June 16, 2025 • 11 mins
Can You Really Lose Weight Without Dieting Or Exercise?
Ever wondered if you could shed those stubborn pounds without hitting the gym or counting every calorie? Licensed nutritionist Catina Wilson breaks down the science behind effortless weight loss in this eye-opening conversation.
Catina shares her personal success story of losing 40 pounds without ever stepping foot in a gym, revealing how nutrition truly drives 80% of weight loss results. But this episode goes far beyond basic diet advice. You'll discover how sleep deprivation creates a hormonal perfect storm that increases hunger while decreasing satisfaction – a devastating combination for anyone trying to manage their weight. Learn why those who struggle with belly fat often find the answer in their stress levels and sleep quality rather than their workout routine.
The conversation explores the counterintuitive science of metabolism, explaining why severely restricting calories can actually halt weight loss by triggering your body's survival mechanisms. Catina provides practical strategies for revving up your metabolism, including why weightlifting offers metabolic benefits long after you've left the gym. You'll also learn about medical interventions like GLP-1 medications and how they affect hunger signals.
Ready to transform your relationship with food and your body? This conversation is your first step.
To learn more about Atlanta Wellness Clinic visit:
https://www.ATLWellnessClinic.com
Atlanta Wellness Clinic
1827 Powers Ferry Rd. SE, Bldg 1 STE 250
Atlanta, Georgia 30339
770-726-8978
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
welcome to the Atlanta Wellness Clinic podcast
hosted by licensed nutritionistand clinic owner, katina Wilson.
We're here to kick start yourweight loss journey because,
let's be honest, the only thingwe want gaining weight is our
wallets.
From medical weight loss andnutrition coaching to body
contouring, we help metroAtlanta women get real results.
(00:24):
Let's dive in.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Is it possible to shed pounds without hitting the
gym or counting calories?
We're diving into the sciencebehind alternative weight loss
methods that could change thegame.
Welcome back everyone to MillieM.
Co-host producer here in thestudio with licensed
nutritionist and clinic owner,katina Wilson.
How are you, katina?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I am well.
How about?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
you, millie, doing well.
Can't wait to break down thisfascinating question with you
today, because I know ourlisteners are going to be
surprised by some of theinsights.
Can you really lose weightwithout dieting or exercise?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Yes, and I'm here to tell you I did it.
I actually lost in my ownweight loss journey.
I lost the first 40 pounds orso without ever stepping a foot
into the gym, so it can't bedone Well so so what I was going
to say is all about the 80-20rule, all about the 80-20.
It really fundamentally comesdown to nutrition.
(01:21):
It comes down to caloric intakewhat you're taking in versus
you know what you're putting out.
So as long as you're creatingthat calorie deficit, it
certainly is possible.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
They say that it starts with nutrition.
So that's the key factor toweight loss beyond.
What are the key factors beyonddiet and exercise?
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Well, I mean, diet is the biggest thing, right?
So it's all about you mean,diet is the biggest thing, right
?
So it's all about you know,again, creating that deficit.
There are other factors, likereducing stress and getting
sleep, and we see it even in ourclinic.
A lot of people reallyunderestimate the importance of
getting a good night's rest.
Average person should be likelygetting seven to eight hours of
sleep each night, but I thinkyou know, just, in our busy
(02:05):
society, it's just, it's astruggle for a lot of people.
And so what ends up happeningis that lack of sleep creates
disruptions in your hormones,particularly two hormones called
ghrelin and leptin.
Ghrelin really manages thehunger that we, that we feel,
and so when you're not gettingenough sleep, that hunger
(02:25):
feeling, right, it increases.
Not a good thing, because.
So that means you're alwaysgoing to want something to eat.
You're going to want a snack.
Leptin, also another hormonethat's regulated by sleep.
It helps provide satiety, right, and so are you satisfied by
what you're eating.
Well, unlike ghrelin, ghrelinincreases, so you're more hungry
(02:50):
.
Leptin decreases when you'renot getting enough sleep, and so
now you're not feeling assatisfied.
So now you're searching forsomething.
You know, for a lot of peopleit's probably comfort food,
right, that's going to give youthat feeling of satisfaction.
So exactly, absolutely so,sleep is probably like one of
the best things you can do.
And then I think the other thingtoo that folks underestimate is
stress.
Now, lack of sleep can increasestress, but there are other
(03:13):
things that you know can alsoincrease stress.
And so, again, when we'retalking hormones, when your
stress increases, cortisol alsoincreases, and unfortunately
cortisol promotes belly fatstorage, right.
