Blog Interview: Dr. Ali Novitsky, Transformational Coach for Mind and Body, Shares her Pearls

Periodically, I interview a physician that will give you tips to enjoy medicine, find fulfillment, relieve stress, and more. (I'm never an affiliate for them. I'm always just a fan). Today, seemed like the perfect day to host Dr Ali Novitsky who is dedicated to helping physicians transform their minds and bodies while we are in the Meaningful Change blog series. Specifically, the last 2 weeks, we looked at exercise and movement which was identified as the top area within individual physicians' control for improved well-being. She is a neonatologist by training and has helped transform many physicians' lives over the past 5+ years.  Enjoy reading our interview session: 

Ali, tell us how you became a physician coach that everyone thinks of when pursuing improved physical health?

As a young child, I struggled with my weight. I quickly and easily fell into the diet industry trap. I learned every way to diet in order to lose weight. In junior high, I started to excel in athletics and started to think of myself as “strong” and that being “strong” was my gift. It was the first time that I had a glimpse of what body acceptance felt like. And- it felt amazing. 

I discovered that before sustainable change could happen, body acceptance and body love were key. Accepting that I was a masterpiece but also a work in progress set the stage for how I wanted to help others.

Through college, I started developing my nutrition and exercise principles. By the time I started medical school in 2002, I had lost nearly 50 pounds and have maintained this loss for over 20 years.

When I became a certified coach in 2018, I was inspired to combine principles based on psychology with my optimal health strategies. In 2021, I became board certified in obesity medicine and in 2023 I became a master coach where I now am able to utilize additional tools that target behavioral change from an emotional standpoint.

Over the past 5 years, I have helped over 1000 women physicians on their health journey. My goal is maximum impact with health strategies that defy the diet industry. We are in the process of developing our men’s program, Fit Dad Collective, which will begin June 5th.

Tell the readers the full breadth of your focus?

I focus on mental, emotional, physical, and social health for women physicians. As I mentioned, wr are expanding our programming to help men and women who are not physicians. 

To achieve long term sustainable results, we have to target the approach from several angles with mindset being the first and foremost. We do this through teaching and helping our clients to implement effective tools for change.

On the emotional realm, we have to understand our stress symptoms and what they result in. For example, if we are constantly reacting, we will be patterned to lean towards impulsive behaviors to feel better as quickly as we can. 

From a physical standpoint, the days of a lower number on the scale are over. It’s about optimizing our body composition to preserve lean muscle mass, rehab our metabolism, manage hunger hormones, understand our body type- genetics, and to incorporate exercise so that we can optimize functional fitness.

Socially speaking, we all need community. All of our programs include a community for support and accountability. As women, we don’t ask for help. Belonging to a community helps to create a space where we want you to ask for what you need.

Why doesn’t traditional weight loss work?

Traditional weight loss is grounded in principles that can be misleading. For example, traditional weight loss says to exercise more (especially cardio), eat less, and if the scale is lower then you are successful.

Traditional weight loss does not tell us that if you are not eating the proper amount and you are not strength training, then you could lose up to 25% lean muscle for every pound lost on the scale.

I have seen women who come to me struggling because the have lost 15 lbs of lean mass andnow believe they are broken. They say, “my body is broken.” And, they can’t understand why they are regaining weight back so quickly.

The reality is that when we lose lean mass, we decrease our basal metabolic rate, so we will continue to burn less energy and overtime will accumulate more body fat. When we regain the weight, the muscle doesn’t automatically come back. So, now we will weigh what we did when we started plus a few pounds AND has a higher percent body fat.

Optimal weight loss, which means preserving lean mass and losing only body fat, is what we have to focus on to get long term sustainable results. The diet industry doesn’t tell you that there are easy strategies to just do this. These are the ones I teach in my programs.

I’m wondering if you wouldn’t mind speaking to body composition. I hear many are still focused on a weight goal, but your perspective is much richer.  

I love this question!! I don’t use the limited BMI chart or the number on the scale. I first look at the individual's body type and genetic potential so that we can set a realistic goal. 

Then, we decide on what our actual goal for optimal body composition is. For optimal health, is your goal:

1. Lean muscle maintenance with fat loss

2. Lean muscle gain 

These are different goals that require different strategies. Some women come to me for “weight loss” but their lean muscle mass is so low, that we have to build before we can lose.

If we throw out our desire to just weigh less, we can fuel and move our bodies in a way that will give us muscle mass that we are genetically capable of creating which will give us more functionality, more definition, and a new relationship with our body.

Having a body composition goal will give us the freedom to stop holding ourselves back and to stop letting our happiness rely on whether or not it was a good weigh in day.

The scale is not the problem, but it is limited in giving us the data that actually matters for body composition change.

If someone is reading and they want the first 3 easy steps to move toward their physical health goals, what would you offer?

1. Decide why you want to make a change. Your why has to be EPIC, not just a skinny jeans goal. Wrote it down and look at often.

2. Get your steps!! Studies show that getting greater than 5k steps per day improves longevity.

3. Aim for 3 servings of protein per day. Protein promotes lean muscle mass and also helps significantly with satiety.

What else do you think is important for everyone to know?

Start slow. Lose the all-or-none thinking. Just make the next best decision. Get snobby with your extras. Unsubscribe to social media that feeds into the diet culture. Find a community for support. You are worth it!!!

Thank you so much for your insights and wisdom. Tell everyone how they can find you. 

We have amazing programs for women physicians that are expanding to men and non-physician women. All programs for women physicians include CME. 

Website: https://www.lifecoachingforwomenphysicians.com/

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-coaching-for-women-physicians/id1506931432

Jump Start: https://www.goals-society.com/g-o-a-l-s-society

Transform: https://www.goals-society.com/transform

Facebook and Instagram: Ali Novitsky MD

I hope you enjoyed the interview session and have pinpointed something to hone your skills and focus toward.

I'll be here next week, jumping into our next topic!

Until then - Have a joy-filled week!  Tonya

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