1:04

This is the Lifestyle and Weight Loss for Teens

1:07

podcast . If you are a mom

1:09

and want to help your child who is struggling to

1:11

lose weight , you are in the right place

1:13

. If you are looking for healthy lifestyle

1:15

tips , dr Gorgary is here to help

1:17

you understand the science around safe weight

1:19

loss in teens and children , because

1:22

what works for adult weight loss is not always

1:24

the best for children . This

1:26

podcast is for educational purposes only

1:28

. Dr Gorgary does not provide

1:30

medical , psychological or nutrition

1:33

therapy advice . You should not use this

1:35

information to diagnose or treat any

1:37

health problems without consulting your own medical

1:39

practitioner and now your host

1:41

, dr Jenny Gorgary .

1:50

Hello , hello , welcome to another episode

1:52

of the Lifestyle and Weight Loss for Teens podcast

1:55

. This is your host , dr Jenny Gorgary , and

1:58

today I will be talking about exercise

2:02

and how that can prevent

2:04

losing muscle in

2:06

teenagers that they're trying to get to

2:08

a healthy weight by doing

2:11

following both a dietary plan

2:13

and some type of physical

2:15

activity . It is recommended

2:17

that teenagers that want to

2:19

get into a healthy weight do

2:22

at least one hour of physical

2:24

activity every day . Now

2:27

I understand that this is not always

2:29

feasible and that's totally fine . Just

2:32

do every day a little better

2:34

than what you did yesterday . That's

2:36

why I keep saying again and again but

2:38

what I want to focus the

2:40

discussion today . The topic

2:43

today is around

2:45

weight reduction and

2:48

how that can affect preservation

2:51

on muscle mass . The

2:54

problem with losing

2:56

weight can be that

2:58

if it is not done

3:00

with exercise at the same time

3:03

and it's not done with

3:05

having enough protein intake

3:07

also at the same time , it can

3:10

make you lose not

3:12

only fat but also

3:14

lose muscle . Now

3:17

why we don't want to lose muscle . What's

3:19

the problem ? The muscle

3:21

, having more muscle mass

3:23

than having more fat

3:25

for the same amount of

3:27

body weight can help you

3:30

significantly with

3:32

regulating the hormones that

3:34

are important for

3:37

not only weight

3:39

loss , but also maintaining

3:41

healthy weight and

3:43

maintaining good cardiovascular

3:46

health . I'm talking

3:48

about insulin resistance

3:50

. So I'll try to explain this

3:52

in simple terms . Let's

3:55

say you have 20%

3:58

of muscle

4:00

in your body and

4:03

somebody else has 30%

4:06

muscle in their body . They're

4:09

both same teenagers

4:11

, 15 years of age . They

4:13

go and have a piece of cake

4:15

. The person who

4:17

has 30%

4:20

body mass is going

4:22

to have lower spike

4:25

of insulin compared

4:28

to the person who has 20%

4:31

muscle mass . If

4:33

they are similar

4:35

. For all the other aspects , of

4:37

course , this is just an imaginary scenario

4:40

, but what I'm trying to say

4:43

is that the insulin

4:45

sensitivity is

4:47

better when you have more

4:49

muscle mass compared

4:52

to if you have less

4:54

muscle mass . And

4:56

why is that important ? Because

4:58

when you eat something

5:01

that has carbohydrates , that

5:03

has sugar , it is absorbed

5:06

by the muscles

5:08

. There are receptors in the muscles

5:11

that get the sugar inside the

5:13

muscles . So it is important

5:15

to have good muscle

5:17

mass because that can

5:19

improve your insulin

5:22

sensitivity . Now

5:24

you can ask okay , how

5:26

much is my muscle mass ? And this is my

5:28

muscle mass , and what do I do if I increase it

5:31

? The actual number I

5:33

can give you a number . The actual number

5:35

is variable . It depends

5:37

on your height

5:40

, your weight , your age . But

5:42

what is important is to maintain

5:45

a good muscle mass and

5:48

to do what you can to

5:50

improve your insulin sensitivity , to

5:53

improve your cardiovascular health , and

5:56

one good way to do that

5:58

is through physical activity

6:00

. So that is one

6:02

reason why the American Academy of

6:04

Pediatrics recommends to

6:07

have at least one hour of

6:09

physical activity for

6:11

every child . I mean , it's true for adults

6:13

, but I'm focusing on

6:15

children and teenagers . Now . So

6:18

the problem with weight loss if

6:21