And so people who say theystruggle with the weight,
particularly like around theirwaistline, when you start to dig
(03:34):
into, like, what's really goingon with them on a day-to-day
basis, they typically are notgetting enough sleep and they're
typically under a high degreeof stress, for whatever reason.
And so diet, exercise arecertainly the biggest influences
and being able to get off theweight diet more so than
exercise.
Again, 80-20.
(03:55):
However, sleep is a bigcontributing factor in managing
stress and managing stress.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Wow, that was a mouthful there.
So definitely, stress is a verysinister thing and it affects
us in many different ways.
And some people stress eat andsome people don't eat when
they're stressed.
And all of that can affectweight loss, because how does
metabolism play a role inshedding those pounds
effortlessly?
Speaker 3 (04:24):
How does metabolism play a role in shedding those
pounds effortlessly.
Well, metabolism is a trickything because I think, like the
younger you are, your metabolismis at its highest and then over
time it actually starts to todecrease over time, and so then
you have to do things right toreally like pump up that
metabolism.
So in earlier episodes wetalked about the importance of
doing things like exercise,particularly like weightlifting.
(04:46):
You can exercise and do cardio,but once you stop the cardio
it's benefit to your metabolism.
It pretty much stops when youstop the cardio.
But with something like liftingweights lifting really heavy
weights as an example, andreally building that muscle, now
you're giving your body anopportunity to create kind of
this metabolic process whereit's going all day, all night,
(05:07):
right, and you're notnecessarily like in the gym.
So you're doing things toincrease your metabolism by
lifting weights and buildingthat additional muscle.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Are there medical weight loss interventions that
can work without traditionaldieting?
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean we offer, obviously, theGLP-1s, right, so we offer
those medications, and thosemedications play a role also in
trying to manage some of thethings that we had talked about,
right, that hunger feeling.
So it's going to slow down thatdigestion process.
In addition to slowing downthat digestion process, it's
going to remove that food noise.
So you're not going tonecessarily not only feel hungry
(05:43):
, you're not going tonecessarily be thinking about
rule.
But here's the thing thatsometimes people underestimate
sometimes even not eating enoughcan contribute to weight gain,
right, we've had a couple ofconversations actually, like
recently, with some patientshere at the clinic and they say
like I'm not losing weight andI'm super hungry.
And so you know, as a coach, myfirst inclination is to ask
(06:03):
questions.
So it's like tell me what'sgoing on.
And when you dig into theirdiet, like there's one lady by
the time we walked through, likewhat she eats on a typical day,
it wasn't even a thousandcalories, right.
So she's literally putting herbody, unfortunately, into
starvation mode.
So so I know it soundscounterintuitive On one hand, at
the beginning we said you wantto take in fewer calories, but
you don't want to take in suchfewer calories to the extreme,
(06:26):
where it shocks your body, andnow your body is saying like I
don't know what I'm going to eatagain.
So every little thing that youeat, you know it's going to want
to hold on to because it's nowin starvation mode.
So it is definitely a nicebalance.
So it is important to eat, eatclean and reduce your calories,
but not reduce your calories tothe point where it's not only
it's going to impact yourmetabolism, but it's also going
(06:46):
to send you into starvation mode.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
When I was young, I had a biology teacher tell us
that we should eat six smallmeals a day as opposed to three
huge meals and, like you said,clean meals, maybe meals maybe
carrots and hummus or a bakedpotato or whatever you suggest
is, because I know you're thespecialist.
But whatever you suggest isgood and healthy.
But smaller meals throughoutthe day will rev up that
(07:11):
metabolism so that it'sconstantly burning and
constantly going.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Yeah, absolutely, and I love that idea and it's
something that I follow myself,where I do suggest you have your
three primary meals, but thenyou have some small snacks in
between.
One of the things that's goingto do is it's going to help
regulate your blood sugar, forsure, right, but then you're
just going to be satisfied a lotlonger.
But that requires planning orit requires scheduling, and so
(07:36):
that's one of the things thatyou know, as people going on
this weight loss journeys withus, we really try to over-index
on.
You really have to plan,because when you don't plan,
when you make decisions whenyou're hungry, you tend to make
bad decisions.
Right?
You ever gone to the grocerystore hungry and maybe you've
got a list of like five thingsand the next thing you know
you've got like a cart full ofthings, right, cause you're
(07:58):
making decisions based upon likehow you feel in the moment.
So, yeah, I really love theidea of five meals throughout
the day because, again, it notonly levels that blood sugar,
but you just generally feelsatisfied throughout the day.
You don't feel like you'remissing something, so that's
certainly important.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Bad decisions are made on an empty stomach.
