but there are some plans, um, one I have in mind in particular where people eat like packaged foods every hour and there calorie control, but there are a million ingredients of stabilizers and gums and all this stuff that's just messing with your, your gut health and your microbiome.

And people do lose a lot of weight, but. Th this one diet in particular, any client I've ever spoken to, I have never heard of rapid, rapid weight regain quite like this. Mm. Just because of it just destroys the metabolism. Just you're, you're killing your muscle mass. You're depleting it, you're slowing down your metabolism.

And also you're not teaching yourself anything [00:08:00] about having a healthy relationship with food or building any lifelong habits because you're following their plan. Oh, I have to eat every hour. I have to eat every hour. And so like, you never understand what to do. Afterwards. Yeah. Uh, so my whole goal in working with people and then also in working with myself is like, it's gotta be simple.

It's gotta be sensible, but it has to be sustainable. Mm-hmm. And I talk about weight maintenance with my clients on day one when they have a hundred pounds to lose and they're like, Alana, like I, I don't care about maintaining. I just gotta lose. I'm like, no, no, no. You always have to have the mindset mm-hmm.

Of maintenance, because we don't wanna do this again. What are the 

Dr. Brighten: red flags of weight loss plans that people should know about? Because I feel like there's, so I've been in nutrition. For over two decades. So I've seen the Atkins, the Special K Diet, the Slim Fast, like every, I mean, I feel like at this point I'm like totally, yeah, I'm saying I'm old because I've seen it all.

Yeah, me too. My parents did it my whole childhood did. Yeah. And yet, so there's two things going on. There's one, the women who have never seen these things before, and the [00:09:00] other is the women who've been indoctrinated to believe all of those things are normal. So what would you say? I love the red flags.

Yeah. If you see these red flags. Walk away. This is not going to result in the kind of weight loss you want, which is sustainable and good for your hormones. Right. 

Ilana Muhlstein: Love that question. Um, okay. Huge red flag is anything sweeping in generalized. Okay. So like gluten-free and dairy free. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. 

Ilana Muhlstein: Huge, huge sweeping situation.

Not everyone needs to be gluten-free and dairy-free. Also, a huge red flag is. Is it what people have been doing for centuries and what people are doing in other countries of the world where they're just naturally thin and they don't have to struggle with their weight? Mm-hmm. So like a great example is the dairy free.

Yeah. And I'm sure you have plenty of people on. This podcast who will argue all dairy is bad, but I just have, like, I just travel to Iceland. Yeah. Israel has incredible longevity and low rates of obesity. You go to tell a French person not to eat cheese and let's see what, what happens? And butter, [00:10:00] right?

So it's like things like that. Always irk me even. Yeah. Paleo for a while was hating on beans, I believe, or carnivore, whatever it is, like hating on beans when we see beans are a true longevity food. Mm-hmm. And you see it in the blue zones, you see it in the cultures of the world where people are living the longest with the lowest rates, again, of diabetes and heart disease.

So like is is the less and, and being so poisonous. Yeah. Like I just don't ascribe to that. So like if it, if it's not what people are doing in. Nations of our world where they're just living happily and free of dieting, then that's a huge red flag. Um, intermittent and fasting. It's not that I'm against the concept, but like if you are a busy mom who's getting her kids up at 5:00 AM and it also goes to work and this and that is like.

Not eating till one gonna really work for you. Yeah. So, um, anything that's like really gonna challenge your lifestyle in a huge way. Um, or just very, all or nothing. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. 

Ilana Muhlstein: Black and white [00:11:00] just isn't realistic. Yeah. Black and white is not what works for marriages. What works for finances? Everything is gray.

I love the gray. I live in the gray. Everyone hates the gray. Everyone's scared of the middle ground, scared of the moderation, scared of that. Uh, and I love. To work in that. So anything that's telling you it's completely black or white, I'm highly against. It's a massive red flag. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. 

Ilana Muhlstein: And people, sadly.

Always end up hurting their own self-esteem in the process. So yes, they lose weight, but then they're always beat themselves up. I didn't do it. I, I failed. And that's not when it's like the diet failed you. Yeah. So, um, all, all red flags there. Anything that makes you extremely dependent. On it. Mm-hmm. So I don't want people to be dependent on me long term.

Like that's not my goal. Even early on in my private practice becoming a registered dietician, I had people going on the scale themselves, and they'd be like, well, my last dietician, I, where's your scale? Like, I, I have to weigh in with you. I'm like, I don't want you waiting till 11:00 AM after you've had your coffee, you're wearing three [00:12:00] layers of clothes to go on the scale like.

Have your own scale. Like Yeah, tell, tell me what it is. I don't think you're lying. And that was a big shift for people, even just in that private practice setting. Mm-hmm. And I just think that that's also a scam that like you have to see someone to weigh in. No, no, no. Yeah. Like it's great for accountability, but you should have that embedded.

You know, within your own personal system, so you don't have to rely on me long term. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. You brought up this emotional component. A lot of women will fall into emotional eating, sometimes binging on food because they've been restricting. How can women not fall into the trap of using, restricting the restricting of food as a punishment for themselves?

Ilana Muhlstein: Uh, that's, it's a great question. I'm very objective, like I feel like I. Definitely have emotional eating past and, and can work through. But I like objective data and try to think a little bit more level-headed on a lot of these things. And one thing that's been [00:13:00] a really great tool for me has been the scale.

Because I love the scale. I have a very healthy relationship with it. I developed it early on because I saw that avoiding the scale all school year. Left me back at Fat Camp every mm-hmm. June being like, whoa, I gained 50 pounds this school year. That's annoying. And then when I finally had that mindset shift and was like, I'm not doing this again.

