What Does Your Heart Desire?
How an all-or-none mindset, perfectionism, need for control, or tendency to disqualify the positive, lead to habits that will work against you as you strive to meet your goals.
We are so often bombarded with the idea that weight loss is the ultimate goal and means to our happiness.
But buying into this idea will leave us consumed in the never-ending pursuit of what we think will make us happy, rather than helping us achieve optimal health.
So, if weight loss isn't the goal, then what is?
To answer this question, you must be willing to do the work to discover your primary goal. So, I propose we start with another question.
What do you really want? What desire or need is driving you to lose weight or pursue fitness in the first place? Is it body acceptance, increased energy, food freedom, more peace, or fun in your life?
There are so many possible answers to this question, and each one will be specific to the individual answering it. Your primary goal is your why– the foundation to build your optimal health strategy upon.
Once we’ve determined your primary goal, then we can get to work on what could be holding you back from reaching it. This is where we dig into your unique perception of the world and how it shapes your habits.
Certain patterns of thinking, such as an all-or-none mindset, perfectionism, a need for control, or a tendency to disqualify the positive, lead to habits that will work against you as you strive to meet your goals.
I invite you to dive deeper into this topic with me in my latest podcast episode, So Much More Than Weight Loss, Part 1, HERE.
And if you haven't already subscribed, check out my new YouTube channel HERE.
Xo-
Ali
Want to learn more about how my coaching programs help women physicians achieve optimal health and sustainable weight loss? Click HERE for a private info call with our Concierge team!
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky, a Physician Coach, specializes in optimal health and sustainable weight loss. She is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, and is a physician speaker and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with brain-based science and intuitive principles that work.
Follow Ali Novitsky, MD on Facebook or Instagram.
Subscribe to Life Coaching for Women Physicians® on Apple Podcasts.
Optimal Weight Loss Protects Our Muscle
Whether we want to admit it or not, weight loss that is going to be sustainable has to be done in a way that preserves as much lean mass as possible. Tips from Ali Novitsky, MD.
Times are changing for the better. Experts are now seeing that weight loss can’t be as cavalier as it has been in the past.
Obesity medicine experts are pushing the needle to promote body composition over a BMI focus. This is something that is super important to know more about, especially if you are advising patients on weight loss or are on a weight loss journey of your own.
If we are eating less and exercising more AND are not optimizing nutrition and the kind of exercise we do, then we are likely losing excess lean muscle mass. When we lose lean mass, we lower our metabolism and we also become deconditioned.
Even my clients who are eating properly and strength training AND being monitored by me and my partner can easily lose muscle mass if they dip too far into a deficit with inadequate nutrition.
Whether we want to admit it or not, weight loss that is going to be sustainable has to be done in a way that preserves as much lean mass as possible.
The plot thickens when we are entering pre-menopause and menopause. Then there are additional things we have to pay attention to.
So, what can we do?
Simple things. Understand our body type and our tendencies when we go into a calorie deficit. Focus on maintaining muscle mass with strength training and nutrition AND not overdoing our cardio. Or, if we are endurance athletes, making sure our nutrition is timed properly.
I love optimal weight loss. I do not love suboptimal weight loss.
The day when we can all agree to agree on how to approach weight loss is likely not going to happen. But, preservation of lean muscle mass is something I think we can all agree on.
Want to learn more about how my coaching programs help women physicians achieve optimal health? Click HERE for a private info call with our Concierge team!
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, a physician speaker, and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with scientific, yet intuitive, principles that work.
Follow Ali Novitsky, MD on Facebook or Instagram.
Subscribe to Life Coaching for Women Physicians on Apple Podcasts.
Sharing Some of My Top Tips for Optimal Health
Ali Novitsky, MD shares pearls of coaching content on optimal health for women physicians. Strength training, food freedom & strategies, & getting snobby with your extras.
Over the past few weeks, I have shared with you a lot of important content to help on your journey to optimal health. There were tons of pearls that I don’t want you to miss. So here we go…
PEARL 1
Food Freedom Strategy 101: Get Snobby with your extras!!
Extras are things that you enjoy to the max, but when overdone can derail your results.
Adopt my Snobby Tip. We have been super successful helping our ladies find food freedom AND achieve results.
If you are going to drink alcohol, pick the most enjoyable high quality drink… doesn’t taste good, stop drinking it. Get snobby.
Craving some chocolate and you only have a half-eaten snickers in the pantry? Throw it out, drive to the store, and buy the best chocolate. Get snobby.
Chicken nuggets look good on your kid’s leftover plate? Make yourself a fresh batch. If you are not willing to make a fresh batch, you don’t really want them. Get snobby.
Your ice cream has ice chunks in it. Get snobby.
The bread at the table is stale-ish. Get snobby.
You are precious beings, my friends… so get snobby. You deserve the best
PEARL 2
Eating your meals out can easily fit into a nutrition strategy that will serve your goals. Here are a few tips I rely on because I enjoy eating at restaurants and I equally enjoy results.
1- Assess your hunger accurately. This simple step will help you to focus on the amount you will order.
2- Ask yourself, what could you eat (off the menu) that will allow you to leave the restaurant feeling energetic AND satisfied?
3- Appetizers are a good thing. Start with a protein-rich option and eat slowly. This will start the digestion process early (which is key for those of us who have a weak fullness signal). Check in with your hunger after you eat your appetizer, because you may decide to wrap your complete entree up or eat less than you otherwise would.
4- For your main, look for the items that are heavy with veggies. My rule of thumb is, a palm of protein and a cupped hand of starchy complex carbs, add some fat, and eat up the veggies.
5- What about extras? Things like bread, dessert, and alcohol. Choose bread OR dessert OR alcohol. Or get creative; I often order an Old Fashioned and commit to 3 bites of my kids’ dessert.
PEARL 3
Exercise and BDNF- why you need to know about this amazing protein molecule that increases during exercise.
BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) release can help to optimize brain plasticity outcomes via exercise interventions.
BDNF is found in regions of the brain that control: eating, drinking, and body weight. If we maintain normal levels, we can create profound homeostasis to optimize our health.
Did you know that some of us have suboptimal BDNF based on our genetics???? I can determine this with a gene test we are now using in our programs.
Besides enhancing BDNF, why do we exercise???
- change how we think
- preserve lean muscle mass
- develop functional fitness
- lower our risk for chronic disease
- reverse and prevent osteoporosis (I have seen this occur in my groups)
- to feel amazing
Testimonial:
Dr. Andrea Strathman is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at Wake Forest Medical Center, who specializes in Neuroanesthesiology. Over the past three years, Andrea has lost 55 pounds and has maintained it for over 4 years through my Mindful Macros® plan. She has seen a total transformation in every area of her life and is here to share her amazing and inspirational story.
How 10 Minutes Changed Everything
Back in 2018, Andrea was letting her personal health and happiness take a back seat to everything else in her life. Then she was introduced to a daily 10-minute workout challenge I was hosting; things started to change. Once Andrea recognized that her engrained thoughts around her relationship with food were sabotaging the health changes she wanted to make, achieving significant sustainable results came easily.
Combining my Mindful Macros® plan with an intuitive approach to eating and a mindset shift toward daily exercise, Andrea adapted these strategies to work into her own life easier and has never looked back.
You Are Worth It!!
Dr. Strathman wants you to know that it is worth whatever time you have, even if it is just incremental baby steps, to make yourself better. Feeling more confident in her own skin has improved everything in Andrea’s life, from her family to her work, without making drastic changes in her daily routine. It doesn't take a lot of time or energy to feel better and create long-term sustainable habits, and you are worth it.
MORE PEARLS COMING TO YOU!!!!! JOIN MY FREE 5-DAY SERIES!!
You are doing all the right things but you aren’t making progress? This is a common complaint that I hear daily … so I have decided to put together a free 5-session series called - So Much More Than Weight Loss.
I am going to teach some key lifestyle modifications that will allow you to enjoy and appreciate the here and now while you start to make progress toward your unique goals.