I can tell I mean plenty of baddecisions made on an empty
stomach.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
I mean plenty of bad decisions, right?
You know.
Plenty of bad decisions beinghangry, right?
Speaker 2 (08:24):
so exactly, exactly.
So while we're on that topic,um, how do mindset and
behavioral changes and, I guess,emotional states impact
long-term weight management?
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yeah, I mean it comes back to you know, being mindful
is critically important.
So, if you think about it, whenyou're not mindful and earlier
I said, we're such a busysociety we're always on the go,
right, people are on the go inthe car, they're eating in their
car, they're eating in front ofthe TV, they're eating in front
of their computer at work,right, just because we're all so
busy, right, right?
(08:54):
The challenge with that type oflifestyle, if you will, is
you're not paying attention.
Not only are you not payingattention to what you're taking
in, and you're typically eatingtoo fast, you're not paying
attention to how your body feelsand so, for that matter, you
overeat.
So I'll give myself an example.
When I started my journey, Ithought I was eating healthy,
(09:16):
right, when I was working with acoach just like we have
patients here that work with meI was working with a coach and
when I walked her through what Iate, what it really
fundamentally came down to is Iwas eating in front of the TV, I
was eating in front of thecomputer, I wasn't really paying
attention and, before I knew it, that healthy pistachios that I
was eating turned out.
I was eating the whole entirebag right, the whole bag is not
(09:40):
healthy.
A fourth of it that's healthy,but the whole bag of it is not
right.
And those are still caloriesthat you're taking in.
So I was taking in a lot ofexcess calories unknowingly, and
so it's important to.
When we talk about mindfuleating and again, these are
conversations that I have withpatients it's let's turn off the
TV, let's pay attention andenjoy the food, enjoy the people
that we're with when we'reeating.
Let's pick up our fork, let'schew the food, let's taste it,
(10:04):
let's really feel the textures,but put the fork down.
Put the fork down to your food.
Thirdly, eat thoroughly 15 to20 times, swallow it before you
pick it up again.
One, that's going to force youto slow down.
And two, now you're, it's goingto give you an opportunity to
really like cue into thosefullness signals and so that way
you're not overeating.
(10:25):
And then what you find when youdo, that you actually end up
eating less, and that's an easyway to start reducing the number
of calories without having toactually count them.
It's an easy way to actuallystart reducing the number of
calories.
And then, before you know it,you know you're down a pound,
you're down five pounds.
You're down 10, right, becauseyou make little small changes
like that.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Thank you so much for your insight, and our listeners
will definitely appreciate allthe tips and the tools that
you're giving them.
We'll catch you on the nexttime for more insights on
achieving real results.
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Good to see you.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
That's a wrap on this episode of the Atlanta Wellness
Clinic podcast.
If you're ready to kickstartyour weight loss journey, and
not just your bathroom scale andfrustration, visit
atlwellnesscliniccom or call usat 770-726-8978 for a free
10-minute weight lossconsultation, because the best
(11:26):
time to start was yesterday.
The second best time right now.
See you next time.
welcome to the Atlanta Wellness Clinic podcast
hosted by licensed nutritionistand clinic owner, katina Wilson.
We're here to kick start yourweight loss journey because,
let's be honest, the only thingwe want gaining weight is our
wallets.
From medical weight loss andnutrition coaching to body
contouring, we help metroAtlanta women get real results.
(00:24):
Let's dive in.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Is it possible to shed pounds without hitting the
gym or counting calories?
We're diving into the sciencebehind alternative weight loss
methods that could change thegame.
Welcome back everyone to MillieM.
Co-host producer here in thestudio with licensed
nutritionist and clinic owner,katina Wilson.
How are you, katina?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
I am well.
How about?
Speaker 2 (00:47):
you, millie, doing well.
Can't wait to break down thisfascinating question with you
today, because I know ourlisteners are going to be
surprised by some of theinsights.
Can you really lose weightwithout dieting or exercise?
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Yes, and I'm here to tell you I did it.
I actually lost in my ownweight loss journey.
I lost the first 40 pounds orso without ever stepping a foot
into the gym, so it can't bedone Well so so what I was going
to say is all about the 80-20rule, all about the 80-20.
It really fundamentally comesdown to nutrition.
(01:21):
It comes down to caloric intakewhat you're taking in versus
you know what you're putting out.
So as long as you're creatingthat calorie deficit, it
certainly is possible.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
They say that it starts with nutrition.
So that's the key factor toweight loss beyond.
What are the key factors beyonddiet and exercise?
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Well, I mean, diet is the biggest thing, right?
So it's all about you mean,diet is the biggest thing, right
?
So it's all about you know,again, creating that deficit.