I have to get it the right way. I was like. Alana, just look at the scale throughout the school year. Yeah. And my first goal was don't regain the weight. Just stay at this weight loss. And I use the scale to help me. And anytime I would fall into those negative patterns where I'd be like, you know, you don't look good.

You have a, a wedding, you gotta lose the weight and don't eat. Don't eat, don't eat. Mm-hmm. And then obviously it always falls into that binge and then that negative cycle of beating myself up. Okay. Like, I'd go on this side, I'd be like, you literally. Gained four pounds because you thought that you needed this binge food.

Like now what? Like now you don't even feel great. Mm-hmm. And I [00:14:00] found that the scale actually helped me kind of lose a lot of those emotional eating tendencies where I'd be like, I'm so sad. I need comfort. And I would, you know, have all this comfort food. And then I'd see, 'cause I never avoided the scale.

Oh, I just gained three pounds. I'm still going through that breakup. I'm still mad at my friend. I'm still, you know, like failing my test, my emotions. Aren't healed because I just ate three slices of pizza or Yeah. A bundle of fries. And that really helped me see like, what are these emotional, you know, like pedestals that we're putting all these foods on.

Mm-hmm. They're just food. And it might as well get through this hard situation. Feeling good in my body, losing weight, not self-sabotaging, what I really wanna be. Um, so objective data always helped me kind of cut through the noise of the emotions. Mm-hmm. And I think it does a lot with my clients too. And I find it's when they avoid the scale, they start like thinking, they're treating themselves thinking they're, you know, coping with their [00:15:00] problems in a productive way, but it always ends up destructive.

Mm-hmm. Um, and I'd say that that was something that was helpful for me, but everyone is. Is different in that space. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. A lot of women fear the scale. It can be psychologically really distressing for some women. What would you say to them? 

Ilana Muhlstein: I find it's most distressing when people avoid it for long times.

Okay. The longer you avoid it, the scarier it becomes. So often people have it in their mind, especially in this day and age where you're getting dieting advice. Everywhere you look, whether you want it or not. Mm-hmm. It's everywhere. And so when people tell you, let's say back to the gluten and dairy example, like that's toxic and that's poison and, and keraginin and, and, and emulsifiers that like you're getting, we're getting bombarded.

Like not fasting, not, you know, everything keto. So you think, oh my gosh, like I just had a slice of birthday cake. Yeah. I'm horrible. I should feel guilty. I should feel shame. Like, because this is what society is telling me. I like I, the last thing I wanna do is go on the [00:16:00] scale. Whereas like if they just went on the scale, they'd see, okay, so when a half a pound, who cares?

You've lost half a pound a million times in your life. Mm-hmm. You know, so I actually find it's really that $20. Tool that's been around for centuries that's actually non-judgmental and has you look at things of like, oh, maybe I don't need to intermittent fast. Oh, maybe I don't need to take 60,000 supplements.

Maybe I don't need to cut this out, and that out. This actually works for my body. Yeah. Um, and so I find when people avoid it, they, they create this narrative of, oh, it's gonna shame me. Oh, it's gonna say something about self worth. Mm-hmm. When really it's just gonna say how your body reacted to the choices and the food choices and the health behaviors you made.

Um, and so I, I recommend people go on it every morning just because I feel like that kind of cuts the emotion out. Mm-hmm. And it makes it just a daily accountability tool with. Uh, not a lot of emotion attached. Yeah. A lot of times when people have a lot of guilt and shame with it, it's because of childhood mentions of it.

Right? Like [00:17:00] their parents had them go on the scale and say something about it. Mm-hmm. Or a coach, or they just avoided it for two years of college and then the first time they went back on it was this shocking number that they're really embarrassed of. But I think if you have a healthy relationship with going on it more regularly, like once a week or whatever that is.

It. It's less dramatic. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. I appreciate how you have brought up some of the pitfalls of diet culture being like, avoid gluten, avoid dairy, lectins are gonna kill you. Right? Like all of these things that are whole foods. And from my perspective, the problem in the United States, which is. One of the most obese countries in the world is not kale.

It's not oats, it's not beans, it's not whole foods. It's actually our consumption of ultra processed to foods. And I think that. It's really important for people to grasp thousand percent. It's not that because you, you hear all [00:18:00] of this noise and whenever I see that, I think really, are you out here telling people that a vegetable's gonna be the thing that's harming their health when we know roughly 70% of the average American diet is gonna be ultra processed food?

Right now you have a philosophy of water first, veggies Most. Yep. Super simple. Yeah. Super powerful. Yeah. It, and it's timeless. 

Ilana Muhlstein: It's it, yeah. And it always works. It's like everyone's upset the protein. I love it as like timeless, like a Tiffany bracelet or something. Right. You're like, it's time So timeless.

That's why I had to trademark it because it, it always works. Mm-hmm. Like anytime someone drinks more water and eats more veggies, they always lose weight. Yeah. Um, so yes, protein's important. You could also have too much, you know, and get. Stocky or both? Like water first veggies. Most works. And you know, it's interesting.

This morning I was even chuckling to myself because thinking about diet, culture and everything. Mm-hmm. Because I had a bunch of baby carrots, like a whole bag of baby carrots going bad in my refrigerator. So I just baked them like I just kinda like roasted all of these baby carrots. And I had like a whole bag of baby carrots.

'cause I do like to eat a lot. [00:19:00] Roasted last night. For as part of my dinner and this morning the scale went down. And it's so funny, I was just thinking like, it's so funny how people think carrots cause wa like there's so, like you said, it's kale. It's just that like people create these wild claims. Yeah.

