Claire Lockridge
Episode Summary
What actually matters for sustainable weight loss — calories, blood sugar, protein, strength training, intermittent fasting, or medications like Ozempic?
In this episode of Girls Gone Wellness, former naturopathic doctor Claire Lockridge joins Victoria and Jeanette for an in-depth conversation about weight loss, insulin resistance, blood sugar regulation, protein intake, body composition, strength training, intermittent fasting, continuous glucose monitors, GLP-1 medications, berberine and metabolic health.
Claire begins by breaking down a practical approach to building a balanced meal. Her general “healthy plate” framework includes half the plate as non-starchy vegetables, one quarter as lean protein, one quarter as complex carbohydrates, plus a source of healthy fat when appropriate. Rather than focusing on restrictive diets, she emphasizes whole foods, meal preparation, protein, fibre and realistic habits that can be repeated consistently.
Protein is a major focus of the episode. Claire explains why the standard minimum protein recommendation may be too low for people trying to lose fat while preserving or building muscle. She discusses a general range of approximately 1.2 to 1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, with higher intakes sometimes used during weight loss. The episode also addresses plant-based protein, soy, complete versus incomplete proteins, and why people eating a varied diet generally do not need to obsess over perfectly combining amino acids at every meal.
The conversation then turns to blood sugar and insulin resistance. Claire explains how large blood sugar swings may affect hunger, cravings, energy and fat storage, and why improving insulin sensitivity can make weight management easier. She also discusses why someone can have insulin resistance without having diabetes, and why fasting insulin, fasting glucose, HOMA-IR or a two-hour glucose and insulin challenge may reveal metabolic dysfunction even when HbA1c appears normal.
Claire also shares her perspective on continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) for people without diabetes. She explains that CGMs may be useful in selected individuals with significant insulin resistance or hypoglycemia-related symptoms, but are not necessary for everyone and may be inappropriate for people with a history of disordered eating or an unhealthy relationship with food.
Another major topic is BMI versus body composition. Claire explains why BMI can be misleading at an individual level, particularly in muscular people or those with low muscle mass and higher body fat. Instead, she emphasizes muscle mass, body composition, how clothing fits, strength and metabolic markers as more useful measures of progress.
Exercise is also central to the episode. Claire describes muscle as a “golden ticket” for metabolic health and recommends two to three strength-training sessions per week, alongside regular low-intensity movement such as walking. Strength training is discussed as particularly important for preserving muscle during weight loss, improving insulin sensitivity and reducing the risk of sarcopenia later in life.
The episode also examines Ozempic and other GLP-1 medications, including when these medications may be appropriate, why adequate nutrition and resistance training matter during treatment, and concerns about muscle loss and adverse effects. Claire also discusses the viral claim that berberine is “nature’s Ozempic,” explaining why berberine may support insulin sensitivity and metabolic health but does not work the same way as a GLP-1 medication.
Finally, the conversation covers intermittent fasting, calorie counting, fibre, disordered eating, emotional eating and the mindset required for long-term weight management. Claire emphasizes that sustainable weight loss is not about finding one perfect supplement or hitting one exact calorie target — it is about improving overall health through nutrition, movement, sleep, stress management and realistic long-term habits.
-
What is the best way to build a healthy plate for weight loss?
Claire recommends a simple balanced-plate approach: approximately half non-starchy vegetables, one quarter lean protein, one quarter complex carbohydrates, plus a source of healthy fat when appropriate. This creates a meal with protein, fibre and nutrient density without requiring strict calorie counting.
How much protein should I eat for weight loss?
The episode discusses a general range of approximately 1.2 to 1.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, depending on the individual. Claire often uses around 1.5 g/kg as a starting point for people trying to lose fat while preserving muscle.
Why is protein important during weight loss?
Protein helps with satiety, muscle preservation and muscle growth. Eating enough protein may make it easier to maintain a calorie deficit while reducing the amount of muscle lost during weight loss.
Is plant protein as good as animal protein?
Plant protein can absolutely be part of a healthy diet. Claire explains that foods such as soy, tofu, tempeh, legumes and other plant proteins can contribute meaningfully to protein intake, especially when eaten as part of a varied diet.
Do plant proteins have all the essential amino acids?
Many plant foods contain all essential amino acids but in different proportions. The episode emphasizes that people generally do not need to perfectly “combine” proteins at every meal as long as their overall diet is varied and provides enough total protein.
Does insulin resistance make weight loss harder?
Yes. Claire explains that insulin resistance can make weight management more difficult by affecting fat storage, hunger, energy levels and cravings. Improving insulin sensitivity can therefore be an important part of a weight-loss strategy.
Can you have insulin resistance without diabetes?
Yes. Insulin resistance can develop years before diabetes or an abnormal HbA1c. The episode discusses fasting insulin, fasting glucose, HOMA-IR and glucose/insulin challenge testing as tools that may detect metabolic dysfunction earlier.
Can HbA1c be normal even if you have blood sugar problems?
Yes. Because HbA1c reflects an average, large highs and lows can sometimes average out to a seemingly normal number. Claire explains that additional testing may reveal spikes, crashes or elevated insulin even when HbA1c looks normal.
What is a continuous glucose monitor?
A continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, tracks glucose levels throughout the day and night. It can show how meals, stress, sleep and exercise affect blood sugar in real time.
Should people without diabetes use a CGM?
Not everyone needs one. Claire explains that CGMs may be helpful in selected people with significant insulin resistance, hypoglycemia-related symptoms or blood sugar variability, but she would not routinely use them for someone simply trying to lose weight without evidence of metabolic dysfunction.
Can CGMs make disordered eating worse?
Potentially. Claire says she would avoid CGM use in people with a history of eating disorders, disordered eating or an unhealthy relationship with food, because constant glucose data may increase food anxiety or unnecessary restriction.
Is BMI a good measure of health?
BMI can be useful in population research, but it is limited for individuals. Claire explains that it can misclassify muscular people as overweight while also missing people with low muscle mass and higher body fat.
What is more useful than BMI?
The episode emphasizes body composition, muscle mass, body fat, strength, metabolic markers and how clothing fits as more useful measures of progress than BMI alone.
Can you lose fat without losing weight?
Yes. People who are new to strength training may gain muscle while losing fat, which means their body composition can improve even if the scale barely changes. This is sometimes referred to as body recomposition.
How fast should you lose weight?
Claire describes sustainable weight loss as a long-term process and discusses roughly half a pound to one pound per week as a common pace. The exact rate will vary between individuals.
Do you have to count calories to lose weight?
No. Claire does not routinely have patients count calories. Instead, she often focuses on protein, fibre, balanced meals, hunger and satiety cues, movement, sleep and stress.
What should I track instead of calories?
If tracking is useful, Claire prefers focusing on protein and fibre. These nutrients are highly satiating and can help support both weight management and metabolic health.
Why is fibre important for weight loss?
Fibre slows digestion, supports satiety and feeds the gut microbiome. It may also help with blood sugar regulation and overall metabolic health.
What is the best exercise for weight loss?
Claire emphasizes strength training as particularly important, especially when weight loss is the goal. She recommends approximately two to three full-body strength sessions per week, alongside regular daily movement.
How often should I strength train for weight loss?
Two to three strength-training sessions per week may be enough when they include progressive overload, compound movements and sufficient effort. More is not always necessary.
Why is muscle mass so important for metabolic health?
Muscle helps use glucose from the bloodstream and improves insulin sensitivity. Claire describes muscle as a metabolic “sponge,” making it valuable for blood sugar regulation and long-term health.
Does walking help with weight loss?
Yes. Low-intensity movement such as walking is discussed as an underrated part of weight management. Walking can support energy expenditure, blood sugar regulation, stress reduction and overall consistency.
Is Ozempic good for weight loss?
Claire explains that Ozempic and other GLP-1 medications may be useful in selected people, particularly those with significant insulin resistance or metabolic disease. However, she does not view them as a universal first-line solution for everyone who wants to lose weight.
Does Ozempic cause muscle loss?
Weight loss on GLP-1 medications can include loss of lean mass as well as fat. The episode emphasizes the importance of adequate protein intake, nutrient density and resistance training for people using these medications.
Is berberine “nature’s Ozempic”?
No. Berberine does not work the same way as Ozempic. Claire explains that berberine may improve insulin sensitivity, cholesterol and other metabolic markers, but it should not be expected to reproduce the effects of a GLP-1 medication.