So much more than weight loss is about honoring your unique body and diving deeper into your why.
We will talk about:
1) Weight Loss May Not Be The Answer.
2) What Are You Really Looking For?
3) GOALS: Intuitive Optimal Health Principles.
4) Energy Expenditure and Hormones: Impact on Weight Loss.
5) Rethink Weight Loss, Embrace Body Recomposition.
JOIN THE FREE 5-DAY SERIES HERE.
See you there!!!
Ali
Want to learn more about how my coaching programs help women physicians achieve optimal health? Click HERE for a private info call with our Concierge team!
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, a physician speaker, and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with scientific, yet intuitive, principles that work.
Follow Ali Novitsky, MD on Facebook or Instagram.
Subscribe to Life Coaching for Women Physicians on Apple Podcasts.
So Much More Than Weight Loss
Weight loss implies mass is coming off the body - but it may not be body fat. How traditional weight loss strategies don't support lean muscle mass maintenance, and the alternative.
Let’s get into a little talk on weight loss.
I actually do not like using the phrase, weight loss. I find it to be misleading.
Weight loss implies that mass is coming off of our body and it may not be body fat. Most people want to keep their muscle mass and lose body fat. But, traditional weight loss strategies do not support lean muscle mass maintenance.
This is a problem because when we lose lean muscle, we slow down our metabolism. Which means, we will require much less energy to sustain our new weight. The minute we start eating for our hunger, we will see weight gain. The weight gain may not be body fat at first, but over time, it will.
If we are not utilizing some simple muscle maintenance strategies, then for every 1 pound that we lose on the scale, 25% may be lean mass.
We can prevent this. And, I plan to teach you how.
I have put together a FREE series for you to take advantage of. It is called So Much More Than Weight Loss.
In this series, we will discuss:
1) Weight Loss Is Not The Answer.
2) What Are You Really Looking For?
3) GOALS: Intuitive Optimal Health Principles.
4) Energy Expenditure and Hormones: Impact on Weight Loss.
5) Rethink Weight Loss, Embrace Body Recomposition.
You can learn more about and register for the FREE series HERE. And, share this link with a friend who may love the series!! https://bit.ly/3yb8gEu
Want to learn more about how my coaching programs help women physicians achieve optimal health? Click HERE for a private info call with our Concierge team!
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, a physician speaker, and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with scientific, yet intuitive, principles that work.
Follow Ali Novitsky, MD on Facebook or Instagram.
Subscribe to Life Coaching for Women Physicians on Apple Podcasts.
Is Sleep or Exercise Better For Fat loss?
Lack of sleep can stall efforts to improve our health, particularly when we're trying to lose body fat. How a sleep deficit impacts hormone levels, also influenced by genetics.
If you have a choice to wake up early to work out or sleep, which one do you think I would suggest? Well, it depends.
If you are in a sleep surplus and feel energized to wake up early - do it. If you are tired and in a sleep deficit, please sleep.
Often, our lack of sleep can ABSOLUTELY stall our efforts to make improvements in our health. Particularly when we are trying to lose body fat.
Here are the details. A sleep deficit does the following:
Increases Cortisol - our Stress Hormone - which also stimulates additional release of insulin. Insulin is a fat storage hormone.
Increases Blood Glucose which increases insulin.
Increases Insulin. Enough Said.
Decreases Insulin Sensitivity. We now need more insulin to manage our blood glucose… additional insulin means more likelihood of storing body fat.
Increases Ghrelin. This is our hunger hormone that increases our appetite, which would promote a calorie surplus, encouraging fat storage.
Decreases Leptin. Decreased leptin is what we believe to be a hallmark of obesity. A low leptin level tells our body to hold onto as much body fat as possible, even if we have extra to spare.
Bottom line. We need to strike a balance. Sleep is a crucial part of achieving our health goals… and we didn’t even discuss the implications that a sleep deficit has on our mood.
Also, keep in mind that many of us have a variant in our cortisol release hormone gene. If we have this variant (which my genetics test revealed), then we have the possibility of releasing even more cortisol which will amplify all of the above.
You can learn more about how our genetics can predispose us to emotional eating. In my FREE series for women physicians, Food For Thought, I teach all about this. You can get access to the program HERE.
Want to learn more about how my coaching programs help women physicians achieve optimal health? Click HERE for a private info call with our Concierge team!
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, a physician speaker, and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with scientific, yet intuitive, principles that work.
Follow Ali Novitsky, MD on Facebook or Instagram.
Subscribe to Life Coaching for Women Physicians on Apple Podcasts.
My Favorite Jeans - Revealed!!
Some of our women physician life coaching clients focus on a number on the scale, purely on weight loss, giving the scale all of the power. How to feel confident where you are right now.
I love doing scale work with my women physician clients.
And, I want to share with you a very interesting scenario. In fact, you can try it yourself.
I will typically have someone come to me saying that their soul is crushed by the number on the scale. So, we use the current number on the scale as a circumstance, and we deep dive into the thoughts and feelings they have about the number.
We then use the number that they WANT to see, and deep dive into the thoughts and feelings they have about that number.
99% of the time, both numbers cause negative thoughts and feelings. The take home is that NO NUMBER (high or low) actually has enough power to make us more satisfied in our lives. Rather, what we choose to believe about our lives, our bodies, our relationships is what controls our satisfaction level.
We can choose to be satisfied now. We can choose self-acceptance now.
I have a few more questions and some additional things for you to think about.
How do you like your scale? A lot or a little? Or do you despise it? Or, maybe it’s not the scale but your thoughts about the number on the scale? How can one number have so much power? It’s simple - we are influenced to believe that the number SHOULD have tons of power.
Let me offer you a few things:
our weight is our gravitational pull on the earth
our weight does not reflect our body composition
our weight set-point is influenced by genetics
How can we do better for ourselves???
Let me offer my Jeans protocol. It’s simple. But let’s clear one thing up first: the size or number of your jeans also doesn’t matter!!
The Jeans protocol is investing in an amazing pair of jeans that fits your body right now. Go to a store, ask for help, find the perfect pair. Fall in love with your jeans.
Your jeans have your back (literally)
Your jeans don’t care if you gained 2lbs
Your jeans don’t care if you lost 2lbs
Your jeans were made to love your current body… and if that body is to change, they will celebrate when you purchase a new pair.
What’s my point??? I want you to achieve all of your goals whether it is body recomposition, better relationship with your body and food, more balance in your life, better relationships… etc., etc.
But… we will only achieve our goals if we learn to love who and where we are right now.
So, how do we do this? We meet ourselves where we are right now! So we buy the darn jeans that fit now.
You are amazing!!!!
We are enrolling for Transform® 5.0, so if you have even 1% interest, I highly recommend you take advantage of a consult call.
We offer zero-pressure information calls to answer any questions you may have on how our programs work and if they can benefit you. Best thing to do is to join our Transform® 5.0 interest list, and I will be in touch personally. You can join HERE.
Want to learn more about how my coaching programs help women physicians achieve optimal health? Click HERE for a private info call with our Concierge team!
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, a physician speaker, and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with scientific, yet intuitive, principles that work.
Follow Ali Novitsky, MD on Facebook or Instagram.
Subscribe to Life Coaching for Women Physicians on Apple Podcasts.
Do Not Lose Weight This Year
Weight loss in not always the answer for women physicians. How a body recomposition focus helps maintain our basal metabolic rate, shed adipose tissue, and retain lean muscle mass.
Do not lose weight as your primary goal this year.
Can you imagine your doctor telling you this?
Coming in today to let you in on a couple of little secrets.
First secret: weight loss with a PURE weight loss focus is not the answer.
And, to be honest… I wish it were because it would be way easier. I really wish that watching the number on the scale go down could bring us happiness, contentment, and all the things we believe it will. It’s not our fault though… we have been conditioned to believe this.
Second secret: watching the number on the scale go down may not be a good thing if we do not adopt a focus on optimal body recomposition. Let me explain.