And then have shame and fear and guilt and all this stuff around food versus like. I've always seen, every time I eat an entire bag of baby carrots, the scale's only going down. My gut health only feels better, my digestion's on track and everything. Yeah, so this is, this is one of those ways where I find like the scale and some objective data helps cut through the emotional reactions we have to weight loss advice.

Dr. Brighten: Yeah, and I think for people who subscribe to the ancestral idea, would your ancestor ever come across a banana and say, oh, but it has too much sugar. I'm not going to eat the banana. No. We ate the foods that we came across, I think, and then, you know, people will come in and say, well, we've hybridized our food.

We've done all, of course we have. We're smart. We're humans. Like, that's amazing. We actually like, you know. We're able [00:20:00] to evolve because of the amazing accomplishments we've made with our food. But break it down. When you're talking about the water, when you're talking about the veggies, what is the, what is it that you're actually doing with clients and how does it help with weight loss?

Ilana Muhlstein: Yeah. Um, well, these are like basic principles I do with everyone. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Private clients. It's definitely more individualized, but everyone. I have drinking more water. That's like goes without saying. Yeah, water first, veggies. Most water helps with weight loss in so many different mechanisms that I could go into.

Just like there are so many reasons and ways in which water helps with weight loss and it helps you feel full. It helps me feel energized. It improves your mood. It makes you want to feel healthier, have the energy to do so. It keeps you full. It actually keeps your stomach from rumbling like all day. Our stomach is making muscular contractions and when there's nothing in your stomach, we interpret that as growling.

I must eat right away. Mm-hmm. But when you drink lots of water, it actually absorbs those sounds. You, your stomach really doesn't growl. Mm-hmm. When you're drinking water all day, you don't feel as [00:21:00] hungry. It takes a. Actual physical real estate in your stomach prior to meals so you don't overeat afterwards.

And that's been proven in several studies. Uh, so it's, it's an amazing tool. It's also where weight goes. Like when you say, oh, I lost 30 pounds. It's through CO2 at H2O, it's mm-hmm. It's literally how your body exits, you know, weight from the body. So more water, more weight loss. I always say that to be true.

Uh, and veggies. And so water first is also prior to your meals, so throughout the day, but also prior to your meals. Mm-hmm. And veggies most making your meals. More rich in vegetables, and I find with like every diet fad, people want to like just keep throwing veggies under the bus. When you see, it's like anytime someone was losing weight from Weight Watchers or Paleo or.

Keto even it, it's because veggies are usually present there and anyone who has a larger appetite like me, veggies are your best friend. Mm-hmm. 'cause that's what your stomach loves to fill up on for very low calories. And then that's really just for weight loss, let alone all the other benefits it's doing for [00:22:00] your gut health and microbiome, which can be helpful for your metabolic health and so much more.

So veggies really are your best friend. Anyone who tells me. Oh, you know what? I'm just gonna stick with all protein or this and that, or I'm just gonna eat lots of high fat and do keto. Like I don't really like vegetables. I always say like, enjoy your weight loss for now. It's not gonna last. Mm-hmm. Any woman, especially that you see over 50 years old who's had kids, who's been through it and is still maintaining a healthy weight in size.

She's eating a salad probably every single day. She's, she's doing it well, you go to Spain, you go to France, you go to Italy, you go past the, you know, namesake restaurants and what they're doing there. If you go into like countryside, they're all, they're not just eating veggies, they're celebrating them.

Mm-hmm. And that's a huge culture shift in America where we see it as, uh, you know, a punishment to diet. It. It's, no, it, it's healthy eating. It's normal, healthy, vibrant, delicious eating and veggies have to be celebrated and I love to do that. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. I really appreciate that you [00:23:00] highlighted the fact that it is very much this culture in the US that eating your broccoli is a punishment.

Eating vegetables is a punishment. Um, I think about like my father-in-law is someone who like his family. I'm not, I'm not dissing anybody from the uk. Okay. My assistant's from the uk, I, I love them, but like the way that it was old school cooked was like, you just boil veggies down to nothing. And I think like, okay, it's really easy to like, not like veggies when that's been your experience, but what you're talking about is celebrating them.

Yeah. And I think I'm like also a fan of roasted carrots. I think finding recipes and finding new ways to really enjoy them. I also think about how, like when I was a kid, kale wasn't even a thing. And there were only two kinds of apples that were red and green in the store. Right. And now we have like so much variety.

Every time I'm in the States and I go to Whole Foods, I'm like, whoa. Yeah. This country has so much variety. Foods that do exist, guys. But you know, in terms of like the variety of [00:24:00] vegetables that are now available, if you think you don't like vegetables, I would bet you just haven't found the right combination Totally.

Or way to prepare it for you. Yeah. You brought up the, the eating all meat. It is this, I find it absolutely bizarre. I'm probably gonna get a comment on this podcast whenever I talk about how important fiber is. The data is irrefutable. Irrefutable at this point, and I talk about how important fiber is, especially as you get into perimenopause menopause.

If you're not hitting 25 grams or more a day, belly fat will be upon you. Hundred. The research is clear. People will say, I disagree. You do not, you need fiber. What do you say to that? I mean, 

Ilana Muhlstein: it's. It, it's such a no brainer. It, it, it. I give people credit for feeling good without it. Mm-hmm. For saying that they're regular without it, you know?

Uh, but long-term health, it would really concern me. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. You 

Ilana Muhlstein: know, it would just really concern me because that's the food in which our gut microbes eat. Like that's, that's what they feast upon. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. 

Ilana Muhlstein: You [00:25:00] know, and it's also so important for. Lowering your cholesterol levels and, and sweep it's fiber's, also a sweeper.

Mm-hmm. It's also like the broom that just clears junk out of our body. 

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. 