Can berberine help with insulin resistance?
Yes, berberine is discussed as one supplement that may support insulin sensitivity and metabolic health in appropriately selected patients. Claire uses it as one piece of a broader treatment plan rather than as a stand-alone weight-loss supplement.
Should berberine be taken long term?
Claire explains that she does not routinely use berberine long term and generally limits its use in practice. Because it has antimicrobial effects and may affect the gut microbiome, it should ideally be used under professional guidance.
Does intermittent fasting help with weight loss?
It can help some people, but it is not necessary for everyone. Claire typically starts with a 12-hour overnight fast, which she views as a normal eating rhythm rather than aggressive intermittent fasting.
Is a 14-hour fast safe for women?
For some women, yes. Claire explains that a 14:10 fasting pattern may be appropriate for certain individuals, particularly when insulin resistance is present, but it should be individualized based on health history, menstrual status and relationship with food.
Who should avoid intermittent fasting?
The episode suggests caution in people with disordered eating, hypothalamic amenorrhea, menstrual irregularities related to under-fuelling or a history of restrictive eating.
Do carbs make you gain weight?
Carbohydrates themselves are not inherently fattening. Claire emphasizes that fruits, vegetables, whole grains and other fibre-rich carbohydrates can be part of a healthy weight-loss diet.
Are all calories equal?
Not in their effects on hunger, satiety and overall health. While energy balance still matters, Claire explains that food quality, protein, fibre, blood sugar responses and nutrient density can strongly influence how easy or difficult it is to sustain weight loss.
Can someone in a smaller body have metabolic dysfunction?
Yes. A person can be lean and still have insulin resistance, high cholesterol, low muscle mass or other metabolic abnormalities. Body size alone does not determine metabolic health.
How does disordered eating affect weight-loss treatment?
Claire routinely screens for eating disorders, restrictive eating, binge eating, food-related shame, emotional eating and childhood food experiences. These patterns can strongly influence whether a weight-loss plan is appropriate, sustainable and psychologically safe.
-
This transcript has been edited for clarity and readability while preserving the substance of the conversation.
Victoria Gasparini
Hello Dr Lock Ridge Welcome to Girls Gone Wellness. we are so excited to have this conversation with you today. We get a ton of questions regarding weight management Insulin glucose all the different diets for weight loss.
Claire Lockridge
Hi I'm so excited to be here.
Victoria Gasparini
And we also hear a lot of nutrition myths online which I know you're familiar with So I'm very excited to have you on to help us debunk these today. Yeah.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah I'm excited to be here.
Jeanette
Amazing. So why don't you tell us about how you got into naturopathic medicine and then why you chose to focus on like Insulin glucose weight management diabetes all of that stuff.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, so I think I got into naturopathic medicine kind of the same way most and ds do is just through our own personal health struggles. so when I was in my late teens and my early 20s I was in college I was competing as a Division I athlete at the University of Arizona and I just started having a lot of my own kind of personal health struggles I struggled a lot with depression anxiety and different mental health things I also had issues with. Eating disorders both binge eating and restrictive eating. and I also just had terrible body image I was fluctuating in weight despite working out for over 25 hours a week and of course the workouts were not to lose weight.
But for training purposes. But I just struggled with. With eating and nutrition and my overall health for a good part of my late teens and early 20 s and then while I was at while I was at college I studied psychology with a minor in nutrition and nutrition was just very interesting to me. I love learning about how different foods impacts the body not just the macronutrients like carbs protein fat. But also how the micronutrients impact your overall health and your well-being and then I went to school for CCNM and it seemed like everyone wanted to focus on women's hormones and that just. You know wasn't really for me I didn't of course I see that in practice but it wasn't something that I was really drawn to and yeah I just started looking more into Metabolic Health I learned that insulin sensitivity and blood sugar control.
Not only impact your ability to lose Weight. and have a healthy metabolism and. Cholesterol and liver health but it also improves your mental health as Well. It's important for sleep. It's really blood sugar regulation is at the base of our health. whether or not your primary goal is weight loss. So yeah, that's kind of how I got into naturopathic medicine and how I got into blood sugar control and Metabolic health.
Jeanette
Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing your story I hear this all the time because I know there's some people in our program too that were like Division I athletes and really did like that whole thing and it's really crazy like what they've been through and all this stuff and it's not uncommon right to have. You know these challenges when you're an athlete and you're exercising and you're focusing on nutrition so much. So I think there are people in our program that have gone through kind of that similar trajectory as well and I think with metabolic health as well. Like so many people struggle with this and people may not even be aware of it. I was talking to Vic before you know like we talk about it so much with different like conditions like PCOS.
For example, we were talking before that. Even if you're in a smaller body. You may have metabolic dysfunction and you may not even think of it. so I think it's definitely an important topic that we. But we'd discuss for sure.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, that lean type PCOS and even lean type metabolic dysfunction is huge is becoming more and more common. You know people think that just because you're in a lean body. It means that you can't have you know high cholesterol. Or that you can't have insulin resistance or diabetes or stuff like that and we're seeing that. That's just not true.
Jeanette
Hundred percent and I think people that may even be more dangerous right? Like if you're in that litar body and you're not checking in on these things you're like oh I'm okay like there's no way I could have high cholesterol. There's no way I could have. You know metabolic dysfunction. So I think if anything these people should be seeing people like you to get all these things checked out. Okay, so we're going to jump right into some of the questions we noticed on your Instagram you have one of these posts about how to build a healthy plate so I'd love for you to explain that to our listeners about. What a healthy plate looks like in general.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah I get really excited every time I get to talk about this? and so I think that having this template for a healthy plate makes nutrition and eating healthy so much simpler. So if you go on my Instagram you can see the full graphic. But basically I always tell patients we want to start out with half of our plate being non-starchy vegetables right? So bok choy broccoli cabbage carrots whatever you want and then about a quarter of your plate is going to be lean proteins so chicken fish tofu tempeh you know, red meat on occasion eggs. Those can all be part of that and then about a quarter of your plate is going to be complex carbohydrates so fiber-rich complex carbohydrates like sweet potatoes.
Squash brown rice whole grain pasta things like that and then right in the middle I have healthy fat now I always tell patients you know if you cooked your vegetables in some oil or something like that or you're having a fatty or cut of protein. You may not need the healthy fat. but having that healthy serving of fat. And I really say as long as you have those 4 components in those general ratios I mean we don't need to be taking a ruler and like drawing outlines on our plate. but if you're if you're pairing that with mindful eating in a calm state listening to your hunger cues. Generally, That's a really good place to start. and I Always like to say you know always try and have things prepped So I Always like to have either roasted veggies or some greens in the fridge I like to have pre-made protein on hand just to keep.
And it makes the meals come together a lot easier and then same with carbs I Love having premade sweet potatoes or brown rice or something like that and then you can just throw together the meal and it comes together really quick.
Victoria Gasparini
There's something to be said about that prep beforehand because I mean I'm the person I love chicken. But if I'm hungry and there's like raw chicken in the fridge I am not going to cook it. Let's be honest like I am reaching for whatever is available at that point. So. Starting your week by prepping some of that stuff beforehand even though in the moment you're like I really don't want to do this. It really does help you in the long run. So I'm glad you touched on that on the other thing when you were talking about this healthy plate. It's funny that we've made nutrition so complicated for literally no reason like everybody is so focused on what do I have to take out what am I not allowed to eat.
What do I have to eat you know how much you know how many chia sheets are sorry Chia seeds should I be adding to my shake or flax seeds or whatever and those things are great. Of course, but we've made it so much more complicated when really, it's pretty simple when you put it like that right? yeah.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, it's eating whole foods, a variety of whole foods and keeping in mind those general ratios. The ratios don't have to be perfect, but like whole foods in those approximate ratios. you know and making sure you're doing all the other things outside of nutrition. and that's a really good place to start. But yeah, no need to overcomplicate like everyone overcomplicates it. and I think a big reason of that and this is a whole separate topic but the introduction of all those therapeutic diets that we see. And I think the lines get blurred between what's a therapeutic diet and what's healthy eating and that's where I think that people can get really confused and things can get really complicated.
Jeanette
Either right.
