From podcasts to printables, take advantage of these amazing, free resources to help inspire your total-health journey! They’re totally free, straight from the experts and created just for teens!

From podcasts to printables, take advantage of these amazing resources to help inspire your total-health journey! They’re totally free, straight from the experts and created just for teens!

FEATURED CONTENT

Here within the IME Community we frequently have the opportunity to talk to special guests. Here are some featured rockstars I’ve had the privilege to chat with and get to know. Listen in on our conversations and learn from their experiences with these free resources available to you.

VIDEOS

Our weight and life coaching experts believe learning should be fun! With IME Community videos, you can get all your burning questions answered with ad-free help from the best in the business. 

Don’t be a Diet Culture Zombie!!! October is all about metabolic health! I’m launching IME Health and disrupting the status quo that is not working, is unhelpful and seriously unfun. I’ve been writing self-love superpower mantras for the entire year. Each month has its own theme. October is all about the facts: Obesity is Hormonal. My only point with my Obesity is Hormonal mantras is to get you thinking in a different way about unfun and unfunny zombie diet culture. My own weight loss journey started five years ago. It was very shocking for someone like me, who’s been a pediatrician working to address the childhood obesity epidemic for nearly two decades, to learn that the old calories in minus calories out is too simplistic and leaves out the role of hormones. I get a lot of trolls on TikTok but there’s nothing like coaching followers to reverse insulin resistance. Here’s a TikTok testimonial from one of my followers (adult) who I coach on my TikTok lives: “I have great news!! A1C was 6.1 in March. Made changes to diet and did Intermittent fasting. Lost 30 lbs and as of June A1C is 5.5. Smiley face emoji! Thank you!” Her labs show a reversal of pre-diabetes. She said I was the one who connected her to a new way of thinking by introducing her to “The Obesity Code '' and coached her to make changes and show up as a curious compassionate scientist for her health. Her doctor told her to diet and exercise and that’s it. So, the same old eat less and move more. She didn’t let that get in her way. She went to her doc, got her labs drawn, did some research on her own, and showed up for my TikTok coaching and videos. Obesity is hormonal and not simply caloric. What does that even mean? You’re probably thinking, “It’s the month of candy, candy, candy, so give me a break!” What does it mean when I say that obesity is hormonal? I’m talking four major hormones: Insulin, Cortisol, Leptin and Ghrelin Our society is so stuck in the Energy Imbalance Model of Obesity, or weight gain is a result of overeating and lack of physical activity and both of those are blamed on lack of willpower. Makes me almost puke like I did after eating too much Halloween candy one year. JK. So, let’s switch things up, dress up as nerdy scientists this Halloween and dive right into my October mantras and start getting you some results too: 10/1 Insulin is a hormone that keeps my blood sugar stable. 10/2 Cortisol is a stress hormone that helps me focus, stay awake and helps me when I’m stressed. 10/3 Leptin is a hormone that lets me know when I feel full and satisfied. 10/4 Ghrelin is a powerful hunger hormone that lets me know when I need to eat. 10/5 Obesity is hormonal. It’s not just simple calories in minus calories out. 10/6 It’s okay to challenge societal beliefs that are clearly not helpful. 10/7 Diet thinking restricts me and my health goals. 10/8 My body is always working. 10/9 My body is not a machine. 10/10 Not all calories are created equal or are used the same in my body. 10/11 A balance of real food is good for my health. 10/12 I don’t control my body with willpower. 10/13 I don’t cause weight gain or health issues. 10/14 There are many causes for weight gain. 10/15 I’m kind to myself and stay out of self-judgment. 10/16 Insulin Resistance is a way the body adapts to sugar intake. 10/17 My body is able to adapt and change. 10/18 My body and brain work together. 10/19 I understand when I don’t sleep well, I go to food for energy the next day. 10/20 Sugary foods create dopamine zings in my brain. 10/21 Stress creates cortisol release and cortisol raises my blood sugar. 10/22 My body wasn’t meant to be stressed all the time. 10/23 Better sleep is one of the most important ways I can improve my health. 10/24 Circadian rhythm is my body and brain’s natural sleep and wake cycle. 10/25 All health behaviors are equally important. 10/26 Sometimes I have a hard time knowing when I feel full and that’s okay. 10/27 I’m a curious and compassionate scientist for my health. 10/28 Every body is totally different. 10/29 I focus on all of my health, not my body size. 10/30 I don’t have scarcity thinking when it comes to sugary treats. 10/31 Boo! It’s okay to eat candy. Just choose my favorite and make it a true treat. Have a fun Halloween however you do or don’t celebrate! Self-love superpower, Dr. Karla
I'm struggling with wanting to help my daughter who is overweight. I want her to be healthy and feel good about her body. I also know there is so much stigma about size in our society. I feel stuck. How can I help her?<br /><br />This is what I call dualistic thinking, black and white, two sides of a coin, where on one side Mom is stuck in wanting her daughter to be body positive and fully love and accept herself and feel healthy, but also is stuck in diet culture beliefs perpetuated by our society and in all the promises of thinness. You’re pinging back and forth and that’s creating a lot of confusion and self-doubt and fear and keeping you stuck and not taking action. What if they are not mutually exclusive? What if you could meet in the middle and believe your daughter can be both body positive and have healthy habits that help her reach her healthy weight range? Research shows that positive body image and family mealtimes are protective factors to prevent weight gain and eating disorders. Helping her create healthy habits takes action steps like more family mealtime planning. Get yourself in the middle lane taking action. <br /><br />How can I help my daughter when she feels frustrated and gets upset about her body and uses food and sugary drinks to feel better? I know that external fixes are just a quick fix band-aid and seem to make the problem worse. <br /><br />You have great awareness. Sounds like she is buffering her emotions with food. It’s like numbing out. Instead