If we are not doing some key things to preserve lean muscle mass, for every pound on the scale that we lose, we could be losing 25% lean mass. No Thank You!! This means our basal metabolic rate will surely go down and we will have a very difficult time with maintaining our perceived “goal weight.”
Let’s do ourselves a favor and start focusing on the right things. The things that will bring us happiness, peace, more contentment. There is no number in the world that will bring those things. Over the next month, I am going to be talking about these things on my social media channels and on my podcast.
But for today… here is a bit on a body recomposition focus versus a weight loss focus - which are very different goals.
Weight loss means your body is losing mass, not necessarily adipose tissue
Body recomposition means we are optimizing our lean mass
Weight loss means the number on the scale goes down
Optimal body recomposition means body fat percentage is going down until desired level reached
Weight loss does not require exercise
Optimal body recomposition requires strength training
Weight loss is works passively
Optimal body recomposition is active
Why body recomposition? So that as we age we can be the strongest, healthiest, most bada$$ version of ourselves. I’m in. Cheers to carrying our groceries when we are 90.
I highly recommend you check out one of my latest podcast episodes: Why Your Diet Isn’t Working. You can access the episode HERE. And if you are not already subscribed, make sure you do.
Want to learn more about how my coaching programs help women physicians achieve optimal health? Click HERE for a private info call with our Concierge team!
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, a physician speaker, and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with scientific, yet intuitive, principles that work.
Follow Ali Novitsky, MD on Facebook or Instagram.
Subscribe to Life Coaching for Women Physicians on Apple Podcasts.
Boundaries for Women Physicians
Women physicians need to establish firm boundaries to protect our energy and show up for our patients and family. As a life coach, I help direct attention to one area often overlooked: self-boundaries.
Have you ever been so busy helping others get what they need, that you feel lost in what you need? I think it happens way more than we care to admit. Let’s be honest, we are very good at taking care of others… we have dedicated careers centered on just this. But, how do we give ourselves equal attention?
Introduce Self-Boundaries.
We will come up with hundreds of reasons why we don’t need to take time for ourselves. We have heard that we should, and sometimes we even trick ourselves into thinking that we are taking time. But, I guarantee that unless we are setting aside specific times for just us - we are probably not giving ourselves the time that we need. And, if we are not giving ourselves time… eventually we may feel lost. If we didn’t give our best friend time, what would happen? The relationship may feel lost.
Self-Boundaries can be skillfully created when we are first willing to meet ourselves where we are. So, how do we figure this out? I like to think about where I am in terms of my: mental, emotional, physical, and relationship health.
Then I ask these questions:
How are my current thoughts supporting my life’s mission? What needs tweaking?
How has my anxiety been (on a scale of 1-10) upon first waking in the morning?
How does my body feel?
Have my workouts been consistent? Why or Why not?
Has my nutrition been consistent? Why or Why not?
How connected do I feel with my immediate family?
Once I go through and answer these questions, I can then prioritize where I need to focus my energy so I can best meet myself where I am.
Let me go through an example.
How are my current thoughts supporting my life’s mission? What needs tweaking?
In general, I am creating thoughts that are driving good, solid, action. I am noticing some overwhelm because I am thinking that there is so much to get done.
How has my anxiety been (on a scale of 1-10) upon first waking in the morning?
The past week, I have been around a 4, which is well-managed for me.
How does my body feel?
Muscles are fairly sore, I know I have been hitting the strength training pretty hard, however, nothing I need to pull back on just yet.
Have my workouts been consistent? Why or Why not?
Yes, I have a clear plan that follows the working smarter not harder strategy - and I love it.
Has my nutrition been consistent? Why or Why not?
For the most part, yes. I have been following a more intuitive eating approach past week and I feel great.
How connected do I feel with my immediate family?
Mark and I really need a date night. I have been spending more quality time with the girls.
Next, I rank my top 3 priorities based on my responses.
Get a date night with Mark on the books
Address overwhelm with some guided thought work
Take close inventory on workouts and consider altering
So, now I have 3 actionable things that I can work on right now. And, when I do, I am meeting myself in a useful way and targeting the areas that need a bit more help. You can run this list as often as you want. It will ensure that you are keeping up with self-care and setting boundaries to make adjustments as needed.
Homework: make a list of your own. Bonus if you share it with us.
My friend, Dr. Sasha Shillcutt, has a new book I think you would all find life changing. In her book, Brave Boundaries, Sasha utilizes practical and powerful tools, concepts, and exercises, to invite you into an empowering and peaceful way of life. She shares personal and professional expertise on how you can overcome burnout and take back control of your time and your life by learning to set clear work-life boundaries. She examines the hopeless cycle of self-criticism, the social expectation of what a woman “should” be, and the incessant drive to please. Then, she guides you down the path of discovering who you were created to be by helping you take a boundary inventory. I encourage you to purchase it HERE!
Check out our recent podcast interview on Brave Boundaries HERE.
Want to learn more about how my coaching programs help women physicians achieve optimal health? Click HERE for a private info call with our Concierge team!
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, a physician speaker, and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with scientific, yet intuitive, principles that work.
JOIN OUR ON-DEMAND EXPERIENCE
Included is New and cutting-edge content to help you:
Understand and gain new perspective on why emotional eating happens
Become aware of the most effective nutrition strategies to overcome emotional eating
View a Genetic Audit with one of our volunteers
Sample a Mind-Body Workout where we will focus on processing emotion
Take the next steps toward achieving your goals by utilizing the strategies taught on the day
Learn how our genetics heavily impact our tendency to engage in emotional eating
Finding Satisfaction in Maintenance
Because my life coaching programs for women physicians involve the pursuit of optimal health, we are usually setting goals, then measuring progress toward those goals. It is amazing when someone hits a goal that they wanted and planned for. Maintenance is where the deep soul-searching magic happens. Are you ready for it??
There were so many things I wanted to write to you about, but this topic came up several times… so I thought it would be a good one.
Because my life coaching programs involve the pursuit of optimal health, we are usually setting goals, then measuring progress toward those goals. It is amazing when someone hits a goal that they wanted and planned for.
But, there isn’t a big party or parade or guaranteed happiness when we reach this goal.
In fact, sometimes it feels boring… mundane. We start to question why we are not happier when we convince ourselves that achieving a certain goal would make us happy. This is not uncommon.
And, I believe it is a HUGE reason why we are having difficulty in maintenance mode.
For high achievers like women physicians, not working toward a certain goal feels very uncomfortable. You have to remember that any time we are in pursuit of something and have a decent amount of momentum - we are actually creating a lot of dopamine. In fact, setting new goals creates dopamine.
So, when we achieve a goal, there can actually be a bit of let down. Can you relate?
So, what do we do about this?
While there are many strategies here, I want to offer one that I have been experimenting with myself. It is called: GET INTO YOUR CURRENT LIFE.
If your current life or situation is the circumstance, then how can you think about it in order to create that contentment you are seeking?
Let’s say that your goal was to be able to squat 200 pounds. So, you developed a strategy and plan and worked at it. Eventually you hit your goal. Perhaps you felt proud, excited.
Now let’s say that you have to stay at a 200 pound squat for the next 6 months. You don’t want to regress, but you are also not allowed to improve. How does that feel? Also, what are you thinking???
If you get into your current life, your 200 pound squat, my guess is that you would be more present so you could analyze the squat and make it more efficient. Perhaps you would stay at 200 lbs but increase your reps. Maybe you would help someone else get to a 200 pound squat.
My point is not the squat, but it is being aware of what comes up when we are not trying to push so hard forward all of the time. We are good at that. That is what we are used to doing.
To get different results, like being more content with your current situation, you have to believe different thoughts.
Let’s say that you have your dream job, your dream family with a dog included, your dream car, your dream vacation schedule, your dream bank account, your dream partner… your dream. But, you are having trouble getting into your life.
I want to assure you that nothing has gone wrong.
Part of this journey is appreciating what you have achieved, and to stop comparing your reality to what you thought your reality would be like.