Victoria Gasparini
Yeah, definitely and that impacts your long-term success because if it's not something that's sustainable. You're not, You're never going to be able to stick to it right? So let's talk about protein because this is a huge area of nutrition that we tend to. Focus on and we tend to hear a lot about especially on Instagram everybody thinks they know how much protein people should be eating and Jeanette and I had this conversation before you popped on today where like we'll be in clinic and we'll hear someone say like no, you should be eating. You know for this equation like 2.2 grams of protein per Kilogram of body weight and I'm like wait but I heard this and it's like what do you tell a patient right?
So it's something that we want to get your advice on and I think that in general people want to know how much protein should we really be eating.
Claire Lockridge
Eaten. Yeah. Yeah I think it's important to remember that it's going to be a range There's no actual perfect gram of protein like we know as humans that's not how it works and with bio-individuality and also just day to day life every day is going to be different.. I know a lot of numbers are thrown around. We touched on before the 0.8 grams per kilogram I think that this is too low and I think we see that reflected in the research that when we actually have more success. It's actually closer to you know the 1 to 1.7 grams per kilogram per day and I really tell patients if we're trying to lose weight. Let's go to the higher end of that just because we know that muscle mass is so important and we want to make sure that we're preventing any breakdown of muscle and then we're also giving them the resources to build muscle.
We also know that protein is very. Satiating so when we look at actually ways that we're getting into a calorie deficit which we need to lose weight upping the protein is going to be helpful for that. so I usually start patients about 1.5 grams per kilogram and that's not crazy. You know for 150 pound woman who's about 68 kilograms that's about 100 grams of protein per day so it really depends and she could even go a little bit lower and I think that she would still have success with weight loss. but that's kind of the range. So I would say you know if you're really serious about weight loss I would. Go 1.2 to 1 point 7 find somewhere. That's realistic for you to hit I see so often people try to go way too high on their protein.
They don't hit it and then they just kind of threw up their hands and like oh well I'll just get 40 grams for the day because I couldn't hit the 150
Jeanette
Consistent.
Claire Lockridge
You know? So I think it's got to be realistic. But yeah, again, there's no, there's no perfect amount I would say you know between that 1.2 to 1.7 grams per kilogram is going to be your best that. Oh yeah.
Victoria Gasparini
Yeah, and I feel like that's doable right? Yeah for me, it's like that whole thing it's like okay well, there's no way I'm going to reach my protein intake today. So I either just give up here. Or it's 9:00 p.m. and I'm like shoveling down a Quest bar or like some chicken that's left over in the fridge and it's like ridiculous I'm not hungry at that point. So it's also like ok, let's just start again tomorrow and just try our best to hit these goals right.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, and I think we already touched on this but like preparation is key. I've really found that I don't need to plan out all of my meals but I'll at least usually plan out my fiber sources and my protein sources for my meal. So I know generally when I wake up you know I'll probably have three eggs for breakfast I'll know. Okay I've got some chicken in the fridge I'm probably going to have that for lunch that's going to be about 35 grams maybe I'll have some Greek yogurt as a snack or something like that and then I know that I have salmon prepped for dinner. So I kind of have my. My protein sources and then that way cause I think that preparation is key especially when you're first starting out on changing your diet and you're not in the habit yet you have to be conscious about getting your prep ready and really having everything really easy and accessible..
So I tell patients you know preparation is key and just try and think kind of backwards. Okay, if my goal is 100 grams of protein today. How can I get 25 to 35 grams per meal and just kind of work backwards from there.
Victoria Gasparini
I like that it sounds like a good approach Now there is a lot of talk online as well about how this whole idea of like complete protein sources and animal protein is a complete protein and plant protein is incomplete or whatever and for me I mean. I'm not a vegetarian I eat chicken I like eggs. However, when we have our long clinic days I find it very difficult to you know, eat enough protein because I don't want to bring eggs and leave them in my bag for you know, Eight nine hours before I find a quick time to eat.
Jeanette
Grief.
Victoria Gasparini
So I've been wondering and we've gotten this question quite a bit as well is plant protein or does plant protein carry those same benefits.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, so I'm I'm a big fan of plant protein and I'm I'm a meat eater I Eat Eggs I Eat Fish. You know I eat all of it and I actually think that plant protein can be definitely part of a healthy diet and can actually be very beneficial. We have a lot of research showing that soy which we actually know is it's a complete protein has a lot of health benefits through the isoflavones and the different antioxidants within it. so I definitely think that plant protein can be part of that and then even if you're eating a piece of plant protein that. Isn't necessarily a complete protein. It's important to remember that we're not eating one food like I hope that your meal isn't just one food.
so we're pairing it with different things. you know we know that when we pair certain plant proteins with other plants. It can create that. And then you're also that's not the only thing you're eating throughout the day. So I think yeah again, we zoom in and say animal proteins are more complete. They're more bioavailable things like that if you were completely vegan I definitely do think that you have to be more strategic with your protein intake. and you may have to have a slightly higher protein goal If you are an omnivore. You're eating both plants and animal sources of protein and you're wondering if on those days that you have plant protein if you need to up your protein I wouldn't worry about it I think that's getting too nitty-gritty.
And at that point it's it's making nutrition harder than the benefit of being that you know nitty-gritty with it. so yeah I would definitely say like plant sources of protein can be great. and I don't think that they. You have to be too concerned about really upping your protein on those days or that they're not going to be complete.
Jeanette
I actually learned recently on a podcast by Simon Hill shut out Simon Hill we love him. that actually like plant proteins in themselves are complete. Meaning that they have all of the different types of amino acids they're just at different levels. So when people say like it's incomplete. It means that it doesn't mean that they don't have certain amino acids it just means that certain ones are at different levels. So what you mentioned again like we hope that you're not just eating. Like brown rice for your dinner. You're incorporating tofu you're incorporating like different things that way and that makes it complete. So yeah I mean.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah I think I think the most common one is like leucine is really low in a lot of animal or in a lot of plant products. But yeah again, like I hope that's not the only thing you're you're eating that day and if you're eating other foods like we don't need to be too worried about it.
Jeanette
A hundred percent
Claire Lockridge
In fact, we see that a lot of the Blue Zones eat a ton of plant-based protein right? and they're they're doing fine.
Jeanette
That's a good point. so moving into blood sugar a little bit more now how important is balancing blood sugar and treating insulin resistance when it comes to weight loss.
Claire Lockridge
So it's really important. if you have really irregular blood sugar throughout the day so you're having those big spikes and those big dips. one, You're not only releasing more insulin and we know that Insulin has a number of. Actions within the body not just getting you know the sugar into the cells but it also breaks or it also inhibits lipolysis so it actually inhibits the breakdown of fat and it can promote fat storage. The other thing is if you're having those large spikes where you're having a lot of sugar I say that there's four places that sugar can go right? It can go into the cell it can go into Muscle. It can go into liver or it can get stored as fat if you are Insulin Resistant.
It's going to be really hard to get it into the cells. So you are basically it's going to get maybe deposited into muscle if you have a good amount if you don't have a good amount. You know there's not a lot for it to go into the liver is going to get saturated and then the other place that it can go is into fat stores. So when you have those big spikes. You're going to store more glucose as fat. The other thing is right after you're going to have those crashes and with those crashes can come anxiety sugar cravings hunger. All of those things and when we talk about a calorie deficit. A huge reason why it's hard for people to stick to a calorie deficit is.
Hunger Cues sugar cravings. All of those things. So even if we were living in a vacuum. You know it's still the actual effect of Insulin resistance and those high levels of sugar within the blood. It's going to cause more fat to be stored. But then you know taking into the larger Account. You're going to be Tired. You're going to be Hungry. You're going to have strong cravings. All of those are going to lead to you to eat more calories and more highly palatable foods that are again going to keep you on that blood sugar Rollercoaster. So I really say that controlling your blood sugar is. Critical for weight loss like I think that it would. It's very difficult I think you can do it.
It's possible to lose weight with really bad controlled blood sugar but it's going to be really hard and it's not. It's not going to be sustainable and you're going to have a lot of other issues down the line.
Jeanette
That makes so much sense like breaking it down pathophysiology-wise from my brain I'm like that makes so much sense because you hear about that. But you don't always hear about the mechanism behind it and I think that's also why it's so important to have those meals that we talked about with like the. Protein the fiber all of that because that will keep you satiated and then that whole spiral won't happen right.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, yeah, I always say like when we slow digestion. It slows the release of sugar into the blood and it kind of gives your body more time to do everything. We don't want to overwhelm the pancreas. Trying to like shoot out a bunch of insulin because we have a huge spike in blood sugar like let's give it a little bit at a time and kind of drip feed it the sugar from the meal because sugar's not a bad thing right? like sugaring your blood. We need sugar in our blood to survive but. Yeah, we don't want to be eating. You know highly refined meals where our blood sugar's going to go up right away. We're going to get that storage of fat and then we're going to get the subsequent cravings.
