From podcasts to printables, take advantage of these amazing free resources to help inspire your total-health journey! Straight from the experts, they’re totally free 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. 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. 

Parents, Teens, Doctors, listen to a Mom of an adolescent with insulin resistance and obesity talk with Dr. Karla about her journey of how she advocates to get her daughter effective treatment with the new Anti-Obesity Medications. It's been a long road for Mom, Kailey, and her family as she has advocated since her daughter started to gain unhealthy weight in early childhood. Though she was shut down by her pediatrician and told to restrict her daughter's intake and was referred to a dietitian and a psychologist, Kailey's intuition told her there was something more going on. Kailey shares her journey navigating our weight-biased healthcare system which often blames and shames children, adolescents and their parents and tells parents to place their children on restrictive diets. She finally found a pediatric endocrinologist who would listen and did a full assessment to rule-out causes and contributing factors, diagnosed her with Insulin Resistance and started treatment. Kailey has also taken a GLP-1 medication and shares her journey on TikTok and IG @thegeriatricmillennial. Recently, she started sharing their f struggles with finding a doctor who would listen and actually help. Self-love superpower, Dr. Karla #teenhealthandwellness #childobesity #pediatricians #obesitytreatment #childhealthcare #wegovy #semaglutide #saxenda #insulinresistance #pcos #type2diabetes
A Doctor’s Take on Weight Loss Medications & Teens Go to drkarlamd.com to learn more. The results of the STEP TEENS phase 3 trial of once-weekly subcutaneous semaglutide 2.4mg (Wegovy) in adolescents aged 12 up to 18 years old with obesity are very promising. Published in November of this year in the NEJM, the study showed that patients who received semaglutide vs. placebo had greater reductions in body weight, improvements in waist circumference, A1C, lipids (except HDL cholesterol) and alanine aminotransferase. Quality of Life measures were better in the semaglutide group. Adverse gastrointestinal events were greater with semaglutide compared with placebo. Many pediatricians and childhood obesity experts, like me, who have been working for decades, taking care of hundreds of adolescent patients while watching the rates of severe obesity rise, especially during the pandemic, have hope that medical treatment will finally have effective tools to help our teen patients. Up until now, the weight loss medications approved for adolescents have been Qysmia, a combination of phentermine and topiramate which curbs appetite and once-daily injectable GLP-1 agonist. There have, of course, been other medications used for weight loss in adolescents, but with minimal effect and more side effects. Teen patients have told me they don’t like how they feel taking phentermine, especially if they have anxiety disorder. A daily injection is, well, a daily injection. I’m grateful these medications are coming out now instead of four years ago when I was the medical director of a pediatric weight management program at a Children’s Hospital and before I went through my own weight loss journey. The program was stuck in CICO thinking. The old Calories In Calories Out Energy Imbalance Model of Obesity and ignoring the epidemic of Insulin Resistance and that obesity is hormonal and not simply caloric. I was stuck in it too. Now, after becoming a certified life and weight coach and Diplomate of the ABOM, as I add a virtual health component to my digital coaching platform for teens, the timing to add in GLP-1 agonists to my physician toolbox is spot on. Mostly, I’m grateful for the countless hours I have been able to spend coaching teens and parents and as a TikTokdoc learning what it’s actually like for patients who share their journey using GLP-1 agonists on the app. The biggest benefit of GLP-1 agonists is the “quiet mind” patients experience. For the first time, their mind is not constantly food seeking and craving. Patients also feel fuller faster which makes sense because GLP-1 delays gastric emptying. Weight loss medications that effectively treat the root cause is what’s exciting: Insulin Resistance and sugar cravings from ultra-processed foods. Weight gain is a byproduct of Insulin Resistance and weight loss is a byproduct of reversing insulin resistance. Of course, as appetite is suppressed, it is important to make sure patients are getting adequate intake and don’t get into a restrictive eating pattern that will rebound as binging if and when they stop their medication. If you are someone like me who has successfully and sustainably lost weight, you know a major part of the journey is making changes to transition to eating real food. You understand what it’s like to believe that sugar and ultra-processed food is addictive. The instant gratification of dopamine from ultra-processed foods is powerful. Helping teen patients create a dopamine balance so their daily life is full of true reward and gratification is imperative even with the use of GLP-1 agonists. There is so much stigma around weight in the clinic setting and the patient-doctor interaction. Attrition rates are high and attendance rates are low for teens going to weight management programs. As a doctor in a clinic, patients didn’t share with me what they share with me when I’m coaching them. Now, I get to meet them where they are. Motivational Interviewing is powerful but isn’t the same as offering access to parents and teen patients coaching through obstacles as they come up in real time. What is your plan for patients to have access to you? Obviously, there’s the issue of accessibility, insurance coverage, supply chain issues, side effects and whether the patient is interested and willing to take an injection. There’s also a belief that teens I coach often express, I'm broken or there’s something wrong with me so I need this singular fix. Stay away from perpetuating that. Frame up the use of medications as just one part of a whole approach to health. The new GLP-1 agonists potentially reduce disease risk and chronic disease burden in teens with a once-weekly injection. Let’s focus on what the GLP-1 agonists are really treating and be excited about that instead of celebrating weight loss. I want to caution all of us to stay out of singular solution quick fix thinking while treating a chronic complex disease in teens.
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
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ARTICLES

Meet Doctor Karla Lester, MD

Specialty(ies): Pediatrics | Physician Profile
When you work with Karla Lester M.D.(she/her/hers), you get results. Not only is she a rockstar, board-certified pediatrician, obesity medicine doctor and professionally certified life coach with decades of experience, but she also uses her own weight loss journey as fuel for helping teens, parents and physicians succeed — and making it fun! After years of creating community solutions for children’s health, she is bringing all of what works to create IME Community (imecommunity.com).

MEDPAGETODAY'S KevinMD.com

Dr. Karla is a child health advocate who has worked to address the childhood obesity epidemic for two decades on local, state, and national levels. Her vision is “creating community with compassionate connection.” She is a poet, an author of a children’s book, The Magical Everywhere, the poem, “Miracle of Will,” in JAMA, and is the grateful mom of three amazing young people.

food chatter food noise

Patients say drugs like Ozempic help with ‘food noise.’ Here’s what that means

As more people turn to drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss, another side effect for some patients has emerged: less so-called “food noise,” or food chatter.

The terms refer to constant or intrusive thoughts or preoccupation about food, said Dr. Karla Lester, an obesity physician and pediatrician. Whereas “hunger would be the physiologic sensation that you need to eat … food noise and food chatter is more like the craving mind.”

IME PODCAST

Get educated and motivated on the go! We know you’re busy, so we made it easy to tune in to life and weight coaching at any time. Whether you’re working out or driving to school, you can access the IME podcast from literally anywhere — making this another great free resource!

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.

What is insulin resistance

THE REAL EPIDEMIC

Let’s think differently about it. Unhealthy weight gain is hormonal and not simply caloric. The real epidemic facing children and adolescents is Insulin Resistance (IR) and metabolic diseases associated with IR, such as prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver disease, PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) and metabolic syndrome.

Download my Insulin Resistance in Teens Guide here to learn about my metabolic health approach.

Download Insulin Resistance Guide Now
What is insulin resistance

THE REAL EPIDEMIC

Let’s think differently about it. Unhealthy weight gain is hormonal and not simply caloric. The real epidemic facing children and adolescents is Insulin Resistance (IR) and metabolic diseases associated with IR, such as prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver disease, PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) and metabolic syndrome.

Download my Insulin Resistance in Teens Guide here to learn about my metabolic health approach.

Download Insulin Resistance Guide Now

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!

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