For example, maybe in your mind, your dream home was shinier and your partner was a better listener. We take away our ability to be content by comparing ourselves to ourselves (our dream to our reality).
Of course maintenance will not feel desirable if we always think we could do better. What will it take for you to get into your life? Maybe it can start with a pause of reflection and embracing what is. Nothing has gone wrong.
The more often we can pause and embrace the maintenance of what is, the better and more experienced we will be in maintenance.
Maintenance is where the deep soul-searching magic happens. Are you ready for it??
Xo-
Ali
We are having a blast creating so many things here at LCWP. Our consults are getting busy as we gear up for the Transform® 5.0 program. It is for sure our best one yet… We have added more and are including 3 programs for the investment of 1. With your 6-month Transform® enrollment, you will receive Jump Start™ 3.0, G.O.A.L.S. Society® x 6 months, and Transform® 5.0.
We offer almost 50 hours of live programming each month including your full fitness program mapped out for you.
You can check out Jump Start™ and G.O.A.L.S. Society® HERE.
You can check out Transform® HERE.
You can check out Limitless™ HERE.
Or, if you want us to break it down for you, just jump on a call. You can book HERE.
Click above to find a time to connect!
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, a physician speaker, and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with scientific, yet intuitive, principles that work.
You Think You Said It - But Did You?
If you think back to any negative outcomes with relationships, there is often just a TINY little blip in communication. But, what if both parties took responsibility right away? When we take ownership, we show up differently. We are acting from a different feeling instead of reacting to something uncomfortable.
Each week, I try to bring you a reflection that I have had to help prompt some thoughts of your own. This week, I have been thinking a lot about how I communicate. Further, thinking more about how I can take more responsibility for how I communicate.
This comes up all the time whenever we discuss a conflict in a relationship. Here is a great example. Sam and Kelly are friends. Sam thinks that Kelly is their best friend, but Kelly doesn’t think the same way. Sam shows up in a way that reflects their thoughts of being in a best friendship with Kelly. Kelly reacts in a negative way because they don’t think or even feel the same way as Sam. Here is a conflict. And, not only is there a conflict, but the resolution of the conflict is probably a difficult conversation.
As we know - we often avoid difficult conversations. So, what happens?
Kelly will most likely withdraw and Sam will be confused. Sam will then have new thoughts about Kelly which will put an even more negative spin on the relationship… and here is often where the 2 may part ways.
But, it does not have to be this way. If we commit to clear communication, we can avoid misunderstandings which will allow us to preserve relationships that really matter to us. It isn’t that Kelly doesn’t care about Sam, but their needs are just a bit different. It is Kelly’s responsibility to communicate those needs.
If you think back to any negative outcomes with relationships, there is often just a TINY little blip in communication. But, what if both parties took responsibility right away? When we take ownership, we show up differently. We are acting from a different feeling instead of reacting to something uncomfortable.
Here are some of my tips to be an effective communicator so we can get better results in our relationships:
1) Find the right time to talk. Having difficult conversations first of all do not need to be difficult. They will for sure have a great impact in a positive way. But, set yourself up for success. We always want to be careful in our timing and make a plan to have the talk ahead of time.
2) Decide what your goal of the talk is. After the talk is over, what would you love to have gained? More clarity for yourself? More peace? A new strategy going forward?
3) Make a list of 3 things that are very important to you to communicate. You don’t want to have too many things to discuss. You want to keep it simple and concise and focus on the things that will bring you closer to your resolution.
4) Take ownership. Relationships are a 2-way street, but if you take ownership for at least half… you are setting yourself up for success. Be curious about what the other person has to say. When we take 50% ownership and no more, we are setting a boundary of protection that will prevent us from becoming reactive.
5) Take responsibility without apologizing. You do not have to say “I am sorry” in order to rectify the situation. You do not have to be sorry for your thoughts and feelings. Remember, you are likely having the conversation because you care about this person and your relationship.
You are smart, powerful, amazing, lovable, and perfect as-is. And, I think you may find how amazing it feels to deepen your conversations, even if it may feel uncomfortable at first.
Wishing you an amazing week.
Xoxo
Ali
P.S. So much is happening at LCWP. We now offer 5 different programs: G.O.A.L.S. Society®, Jump Start™, Transform®, Transform® Graduates, and Limitless™. We are committed to offering CME credits with our programs because we know (and research supports) that physician coaching is a top strategy for wellness and burnout prevention. We go one step further and have created a 1-stop shop for your mental, emotional, and physical wellness. Want to find out if our programs are a good fit for you? Book a call with us HERE. We can’t wait to talk.
Want to learn more about how my coaching programs help women physicians achieve optimal health? Click HERE for a private info call with our Concierge team!
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, a physician speaker, and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with scientific, yet intuitive, principles that work.
Lean Into The Journey… Trust The Process
What would happen if you leaned into your journey? How does it feel? What sensation comes up? What if we could believe that leaning into our journey would actually allow us to achieve the results that are the most authentic to us? As women physicians, one of our biggest challenges is time. This process allows you to embrace slow results.
We are in full swing over here at Life Coaching for Women Physicians as we have just wrapped up our summer luxury retreat, we started our 4-week Jump Start™ program, we are currently enrolling our amazing Limitless™ program, we are taking enrollments for Transform® 5.0, we are preparing for our fall retreat in Utah, and Mark and I are currently in Amelia Island where I am leading Mind-Body workouts at the Women Physician Wellness Conference.
Things are busy.
I have to be honest; I found myself more restless than normal. And, what I realized is that I was not taking my own advice and leaning into the moment. My mind was 10 steps ahead. Everything was feeling so fast.
I realized I was falling into old patterns of expecting that if I take action as quickly as possible, then the results will follow as quickly as possible, too. And, what I know about this pattern is that it is a HIGH PRESSURE way to live.
I did a deep dive and realized that I was marrying the result of everything in my life.
So, I was completely bypassing all of the amazing things that were available to me on the journey. Embracing the journey is where the magic lives because this is where LIFE happens. The journey is our life bookmarked by thousands of different results. But, you see - the results are just the bookmarks.
Think about this.
What would happen if you leaned into your journey? How does it feel? What sensation comes up? What if we could believe that leaning into our journey would actually allow us to achieve the results that are the most authentic to us?
Leaning into the journey requires you to understand you… to spend time on investing in you. What do you want for you? Have you thought about this recently?
When we bypass the journey and continue to focus on the result, we will be limiting ourselves to the things that are available to us right now.
You can be happy now.
You can find peace now.
You can be content now.
You can work toward your optimal health now.
You can create dreams now.
You can make the next best decision now.
There is so much available to you now. Do you see?
Leaning into the journey gives you more time. One of our biggest complaints, right?
Here is my example. This comes up all the time.
When someone wants to lose body fat, they often complain the results are slow! This would imply that time is going slowly… right?
So, if we want time to slow down, then why don’t we embrace “slow results?” When I thought of this analogy, I decided I wanted my results to take as long as possible. It also did something amazing for me… It allowed me to trust myself more and to trust the process.
The process is the journey. If you can lean in to your authentic journey and trust the process, you can trust yourself. Self-trust leads to more self-compassion and ultimately a better relationship with ourselves.
What if, today, we can simply commit to letting go of all the burdens and expectations… and just BE?
Nothing needs to be done right now. No decisions need to be made. At this moment, what do you need right now? Can you lean in? Try it.
Then tomorrow… take a moment and do the same. If you go through this process on rinse and repeat, then your bookend results will likely surprise you.
Do not limit your success by confining yourself to the results that you “think you should get.” Surpass them by leaning into the journey. Trust The Process. You are worth it.
Wishing you an amazing week my friends!!! And, I invite you to check out some of the amazing things we have planned this year for you!!!
Xoxo,
Ali
P.S.
Check out our All-Access Program, Limitless™. Our program runs November 2022 - October 2023 and includes every single one of our offerings!! It’s an All-Access Pass to the most amazing year of your life. 204 CME credits available.