You just don't want to be stuck on that roller coaster all day.
Jeanette
I definitely want to touch on what you just said about how we need sugar because I think obviously we don't want to get to a point where we're insulin resistant but like having those spikes and blood sugar is physiologic right? like it happens and it's normal.
Claire Lockridge
Yes.
Jeanette
So I definitely want to touch on this and especially with continuous glucose monitors because we're seeing a lot of people that aren't diabetic and they're using like CGMs to track. You know what foods are spiking their blood sugar and then they're cutting out those foods and then like it gets like very like I don't know.
Claire Lockridge
Isn't.
Jeanette
Like they're really like looking at these things So I'm just curious what your take is on CGMs.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, yeah, we definitely don't want to path pathologize Sorry that's the word I'm looking for. We don't want to pathologize a normal physiological process within the body. We should have those really gradual kind of like. Rolling Hills of blood sugar throughout the day. What we don't want is like the rollercoaster we want rolling Hills my thoughts on continuous glucose monitors. so I think that they can be helpful for some people even helpful for some people who don't have diabetes. So I would never use them in someone with a history of disordered eating or someone with a really unhealthy relationship with food I think that they can be a really good tool for helping people understand their body as long as they understand that there's going to be.
There's going to be increases and decreases. And those are not bad. Those are just our response to food and our response to Living. I'm actually sometimes a fan of using more of these technologies I say that we live in a very unconventional and modern or a very unconventional world and sometimes we have to use these technologies.. To kind of mitigate that environmental mismatch that we're living in now with that being said I think that sorry I just got a phone call. I'm just went started. where was I now I've lost my chain of thought. Yes, okay so I'm actually a fan of using them sometimes like I said we live in just we're living in an environmental mismatch and I sometimes think that technologies like that can kind of bridge the gap.
but for people who are diabetic. Prediabetic or we've run something like a two-hour insulin-glucose challenge as and we're seeing that they are severely insulin resistant or they're may be experiencing a lot of anxiety related to hypoglycemic episodes. Then I think that the two-hour insulin that a continuous glucose monitor. Can be really beneficial one. It can show them what is going on in their body and then sometimes 2 especially if it's an anxiety picture they can understand when their blood sugar is dipping and make the appropriate. You know, maybe having a high fat snack or something like that to kind of bring it up in a very sustainable way.
But for the time being I think that it can give people a good understanding of how different foods impact their body and take to a camp that bio-individuality that we see because I've seen videos online where people have eaten you know 2 people with continuous glucose monitors eat the same meal and they react differently to it.. Thing is you know a lot of us just didn't have a lot of nutrition advice growing up and a lot of nutrition education and I think that doing that selfexperimentation can be very helpful for people to really figure out what works for them and what doesn't because at the end of the day. If it gets them to a diet plan where they're controlling their blood sugar better and it's improving their symptoms like that's the end Goal.
We don't really care how we get there. so that's I view with continuous glucose monitors. But there definitely is that population where I don't think that we need to and then the videos online I will touch on that really quickly.
Jeanette
Yes.
Claire Lockridge
Again, like it plays into the bio-individuality just because someone online with a continuous glucose monitor ate something and it didn't spike their blood sugar doesn't necessarily mean it won't do that for you? so that's something to keep in mind as well.
Victoria Gasparini
Right? and that person online that is posting those videos doesn't have diabetes so it's interesting. you did kind of change my perspective a little bit as you were talking about how it may be.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Victoria Gasparini
Can be beneficial for certain populations who are not diabetic because I've always seen the negative side of it I've always thought of the disordered eating I've always thought of the people who are like missing all the. Crucial pillars to their nutrition and they're just jumping to the continuous glucose monitor and it's like but maybe we should start with like I don't know six to eight servings of veggies a day. But I think that if somebody is seeing someone like you like a practitioner who really knows what they're talking about when it comes to the subject and they're under your care then maybe. That is an area that can be beneficial for them.
So I'm glad that you talked about it because I've always been a little bit biased towards it so that was helpful.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah I think yeah, especially if someone's coming in and they're really severely insulin resistant and they're struggling with really bad sleep and anxiety and they can't get their stress down and all of those things. Sometimes you know telling them to eat 3 meals with protein and veggies is not necessarily going to be enough. We really have to show them What's going on with their body and sometimes they can be even helpful for people's blood sugar will spike when they come out of a stressful meeting you know and it's a reminder to them to maybe go. Go for a walk you know like takes him deep breaths like get the stress response down exercise and get the but blood pumping to get that sugar out of the blood.
so I think that you know it can be really helpful for especially some of those more severe cases.
Victoria Gasparini
Okay, so then can I just confirm that if your patient is coming to you for weight loss but they don't have insulin resistance would you don't use it. No okay.
Claire Lockridge
No I wouldn't use it. No if there's no insulin resistance like they could. They could go out and get 1 I don't think it would be as beneficial for them.
Victoria Gasparini
Ok that makes sense I want to move to the conversation of BMI a little bit. you know I think in general most people will say like BMI. Can feel kind of ridiculous like you go to your doctor and like I know people who are so fit and they're like oh you're obese because they're a muscle weighs so much more and so in general I think most of us can agree that BMI is maybe not the best measurement for the patient sitting in front of you.
Claire Lockridge
Is a.
Victoria Gasparini
But it's interesting because all of the studies or most of the studies we have on diabetes and weight management BMI is the measurement or the marker that we use to track whether something works or not so I wanted to know with you working in weight management is BMI something that you focus on.
Claire Lockridge
This is. Yeah I generally don't use BMI in my practice again like it can be somewhat helpful if you're looking at large populations and comparing different populations but really on a day-to-day basis like you said like you can have really fit people with a lot of muscle mass. Are going to be told that they're obese and then I think that it goes the other way too where a lot of the times you can have people that are categorized as a healthy weight. But maybe they have sarcopenia or they have you know. Very small amounts of muscle mass and actually when you put them in a Bod Pod or you look at their body fat percentage they actually have higher than optimal body fat but they're told you know you're a healthy weight so you don't have to lose weight.
Don't worry about your metabolic health. Don't worry about you know like nothing like that. And they can get dismissed because and also I think that's dangerous because they're basically told you're in a healthy weight. So don't don't worry about it even though for them. It may be incredibly beneficial for them to work on increasing their muscle mass and you know maybe their metabolic health and blood sugar and.
Victoria Gasparini
Senior.
Claire Lockridge
Lipid panel would improve if they lost some of their excess adipose tissue. and maybe their overall health would improve because we know that adipose tissue is an endocrine hormone. So yeah I don't I think that on an individual level BMI can actually do a little bit more harm than good. Because it can tell people that they're obese or it can tell people that they're in a healthy weight even though they're not and then again it's just another pitfall of nutrition studies which are all right. Nutrition is already so difficult to study because yeah, there's too many variables going on. But yeah I can it can make it even harder.
Jeanette
And this is why I think naturopathic medicine is so great because we're really looking at the individual in front of us right? So if we have someone that has a lot of like muscle mass. Maybe BMI isn't the best measure to use for them like we really have to individualize that. so I'm curious if. What other like objective measures. Do you use for measuring weight loss or setting goals with your patients.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, so I always start by letting them know kind of that weight loss is always going to be a long-term process really we see in the research that the quicker you lose weight the more likely you are to put it back on and we actually know that if you lose weight very. You're likely to lose a lot of muscle mass along with that adipose tissue right? And what we're going for is just losing adipose tissue. So I always hit the stage that we're doing this long term and then ideally when we get to the end you're going to want to sustain the weight loss for the foreseeable future. So there's really no rush. And it's not like we're going to get to the weight loss and then you're going to be able to go back to eating and kind of the lifestyle habits you had before right?
like this is a lifestyle change if you want to lose the weight in a healthy and sustainable way. in terms of goals I mean I usually set a pound to a half a pound of weight loss per week. But again, it's so hard because we know that we fluctuate throughout the day. even water retention can play a role. You know a large meal things like that. So I generally don't have patients go too much off the scale I more so have them see how their clothes fit. Especially jeans tighter fittting blazers things like that. that you can really tell when it's like a little bit looser and not to be overly focused on it because again this is a long-term thing we obviously we want to make sure the changes that we're making are working.
but we don't want to be too hyper focused on that so you know if you wear the same pair of jeans every week you know by the end of the month they should be fitting a little bit looser or that blazer should be fitting a little bit looser and we can go off of that. the nice thing too is if it's a patient that's. Never strength trained or anything like that. and they're starting out in the gym sometimes they can get what's called newbie gains where you're actually able to and I'm sure if you're in the weightlifting community on Instagram and stuff you've heard about newbie gains. But. It's where you can basically put on muscle mass and lose adipose tissue at the same time and sometimes your weight can actually stay the same but your body composition can change.