you are following a diet

6:23

and an exercise plan and

6:25

you wanna lose weight , then

6:28

when you're losing weight , that can be

6:30

losing weight from fat and

6:33

also losing weight from

6:35

muscle , and

6:37

ideally we don't

6:40

want to lose as much muscle

6:42

mass . We prefer to

6:44

lose more fat

6:47

mass than muscle mass . It's

6:50

inevitable to some extent to

6:52

perhaps lose some muscle too if

6:56

you're having a significant weight loss , but

6:59

the important thing is to

7:02

minimize the effect of

7:04

muscle mass to the extent that

7:06

it is possible and

7:08

to try to have more

7:11

preservation of the muscle mass to

7:15

the extent that this is possible . So

7:19

there was this great

7:21

study that was done a few years ago . The

7:23

title of the manuscript is

7:25

a Weight

7:28

Reduction Program Preserves Fat Free

7:30

Mass but Not

7:32

Metabolic Rate in Obesity Adolescents . It

7:35

was published in the Journal of Obesity Research in

7:38

February 2004 by

7:41

Stephan Lazar and his group . Now

7:45

what these researchers did is

7:47

they had 26

7:50

teenagers between

7:52

the ages of 12 to 16 years

7:54

of age and they followed

7:56

them over a nine month weight

7:59

reduction program . Now their average

8:02

BMI was around 33.9

8:04

. If you don't know what BMI

8:06

is , you can go

8:08

and listen to episode one when

8:11

I explain a little bit more . But

8:13

basically , bmi is a measurement

8:16

that researchers use

8:18

to evaluate what is the percentage

8:21

of abnormal weight

8:23

and how

8:25

much weight teenagers need to lose to

8:27

being a healthy BMI

8:29

. That's what we use Now

8:32

. Bmi is thought a perfect tool

8:34

. It doesn't give you any information

8:37

about body composition

8:39

. It doesn't tell you , for example

8:41

, how much of that weight

8:43

is due to body

8:46

fat and how much of that is due to

8:48

muscle mass . So there

8:50

is another measurement that researchers

8:52

can do and there is a machine it's

8:54

called DEXA scan . It's the same machine

8:57

that is used to check for osteoporosis

9:00

. So they had this scan

9:02

and they asked all these teenagers

9:05

to get into that at the beginning and at the end

9:07

of the program , where they had them

9:09

measured how much was their

9:11

muscle mass in the beginning and how much

9:13

was their fat mass in the beginning and what was

9:16

at the end of the program . Now

9:18

, they also asked them to

9:20

follow , say , an activity

9:23

program , and the activity

9:25

program included two

9:27

sessions of 40 minutes

9:29

each . They were done

9:31

with a physical trainer

9:34

and they were also

9:36

testing them and measuring

9:38

their heart rate to see how

9:41

their heart , their basal heart

9:43

rate and their maximum heart rate was

9:45

. So when they tried

9:47

to put them into the exercise , the

9:50

intensity of the program was set

9:52

at 60% of

9:54

the initial maximum oxygen-aptic

9:56

test . So it

9:58

was an intense program and in

10:01

addition to that they also had two

10:04

hours of physical activity at

10:06

school and they had

10:08

two hours per week of aerobic

10:10

activities at their institution

10:13

, and then they were encouraged to also

10:15

participate in physical

10:17

activity with their parents during

10:20

the weekend . They also

10:22

gave them specific dietary

10:24

recommendations and they also

10:26

give them lectures

10:28

about how to eat healthy , and

10:30

they also taught them how

10:32

to cook and make simple

10:35

meals . So this was a nine-month

10:37

program and at the end of the program

10:40

what they found was that

10:42

there was a significant

10:44

improvement in the BM

10:46

. The teenagers lost

10:49

an average of 16.9

10:52

kilograms , and

10:54

when they looked at the percent

10:56

body fat versus the percent

10:59

muscle loss , they

11:01

found that the boys did

11:03

not lose significant

11:05

muscle mass . The girls

11:08

did lose some muscle

11:10

mass . So there was some difference in

11:12

how the boys and the girls responded

11:15

to this program and to this intense

11:18

activity in order to

11:20

preserve the muscle mass . And

11:22

the way the researchers explained

11:25

it , which also makes sense , is

11:27

that the boys were still

11:30

growing and they had a significant

11:32

growth spurt compared to the

11:34