There are other factors, likereducing stress and getting
sleep, and we see it even in ourclinic.
A lot of people reallyunderestimate the importance of
getting a good night's rest.
Average person should be likelygetting seven to eight hours of
sleep each night, but I thinkyou know, just, in our busy
(02:05):
society, it's just, it's astruggle for a lot of people.
And so what ends up happeningis that lack of sleep creates
disruptions in your hormones,particularly two hormones called
ghrelin and leptin.
Ghrelin really manages thehunger that we, that we feel,
and so when you're not gettingenough sleep, that hunger
(02:25):
feeling, right, it increases.
Not a good thing, because.
So that means you're alwaysgoing to want something to eat.
You're going to want a snack.
Leptin, also another hormonethat's regulated by sleep.
It helps provide satiety, right, and so are you satisfied by
what you're eating.
Well, unlike ghrelin, ghrelinincreases, so you're more hungry
(02:50):
.
Leptin decreases when you'renot getting enough sleep, and so
now you're not feeling assatisfied.
So now you're searching forsomething.
You know, for a lot of peopleit's probably comfort food,
right, that's going to give youthat feeling of satisfaction.
So exactly, absolutely so,sleep is probably like one of
the best things you can do.
And then I think the other thingtoo that folks underestimate is
stress.
Now, lack of sleep can increasestress, but there are other
(03:13):
things that you know can alsoincrease stress.
And so, again, when we'retalking hormones, when your
stress increases, cortisol alsoincreases, and unfortunately
cortisol promotes belly fatstorage, right.
And so people who say theystruggle with the weight,
particularly like around theirwaistline, when you start to dig
(03:34):
into, like, what's really goingon with them on a day-to-day
basis, they typically are notgetting enough sleep and they're
typically under a high degreeof stress, for whatever reason.
And so diet, exercise arecertainly the biggest influences
and being able to get off theweight diet more so than
exercise.
Again, 80-20.
(03:55):
However, sleep is a bigcontributing factor in managing
stress and managing stress.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Wow, that was a mouthful there.
So definitely, stress is a verysinister thing and it affects
us in many different ways.
And some people stress eat andsome people don't eat when
they're stressed.
And all of that can affectweight loss, because how does
metabolism play a role inshedding those pounds
effortlessly?
Speaker 3 (04:24):
How does metabolism play a role in shedding those
pounds effortlessly.
Well, metabolism is a trickything because I think, like the
younger you are, your metabolismis at its highest and then over
time it actually starts to todecrease over time, and so then
you have to do things right toreally like pump up that
metabolism.
So in earlier episodes wetalked about the importance of
doing things like exercise,particularly like weightlifting.
(04:46):
You can exercise and do cardio,but once you stop the cardio
it's benefit to your metabolism.
It pretty much stops when youstop the cardio.
But with something like liftingweights lifting really heavy
weights as an example, andreally building that muscle, now
you're giving your body anopportunity to create kind of
this metabolic process whereit's going all day, all night,
(05:07):
right, and you're notnecessarily like in the gym.
So you're doing things toincrease your metabolism by
lifting weights and buildingthat additional muscle.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Are there medical weight loss interventions that
can work without traditionaldieting?
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean we offer, obviously, theGLP-1s, right, so we offer
those medications, and thosemedications play a role also in
trying to manage some of thethings that we had talked about,
right, that hunger feeling.
So it's going to slow down thatdigestion process.
In addition to slowing downthat digestion process, it's
going to remove that food noise.
So you're not going tonecessarily not only feel hungry
(05:43):
, you're not going tonecessarily be thinking about
rule.
But here's the thing thatsometimes people underestimate
sometimes even not eating enoughcan contribute to weight gain,
right, we've had a couple ofconversations actually, like
recently, with some patientshere at the clinic and they say
like I'm not losing weight andI'm super hungry.
And so you know, as a coach, myfirst inclination is to ask
(06:03):
questions.
So it's like tell me what'sgoing on.
And when you dig into theirdiet, like there's one lady by
the time we walked through, likewhat she eats on a typical day,
it wasn't even a thousandcalories, right.
So she's literally putting herbody, unfortunately, into
starvation mode.
So so I know it soundscounterintuitive On one hand, at
the beginning we said you wantto take in fewer calories, but
you don't want to take in suchfewer calories to the extreme,
(06:26):
where it shocks your body, andnow your body is saying like I
don't know what I'm going to eatagain.
So every little thing that youeat, you know it's going to want
to hold on to because it's nowin starvation mode.
So it is definitely a nicebalance.