It's a little bit harder if you've been working out for longer. but if they're brand new to weightlifting. You can actually put on a decent amount of muscle pretty quickly. And sometimes their weight will stay the exact same but they'll come to the follow up and they'll say my clothes did so much better I look in the mirror I can definitely tell that I look thinner. you know like I look better, but the weight on the scale has not changed at all.. So That's something to keep in mind too that sometimes like I've had a few cases of weight loss where you know the weight hasn't changed that much but they look a lot different. They feel a lot different. So That's something to keep in mind as well.
Jeanette
I love that you use that like the clothes fitting tighter or looser as an objective measurement I think that's great because I think when people are going through this process. The first thing they jump to is the scale and of course if you're trying to build muscle mass.
Claire Lockridge
Is in.
Jeanette
Which of course is good for you know Insulin resistance body composition all of that muscle again weighs more than fat so you may not see that Change. You may even see your weight going up but like you said, you're going to be feeling Better. You're going to have more energy like all of these things and I think those. can get kind of forgotten when people are focusing so much on the Scale. So I really like how you focus on that.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah I always say like muscle mass is the golden ticket for Metabolic Health it is yeah it's so important, not just for insulin sensitivity. But for yeah for blood sugar. It's like a little sponge. It can help to suck up all that extra blood sugar. So. Yeah, it's really important.
Jeanette
I know you touched on like caloric restriction when it comes to weight loss. But do you advise your patients to like calorie count or count their macros when they're trying to lose weight or what's your approach to that.
Claire Lockridge
So I don't I don't think personally that we should have to count calories like it just it's one a lot of patients don't like doing it. it can create a lot of bad relationship with food and I really I don't think that it's necessary. If I do have them track things I'll have them track protein and fiber because I do think that those are very important. So a lot of times like I'll use an app I really like Cronometer so they can just punch in their protein sources and see where they're at and then same thing with fiber I think that fiber is the forgotten nutrient. like protein. It is very satiating as slow as digestion. It's important for the gut microbiome which is also important for weight loss and metabolic health.
so I'll just have them track those 2 we will do the healthy plate blueprint that we talked about. If. They're really I tell them be mindful of fats because fats are calorically dense so we're not demonizing fat or anything like that. But we're just staying mindful. We're saying mindful of how much oil we're using or how much sauce we're putting on top. and then repairing that with very mindful eating. Listening to hunger and satiety cues post meal walks all of those kind of things making sure that we're getting lots of exercise throughout the day we're addressing sleep stress. you know we're finding things that are bringing us joy. We're getting outside.
We're supporting our liver and detoxification pathways. All of those things if you're doing all of those things I don't think that you need to count calories. I think that you know most of the time we can. We can get into a weight loss date just from doing all of those What I'll normally do if patients are still having issues. It will just slowly start to tweak their plate. Maybe increase the veggies a little bit more start to I never compromise on the protein if anything will squeeze out a little bit of the carbs with some more veggies. but yeah, no I don't have my patients count calories.
Jeanette
I like that point that you made and I think we touched on this a lot before but the whole mindset piece is such a big part to weight loss in itself and I know you were saying before when you have patients come in, you sit them Down. You're like this is. This is a long-term goal like this isn't just a short-term fix like this is a lifestyle change. So Can you just talk a little bit more about how you have that conversation with patients and if patients are like more receptive to that. because I know obviously with weight body composition like there's a lot of like mindset psychological.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, yeah I think it definitely depends on the patient I Kind of like read the room and stuff like that. But I'm not I'm not too afraid of you know, giving a little bit of tough love and letting patients know that like.
Jeanette
Parts that play a role on that. So I'd love for you to touch on that.
Claire Lockridge
You know if you want a quick fix or something like that you know naturopathic medicine probably isn't going to be the right path for you? I often say that like patients coming into my office for one thing is a little bit of a blessing in disguise for them because I actually think that if we have these kind of smaller. Not smaller health goals. But if we have these health goals early on it actually sets us up later in life because we're establishing these good habits really early and I kind of look at weight loss the same way like yes, your initial goal is weight loss and getting you to a healthy weight but actually the long-term goal is keeping you at a healthy weight and promoting really good health.
Long term. and I tell patients like you know it' there's going to be some trial and error. There's going to be mistakes and there's also going to be times where you're eating something or you're working out and you're like I don't actually enjoy this and that's actually a really good learning opportunity.. Part of the things that I talk about when patients are starting to eat healthy is I let them know you're going to make mistakes you're going to be trying to cook things that you haven't cooked before and you're going to burn them or you're going to mess up a sauce or you're going to cook veggies and you're going to be like I actually don't like this vegetable and that's okay.
Then next time you go and you cook that piece of protein and now you know how to cook it or you know that you don't like that veggie so you swap it out for a different one. and that's why I think that you know like recipes and stuff like that can be helpful at the start and then you can customize it. But yeah, it's it's a very long-term process but it's really. Figuring out how to take good care of yourself I think that's the basis of weight loss. We're just giving our body everything that it needs. and in terms of the mindset and keeping yourself motivated I think that weight loss can be a goal but it can't be the only goal. If your only goal is weight Loss.
You're going to get discouraged really easily if your goal is weight loss and to feel really confident in your body and to feel healthy and nourished and have really good energy and good sleep and to be able to be able to show up and. Play with your kids and play with your grandkids when you're older and maybe see your great-grandkids like if you have those big longer term Gold. It's going to be a lot easier. and then same thing like accepting that the mistakes are going to come that there's going to be days where you fall off of your plan or. You know the meal doesn't go with planned or the workout doesn't go as planned and that you don't hold onto a lot of shame around that but that you actually look at it as learning opportunities and you're like how can I do that better the next time does that answer the question I feel like I got on a huge tangent.
Victoria Gasparini
No, that was so good that Mindset is so important I think so many people they don't think about the reason they actually want weight loss right? And if the reason is because you know.
Jeanette
We are.
Claire Lockridge
There.
Victoria Gasparini
You want to look good for like dating or whatever it might be like you might want to like reassess where you're at with that. so I think that's great I'm glad that we that we touched on that a little bit. It's a huge piece that a lot of us don't focus on and.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, for sure.
Victoria Gasparini
I want to move a little bit to exercise now you hear a lot of people who are like you hardly need to exercise like all you really need to do is focus on food and I guess when it comes to like actual losing weight on the scale. Maybe. But when it comes to that long term piece like we've been talking about and the sarcopenia piece and making sure that we're not losing Muscle exercise is very important and so I think that in the weight loss space. We're maybe not focusing on that enough. And I think there's the opposite too I think people who are like in training will focus so much on that and not the diet piece either. so I do want to talk about exercise and I want to know if there's a type of exercise that people should be doing when.
When weight loss is their main goal like is it only strength training is it a mix.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, oh my gosh I have so much to say on this. I'll start with what type of exercise. So I always say if you're just starting out the type of exercise that you enjoy and that you can stick to is the best. I do tell patients you know if weight loss is the goal. Should be strength training. if they already have a separate type of exercise that they really enjoy and they're actually doing on a regular basis I'll maybe just add in 2 strength training sessions a week. because really for hypertrophy you don't need and I think this is where that myth comes in that you don't need to work out that much. Don't actually need that many strength training sessions like I think if someone's having two to three really good strength training sessions where they are really pushing themselves.