of allowing an urge that comes up, which is a feeling, she is avoiding the feeling by getting the false reward sugary dopamine zing. It’s a conditioned overdesire pathway in the brain. It’s a habit path in the brain. Habits are based on environmental cues. Good news is the brain is malleable and adaptable and so is the environment. Don’t get in her lane. Stay in yours. Start by creating more openness about feelings so that she is able to respond and process instead of avoiding and going to food. How are you feeling? Talk about your feelings and get a bit descriptive by using a metaphor. Model healthy coping skills. Also, don’t assume you know what’s going on in her mind. Don’t bring up body image issues unless she does. This can bite you in the butt. If she has urges and cravings at certain times of the day, then have some snacks readily available that have a balance and aren’t processed foods. Ask her what she wants and plan a day ahead. You are helping her create mindfulness eating habits and awareness before choice. <br /><br />I know my daughter is unhappy about her body and I desperately want to help her, but I am also terrified that if I bring it up she will feel judged or I will destroy her confidence. <br /><br />You get to decide ahead of time how you want to show up in situations. That’s what you can control. You can’t control how your daughter feels or how she responds. If she feels judged, it’s coming from her thoughts. That being said, what you want is to be a responsive parent, to be intentional about how you will respond when SHE brings it up or there are situations that activate her negative body image thoughts. You want to be a soft place to land. <br /><br />Check out drkarlamd.com for more!<br />Self-love superpower,<br />Dr. Karla
Ready to challenge beliefs? Like, really challenge beliefs? Do you know your thoughts have power? Your current thinking creates your current reality. Your Now thinking creates your Now result. Your brain is a story making machine. Most of what goes on in your brain, the thousands of unconscious thoughts coming up on the daily are just stories. Thoughts are a rainbow that comes and goes; a sentence in your mind; a cloud going by while the real you is the quiet confidence of the blue sky. It’s a powerful thought on a loop in your brain, mostly left unchallenged. Did you know you can drop beliefs that don’t serve you like a book? When you are aware that you are not your thoughts, your thoughts are optional, same with beliefs, you can start to let go of what doesn’t serve you and create beliefs on purpose that do serve you. It’s called a belief upgrade and it’s an epically powerful life coaching tool. Once you become aware of the beliefs or thoughts creating your feelings, you’re there. Just pause. You can then shift to create a belief upgrade or thoughts to think list. 30 Current diet thinking beliefs: The only way to lose weight is to go on a diet. The only way to lose weight is to deprive myself and watch what I eat all the time. I have to count calories and be strict. If I gain weight I will feel like a failure. If I binge all of my work is gone. I’m out of control when it comes to sugar. I have to work out every day to lose weight. A calorie deficit is the only way to lose weight. Weighing myself is the only way to see if I’m successful or a failure. I have to set a weight loss goal. I can’t eat what I want and lose weight. Everyone else gets to eat what they want. I should be able to stick to eating less sugar, but I can’t. I don’t believe it’s possible for me to eat sugar in moderation. Every time I have something I need to do, I just grab my phone and put it off. I’m such a procrastinator. I hate exercising. I’m not an athlete. I’ll get bullied if I try out for a sport. I love sports, but I’m not good enough to make the team. Every time I exercise I get so out of breath. Exercising just isn’t for me. There must be something wrong with my body. I would have less worries in life if my body was smaller. I’ll feel good about myself when I reach my goal weight. I know I need to love myself, but how is the question. I wish I could just live my life but everyone is so obsessed with my weight. Truth is I don’t really care about my health. I wish I wasn’t judged by my body size. I wish people didn’t feel so entitled to make comments about my body. Now, check out my 30 belief upgrades for each day of September: I’m curious to discover a non-diet approach to reach my health goals. Deprivation never works long-term, is harmful and leads to binging. I always get to choose how to measure my success. I never make gaining weight mean anything is going wrong. When I binge eat, I use my self-compassion mantras to disrupt the binge-restriction cycle. My over-desire for sugary foods is a habit pathway in my brain. My body was created to move. Creating healthy habit sticks is the way to help my body reach a healthy weight set point range. I never have to weigh myself if I don’t want to, especially if it’s triggering for me. Setting a weight loss goal dehumanizes my body and puts all my success at the finish line. I choose to eat delicious food that serves me and my health goals. I stay out of self-judging by not judging body sizes and what others eat or don’t eat. I’m curious to learn more brain science about sugar craving pathways. I am not powerless over sugar. Going on my phone is a habit and I can easily get unstuck. I can take one action step and that’s enough. I get to try new ways to be active and move my body. I am an active person. My past experience trying out for new things doesn’t have to be in the way of my future self. I try out for the team with every intention of making it. When I’m out of breath exercising, I can take a break. I trust I will discover fun ways to be active. My body is working. Shaming my body never works. Wishing my body was smaller creates unnecessary drama in my brain. I fully love and accept myself now. Self-love is my daily intentional habit practice. I’m choosing to live my magical life. I get to create my own definition of health that works for me. I connect with people who value body diversity. I let people know my body is my business. Check off the mantras that resonate with you and write one of your own. Let’s go: Current belief:__________________________________________________ Belief upgrade:__________________________________________________ When you sign up for my Cut the Cringe parent coaching workshop (link here), you’ll get entered into a drawing for a signed copy of Pete’s book, “Thoughts: The Power of Your Mind”. Thoughts anyone? Self-love superpower, Dr. Karla
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IME PODCAST