Ilana Muhlstein: So without it, it's also like, aside from the benefits of fiber and the heart health benefits and the gut health benefits and the weight loss benefits and the blood sugar regulation benefits and, and all of that aside. And also teeth benefits of just like, like grinding the fiber and teeth entire gritty.

It's also just balance. Mm-hmm. Like it's also just completely unbalanced to only eat meat. Yeah. And I'm a. Big proponent of balance, especially for the next generation to prevent weight loss. So like mm-hmm. You know, uh, 90% of my career thus far has really been focused on weight loss and helping people achieve a healthy relationship with food and lose weight long term, and feel good and, and feel satisfied.

But I also have an emerging aspect of my business and my future career, which is my program raising balanced eaters for children. Yeah. And for this next [00:26:00] generation. And the key word is always balance. Like even last night. With my family, like we did have pizza and, but it's not without roasted broccoli.

It's not without salmon on the side. And at a very young age. My kids know when we go to a pizza store, we always get a Caesar salad. Yeah. It's not even like a question. It's like pizza and Caesar salad. Like they love it. They love the croutons. It's, I always say it's like the gateway salad. It's a great way to get in.

And then when I speak to people who are. In that dieting mode and the dieting mindset, it's like I'm all or nothing. I either can't eat pizza or like, you know, I eat the whole pie of pizza. Mm-hmm. And so now I'm not eating pizza 'cause I'm losing 50 pounds and it's like, but you have to understand the gray, you have to understand the balance that.

It'll be okay in the future for weight maintenance and even along your weight loss journey to have a slice of pizza or maybe even two. 

Dr. Brighten: Mm-hmm. 

Ilana Muhlstein: But the third is where we get into trouble. And if you're not having that Caesar salad, there's always gonna be a third if you're someone who likes to eat. And so the problem with like the meat eaters who are saying you don't eat fiber and you don't need plants for some reason, which is like, [00:27:00] so, uh, ridiculous in my opinion.

Um, or just un unbalanced. Is that it? It's inherently gonna be too much meat. Yeah. Even with veggies. You could be too unbalanced with veggies. Mm-hmm. You could eat too many veggies and forget about protein, so like. You ha. It has to be a relationship. Yeah. To be able to tolerate multiple food groups at a time if you want your body to be able to get the benefits from all this incredible food.

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. Well, and I like that you validate that people, people who do carnivore, they may experience benefits because. Anytime we do an elimination diet for people, we do see improvements, almost always is an extremely improvement. What I get really concerned about, especially for women who do not understand the importance of fiber, you know, they'll dismiss the microbiome, they'll dismiss a lot of these things, is that without fiber you do not excrete your estrogen efficiently.

So now we've got women who are consuming meats. Who, you know, often, I mean, it's very, it's very economical, right? To choose the non grass fed, like, [00:28:00] so it's, what I'm saying is that it's cost prohibitive to eat in a way where you're only eating like, you know, the, the least exposure to hormones, meat. So we've got the hormonal influence of the animals, we've got the inability.

Now you've just hindered your detox system for removing the excess estrogen. And then we've got Xenoestrogens. I don't care if you don't eat outta plastic and you don't drink outta plastic water bottles, you're still getting exposed to it. Yeah, and I think it's in our air. I think that is one of the biggest concerns for me is that these xenoestrogens, these environmental toxins, they will not be removed from your system if you do not have the microbiome, the fiber.

I mean, fiber's gotta interact with the the bile and we've gotta get it out. Now we're looking at. Possibly accumulation, uh, bioaccumulation of these toxins, but also a negative impact on your ovaries, whether it's impacting your fertility or how rough perimenopause is going to be for you. Totally. We're not talking enough about that.

Yeah. 

Ilana Muhlstein: I mean, I, I say it all day, like [00:29:00] you have to be eating 25 grams of fiber. I love that you said that. It's, it's just shocking that Americans aren't even getting close. Mm-hmm. I mean, I'm probably getting double. I just. It doesn't feel that hard, especially in today's day and age where like high fiber bread is.

Not so expensive and doesn't have to taste like cardboard anymore. Yeah. Like there's a lot of great brands out there and vegetables. Like it doesn't take so much special, it's like, yeah, it's a adding some cauliflower rice to your smoothie, like, get it in. Mm-hmm. You gotta get it in. Uh, fiber's just. It's so important and it also just keeps you full.

Yeah. You know, keeps you fuller, longer state. I mean, I could talk about fiber all day. 

Dr. Brighten: I'm with you a hundred percent. Well, especially in the context of a weight loss conversation. It is something I think when people recognize, I call it the 25. 25, less than 25 grams of added sugar, 25 grams or more of fiber.

If you do those two things, you will start seeing a shift in your ways. A hundred percent. 

Ilana Muhlstein: A hundred percent. I, I would put place money on that bet all day long. [00:30:00] And now, you know, protein is obviously a really hot topic and obviously very, very important. But there's this notion on the internet, eat one. One gram of protein for every one pound of body weight.

Mm-hmm. And I had one client who was extremely successful with me, and she's a, you know, a doctor and she had lost a lot of weight with me and she was doing great. And then we have this session and. She just looks almost like swollen. And she was saying like, I, you know, I gained back like 15 pounds. I really fell into that, like one gram per one pound of body weight thing.

Mm-hmm. And it's almost impossible to do that without taking so many supplements. So she was like taking a protein powder and then adding collagen into this. Yeah. And then, and, and now you're taking all these like processed, you know, protein things and then there's no room. You're, you feel so full. 'cause protein is very satisfying.