They are incorporating progressive overload. They're focusing on compound movements I actually think you can be really efficient with your time in the gym. So if someone is a very active individual already and they're they're doing other exercises I'll say okay, let's start with two to three full body workouts a week they don't have to be long. You know 30 to 45 minutes just making sure that we're helping to put on the muscle. muscle mass because it really is important right? You touched on sarcopenia so we want to prevent losing muscle especially for women. I always say that if you want a really good menopause transition strength train in your 20s 30s and 40s it's going to make your 50 s 60s you know a lot more enjoyable.
So I usually say yeah like two to three strength training and then getting lots of movement throughout the day I think that low intensity movement is really underrated getting out for lots of walking or if you are in more of those recreational activities. You know like volleyball. What is it? pickleball is becoming really popular right now. Everyone's playing pickleball tennis like rock climbing. You know, whatever you want to do that's going to move yoga like all of those things but I would say at the face if weight loss is your goal. Really I think that everyone should be doing some. Some point of strength training but really weight loss is your goal at's a minimum two to three times a week full body workouts progressive overload and compound movements.
Yeah.
Victoria Gasparini
Okay, you're motivating me to get back in the gym.
Claire Lockridge
I know sometimes I think about I'm like I could just go for a bunch of like long walks and maybe go for a little run but I'm like but you know it is about building the muscle mass. It is really important.
Victoria Gasparini
Yeah, it's so important. Thank you for touching on that now we can't have a weight loss episode without touching on Ozempic or GLP-1 agonists. So what are your general thoughts on a zapec.
Claire Lockridge
I think that Ozempic for a very small so I just want to start by saying Ozempic is not in our scope of practice as ND in Ontario but that being said I have seen and worked with patients who are on Ozempic I think that Ozempic. Can be beneficial for a very small amount of people who are really struggling with severe insulin resistance weight loss resistance. but for most weight loss cases I actually don't think that it's the best choice. Like I said it really depends on the Individual. but it's important to remember how this drug works and actually the adverse effects because I don't think that a lot of people realize the adverse effects and then also the fact that you're eating so much less.
and the way that it impacts your gut health you're actually having to eat a extremely nutrient dense diet and then we also know with the weight loss people tend to lose a lot of muscle Mass. So One of the things that is recommended when you're on Ozempic is that you're doing intense resistance training.
Victoria Gasparini
I No.
Claire Lockridge
Really working. So basically you're eating an extremely nutrient dense diet and your strength training a lot. and I don't think that people realize that is you know, not a requirement you can be on Ozempic and not be doing those things. But if you don't want a lot of the adverse. Impact of a zemppe you're going to have to be doing that and especially if people are looking for a quick fix I'm like you're Goingnna have to be eating an extremely nutrient dense diet. You're going to be. You know you're going to really have to be on top of your nutrition and your exercise so let's just start there. You know instead of doing them. Medication but with that being said, you know for a very small amount of people.
It can be. It can be a beneficial drug.
Victoria Gasparini
Yeah, definitely and that makes sense and I mean Ozempic I think originally was made for people who have diabetes. so it makes sense that population or certain people in that population may benefit from being on it. It is absolutely wild to me to see like celebrities. Who have no issues with diabetes or insulin resistance taking Ozempic for weight loss and just like it's it's the whole thing. You know we grew up in this society of like Atkins diet and Dr Bernstein and Jenny Craig and all of these things is just this quick fix. And finally people got their magic pill that they were that they were waiting for. But I think like you said nobody's talking about the fact that it's actually not that magical because you're going to have to deal with these things eventually when you come off this injection.
Everything is there waiting for you and you haven't made the lifestyle changes and you haven't made the exercise changes and so it's not a magic fix right? Yeah and then.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, not to mention like I think that patients need to also be really educated. and this is the informed consent part of it but the adverse effects that we're seeing you know, not just the gastrointestinal ones like nausea and bloating and gas and heartburn and digestive issues. But also you know the changes in mental Health The impact on the pancreas. You know we're seeing that there's a lot of adverse effects from it and just making sure that when patients go on it that they're very well informed of all of those.
Victoria Gasparini
Right? And it's hard to say too like hopefully I mean this might be controversial. Don't cancel us but with Ozempic like because it's only really been studied in certain populations. We actually don't even fully know the extent to the adverse effects in people who are taking it without. It being indicated right? Maybe I'm being biased. Maybe I should it is yeah it's new and that's exactly it and now what's happening is we have people on TikTok and on social media who are like well there's also nature is a zempic.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, yeah, like it's so it's so new. Yeah. Oh Nietzs says I' vague.
Victoria Gasparini
Which is berberine and berberine is so cool I mean in naturopathic Medicine We've used berberine for various things I've never heard of it being used for this purpose but can you touch a little bit on that.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah I love berberine. It's great. is it nature's Ozempic, no it. It doesn't it doesn't work the same way. You're not going to take berberine 3 times a day and like you know like lose weight like that you know like super quick.
Jeanette
This is.
Claire Lockridge
But I do think it is an incredibly useful herb. you know there is a mechanism of action there where it's improving Insulin sensitivity. It impacts cholesterol in a really nice way. So it's really great use. for patients who are struggling with that overall Metabolic picture which.
Victoria Gasparini
And then.
Claire Lockridge
You know if you're not familiar with Metabolic Syndrome. It's some dyslipidemia. It's fatty liver. It's increased adipose tissue. I'm forgetting the other ones it's it's increased triglycerides low HDL increase adipose tissue Fatty liver.
Victoria Gasparini
I can't remember it's like yeah, it's like all of them.
Claire Lockridge
And one other thing I can't think of it right? Yeah, but is the a theyed to that overall metabolic just oh high blood pressure I'll double check that. But I'll confirm. But so it's really great when people are coming in with that overall metabolic picture.
Jeanette
This is.
Victoria Gasparini
Right? and.
Claire Lockridge
It's also a really great antimicrobial so it's kind of the holy trifecta when you get those people with high cholesterol high blood sugar and they've got some gut issues too and you can just kind of put in berberine and we love a multipurpose supplement. but I think that it's great I Just don't want people to. To confuse it and think that it's it's going to give them the same result as Ozempic I use it as part of a comprehensive treatment protocol where it's really there to support the patient as they're doing all the other things. As they're doing the lifestyle the stress reduction we're working on their sleep. We're getting them Moving. We're getting them into the gym doing resistance training all of those things.
It's a very small piece of the puzzle. It's a piece of the puzzle. But it's a you know like a smaller piece. Yeah.
Jeanette
I like how you said that it's it's a piece of the puzzle and not just one thing that you can use because I've had so many colleagues or friend not colleagues but like. People that I know that would like come up to me and be like what do you think of this berberine like is it. Nature's Ozempic and I'm like okay hold on a second like first of all, do you have like insulin like issues. Are you part of that metabolic syndrome picture and like I don't know I find that if. If you're going on it because you think that it's going to help you lose weight and you're not going on it for the right reasons and you're not working under a practitioner I feel like that can be I don't know another discussion and I think also like with berberine.
It's an antimicrobial like you mentioned as well, right? So I mean if you're taking it for. Long term it could disrupt your microbiome and like we know that plays a role in everything as well. So I think it's really important if you're going to use this that you're working with an naturopathic doctor.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, that's another thing I never use berberine long term I never use it longer than three months and you want to make sure that you know you're looking at the patient's liver health and you're making sure that it's the right choice for them and yeah, you're doing your? yeah so you'd want you'd want to be working.
Jeanette
River I.
Claire Lockridge
One-on-one with a practitioner to make sure that one you're not taking it for too long that you're supporting the gut if you are taking it. and then again you're you're in a spot where your body can handle the berberine and it's it's the right choice for you and yeah people have been losing weight you know without berberine. And I think that's the important thing is that with all of these protocols. I always come back to remembering like there's so many things that we're doing as part of a weight loss protocol and the nice thing is that if one of those things is missing. It's probably not going to make or break it right? If there's so many pieces of the puzzle if one piece is missing.
Show probably going to get really good results and I think that with the internet and the amount of information we're being fed. We think that we have to do everything we have. We think that every weight loss protocol that anyone's ever done. We have to be on every single supplement and it's just not true if you do the basics and maybe you're adding in a few extra. So. Sports You know it's probably going to get you there I think with that we have almost this like fomo with symptoms like or not symptoms with supplements this like fear that we're missing the one supplement that is going to fix all of our problems.. And a lot of the time. That's just it's not the case.