All programs can all be taken on their own. We are now open for enrollment for Transform® 5.0. You can learn more HERE. If you deposit for Transform® 5.0, we are including our November Jump Start™ with Ali Program. This is an additional 12-CME credits that will offer the ultimate onboarding experience to Transform® 5.0.
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, a physician speaker, and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with scientific, yet intuitive, principles that work.
Follow Ali Novitsky, MD on Facebook or Instagram.
Subscribe to Life Coaching for Women Physicians on Apple Podcasts.
When 17 Women Physicians Get On a Party Bus…
This weekend has been filled with delicious food, relaxing by the pool, mind-body workouts, frosé as the poolside frosty drink of choice, thought work, processing emotion, connecting, laughing, crying, dropping burdens, creating vision boards, inner child work, being curious, a private concert, getting inspired… and I could keep going.
This past week was filled with putting the final touches on my intimate summer retreat for some of my dear women physician clients.
I chose to have our retreat at my home because FAMILY is a top core value of mine, and when I invite others into my house, I am welcoming them into my family. We have worked to create an experience where my ladies can feel completely taken care of. I even hand-delivered poolside drinks on roller skates.
But, Friday night was EPIC.
You see, you are combining relaxation with a whole lot of fun. So, we surprised the group with a party bus that took us to the Philadelphia Art Museum so we could run the exact stairs that Rocky Balboa did. I stood in the back of the crew to just watch as everyone giggled and dashed up the stairs. The first to the top??? Dr. Linda who just celebrated her 63rd birthday on Thursday of the retreat!! Talk about inspiration.
We then headed over to Pat’s Cheesesteaks so they could experience what it is like to order a true Philly Cheesesteak. Wiz Wit and Wiz Without. And - they all nailed it. Running the stairs and having the cheesesteaks also really hit our principle of - BALANCE.
This weekend has been filled with delicious food, relaxing by the pool, mind-body workouts, frosé as the poolside frosty drink of choice, thought work, processing emotion, connecting, laughing, crying, dropping burdens, creating vision boards, inner child work, being curious, a private concert, getting inspired… and I could keep going.
I have not laughed for this many days in a row in a very long time. This weekend has been transformative for me.
I am so thankful that I get to create these experiences. They fill my heart with joy and love beyond measure. I am inspired to keep creating, so we can continue to have memories that will last a lifetime.
____
Saturday, July 30th, is Food For Thought: Emotional Eating Workshop. This is an amazing day, 10am-4pm ET, where we hit emotional eating from all angles. You can join this incredible event HERE.
Want to learn more about how my coaching programs help women physicians achieve optimal health? Click HERE for a private info call with our Concierge team!
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, a physician speaker, and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with scientific, yet intuitive, principles that work.
Follow Ali Novitsky, MD on Facebook or Instagram.
Subscribe to Life Coaching for Women Physicians on Apple Podcasts.
Reverse Dieting: An Underutilized Tool
Reverse dieting consists of increasing nutrition to enable muscle gain. When done correctly, calories increase without any change in weight. One woman physician’s success story!
We returned from vacation and now we are getting ready for my Luxury Summer Retreat for clients at my home!! If you are not following me on social media, be sure to follow me on Instagram at alinovitksymd. I will be posting about this experience.
One of the attendees, Dr. Amanda, who will be at the upcoming retreat, is a physician I have been working with for the past year. And, her story is fantastic. She is allowing me to share.
Dr. Amanda is amazing. Fit, strong, and very knowledgeable with exercise and nutrition. She had a goal of body fat loss. During our time thus far, Amanda has utilized most of the tools I teach, including intuitive eating strategy, my Mindful Macros® Program, and calculated macros. Because Amanda was already very fit, and her progress had stalled… she made the commitment to use calculated macros.
Dr. Amanda spent a lot of time on her mindset with macros. She started to see macros as data; something that she could adjust as needed. The key with calculated macros is consistency. Within 2 months, Dr. Amanda met her body fat loss goal. But here was the issue: she had to decrease her calories and create a significant deficit to hit that goal. She knew that she wanted to eat more, and her goal changed.
It is so important to keep checking in on our goals. Her new goal was to focus more on definition and lose inches in her midsection. To do this, we agreed that a focus on increasing muscle would be key. To increase muscle, we knew we had to increase nutrition. Dr. Amanda was very concerned that by increased nutrition in the form of extra calories, that she would gain.
Now - I must say… to perform reverse dieting, we have to be even more consistent and disciplined for it to work. And Amanda was.
Over the next several weeks, we carefully adjusted her plan. I am proud to report that Dr. Amanda went from eating under 1,200 calories per day to now eating 2,000 calories per day with NO INCREASED WEIGHT GAIN OR FAT GAIN. In fact, she is eating so much food that it is hard to keep up. And she is getting stronger and moving toward her goal.
I share this story because our bodies are not broken. There are strategies to help heal us and nurture us. All that is required is trusting the process. Dr. Amanda has inspired several other clients to take on the same approach, so we will have some good data coming for you all.
Remember, you get one body. Treat it well. Show up for it. Learn about it. Figure out what it needs. Show up for yourself authentically.
Announcements:
Food For Thought Emotional Eating Workshop on Saturday, July 30th. A full-day experience is now enrolling. Cost-free for women physicians. You can ENROLL HERE.
Limitless™, our year-long, All-Access program is absolutely amazing and we are revealing it on Monday, July 25th. You do not want to miss this announcement. You can get on the interest list HERE.
Follow me on Instagram: alinovitskymd
Jump Start with Ali and Jump Start Your Genetics - Now Enrolling for August 1st start. You can learn more HERE.
Want to learn more about how my coaching programs help women physicians achieve optimal health? Click HERE for a private info call with our Concierge team!
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, a physician speaker, and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with scientific, yet intuitive, principles that work.
Follow Ali Novitsky, MD on Facebook or Instagram.
Subscribe to Life Coaching for Women Physicians on Apple Podcasts.
Your Heart Knows…
Wherever you are in your life as a woman physician, listen to your heart: it will never lead you down the wrong path. Keep listening, keep going. You already know what you want. Let it unfold and allow it to grow beyond what you thought possible.
We are in the last leg of our summer trip - Vegas Baby!! I have to say, while I am ready to get back home… we are having a blast. Turns out, we loved Disneyland! It was so easy to manage and get around. We ate great food, had fabulous weather, and we went on most rides due to less of a crowd than the Florida location. We will be back for sure!!
This extended trip has given us the space and time we all needed to reconnect in more of a fun way. We definitely are relearning how to play. The extra space has also allowed me to reflect and be proud of the direction I have taken with my career.
I wanted to share this with you all because I know many of you may feel as though you are at a crossroads. Maybe you feel confused about the next best decision for you. Let me share.
I knew that I wanted to become a doctor as early as Kindergarten. I had my mom make me a doctor kit that I would carry around with me wherever I would go. I wanted to fix, heal, save. I wanted to be the person that others could lean on in the scariest moments. I had the goal and I just kept putting one foot in front of the other.
Medical school was amazing for me. I trained at Temple University, which is such a wonderful place to learn, where I met Mark. I really felt that I hit the ground running because of literally growing up in a doctor’s office. I chose pediatrics and then neonatology. I loved every second of my rigorous training at Jefferson/AI duPont Hospital for Children.
We got married in our 3rd year of residency and we put off starting our family until the end of my fellowship. These were great decisions for us. We somehow knew what we could handle at one given time.
But, when we had our kids… everything changed. And, quite honestly, I just let the story unfold. I didn’t know exactly what my heart’s desire held, but knew it was something different than what I was doing. A series of job changes led me to having weekends off, which allowed me to attend 1 retreat that would change everything. In 2017, I learned about life coaching. And, I became a coach for women physicians in 2018.
Another series of twists and turns plus success and set-backs allowed me to use my passion for nutrition and exercise to create my current space. The space where I help women physicians focus on mental, emotional, and physical health. I believe that being here is where I was meant to be.