Yeah. You feel so full. There's no room for veggies. And she was just like. A mess. Mm-hmm. Hormonally, like you said, um, digestively like, and then, and just the weight gain came the second we were burned it back to water first. Veggies, most protein at every meal. Yeah. But not in excessive [00:31:00] quantities. Levels out started feeling better right away.

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. Well, I love that you brought up the protein conversation because right now we see this big trend of saying, people saying, oh, Americans are not getting enough protein. But actually when you break it down it's fiber, they're not getting enough. Totally. They're getting enough protein and it's been something that I remember when I was in nutrition school talking about the protein imbalance and how certain populations.

Are overdoing their protein and they're not getting enough of these vegetables. And so beyond fiber, what are the benefits of vegetables for people to understand? Like, what else is that delivering to you? 

Ilana Muhlstein: Oh, I mean, I, I love talking about this with the kids, especially because, um, it's really like the. The buddy that goes through your system.

Mm-hmm. Kind of like shaking hands with all your organs and, and, and making sure everyone's okay. So, I mean, with the carrots for example, they can help with your eye health. Zeaxanthin, um, very important for keeping your night vision [00:32:00] going. Um, and, and just very important vitamin, a powerful antioxidant really preventing you from getting sick, uh, in all the dark green, leafy vegetables.

We have a whole host of nutrients. We have the chlorophyll, we have iron. Really important for energy and your immune system. Mm-hmm. And there's so many women, my friends are exhausted all day. I, I need more caffeine. I need more caffeine. I'm like, where's your iron? And then also someone I know who always got sick checked out like, your iron levels are low and this.

Definitely happens with some women who are not eating enough greens and are probably not eating enough meat and proteins either. Yeah. They're sticking with just like carby things like bagels and crackers and, and snacks and stuff like that. Um, so definitely getting a whole host of that are B vitamins that are in whole grains and in, um, our fruits and veggies.

I mean, we'd need. We need all of these micronutrients. Mm-hmm. And also like magnesium. Magnesium is a really hot topic now because we see that magnesium deficiency is really common. Yeah. And that affects your mood, that can affect your [00:33:00] metabolism, that can affect your blood sugar control. Magnesium is so rich in our greens and our vegetables.

Mm-hmm. Like sure you find it in nuts, but like when you're getting all your veggies. You're also boosting your magnesium stores. So like I'm not antis supplements, I take supplements myself, but we need to be getting a whole host of colors and variety in our foods and vegetables all week. And certainly with the cruciferous veggies, you know, obviously.

Everyone knows someone with cancer right now and it's sad. It's not that like, you know, one person with cancer, you probably know multiple people with cancer now or who have died of cancer, whoever had had cancer and those cruciferous vegetables, the kale, the cabbage, the broccoli, the, the brussel sprouts, like these are the most anti cancerous things you can get.

Mm-hmm. They're literally have been proven in study over and over and over, and to help. Prevent cancer and to help fight cancer cells. And it's incredible. But sadly, I don't know, like Green Giant must not have enough marketing dollars or whatever it is, but it just [00:34:00] doesn't get that same No, no. But I will hear people 

Dr. Brighten: say that where they're like, oh, big vegetables is like marketing you to eat vegetables.

And I laugh. That's so funny. I wish. I'm like, no big food actually is pushing out. Big vegetable, um, you know, low green Giant is out because they're subsidizing corn and soy. Totally canola these ones that do not have the powerful antioxidants that we're going to. Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, trust me, if you, if you care about your local community dollar vote for vegetables with your local farmers, that's hundred percent biggest impacts that you can have.

Um. You, you bring up like, you know, I feel like this whole time we're talking about like, yo, just do this and do that. But I, I think about the busy mom. I think about the people, the, the busy mom. Right. And I think you've probably been there, I think every mom has been there. If you haven't told me your hacks, where you're like running around and you're just like, I'm eating the leftovers off my kids' plate right now.

Because like, life is just so busy in this moment. And sometimes it's seasons, but sometimes it's nonstop. What do you say to the busy mom who's like, it's [00:35:00] not just. That simple. Right. It's, it's actually quite difficult for me. Totally. How can they help 

Ilana Muhlstein: not you help them navigate this? Well, first of all, I am like really in that season now.

Mm-hmm. Like, I have three kids, you know, three, six, and nine. I feel like my third kid totally took us over the edge in terms of like mental capacity and, and everything. Like we are, I had two kids in my bed last night. That's not common, but it just happens. Yeah. Yeah. Um. I just, I do, I feel like I am that bombarded mom, so I, I understand it more now than ever, and I actually mm-hmm.

Have a little guilt of seeing these moms earlier on in my career before I had kids and giving them advice because, oh my God, I, I feel this. Yeah. I, where I'm a little guilty. Oh, I feel this. I like the judgment. You have of mothers before you have kids. And it's not that I was judging them, but just the solutions of providing You also had the solution.

Yeah. 

Dr. Brighten: You were like, oh, I'm so clever. Why don't you just do this? And then after I had my child, I was like. Oh, every patient should have just slapped me and been like, shut up. Like, just know, [00:36:00] because I'm like, I thought it was so easy. Totally. So easy. Totally. 

Ilana Muhlstein: And, and even one less kid, I just feel like I, I had a better manage of, of everything, so, and I got more sleep and, and all these things that helped.

So I'm definitely that busy mom. I totally get it. We are very, very blessed. However, in 2025 now. Of these incredible companies that have come out of the woodwork making healthy convenience more applicable for us. Mm-hmm. So like I'm very blessed. I have a healthy meal delivery service. Um, I don't always order it for myself, but on busy weeks I do.

So it's called Alana Meals and that's. Extremely helpful. And every meal is high in fiber and, and calorie controls and whole meals and everything, whole ingredients and everything like that. Um, so there's definitely healthier meal delivery service options now. Um, but even go oodles, like I'm the nutrition adv advisor for Oodles.