Jeanette
I like how you touched on that. so we get a lot of questions Vic and I about intermittent fasting and it's really tough for us to answer because again like it really depends on what research you're looking at what population for women or for men like there's a lot that goes into that. But in general like from a weight loss perspective. Do you recommend intermittent fasting to women.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, so I always explain intermittent or well just starting off in general I recommend that everyone have a 12-hour fast and that's not even intermittent fasting. That's just living life. It's really important to give our digestive tract that time to clear out. all of those things so I'll usually start. That's kind of my base with women if I'm concerned one if they don't have severe insulin resistance. They're just trying to lose some weight. otherwise pretty healthy where maybe just cleaning up their diet getting them on more whole foods. We're getting them exercising where they haven't been exercising before then a lot of the times I won't even go into intermittent fasting and we'll just do that 12-hour fast The reason sometimes I will go into a fourteen ten hour fast for women.
if there's more severe insulin resistance and I want to make sure that we're giving them enough time to clear the insulin. We also know that if your eating window is smaller. You're more likely to get into the calorie deficit. I would never do this if they have any history of you know like hypothalamic amenorrhea disordered eating anything like that or anything where I'm worried that you know we could lose their period or something like that. I don't tend to go into the 16 8 hour fasting Unless they are per or postmenopausal and then I will but really like for most women I wouldn't be concerned about a fourteen ten hour fast I think that a lot of women are scared to fast.
but really 14-hours is not. Not that extreme and it's nothing that I would be concerned about and I actually think that it can do a lot of good for our body. with that being said though I do I am a very big supporter of eating regular meals so never skipping meals and things like that because. That is when we hit five P M and we're like standing in the snack cupboard and we're snacking and that's the other thing it's bioin individualuality Sometimes I talk to women and they tell me you know every time I started intermittent fasting I was getting intense cravings at night and I couldn't stop eating.
Jeanette
This.
Claire Lockridge
And I was snacking at 5:00 p.m. and then I'm like okay then maybe intermittent fasting isn't right for you and then I talk to other women and they say you know I do a 14-hour fast I've never lost my period. My ener energy's better. All of those things I don't have cravings and then maybe fastings are better. Are option for them. it is hard because there's so much mixed evidence in the research and so much fasting research is done on men. so yeah, that's kind of my long-winded answer that like everyone should be doing 12-hours
Victoria Gasparini
Is a.
Claire Lockridge
14 or 16 maybe right for some people and then actually experimenting and again seeing if it's something you respond well to or if it's something that you don't respond well to.
Victoria Gasparini
Definitely now I like that I like the idea of a 12-hour fast I find sometimes if I eat like right before I go to bad and then I wake up six seven hours later it's like I just ate like I feel still kind of full. so I think it is nice to have that idea of like have. The hours where your body can you know, digest and kind of reset for the next day. and I think too like a really important piece about intermittent fasting is like again when it comes to the long term weight management piece If you're not changing what you're eating. It's going to be a lot harder like if you're just focused on I can. Only eat within this window which means I'm eating less calories but then intermittent fasting becomes you know something.
That's not sustainable. Long term you're going to gain the weight back. But if you're changing how you're eating within that time period then maybe when you do kind of. Fall off of this intermittent fasting you still know how to eat you know, proper nutrition. You know what kind of exercise is good for you and so from that perspective I feel like if you have that kind of all planned out then maybe intermittent fasting is fine right.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah it's so crazy too like 2 things to touch on but sometimes like yeah if a patient comes in and we clean up their diet and we get them eating lots of fiber and lots of protein you know and they say you know I have dinner at 7:00 p.m. and I'm just not hungry for a snack later in the evening because my. Breakfast lunch and dinner were so satisfying. So I'll stop eating at 7 and then you know I'll wake up and I'll go for my walk I'll you know do all my things and then I'll have breakfast at 8 so all of a sudden they're doing what is that 13-hour fast and they didn't even notice it and it's not that they're restricting anything. It's just that we're focused on making satiating meals.
And all of a sudden. They don't feel the need to snack late at night they don't feel the need to snack in between their meals because their meals are actually super satiating and they're getting everything that they need.
Victoria Gasparini
Right? Yeah, that just goes to show how important it is to tune into your body too and just like really listen like if you're waking up in the morning and you're like my gosh I'm so hungry like I'm not going to be able to focus in my first meeting of the day because I'm not allowed to eat till 11:00 a.m. Then maybe this is not for you. But for a lot of people. They're like well I'm really not that hungry when I wake up and I feel good eating at 11 and it's like okay so why not like it can't really be doing that much harm then right.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, yeah, yeah I know like listening to our hunger cues I am a little bit of a fan of pushing the meals earlier like having the breakfast lunch and then having an earlier dinner and having that. It's it's part of the reason is because the other part of my practice is digestion focused. so you know having that good two to three hours before you going to bed to let your digest and then you know that 12-hour fast is really important again for that migrating motor complex and you know the. But crossover between SIBO and SIFO and weight gain and stuff is very interesting and that's probably a whole separate podcast. But you know, like really prioritiz prioritizing digestive health as well and making sure that the patients are.
Are getting that 12-hour fast for their digestive health because I do think that. But yeah I mean the gut microbiome and metabolic health and hunger cues. And yeah, we could go into a whole nother podcast just talking about that.
Victoria Gasparini
Yeah, definitely I Do just very quickly. Want to touch on and you did mention that you had a history of disordered eating and eating disorders growing up is this something that because you've had experience and this is this something that you screen for when you have patients come to you for weight.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, so I always screen for disordered eating I'll always kind of start just asking. You know any history of disordered eating whether that be you know orthorexia anorexia binging purging anything like that.
Victoria Gasparini
Management.
Claire Lockridge
If they say no I'll usually also ask about how their relationship with food was growing up and what their early memories of food are so many of us have these subconscious or even unconscious relationship with food. and it actually impacts our eating habits later in life like we even see people who grew up in maybe a family that was low income that didn't have access to a lot of food or they were told they always had to finish everything on their plate that impacts. Them and they're eating habits while into adulthood even if they're financially stable and they can afford food. We see that those individuals sometimes will overeat because they were just in the habit of eating everything in sight or they will always finish everything on their plate Even if they're full.
They'll continue to eat because they were told as a child.
Victoria Gasparini
Well.
Claire Lockridge
You know other things that I ask are you know? do you have any memories of shame around food. Any family members who you know were really overly conscious of what they were eating or overly conscious about body image or shamed you for eating quote unquote bad food or. Yeah, like really labeled food good or bad in your house because so often people will say no I don't have a history of eating disorders but then they still do have these subconscious relationships with food that are that are unhealthy and I think that can impact their ability to lose weight. And it's also important to ask them about coping mechanisms and if food is ever a coping mechanism.
so often we are not properly feeling or regulating our emotions and sometimes we can go to food to cope with that. And that can make weight loss really Difficult. You know if you're going through a really tough time in your life and we all have those really tough seasons of life and your main coping mechanism is food. It's going to be hard to lose Weight. So Yes I always screen for eating disorders. On top of that I always try and ask them about their relationship with food and early memories of food and then lastly making sure that food isn't being used as a coping mechanism and if it is then we need to work on exploring other coping mechanisms and exploring other emotional regulation.
Jeanette
Yeah, those are all really great points and so important too and just everything is part of a bigger piece of the puzzle. So That's definitely one piece of losing weight as well as dealing with the psychological and all of that as well in the mindset piece. so we're going to move on to some rapid fire here. So at Girls Gone Wellness. Our whole show is about wellness myth debunking. So We'd love to do a round of rapid fire with you? So for these you can say truth myth or it depends. and we've had some trouble in the past with this because a lot of the times it is it depends but we'll try and then again some of these we asked and you answered in the episode but we'll we'll try to drive some of these points home.
Claire Lockridge
Okay, yeah, I'm like I' know this is going to be so far because I'm just going to like I'm I'm not worried about it I'm like I know I'm going to want to explain my answer. Okay, okay I thought you're just go.
Victoria Gasparini
Are you ready. We don't want to scare you? yeah, we stock.
Jeanette
Well you can definitely explain them. Don't worry. No ok, perfect. So the first one is all calories are equal.
Claire Lockridge
I'm going to just be saying it depends and then give no context. Okay, yeah I'm ready I'm ready.
Victoria Gasparini
Oh no.
Claire Lockridge
I'm debating between it depends on myth but I'm actually going to say myth. because yes calories in versus calories out. That's true. but quality of food matters and the way that it impacts your body and your body's.