So, wherever you are in your life, I want you to listen to your heart. It will never lead you down the wrong path. It will be uncomfortable, you will make mistakes, there will be uncertain times where you wake up in the morning with the anxiety meter at 10. But, keep listening and keep going. You already know what you want… so let it unfold. Let it unfold and allow it to grow beyond what you thought possible.
You can do anything you want. Now is your time to decide what that is. We find courage by allowing fear - not necessarily getting rid of it.
I believe in you and I am sending you so much love.
Xoxo
Ali
ANNOUNCEMENT:
1) Food For Thought: An Emotional Eating, Day-Long Event is coming July 30th!! You will want to keep your eyes peeled for this announcement because it is cost-free for women physicians. If you don’t already follow me on Instagram, you can follow me HERE. I will be announcing the event on my social media platforms.
2) Next Jump Start with Ali (12-CME) begins August 1st!! This is a 4-week program that includes group sessions which will allow you to:
Learn to Audit Your Nutrition.
Choose Intuitive Eating, Mindful Macros®, or Macro Based Eating for your nutrition strategy and begin implementation.
Learn the G.O.A.L.S. principles to help you heal the relationship with yourself, your food, and your body.
Understand your unique body type so you can choose strategies that will allow you to work with your strengths.
Identify your primary goal which could be Fat Loss, Muscle Gain, Improved Fitness, or Overcoming Emotional Eating.
Create an effective "work smarter, not harder" strategy to achieve your primary goal.
Learn strategic tools that will allow you to increase your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) in a realistic way.
You can LEARN MORE HERE.
3) Our Year Long, ALL-Access LCWP Program will begin early enrollment July 25th, and will include and INCREDIBLE BONUS. This program includes ALL of the programs, we have to offer plus 1:1 coaching and our LCWP in-person retreat. It is our most comprehensive program to date. You can join the INTEREST LIST HERE.
Want to learn more about how my coaching programs help women physicians achieve optimal health? Click HERE for a private info call with our Concierge team!
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, a physician speaker, and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with scientific, yet intuitive, principles that work.
Follow Ali Novitsky, MD on Facebook or Instagram.
Subscribe to Life Coaching for Women Physicians on Apple Podcasts.
Self-Discovery During a Disney BootCamp
Take every opportunity to learn something about yourself. As women physicians, we deserve careful attention toward learning who we are. Realizations at Disney Aulani.
I always say, take every opportunity to learn something about yourself. I am not saying that this will be super comfortable, but as women physicians, we deserve the careful attention toward learning who we are.
Since Covid, I have avoided group exercise at a gym or facility. But, during our vacation, I have come across multiple opportunities for group exercise outdoors. In fact, as I write this email… I have just completed a Beach Bootcamp. And, it was AMAZING.
Because I lead so many workouts, it is a treat to be led by a great instructor who pushes me. It is also a treat to connect with the class and add to the community.
Here is what I noticed about myself today along with my observations, during a BootCamp at Disney’s Aulani in Kapolei, HI.
1. I knew where the bootcamp was being held, but I didn't want to be the first one there. My observation is that I didn't want to appear too eager. I mean, we are on vacation after all - what if my intensity would be judged? HA HA HA. I am laughing because I have done a lot of work around allowing others to be wrong about me. And, would they be wrong? I am intense. Intensity is my love language. I can own that authentically.
2. When I made my way over to the workout area, I was looking for someone to talk to. Interesting, because I am not an extrovert by any means. But, I love connection. My observation is that I am a curious individual who loves to meet others and learn their story. I was recently told that I bring people together, which is true. I just never honored and celebrated this about myself. I think I will start to.
3. This next one is good. During the warm-up, I positioned myself all the way at the end. My observation is that I like to do my own thing and not draw attention to myself. For example, in the past I would often hold myself back because I wanted to fit in. If I was running in the middle, running ahead would be obvious. But, staying to the side… maybe not so much. Why do I do this? Easy. I don't want to offend or outperform so that others can feel good, too. Another HA HA HA. No one is looking at me. No one is feeling bad about how I choose to run. This is on me. I can still choose to run on the end, but because I like the view better.
4. This next one is interesting. When we had to select medicine balls and kettlebell weights, I hesitated because I wanted everyone to pick what they wanted first. My observation is that I wanted others to pick first because I know that I can get a great workout with any weight (even no weight) but also… I wanted to be intentional about what I picked, so I needed to give myself a minute to think. I was proud here because I often don't give myself that pause. I selected something slightly lighter than I could have handled, but it was a great decision.
5. My exercise and nutrition principles work. Today's bootcamp was challenging. Beach sprints on sand, weights, pushups, kettlebells, etc., etc. I felt great. I felt strong. I felt proud. I know what I teach and do alongside my clients, works. My observation is that there is not one strategy to achieve optimal health… there are many. I am just so thankful to have found the ones that I love and can follow for the long haul.
At the end of class, the instructor complimented me and asked if I was a CrossFit Instructor. I said no, but I do get to work with the fiercest athletes out there… Women Physicians!! And, as per usual, I felt pure gratitude that I get to do what I do.
You are all fierce and amazing! I encourage you to go through scenarios and make observations about yourselves; so much exponential growth can happen in these moments.
Sending love to you all!!!
Xoxo
Ali
P.S. We have an amazing announcement coming soon… so SAVE THE DATE FOR SATURDAY, JULY 30th. I mean for real, you will want to clear the calendar that day.
In the meantime, check out our August 1st Jump Start and Jump Start Your Genetics program.12-CME. LEARN MORE HERE. It is going to be awesome.
Want to learn more about how my coaching programs help women physicians achieve optimal health? Click HERE for a private info call with our Concierge team!
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, a physician speaker, and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with scientific, yet intuitive, principles that work.
Follow Ali Novitsky, MD on Facebook or Instagram.
Subscribe to Life Coaching for Women Physicians on Apple Podcasts.
To My Daughters…
With the recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, I’m writing this to my daughters, and also to my tribe of strong women physicians, to let you know I will fight for you and support you. United we stand.
I have been struggling with how I will explain to my daughters all that is happening in our world right now. So, instead… I am going to share my heart with you all. I do not have the perfect words. But I want you to know that I see you and I am grateful to be among you.
When I was pregnant, I secretly wanted to have girls so badly. In fact, I was so worried about being disappointed about not having girls, that I convinced myself both times that we were having boys. We waited to find out. When each was born, I couldn't believe that my dreams became real.
I wish I could tell you exactly why I wanted daughters. If I dig deep, I would say - I want to create a legacy of strong women in our family. I wanted to bring more members to our tribe.
Early on, I did not think about the challenges that we would face. I did not expect to be explaining to a 7 and 10 year old that they don't have free range to make decisions about their bodies. That while they can decide who they love and want to partner with, they might not be legally "allowed."
It all feels so heavy, and as though we are standing on wobbly cobblestones at the same time.
I don't know what our future holds… but this is what I want to say to give you hope that we can find solid ground and we can release the burden that we were never meant to carry.
I will fight for you. I will help you find a way. You will never be alone. I will always be your soft landing spot.
To all of you, my sisters in life. Thank you for holding down the fort as the fierce tribe I get to be part of. I feel peace in your presence.
I will fight for you and help you find a way so that you never feel alone.
Sending you so much love.
Ali
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, a physician speaker, and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with scientific, yet intuitive, principles that work.
Follow Ali Novitsky, MD on Facebook or Instagram.
Subscribe to Life Coaching for Women Physicians on Apple Podcasts.
Allowing Myself to be Inspired by Others
Reflections on the family members I was blessed to spend the day with in San Francisco, and how they left me inspired.
We spent all day yesterday touring San Francisco. My brother, Chris, is getting married in Napa this week, and we had the pleasure of spending an entire day with Chris and his beautiful bride-to-be, Sarah. Chris and Sarah are world travelers, and Chris knows how to strategically and brilliantly get us from point A to point B. We had an absolutely glorious day filled with connection, laughter, and fun.
We ended the day watching the sunset, which gave me a few moments to reflect… and I want to share my reflections with you. My reflections are on the family members I was blessed to spend the day with, and I just wanted to share how they left me inspired.