I don't know if you know it. Mm-hmm. But it's a mac and cheese and I just don't know. I literally had it for breakfast this morning because when we make it for lunch, we all end up taking a bowl for breakfast 'cause it's so good [00:37:00] right off of the stove. But it's a mac and cheese that's just as easy as a craft box or an Annie's box, but so much more fiber.

Mm-hmm. So much more protein iron like, and it's the same ease and convenience of mac and cheese. Yeah. And again, like I can't believe they were able to bring down the price. Um, the same thing now is like 20 years ago we didn't have. Cauliflower fried rice. Mm-hmm. Like when I was losing weight, I would've killed for cauliflower fried rice.

Yeah. Like I was on like, you know, frozen broccoli with spray butter, like I was in that phase. But now cabbage steaks and I have recipes for cauliflower nachos and it, it's not a lot of work. Mm-hmm. Like my. My recipe book, my cookbook. Love the Food that Loves You Back. It's so simple. I mean, I'm saying like cauliflower nachos might sound complicated, but I'm just gonna break it down.

It's a frozen bag of cauliflower. Yeah. It doesn't have to be raw washed, soaked with baking soda, whatever you want. Like literally could be a frozen bag that's inexpensive pre-washed. You know, you throw that on a baking sheet, you top it with shredded cheese, you pour on some jarred salsa, you have a [00:38:00] veggie.

Mm-hmm. And I'm not saying it's. Not sodium from the salsa, whatever it is. But I'm telling you, that's less sodium, more fiber, less sugar than you're gonna get from any sort of takeout restaurant. Mm-hmm. And it's a quarter of the price. And then you just pair it with ever whatever protein everyone else is eating.

And a lot of times your kids will literally reach over and start eating. Mm-hmm. Your good, delicious food. So I love salad kits. You know, sometimes the dressings are not the most ideal when it comes to seed oils and ingredients, but. At least like pre-cut, pre-washed lettuce, and even salad kits. In a pinch.

It's all getting you. One step healthier Yeah. Than you were before. And I think all those like easy, convenient things we have now should be celebrated and we should really try not to demonize them. Mm-hmm. Because they're not perfect, because they're, they're actually perfect for that busy person who's gonna be all or nothing.

Yeah. They're either gonna get a pie of pizza and fries, or they're gonna have a salad kit with maybe non-optimal seed oils, but they're getting in fiber, they're eating. Vegetables. They're having the crunch, the munch, the, you know, all that good stuff for [00:39:00] the gut health, otherwise. Yeah. 

Dr. Brighten: Well, I appreciate you explaining this balance.

Like I'm very much with you in this. I, I think, uh, the gray is the place to be and often when these conversations are going on where people are like no processed food of any kind, like I'm in the, like ultra processed food doesn't need to exist like. If you're in the military and you're deployed, okay, maybe we need ultra processed food for that, but like, not for the average person.

People conflate that with processed food to say, well, that's bad pre-cut salad. That's, uh, you know, that's processed in a way. The mac and cheese that you're talking about that's processed, that's ver for, that's bad. What gets left outta this conversation is the single mom, the disabled person, people do, do not have the ability.

To cook from scratch. Totally. Like they don't have the resources, they don't have the ability. And when we villainize those things, it's hurting everybody. Everyone. It's very interesting because I, um. There's a creator called crutches and spice on TikTok, and she had made a statement one time saying, [00:40:00] when accommodations are made for disabled people in our community, it benefits everybody.

And I'm like, this is so true when you consider that we still need to have access to those foods. It actually alleviates the mom shaming and the guilt and on everyone else because it's like, it's okay to access these foods. I'm curious. Three kids. Staying grounded is not always easy. What are some of your non-negotiables that you're like, that you can model for other people that help you stay grounded through the day?

Yeah. 

Ilana Muhlstein: I have to get out of the house and work out first thing in the morning. Okay. And that's like, not because I am like the fittest person in the world, it's just 'cause like I need my time before my kids take it from me. Mm-hmm. And I don't understand. Moms or or other parents who don't need that. I just don't get it.

Yeah. I, I really don't get it. I, I've tried, you know, my kids wake me up on the weekend and I, I'm just grouchy. Mm-hmm. It's, and that's just [00:41:00] maybe my personal thing where I just like my space, I like having my time. I have to fill up my cup because I'm helping people all day, my clients, my kids. If I don't have that time to just like, be alone in the car, like even forget the workout, just like to have that alone time in the car.

Alone time to like listen to my own podcast. Mm-hmm. Without that, I'm not, I'm not well, I'm just, I'm short with everyone. Yeah. I don't have the same type of patience, uh, to have the conversations that need to be had. So I have to get up and every single morning I get up at, at 5 25 and I go workout. And I'm very bullish about when I go to sleep.

Like I need to be, lights out, no talking, nothing's happening past 10 30. My husband like, will try to have a conversation with me at 10 15. I'm like, tick, tick, tick. Like, watch that time. 'cause it, it's. It's game over. Yeah. And so he goes to sleep at a different time and that's fine. We're married, you know, many years and it just works.

So, um, sleep and and time to myself to exercise and move my body mm-hmm. Are certainly the things that keep me grounded and allow me [00:42:00] to follow through with the water first and veggies most and, and all the other things I wanna do. 

Dr. Brighten: I wanna highlight that it wasn't food based, what you just said and what you said is so universal I think.

So many for so many moms. It's the same. I mean, for me it is. Like my husband knows like if she doesn't get a workout in, no one's gonna wanna be around her. Totally. She's not a nice person. And I, and you know, I think it's in part because I've got this energy and that I have, you know, I haven't worked through like totally that aspect that my body's like, we crave this, we need this, and it's inside being a little toddler throwing a fit that it didn't get it.