girls , who did not grow as much

11:36

, because the boys tend to grow

11:38

later in their puberty compared

11:41

to girls and potentially

11:43

because of that they had

11:46

less of an effect on

11:48

their muscle loss . However

11:51

, as I mentioned in the beginning

11:53

, it is expected that when you have

11:56

weight loss you are going

11:58

to lose some muscle

12:00

mass , you are going to lose some

12:02

fat mass , but the point

12:04

is , is the expected muscle

12:07

mass less , muscle mass loss

12:10

, less than the actual

12:12

muscle mass loss ? And they

12:15

did have some to

12:17

predict the expected loss

12:19

in the muscle and even

12:22

in girls that they did lose

12:24

muscle mass when they had this significant

12:26

weight loss . The percent

12:29

of muscle mass loss was less

12:31

than what they would have lost if

12:34

they hadn't participated in

12:36

the exercise . So

12:38

my take-home message

12:41

for today and

12:43

this is just one of the manuscripts

12:46

that support these notions

12:48

is what we know

12:50

that exercise improves

12:54

muscle mass and exercise

12:56

can prevent having

12:59

significant muscle

13:01

mass . It can prevent

13:03

and preserve your muscle mass

13:05

while you're losing weight , and

13:08

we want you to have more

13:11

muscle mass , as more

13:13

muscle mass as possible , because that

13:15

can help regulate better

13:18

your insulin sensitivity and

13:21

it can help you maintain

13:23

a healthier cardiovascular

13:25

health . So , again

13:28

, you don't need to start with one

13:30

hour of exercise if you're not

13:32

doing anything at this point

13:34

. But let's say , if you're exercising

13:37

three times per week , I

13:39

encourage you to go and exercise four

13:41

times . If you're doing 15 minutes , you

13:43

can go and do 20 minutes , and

13:46

having someone who is a

13:48

personal trainer can help

13:51

you on that journey . Don't

13:53

be scared to do muscle

13:55

strength . I used to think that

13:58

, oh , I need to lift weights

14:00

, for example , and I'm

14:02

going to be very bulky

14:04

and muscular if I do exercise

14:06

. No , I'm not talking about

14:08

this type of exercise

14:10

. You don't need to lift

14:12

50 pounds to get

14:14

the benefits of building

14:17

muscle . You can just start

14:19

with body weight

14:21

exercises . You can start with

14:23

simple training . You can start

14:26

things that you can easily do at

14:28

your home , even if they're for five or

14:30

10 minutes , you can do them at your

14:32

school . You can talk with your counselor

14:34

. You can talk with other people

14:36

at the gym or at sport events

14:39

. You can just also do it by playing

14:41

basketball . You can do it with

14:43

warming activities even before

14:46

you actually go and participate in the

14:48

sport . So talk to your trainer

14:50

, talk to someone who is an

14:52

exercise physiologist . Go and

14:55

talk to your provider if

14:57

they have someone who they work

14:59

with . But please do

15:01

your best to incorporate some

15:03

kind of physical activity in

15:06

your weight loss journey , because that

15:08

can help you maintain and

15:11

preserve the muscle mass

15:13

to the extent that is possible . That's

15:16

all I had for today . I

15:18

hope you enjoy it . Please feel

15:20

free to reach out to me info

15:23

at lifestyle14scom If

15:25

there are any topics you would like

15:28

me to talk about , and

15:31

if you like this episode , please

15:33

feel free to share it with

15:35

anybody you think may benefit

15:38

from hearing this message . Take care

15:40

, bye .

15:42

If you enjoyed listening to this podcast , I

15:44

invite you to come check out the Lifts program . It's

15:47

Dr Gorgary's 12-week coaching program

15:49

for teens and their moms , where we take all

15:51

this information , we apply it to your daily

15:53

life and we work together so your

15:55

teenager learns how to create a healthy lifestyle

15:57

so they can feel happier , more confident

16:00

, less stressed and love their body

16:02

again . Visit the website at lifestyle14scom

16:05

and click on the Work With Me and

16:07

Free resources to learn more about this program

16:09

and get free help to start this journey

16:11

right away . Thanks for tuning in

16:13

and we'll catch you in the next episode

16:16

of Lifestyle and Weight Loss for teens

16:18

.