So it is important to eat, eatclean and reduce your calories,
but not reduce your calories tothe point where it's not only
it's going to impact yourmetabolism, but it's also going
(06:46):
to send you into starvation mode.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
When I was young, I had a biology teacher tell us
that we should eat six smallmeals a day as opposed to three
huge meals and, like you said,clean meals, maybe meals maybe
carrots and hummus or a bakedpotato or whatever you suggest
is, because I know you're thespecialist.
But whatever you suggest isgood and healthy.
But smaller meals throughoutthe day will rev up that
(07:11):
metabolism so that it'sconstantly burning and
constantly going.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Yeah, absolutely, and I love that idea and it's
something that I follow myself,where I do suggest you have your
three primary meals, but thenyou have some small snacks in
between.
One of the things that's goingto do is it's going to help
regulate your blood sugar, forsure, right, but then you're
just going to be satisfied a lotlonger.
But that requires planning orit requires scheduling, and so
(07:36):
that's one of the things thatyou know, as people going on
this weight loss journeys withus, we really try to over-index
on.
You really have to plan,because when you don't plan,
when you make decisions whenyou're hungry, you tend to make
bad decisions.
Right?
You ever gone to the grocerystore hungry and maybe you've
got a list of like five thingsand the next thing you know
you've got like a cart full ofthings, right, cause you're
(07:58):
making decisions based upon likehow you feel in the moment.
So, yeah, I really love theidea of five meals throughout
the day because, again, it notonly levels that blood sugar,
but you just generally feelsatisfied throughout the day.
You don't feel like you'remissing something, so that's
certainly important.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Bad decisions are made on an empty stomach.
I can tell I mean plenty of baddecisions made on an empty
stomach.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
I mean plenty of bad decisions, right?
You know.
Plenty of bad decisions beinghangry, right?
Speaker 2 (08:24):
so exactly, exactly.
So while we're on that topic,um, how do mindset and
behavioral changes and, I guess,emotional states impact
long-term weight management?
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Yeah, I mean it comes back to you know, being mindful
is critically important.
So, if you think about it, whenyou're not mindful and earlier
I said, we're such a busysociety we're always on the go,
right, people are on the go inthe car, they're eating in their
car, they're eating in front ofthe TV, they're eating in front
of their computer at work,right, just because we're all so
busy, right, right?
(08:54):
The challenge with that type oflifestyle, if you will, is
you're not paying attention.
Not only are you not payingattention to what you're taking
in, and you're typically eatingtoo fast, you're not paying
attention to how your body feelsand so, for that matter, you
overeat.
So I'll give myself an example.
When I started my journey, Ithought I was eating healthy,
(09:16):
right, when I was working with acoach just like we have
patients here that work with meI was working with a coach and
when I walked her through what Iate, what it really
fundamentally came down to is Iwas eating in front of the TV, I
was eating in front of thecomputer, I wasn't really paying
attention and, before I knew it, that healthy pistachios that I
was eating turned out.
I was eating the whole entirebag right, the whole bag is not
(09:40):
healthy.
A fourth of it that's healthy,but the whole bag of it is not
right.
And those are still caloriesthat you're taking in.
So I was taking in a lot ofexcess calories unknowingly, and
so it's important to.
When we talk about mindfuleating and again, these are
conversations that I have withpatients it's let's turn off the
TV, let's pay attention andenjoy the food, enjoy the people
that we're with when we'reeating.
Let's pick up our fork, let'schew the food, let's taste it,
(10:04):
let's really feel the textures,but put the fork down.
Put the fork down to your food.
Thirdly, eat thoroughly 15 to20 times, swallow it before you
pick it up again.
One, that's going to force youto slow down.
And two, now you're, it's goingto give you an opportunity to
really like cue into thosefullness signals and so that way
you're not overeating.
(10:25):
And then what you find when youdo, that you actually end up
eating less, and that's an easyway to start reducing the number
of calories without having toactually count them.
It's an easy way to actuallystart reducing the number of
calories.
And then, before you know it,you know you're down a pound,
you're down five pounds.
You're down 10, right, becauseyou make little small changes
like that.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
Thank you so much for your insight, and our listeners
will definitely appreciate allthe tips and the tools that
you're giving them.
We'll catch you on the nexttime for more insights on
achieving real results.
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Good to see you.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
That's a wrap on this episode of the Atlanta Wellness
Clinic podcast.
If you're ready to kickstartyour weight loss journey, and
not just your bathroom scale andfrustration, visit
atlwellnesscliniccom or call usat 770-726-8978 for a free
10-minute weight lossconsultation, because the best
(11:26):
time to start was yesterday.
The second best time right now.
See you next time.
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