First, my amazing husband, Mark.
At this point, I have known him half of my life. We have been married for 14 years, and he is my person. Recently, he has restructured his practice to create more time for our family, and in the meantime has also become an AMAZING photographer. I am inspired by his artistic talent and while he is so very go-with-the-flow, he also knows exactly what he wants. He balances my often nervous energy with his calm demeanor, and is able to help me be in the moment. We continue to learn together, to make mistakes together… and keep wanting to repeat both together. Mark inspires me because he makes me feel young and free, similar to the way I felt 20 years ago when we first met. Mark inspires me to dream big.
My first born, Betsy.
She is an old soul. She is deep and insightful, shy and loving. She sees the beauty in her surroundings. She is a gifted artist and talented writer. The thing I love most about Betsy is that she makes me feel calm (most of the time). There is something about her energy that soothes my soul. She is a person I could spend endless hours with and feel content. She is accepting. But what really inspires me is that she struggles with being flexible, yet, every day she is working on being more flexible. She loves everything cozy, including oversized jammies and stuffed animals. Our high-energy dog, Lilly, seeks Betsy out and sits next to her quietly… a testament to Betsy’s ability to calm us all (most times ).
My second born, Charlie.
Well… she now goes by Charlotte if this tells you anything!! She is the CEO of our family. She is smart and resourceful; she is hilarious and a social butterfly. She likes to wear lipstick and shop for eyeshadow palettes. She 100000% shares my empathy. This kid feels so deeply. And, because of this, Char has been one of my greatest teachers. How do I help a kid who feels so deeply process emotions that even I have trouble processing at times? I have learned to be more patient with myself by learning through her. Charlotte reads between the lines and picks up on every detail. She is a child who will leave her mark on this world and my work as her mom will be to create a soft landing spot so she can find self-acceptance, instead of indulgence in perfectionism. And, for this… I am inspired to embrace the self-acceptance that I continue to work on.
Sarah!! My new sister.
I grew up with 2 brothers and wanted so desperately to have a sister. When my younger brother married Sanda, I got my first sister!! And, now I get a second. Sarah is also a gifted artist, which is one of the reasons my girls adore her. Sarah is so beautiful inside and out, and has allowed me to witness what unconditional love looks like. She is a person who shows up eloquently in this world with her sweet nature and sense of adventure. I feel as thought I have known Sarah my entire life, and she is a true companion. Sarah inspires me to be the absolute best version of myself, in a way that is difficult to explain. I am inspired because she has allowed me to be who I am - authentically.
My older brother, Chris.
He is the model design of what you could imagine in an older brother. He has always been a protector. In fact, he joined dance class with me (when I was 5) so that he could “protect me.” He is incredibly intelligent, confident, and strong. He has traveled to every continent in this world (often solo). He is also SO MUCH FUN. His strong sense of family has pushed him to create amazing experiences for our parents. I would have to say that Chris is the glue of our family. Year after year, even without having a lot of in-person time, I continue to feel closer to him. Chris inspires me because he lives each day with purpose while seeking adventure. He shows up. I am so proud of him on so many levels, and the possibilities for him are endless.
Yesterday, as we closed the day watching the sunset on the beach, I got to see the most beautiful vision. Chris ran down the beach barefoot with Betsy and Charlie (hand-in-hand), despite it being 50 degrees, so they could put their toes in the ocean. Sarah stood by taking in all the beauty and appreciating the adventure that Chris was creating for the girls. Mark had his camera and was capturing every moment. I stood by and observed, which I often do, and realized that feeling inspired is a good place for me to land. Inspired I will remain. Inspiration leads to impact, which leads to more inspiration.
Sending you love… and gratitude to you all… you, too, inspire me.
Want to learn more about how my coaching programs help women physicians achieve optimal health? Click HERE for a private info call with our Concierge team!
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky, a Physician Coach, specializes in optimal health and sustainable weight loss. She is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, and is a physician speaker and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with brain-based science and intuitive principles that work.
Follow Ali Novitsky, MD on Facebook or Instagram.
Subscribe to Life Coaching for Women Physicians® on Apple Podcasts.
Emotional Eating? What Our Genetics Can Tell Us.
Could you be predisposed to be an emotional eater? Genetics tells us yes. Life coach for women physicians, Ali Novitsky, MD, shares the science behind gene variants that sabotage your efforts at intuitive eating and achieving optimal health.
Many of us are predisposed, and we are just finding out now!
I have so much excitement to share with you. I spent this past week on sessions with Daniel VanDorn, co-creator of Genomind Mental Health Map, to help me put the finishing touches on my latest offering: Jump Start Your Genetics!!
So, let me give you a little background first.
Almost 10 years ago my husband Mark, a child and adolescent psychiatrist, started to use Genomind testing to help him select proper medications for his patients. The days of prescribing just any medication for anxiety, depression, ADHD are becoming a way of the past. Our genetic testing can actually reveal how our brain is wired and firing, so that we can give it the correct pharmacology.
Once I saw how many people he was helping, I became a huge fan of Genomind. When the mental health map came out a couple of years ago, I knew that I wanted to use it in my health coaching, but I also knew that I needed to learn more.
Fast forward. Over the past 4 years, I have developed optimal health programs. I have also obtained my board certification in obesity medicine. And, over the past year, I have really upleveled my programs and have been able to help more people.
My G.O.A.L.S. principles are fabulous and really help us to learn the principles of intuitive eating, but this is what I was starting to see. A segment of my population continued to struggle with never having balanced hunger and fullness feelings. In other words, they knew when they were hungry, but had a very difficult time stopping when “full” or “satisfied" as they didn't experience these feelings. With my obesity medicine training, I learned that some patients may require mediation to truly feel “full,” which pushed me to dig deeper into genetics.
Many of my clients who don’t feel “satisfied” or “full” actually have a variant in their MC4R gene, the gene that controls satiety. This doesn’t mean that they don’t have any satiety signaling, but the signal is very weak. This weakness in that signaling causes us to eat more energy than our body requires, which leads to results that we don’t want.
The problem is that my clients feel defeated because they REALLY are trying.
What I can tell you is that 9 out of 10 of my clients who complain of this are showing a variant in the MCR4. The good news is that I have the strategies to better help with a MC4R variant now that I am aware of the impact that it has. In fact, this is the program I have created which I am now offering… I will tell you more about it in a bit.
Now imagine this. Let’s say that you have a variant in your MC4R gene, so you potentially have low satiety, AND you have a variant in your gene that predisposes you to emotional eating, the ANKK1 gene. Then, let’s say you also have a variant in your gene that controls your level of empathy, the OXTR gene. So, you potentially have so much empathy that you are taking on ALL of the emotions of others, plus you have a tendency to eat emotionally, and you have poor satiety. I call this the triple threat to constant struggle with food and achieving optimal health.
This information is allowing our optimal health programs to move to cutting-edge with their effectiveness.
We have created a program to help you Jump Start Your Genetics. You will learn what you are dealing with and how to work with your genetic code.
I am beyond thrilled to announce my late summer offering. On August 1st, you can work with me as we Jump Start together. The first 4-weeks are all about understanding who you are mentally, emotionally, and physically. We will then decide on your primary goal and will immediately begin implementation on your custom strategy to achieve optimal health.
Because I will be working with you intimately, the first 4-weeks are crucial for me to get to know you so that when we move to the genetics portion, I can give you even more specific programming. Plus it will give you enough time to send off your genetic kit (completed in the comfort of your own home and takes 1-minute with a cheek swab) so that we have all of your information for the genetics program.
On September 7th, we begin Jump Start Your Genetics. This program comes second because I want you to be prepared with the concepts of the strategies we use so that once you know your genetics, we can direct you toward your focus to get your best health results.
The full experience is 8-weeks, with me as your guide. You can also choose to do just one or the other, but the full advantage will come with combining them. Jump Start with Ali includes 12-CME, whereas Jump Start Your Genetics does not include CME. By combining the offer, you can use your CME for the bundle package. While you can do each program separately, because this is our first offering, we are honoring our Beta Pricing- which is AMAZING. I always tell my clients to get in on the first offering.