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PRINTABLES

Want to get a head start on your progress? Check out these optional IME downloads and worksheets for a fun, interactive way to learn about transforming your mind and body through the power of choice!

5 Keys to Self-Acceptance

Teens, you can use these 5 key steps to get yourself on a path to fully accepting who you are. Don’t wait until you’ve reached your next goal. Love yourself now!

Let's Meet in the Middle

Parents, this piece sums up my approach to holistic weight and life coaching. Get to know my philosophy and the inspiration behind IME Community’s flexible structure.

IME CommunityRx

Doctors, IME Community is just what your teen patients need to succeed. With my extensive background, I’ve found scientifically backed methods that actually work. 

BLOG

The IME Community blog is your go-to for articles that will help you feel amazing about yourself and inspire you to live a healthier lifestyle. Hear from the pros about how they’ve made it fun to get it done!

Cultivating Daily Gratitude – November 2022 Mantras

Cultivating Daily Gratitude – November 2022 Mantras

by | Nov 8, 2022

November is for Cultivating Daily Gratitude If someone asks you if you are a grateful person, you will likely say, “Of course.”  But, do you have a daily gratitude practice? One where you show up with gratitude for even the smallest of things?  Most of the time we...

What Are Almond Moms and What Do They Believe?

What Are Almond Moms and What Do They Believe?

by | Oct 20, 2022

Dr. Karla Lester was recently quoted in a Newseek article titled What Is an Almond Mom? Yolanda Hadid's TikTok Sparks Diet Culture Convo. Dr. Lester told Newsweek: "What diet culture teaches us is that people say they're pursuing health or wellness, but actually,...

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