Mm-hmm. Sleep is also non-negotiable. And those are two things I really wanna highlight to people that we let slide as moms. A lot of times it's so easy to be like, I don't really have time for my workout, or, uh, I think this is completely understandable and I hear this all the time with patients. By the time the kids finally go to bed, we all know what bedtime is like.

Yeah, I'm. Don't wanna go to bed. [00:43:00] I wanna spend time with my partner. I want my alone time. Right. I want, and then we start falling into the trap of being sleep deprived. Totally. And this, you know, we've been talking about weight loss and for people to understand that. Just having less sleep than what you actually need.

Oh, it's everything Negatively 

Ilana Muhlstein: impact your weight. Oh, it's huge. I always tell my clients, you're not sleeping like you can still lose weight, but it's gonna feel like you're walking on quicksand versus concrete. Yeah. It's so much harder. Your cravings are up, your hunger's up. What tells you you're full and satisfied is down.

Your leptin hormone is down. Mm-hmm. Um, you're foggy. You don't have the energy to work out you, like you see water, you see Coca-Cola. The thing with the sugar and the caffeine is gonna draw you way further, you know? Mm-hmm. Way closer. So, um, yeah, sleep is really, sleep is really important and I, I cannot stress that enough.

Dr. Brighten: Yeah. You're in la, which I feel like is the capital of Ozempic these days. What do you That's what they say. That's what they say. What do you [00:44:00] wish people knew about Ozempic when it comes to weight loss goals? So 

Ilana Muhlstein: there's so much I can say on this. Um, I have some clients on it. Mm-hmm. I have a client now who's a doctor who's on tricep peptide, and.

What's really fascinating is she lost weight on it and then literally started gaining 10 pounds back on it. Um, you know, emotional eating and so forth. Yeah. And what's really interesting that I'm seeing is very similar to the stomach stapling, right? Mm-hmm. So when stomach stapling and the ru NY surgery gastric bypass, when the balloon, like, when all of that was out, 'cause I was around for that too.

You know, people would lose a lot, a lot of weight. Mm-hmm. And then slowly, two, three years later, it started coming back. And you saw it's because the sugar addiction was still there. Yeah. The underlying emotional eating is still there. And so you find a way to kind of manipulate the system mm-hmm. Where you're still having those, like two bagels a day, but you're like taking the small [00:45:00] bites and just throughout the day.

Um, but it's still your source of comfort. It's still your hobby, it's still your friend. It's still so. We're definitely seeing that, like I, I'm, I'm totally seeing that. I'm also seeing people play with the doses where the dosing is a disaster. Mm-hmm. Like, I'm just gonna say that across the board, like hopefully there are physicians who are prescribing it, listening.

The dosing is a disaster and the. The theory on it is all a mess. Like I have this one 16-year-old girl who came up to me who was like, I feel like I should up the dose because I'm feeling hungry again. I'm like, oh yeah, it's normal to have an appetite. Mm-hmm. And people are taking such high doses so they feel no hunger.

Yeah. Um, and that's really a high risk factor for like. Not eating enough calories starting to waste away, starting to lose the muscle. Mm-hmm. Put you at really high risk of not just bone fractures down the line, but also just weight regain, um, and metabolic disturbances. So I think the dosing is the key with the meds.

Yeah. I'm not anti them, but I do [00:46:00] think people should be on. As little as possible to help them maybe create space for maybe silencing whatever that food noise is and mm-hmm. Being less impulsive with food and being able to take a little bit more time to make a healthy choice. Yeah. Um, but not too much that it's like destroying your appetite and you're losing weight too quickly and now you're, you're coming into those issues.

Um, I also think if you're taking that lower dose that's just helping moderately and so maybe you're losing, you know, two pounds a week and not four. Mm-hmm. Then. It also allows you a little bit more confidence that you can also come off of these meds eventually. Yeah. Wean off and, and not need them long term.

Sadly though, because people are paying for them, they're like, well, I'm paying for it. I'm gonna get the highest dose ever. So there's a lot of messiness to them. Mm-hmm. Again, I'm not anti the meds. I am like, I welcome clients who are on them. I, I really think I actually had the first client ever who was on it because I have a client who's.

Extremely, extremely successful and high up in [00:47:00] healthcare. And he called me so many years ago and he was like, I have the thing that's literally gonna change the whole wide world, but I've lost like 80 pounds and I have no muscle and I can barely stand. And I was like, what is this man talking about? Yeah.

And then it's like three, four years later, it's ozempic, it's here. Mm-hmm. Um. So, you know, I've been around them for a while. I, I'm, I'm a little concerned Yeah. Just about the long term. I also know people personally who are on them, who are eating brownies and, and all these things mm-hmm. That they never ate before.

Yeah. Like when they were focused on losing weight in a healthy way, they were actually just eating kind of healthier. Mm-hmm. And now it's almost permission to. Kind of eat whatever you want in a way. Yeah. Um, and I'm literally at dinner parties here in LA Classic where people are talking about being on a emec, well, literally grabbing the candy dish.

Mm-hmm. Um, so I, I am a little concerned about that, is that again, what are the long-term. Healthy habits. It's helping you create. Yeah. Now I have some people saying, you know, just getting off the first 15 is giving me a little bit more energy. It's making me wanna [00:48:00] exercise. So like mm-hmm. There's, there are benefits, but with everything, it's a delicate band.

