Conquer Your Weight

Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: This is Dr. Sarah Stombaugh and you are listening to the Conquer Your Weight Podcast, episode number 60. Announcer: Welcome to the Conquer Your Weight podcast, where you will learn to understand your mind and body so you can achieve long-term weight loss. Here's your host, obesity medicine physician and life coach, Dr. Sarah Stombaugh. Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: Welcome to today's episode of the Conquer Your Weight podcast. Today I have a special guest, Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson. She is an obstetrician and gynecologist and a good friend of mine. She is here today to talk about weight loss postpartum, and I love this. You probably remember at an episode not too many weeks ago where we discussed the same things, and after she heard my episode, she said, Sarah, I have to come and talk on your podcast so I can share more about that. So I want you to take a listen to this episode. Even if you are not postpartum and you're thinking, oh my gosh, does this episode apply to me? I want you to take a listen with the lens of what is it that I can get out of this episode If there is someone in your life who is recently postpartum and you would like to share this with them, this is a really great way to share this podcast with someone who may find it interesting. I hope you enjoy my interview with Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson. Hello everyone. I am so excited today because I have a guest with me, Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson. She has an OB/GYN by training and does work now with postpartum women, and I'm so excited to bring her on today. We were talking about all things postpartum, especially as it relates to weight. I'm excited for her opinion. She heard my podcast episode a few weeks ago now. I was like, oh, I have so much more to say about that. And so we are going to get into it, but let me turn it over to Dr. Luces-Sampson for a minute. Why don't you introduce yourself and we'll get talking. Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: Yes, thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here. Yes, when I heard that episode, I was like, oh my gosh, I have so much to say. Yes, I am LaToya Luces-Sampson. I am originally from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. I went to school at Howard University in DC and trained in Pennsylvania Hospital OB GYN, and have been practicing and living in northern California since I graduated, and I have recently transitioned into coaching physician moms who are postpartum and beyond so that they can navigate motherhood a little bit easier. So I am very excited to talk about this topic because I am currently postpartum, well, I don't know if I could still say that my daughter is going to be one in two weeks. Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: Oh, gosh, Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: Yes. But weight postpartum is a little bit a passion of mine, so I'm excited. Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: Yeah, absolutely. And I think that was really a big part of how we connected when we first met. We were at a retreat and you and I were the only two pumping women in the room, and that connection was really special and continues to be. And so I'm excited to hear. So I have to hear in response to the podcast a few weeks ago, tell me some of your gut reaction and the stuff that came up that you were like, Ooh, I have to also share this. Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: So the biggest thing that it brought up for me was as an OB/GYN, I used to tell this what I now know is a lie to my patients that, oh, breastfeeding is just going to make the weight melt off. I used to sell it as a tool to convince them to breastfeed. So of all the benefits, you're going to lose all this weight. And it was a definite thing, and it was the biggest slap in the face when I had my own to realize that that is not true for everyone, and it certainly was not true for me. So it was a big adjustment when I had my son, and it really changed the way that I counseled my patients because it can be kind of damaging when you think something is supposed to happen and then it doesn't. And in fact, the opposite happened, which is what happened to me. I gained a lot of weight while I was breastfeeding. I was actually heavier six months postpartum than I was right after I had him. So yeah, and the second time around I had that in mind and I was very almost obsessive. I have to admit about it. So I've been through the spectrum of things that could happen. So I feel like people can learn from my story and know what to avoid because not everything I did I would recommend and to just kind of normalize talking about it because there's this thought that there are a lot of thoughts running weight postpartum, but the thought that if you want to lose weight or you want to look a certain way or you don't like how you look, then that's wrong because you're doing it because of societal pressures or your partner or you're trying to snap back. And for me, it was different. It was that I really loved my body before I had kids, and I just wanted to get back there. I loved how I looked in my clothes. I felt good, I felt sexy, and I wanted to get back to that. And I didn't feel like there was anything wrong with that, but many people told me, oh, well, no, it's fine. You shouldn't say that. And I know they meant well, but it didn't land well with me and it made me feel bad for wanting to go back to how I was. So a lot of things came up, as you can tell. Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: Yes. Yeah, I love it. Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: Yeah, Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: I think we'd have this conversation of your body is going to change when you've had a child or multiple children, and of course that is going to be true and your body can change and you can honor those changes and treat your boly according to those changes, especially when we're talking about if you've had pelvic floor issues and you want to do rehabilitation to work on improving those. And if you want to lose weight, if you want your body to function for you in a different way than it is right now, it's okay to love your body as it is and want it to be at a lower, stronger, healthier, whatever that means for you at a different weight than you are right now. Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: And I think that kind of gets lost because we are trying so hard not to shame people and make people feel bad about themselves when people say, it took you nine months to get this way for your body to get to the size, it'll take you a while. All of that, I feel like it is comforting in the right scenarios, but I think people need to just assess the situation and read the room. It may not always be received well, and I know for me it wasn't really because it was something that I really, it bothered me the body that I was in at that time. So yeah, it is a complicated thing and it's a very sensitive thing and I think just approaching, well if you could help it, not approaching it at all, but if it comes up just approaching it with the sensitivity that it deserves because we have so many things going on in this postpartum period and it will just take that little thing to make you feel bad because you may not know what you're doing and there may be a million things going wrong and you don't know what you're doing with the baby and then you're overweight for you. It can be a lot. Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: Well, and I think it's such an interesting thing to say, let's not talk about bodies, right? I'm going to say to all my listeners, please stop telling anybody, pregnant, postpartum. We really don't need to be talking about me talking about each other's bodies. I feel like as a society we are really into doing that and I just want to invite everyone just to not to don't do that so that we can have our experiences are only going to be our own is different than anybody else's. Certainly the patients who are walking in my door, we're going to be talking about their weight because that is what they are there to talk to me about. And it can be done whether you're someone who's an obesity medicine physician or an OB/GYN or primary care, I think sometimes being able to approach it from a way of how can I support you? Because if someone is at a weight, they're totally happy with the support that they may need may be very little. And if they're unhappy with their weight, then it allows the patient to ask for how they best need help. And so I'm glad you said that. Yeah. Let's stop talking about people's weight so much. Tell me, I would love to hear when you talk about your own story and some of the lessons that you learned, things that you would want that you did differently maybe the second time around think that you share with your patients now, what are some of those lessons? Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: So the first pregnancy or the first postpartum period, I was just surprised at how hungry I was. And I think now that we are talking more about breastfeeding and postpartum in general, maybe people are aware, but I was not aware about how ravenous I would be. So I just want people to know you are going to be very hungry and there's a good reason. Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: Yes, your prolactin is going to make sure that you have all the energy that you need. That hormone derives significant hunger Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: And it was shocking. And what I want people to just keep in mind, because I always tell my people and my patients in most contexts context, I'm like, what is the plural That being prepared is always better. If you know what's going to happen with the C-section, it's less scary. So when I see these things, it's really the biggest benefit of, for people who are not yet postpartum to just realized that this hunger is unreal. I didn't even know how to describe it. Plus add on the fatigue, add on the frustration that may be there if you have any anxiety, if you have any kind of mental issues going on postpartum, anything on top of hunger that is already there makes you feel like you deserve whatever you can get your hands on to put in your mouth. And that was the biggest thing for me. I was already hungry. I was breastfeeding and then I was so tired. I, so I felt like I was in residency, but times a hundred. So I created this life and I'm making this milk, so I deserve all of this food. Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: I sacrificed so much. Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: So that was my downfall, I think. And I didn't even realize until I had gotten at my heaviest and I was like, what is going on? So I feel like it can sneak up on you, especially in the beginning. That was something with the second that I really paid attention to. And I started during the pregnancy just being very intentional about what I ate and not being restrictive because I actually traveled when I was 20 weeks and I went to Croatia. I had three course meals for every single meal. It was great, but just really looking at what I was putting into my body and making sure that, am I actually satisfying hunger or something else? And then making the active decision to say, well, maybe I won't do that. So I didn't feel like I was deprived, but I still did not overdo it. And I think that was the biggest thing during the pregnancy and then postpartum as well, that I did to really kind of maintain and not balloon 20, 25 pounds or spot. And then when I was ready to actively try to lose weight, then I would say I did it in a bit of an extreme way. It was still healthy. I did a program that was focused on intermittent fasting and they really focused on cutting out carbs and sugars and things like that. And that in and of itself doesn't sound extreme, but the restriction was actually quite extreme. I don't recommend that for everyone, but I was able to maintain my milk supply, which was the most important thing to me. And the major part of the program was half a gallon to a gallon of water a day. And I think that really helped me maintain, I breastfed for 22 months with my first, so you can do what you feel like you need to do and still maintain the supply. I know that's a big concern for most people when it comes to restricting in that postpartum period, but with the caveat that I never had supply issues, so that may not be an option for somebody who had supply issues. Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: Well, I appreciate this idea that you can look at your breast milk supply and how your body's responding. And I think giving that as an example of sometimes as a community where like, okay, you can't intermittent fast, that could be dangerous. You can't do keto, and we certainly, everyone's body is going to be different. And so paying attention to how you feel, how your supply is doing the water is so important. I mean, if you are not, honestly, most of us should be drinking close to half a gallon of water per day anyway, and then when you're breastfeeding, it probably should be closer to a gallon of water per day. I love that. I have two beverages I always have. Every morning when I come down to my office, my nanny has to laugh at me. She's like, do you need a tray? I'll have all of my beverages, tea and my water and my sparkling water and all of it. And it's so important to make sure that you are well hydrated and then you can pay attention. Is my supply suffering any consequences? And you can bounce back pretty quickly if you're talking about a couple of days. I want to bring it back and talk about the comment that you made where you said that I deserve. And I thought that was such a good insight because oftentimes when we are postpartum, you were at the height of you've got all these stressors of having a newborn, you're sleep deprived, you may not have a good support system hungry, as you mentioned on top of it. And if you have any disordered eating thoughts, any negative food patterns, if you describe yourself as a stress eater, you