Victoria Gasparini
Are you.
Claire Lockridge
Function We know that the way that gut health impacts hormone signaling and insulin signaling and all of those things and hunger and satiety cues and all of those things. So if you are trying to lose weight calorie quality and source absolutely does Matter. it's going to change not only the satiety and how full you feel after meals and impact craving but it's actually going to impact your overall health and all of those are going to impact the way that Insulin is signaling the way that you're actually able to regulate your blood sugar. and also when you feel good.
Jeanette
With him.
Claire Lockridge
You are healthy. You're eating whole foods that are Nutrientents. You're more likely to exercise you're more likely to do the habits that keep you healthy, you're less likely to go to those unhealthy coping mechanisms your resiliency distress increases. So yeah, So I'd say myth quote. Yeah. Because the source does matter.
Jeanette
That's those are great points. Okay, the second one is berberine works the same as Ozempic. No.
Claire Lockridge
That's a myth. Yeah, the mechanism of actions not the same I like berberine I think it can impact GLP-1 but it's not like antagonist like but Ozempic. Yeah, so that's yeah, that's a myth.
Jeanette
Yeah, carbs make you gain weight.
Victoria Gasparini
As new.
Claire Lockridge
I mean it pens anything you know if you're in caloric excess it's going to make you gain weight I don't think that carbs are the enemy I think that we have to remember that I love fiber so you know all of our sources of fiber are going to come from our vegetables and our carbohydrate sources.
Victoria Gasparini
Oh and yeah.
Claire Lockridge
You know like fruits squash whole grains like those are all amazing in there and they have so many nutrients too. So I think that carbs are great but anything in excess is Goingnna make you lose weight but I will say you know if you're eating a whole foods diet and you're exercising and all of those things. It's you know it's a lot harder to.
Jeanette
I Think when people think of carbs. They forget that vegetables and fruits are carbohydrates. So I'm glad you teach on that. Yeah.
Claire Lockridge
Overeat on really healthy carbohydrates. Yeah, yeah, somehow saying carbs and carbohydrates like I always find that carbohydrate sounds not less scary but like carbs just I don't know. Maybe it's because for all the '90s and the 2000s we were always like demonizing carbs.
Victoria Gasparini
Yeah I think of bread and past.
Jeanette
Yeah, all right and the last one here you can have blood sugar issues without having diabetes.
Claire Lockridge
And they're not bad. They're great for you. But yeah. Yes, you absolutely can so diabetes in Ontario we use HbA1c to diagnose diabetes but I see like we know that insulin resistance comes years before. Diabetes because or sorry yeah diabetes and the increase in HbA1c because the HbA1c is looking at your average blood sugar levels in the past two to three months but 1 if you're having a lot of dips and spikes like sometimes the average comes out normal and I've seen that on a two-hour insulin-glucose challenge test
Victoria Gasparini
Thanks.
Claire Lockridge
Where patients will spike at 30 minutes they'll calm back down and they'll have a crash at two-hours and their HbA1c is you know in that not even what LifeLabs says is good but I say is good like you know like their HbA1c is perfect. But they're clearly have insulin resistance or they're having spikes and crashes throughout the day. so yeah, you can definitely have blood sugar issues and not have diabetes which is why I. I love the two-hour insulin-glucose challenge tests but even fasting insulin and fasting glucose I think should be being run with HbA1c for sure.
Victoria Gasparini
Her.
Jeanette
That's a interesting point. That's a great like clinical pearl and never've even thought of that. What do you like? what do you like your HbA1c to be at like what's your range.
Claire Lockridge
I'd like it to be like under 5.3 so like 5.3 what yeah I think like LifeLabs will say if it's I don't want to get this wrong. But I think it's 6 to 6 point five. It's prediabetes and then over 6.5 But you know like even once we get up to 5.8 5.9 it's not bad but I'm I'm starting to be like why is it going up and like I said it's preceded by years of insulin resistance. So. As soon as it starts to go up and that's the other thing like I tell patientsians to be on top of your laps and to be on top of your patterns because 1 HbA1c reading is fine. But if you have four or five that are taken six months apart all of a sudden you have two years of data and you can look at the trends and that.
Like can really empower patients because they get a sense of how their body's changing over time. so going back to the original question. Yeah, like I like to see it under 5 point three.
Jeanette
My I just got mine tested. It was 5.1 so I'm glad I'm within your range for now I'm thinking like maybe I need to get a two-hour glucose test. yeah, yeah.
Claire Lockridge
Okay, you again? Yeah like I don't I don't think they're for everyone because they are quite not fun to do but you because you basically have to drink like a sugar liquid. First thing in the morning for breakfast you feel horrible. The rest of the day because it's basically like having sugar for breakfast. You can't eat anything for two-hours because you have to be there while they draw your blood. but they are. They are really good I would say like fasting insulin fast and glucose can also be a really great. Great tool just to look.. Look at kind of that ratio as well.
Victoria Gasparini
I always say I'm such a good example of this because I never when I had my kind of PCOS symptoms going on in first year at CCNM I wasn't really struggling with weight. And then when they tested my fasting insulin fasting glucose my HOMA-IR was elevated and showed insulin resistance. But my HbA1c was fine. So it's it's interesting. It's just it goes to show that. Really yeah, you can totally have blood sugar issues and not be diabetic.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah I think that this is where like the medicine is just kind of catching up to what we're learning right? like we're learning so much and like that's the thing is like the last ten years we've just had so much advancement in what we know about metabolic health. That like the standards of practice are slowly catching up.
Victoria Gasparini
Yeah, definitely So we end all of our episodes with this question and I know we've been myth debunking the whole episode but is there a myth that you can think of whether it's in the weight loss space or just the metabolic space in general. That you want to debunk for our listeners kind of once and for all. There's probably a few and.
Claire Lockridge
There's so many? oh my gosh I'm going to be kicking myself the rest of the day because I'm like well I'm going to be thinking about Fallon I know it's not really a myth but I just don't want anyone to think that. Pulling out a scale and weighing all your food and plugging it in and trying to hit sixteen hundred calories or fifteen hundred calories because you googled your BMI or your basal metabolic rate off of your height and your weight which is not even that accurate. that is going to make you lose weight.. I truly go back to simplicity when it comes to our health and we look at you know the I love the Blue Zones I'm obsessed with them. But you know you are.
It's very hard to find an overweight individual in the Blue Zones right? and. Is it because they're eating all whole foods and they're prioritizing low intensity movement and emotional regulation and community and faith and getting lots of fresh air and they're in the dirt farming their or you know, growing their own food probably right? So I really think that. If anything it's not really a myth but focusing on one thing when it comes to your health. It's never going to get you as many results as actually taking a holistic approach to your health so that would be my thing that like calories in and calories out in the scale is not the answer to weight loss.
The answer to weight loss is actually focusing on your holistic health and getting your body to function properly because I do not believe that Health is a result of losing weight I believe that weight natural weight loss is a result of overall health. So. Yeah, that's kind of my philosophy I Thought that wasn't really a myth. But yeah.
Jeanette
No, that's a mic drop moment right there. What a great way to end the episode. thank you? So much for coming on today. We are so appreciative of you taking time out of your busy schedule to come on. Can you tell. Us where our listeners can find you where they can book with you All of that information.
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, for sure. so I'm currently practicing at Annex Naturopathic Clinic we are in the annex neighborhood of Toronto. So we're right by Bathurst and Bloor. So I'll send you guys all the links but I'll send. Them a booking link I do both in-person and virtual appointments. You can also find me on Instagram again I'll give you guys the link for that I also have a YouTube channel where I post about healthy recipes and healthy eating and how I just kind of. Live a healthy lifestyle and consistently incorporate a lot of healthy lifestyle habits into my day-to-day life and then I actually do have a weight loss master class as well. It's a 75-minute masterclass so I will give you guys.
the link for that as well. If anyone is interested in that. it's 75-minutes and I go through diet exercise. But also we talk a lot about sleep gut health stress management and how all of those things impact weight loss. So if someone is just getting started on their weight loss journey and they're looking for a little bit more guidance. That is a really great option for them as well or if they're outside of Ontario and they can't work 1.
Victoria Gasparini
Oh I love it I'm going to be watching your YouTube videos today. That's amazing. Yeah, well thank you so much. Dr Lockridge
Claire Lockridge
Yeah, there it's fun all right? Yeah, it was a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me on.