Like it's a delicate dance that 

Dr. Brighten: has to be navigated. I think weight loss is a complex issue to address and anytime we have a complex issue to address, we use every tool in our toolkit. We look at them and we say, what's gonna work best? I think we always. Struggle and potentially cause harm when we decide to go with just one tool.

Mm-hmm. Though, and I think that is the downside of ozempic, is when a clinic doles it out without any discussion of what is your exercise routine, how are you eating? How's your emotional state, how is your sleep? Mm-hmm. We have to take that holistic approach. Totally. And you know, to your point about dosing, if people are not familiar.

There's guidelines that you, most of the time guidelines are put out by the pharmaceutical companies and it generates a lot of money for them. And as doctors, we always have to question, so the starting place is 0.25 milligrams, and you do that for four weeks, and then you increase, and you [00:49:00] increase, increase, increase until you hit the goal of 2.5 milligrams.

Majority of people don't need 2.5 milligrams. Totally. They don't need that high of a dose. And that's where we see these extreme side effects. And so I think it's wise to raise the question of what are you really doing with the dosing on the individual level? Are you following a. Schedule. Why? Why are you just following a schedule?

Because if your patient gets to 0.5 and they're noticing weight loss, they don't have food noise anymore, they're finding they're having a better relationship with food, maybe alcohol is gone. Like that's something we're seeing as well. The rose all day, it goes away and they're like, I'm not craving a glass of wine at the end of the day.

Like, these are positive things, just leave them there, right? Because. They're not, and if they're not having side effects, like, fantastic, are they gonna drop 10 pounds in the next six weeks? No. Unlikely. But do we really want that for people anyways, like that's really, I mean, I get, it's like people do want the quick fix, like right, I'm getting married.

I, I can, I can [00:50:00] definitely empathetic to that, but I think as prescribers we have to be really wise about. How we leverage these medications and never just following a schedule, without considering how is this affecting the individual? Sadly, 

Ilana Muhlstein: there's, there's very few people who are prescribing this. Like I had a friend, so nauseous, literally falling over on Saturday.

Mm-hmm. I was like, what's going on? And he's like, the meds. I was like, dude, go on a lower dose. Yeah. If you're having so much nausea. She's like, no, no, no. I can't. I have like a, I have like eight more to go. I just gotta keep moving. Yeah. He is not a seeing a doctor. He literally said it was, he said, if you have a pulse, you could get it.

He literally, yeah. Said he went on some sort of website. He put in his height and weight. He never had to do anything more than that. Mm-hmm. It's crazy. There was no blood labs, nothing. Yeah, nothing. So I think it's. It's kind of a wild, wild west. Mm-hmm. Out there. And that's concerning. 

Dr. Brighten: But Yeah. For people who wanna come off ozempic.

Right. We're, we're seeing more people are like, I don't, after two years, they just don't wanna do it anymore. Right. How do you advise them to [00:51:00] approach that? 

Ilana Muhlstein: Yeah, I think definitely start weaning off. Mm-hmm. You know, like, this one person I know who's reaching for brownies, I'm like, what are you doing?

They're like, oh, well, you know, I'm. I don't wanna get too skinny. I'm like, so start weaning off the meds. Not why would I wean off the weds meds? Like my, my insurance is covering it. It's just so whack. People are getting really whack metimes. Like, 

Dr. Brighten: I will, I will be, uh, I sympathize with that because I get this from patients where they're like, no, I've put in, I've paid for my insurance for so long.

They do absolutely nothing for me, but they're doing this one thing for me. So I like, I get the best thing for my, my buck to Exactly. People do like cruises, you know, 

Ilana Muhlstein: like they think they have to eat their way through a cruise. I was like, take advantage of the gym. You're paying for the gym. If you don't use the gym, you're not getting your money's worth.

Yeah. Um, yeah, so I, I would definitely advise people to be their own advocate. If your prescriber is trying to give you a bigger, bigger dose, like de definitely don't do that. I highly recommend for people who are on these medicines, it's really a great opportunity to learn my weight loss program, like to be mindset, weight loss program.

Mm-hmm. You know, a lot of times people are scared to go on [00:52:00] a healthy eating plan 'cause they're scared they're gonna be hungry on it or they're gonna have cravings. Well, if you're like really subsiding your hunger and your cravings now is a really good time to learn my plate it method all my nutrition recommendations.

'cause now you could just follow it and you can learn to eat vegetables and learn to like them more, you know? Mm-hmm. Um, and go to a a, I would just say like, taper down on the dose, eventually get to the point where you're doing like every other week at a low dose. Mm-hmm. See how that feels and like, and slowly try to get off because.

Long-term, we don't know the long-term benefits. We know people have been on these meds for, you know, at least five years now. So it's like. Quote, unquote, how bad could it be? But at the same time, we're, we're starting to see like depression come out of it. Right? The same reason why people aren't as interested in alcohol is because a lot of things are getting dumbed down.

Like all that pleasure center mm-hmm. Is starting to get a little messed with and dumbed down. And now you're seeing, look, I have a friend who literally had to go on Zoloft because of Ozempic because it, it literally made her depressed and no one's talking about that. So it could also be a dosing issue.

Yeah. Or maybe a, a time [00:53:00] on it issue, but I think. People should be encouraged to slowly, gradually get off of it. Mm-hmm. And if you're scared to get off of it, which many people are, it's a good idea to gradually get off of it while incorporating healthy habits that are more sustainable. Which, I mean, I'm happy to help with.

Dr. Brighten: Awesome. Well, for everybody listening, you send us the links and we will link your program, your book, everything, all the resources so that people can learn more about you, be able to work with you, because I think you have one you, you walk the talk, you've lived the life and you have been successful in what you do, but you take a very balanced, non-dogmatic approach and I really appreciate that about you.

 

Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. Yeah.