You can learn more about Jump Start with Ali and Jump Start Your Genetics HERE.
Enrollment is now open, so grab your seat! Spots are limited because of the high level of support we provide to each client.
ENROLL HERE!!!
Can’t wait to see you inside!!
Want to learn more about how my coaching programs help women physicians achieve optimal health? Click HERE for a private info call with our Concierge team!
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, a physician speaker, and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with scientific, yet intuitive, principles that work.
Follow Ali Novitsky, MD on Facebook or Instagram.
Subscribe to Life Coaching for Women Physicians on Apple Podcasts.
Get Snobby with Your Extras
A simple nutrition strategy for enjoying your favorites foods this summer. By Ali Novitsky, MD, life coach for women physicians and Board-Certified Obesity Medicine Expert.
A simple nutrition strategy for enjoying your favorite foods this summer
I hope you are getting super excited to jump into summer. I sure am!! My older brother, Chris, is marrying the beautiful Sarah on June 22nd in Napa!! And this is just the beginning: we are headed to San Francisco, L.A., Hawaii, and Vegas to follow. A whole 3-week excursion!
So, I am starting to plan now. I know that as part of my nutrition plan, I will be utilizing intuitive eating, Mindful Macros®, and even some Macro Counting… but I will be doing it in a way that works for me. My primary goal: To share some AMAZING experiences with my family, and feel good doing it. I know that I have the tools to do this.
So, what strategies do I pull from?
I want to share one of my favorites with you today, and also a principle I will be sharing as I prepare to write my first nutrition book, “Mindful Macros®”. The strategy is to ‘Get Snobby with Your Extras.’
What do I mean by this? Well, I know our trip will include some of my favorite treats. And, my mom is 100% Italian, so our love language is food. Plus, Chris and Sarah do not skimp on throwing an amazing party.
So, if I get snobby with my extras… this just means that I will allow the things I want, but I will be snobby if they don’t taste all that great. If this is the case, I will have a bite or taste and then choose to stop.
Getting snobby with your bread and your cake and your bourbon is a kind thing to do for yourself. It is saying, you can have anything you want AND you - yes, YOU - deserve the best.
When I get snobby with my extras, I know my focus is on solid, balanced meals, and then my extras can be a detail that I have high expectations for. It allows me to be in control and have the choice on how this will go for me.
Getting snobby with my extras also requires an extra layer of mindfulness that I will include surrounding my food and drink consumption. This encourages me to utilize the G.O.A.L.S. Society principles: get hungry first, slow down, observe for fullness, and just make the next best decision.
So… as you move toward summer, can getting snobby with your extras help you???
We have an amazing program for women physicians starting August 1st. And you won’t believe all we are offering at our Beta Pricing. Jump Start with Ali™ (12-CME) with an option to add Jump Start Your Genetics™.
Imagine knowing your genetics so we can even better strategize your optimal health plan!! We have that capability!
We will be announcing details next week. For now, get on the interest list HERE.
Want to learn more about how my coaching programs help women physicians achieve optimal health? Click HERE for a private info call with our Concierge team!
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, a physician speaker, and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with scientific, yet intuitive, principles that work.
Follow Ali Novitsky, MD on Facebook or Instagram.
Subscribe to Life Coaching for Women Physicians on Apple Podcasts.
4 Strategies To Transform How You Feel About Your Body
Healthy body composition is when the percentage of lean mass is greater than the percentage of body fat. The range below shows a healthy amount of body fat is up to 30% for the average woman.
It’s all about navigating our thoughts and focus.
Here is what I have for you…
1) Focus on Body Composition, Not Weight Loss
As we talked about last week: Don’t let the scale fool you — you can lose fat and still be the same weight, yet your body will look completely different.
Under the definition of “body composition” on Wikipedia, it says, “Two people of the same gender and body weight may look completely different because they have a different body composition.”
Healthy body composition is achieved when the percentage of lean mass is greater than the percentage of body fat. I wanted to give a reference range below to point out that an average and healthy amount of body fat is up to 30% for the average woman.
See guidelines below for healthy body fat percentages for women:
Female Athletes: 14-20%
Optimal Fitness: 21-24%
Healthy Body Fat Average for all Women: 25-30%
As a health coach for women physicians, I’ve seen firsthand how, when you change your body composition, you may still weigh the same but have a completely different body.
Would it surprise you to know that while you get fitter you may actually GAIN WEIGHT? This is exactly why we shouldn’t focus on just the scale.
But, how do you lose fat and gain muscle at the same time? This is what everyone wants to do, but I want to caution you. These are 2 very different goals that require 2 very different strategies.
To reduce your body fat, you have to eat fewer calories than you burn. But to build muscle, you have to eat more calories than you burn. However, if you have a mesomorph body type, you may be able to eat in calorie maintenance AND gain muscle slowly.
2) Stop Comparing Your Body to Unrealistic “Perfect” or “Ideal” Women
The unrealistic images in ads and online subliminally teach us that our natural body types aren’t desirable or attractive enough as they are, causing shame around our weight and issues with our confidence.
We are constantly fed images in the press of what society’s “perfect body” is supposed to look like. Social media feeds are full of overly-filtered influencers and magazine covers tend to only feature airbrush-perfect, photoshopped models whose bodies are touted as the “ideal.”
Yet, we often feel an overwhelming desire to look the same way as other women and we unfairly compare ourselves to unachievable images of “perfection” that aren’t even real.
Setting an arbitrary goal weight or trying to meet an imaginary standard that isn’t possible for your body type is only going to cause disappointment and frustration.
We must focus on working with our body, instead of fighting against it.
3) Learn to Love Yourself Through Body Positivity
I’m sure many of you have heard of the body positivity movement, but have you taken a minute to think about what that means and how it relates to you?
In reality, we are all built with different structures and have different genetic make-ups, so it’s pointless to compare ourselves to other women and feel like our body has to look a certain way to be “attractive.”
It is about self-acceptance and owning who we are, and that is so empowering! We can start the journey of self-acceptance by setting realistic goals and expectations.
The research-based fitness plan I use in G.O.A.L.S. Society® can be a tool for body composition change for busy physicians, but that is not the focus. The focus is on feeling confident in how you look, accepting your body’s natural structure and challenges, and learning how to get stronger and fitter despite them.
4) Discover Your Natural Body Type & Practice Self-Acceptance
This doesn’t mean we stay complacent and stop reaching for our goals; it just means we shift our mindset around them. Remember, you are a masterpiece AND you can also choose to be a work in progress.
There are 3 main body types or “somatypes” called Endomorph, Mesomorph, and Ectomorph. Once you know which body type you are, you can learn what kind of fitness training and nutrition strategy that your unique body type will benefit from.
5) Surround Yourself with Others Who Are Striving for the Same
You know what they say, we tend to reflect the group we hang around with. I have even heard things like, “you are the sum of the 5 people you hang around the most.” Even if this is 10% true, surround yourself with people who are working on body acceptance, body positivity, and a strong desire to move away from diet culture and into the space of intuitive and gentle approaches to optimal health.
We have MANY exciting things happening at Life Coaching for Women Physicians. I will shortly be announcing a special program coming August 1st, where you will have the opportunity to dive into understanding your genetics… and I may have secured the actual EXPERT of the genetic test I use to be involved in this programming. If you want to get on the interest list, you can do so HERE. You will be among the first to hear.
Want to learn more about how my coaching programs help women physicians achieve optimal health? Click HERE for a private info call with our Concierge team!
About Ali Novitsky, MD
Dr. Novitsky is certified by the Life Coach School, Obesity Board Certified, a physician speaker, and fitness enthusiast. Ali helps women physicians achieve their optimal health with scientific, yet intuitive, principles that work.
Follow Ali Novitsky, MD on Facebook or Instagram.
Subscribe to Life Coaching for Women Physicians on Apple Podcasts.