better believe that those patterns are going to rear their ugly head during that postpartum period. So some of those, I deserve it. Thoughts like, oh my gosh, I don't have time. I just have to grab what's easy. Or like, oh, it's just once or all of these things, all of those stories start to add up mentally and then they turn into physical weight. So I really appreciate you sharing that because I think being aware of our relationship with food, the reasons that we are fueling ourself, even talking about your trip to Croatia and that intentionality around, am I hungry or am I eating for a different reason? Even when you choose to eat, if you are not hungry and you're choosing to eat for a reason, that's not hunger. Even that awareness though in your mind and this intentional, I am making this decision, and therefore it changes the whole thing, you're more likely to eat an appropriate portion. You're more likely to be mindful about your eating. And so I loved too that you said, am I eating for hunger or am I eating for a different reason? I would love, do you mind expanding on that a little bit? Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: Yeah. And you made me think of Croatia. A lot of that was eating because the food was good. Am I also on vacation? Yeah, Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: Sure. Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: And there's nothing wrong with that. I did gain quite a bit there, but I was happy about it and it was worth it. And like you said, the awareness is a big part of it because I can then control those behaviors or decide not to. And it made me feel like I was a little bit more in control the second time around because the first postpartum experience, like I mentioned, it's like I looked up and there was all this weight on me and it was something that made me feel really bad about myself. So I think just making that conscious decision and knowing what I knew from my previous experience, I was able to make better choices and not just eat because of X, Y, Z and that deserve mindset that came back from residency another period of very high stress where it was my prize. Well, I am working so hard, why should I have to watch what I'm eating? I could just eat. I don't do a lot of stress eating outside of these very, very high stress situations like postpartum and residency, but I do bored eating. I just need something and I just feel for something. And it's really, I think it was Atomic Habits, that book where he talks about when you find yourself rummaging through the fridge probably because you just need something to do and you choose what you are going to do if you're going to eat a snack or you're going to go and do something productive, go and do a productive habit. And that is what I find myself doing a lot. But even then, just being aware of it, I can say, okay, maybe I should go read a book. Maybe I can go exercise for a little bit. And I have this thing in my mind when it comes to exercise. If I can't do an hour long program, it's like, well, I don't have time to exercise, but think I can do something Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: Like even five minutes. I Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: Can do five minutes. But in my head, so much of this is in your mind and what you are telling yourself, but in my head, exercise is like exercise and if I did a little bit every day, it would be better than pushing myself an hour one day and then being too sore, not doing anything, all Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: Or nothing. Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: But that's kind of what I do and recognizing that going to help me work through it and create better habits. Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: Well, and absolutely right. All of the beliefs that we have, we sometimes don't even stop to question them. They're just part of who we are. They've been given to us from our family or our friends or our culture. And it's so interesting when you stop to dissect it, it's like, is it really serving me to believe that I need to exercise for a full hour or it's not worth it? That's so silly. In your mind, that's just what you believe, but then when you stop and think about it, it's sort of dumb to be having a thought like that. Thank you for sharing that. Tell me, you talked about being prepared and one of the things you mentioned to my listeners is that you want them to be prepared for the hunger, which I think is a really good thing to say is just be aware that prolactin hormone that makes milk is going to make you hungry, hungry, hungry. Are there other things that you would advise in terms of preparing for the postpartum period in terms of weight loss during the postpartum period, any of that? What would you say? I want you to be aware of this so that you have a plan or at least some idea of what to expect during that time. Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: Yeah. Well, there are lots of things people should prepare for postpartum, and I think it's one of those things where we don't do it, and it's almost like not even a thought, because most thoughts when it comes to postpartum surrounds the baby. So when people have their gift registry, everything is about the baby. Nobody really thinks about themselves or the birthing person. So the hunger is one thing and that breastfeeding may not happen naturally. I kind of hate that word. Or it may not be easy. You may have supply issues. There are a lot of beliefs surrounding breastfeeding, if that's what you choose to do, that is this natural easy thing that you see all the photos of moms, but their babies and everything looks great and the supply is great, but you may have issues, but there are resources to help you. It's not that, oh, well I tried, it's not working, and that's it if it's important to you. So I feel like knowing that there may be issues, I don't think it's like being a downer is one of those things where a lot of people just make that very big assumption and it can cause a lot of mental strife if you have issues, if your supply is low or anything. And then especially when it comes to your weights, because a lot of the things people turn to first is eating, I need to increase my calories so I can get more milk. I can, but it may not necessarily be that. That may not be the problem. And that's where getting a professional involved is important. And all of the things for lactation are like cookies and chocolate. It's like yummy stuff. Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: Oatmeal, chocolate chip cookies were my total nemesis. Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: Yeah, beware of all those things that they just put lactation on but actually don't even work, and it's just a mockup, just FYI. You can get regular oatmeal raisin cookies that do not have the word lactation on them and pay half the price. So that's a pro tip. Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: Totally, yes. Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: But yeah, I think apart from the lactation and the weights and those usually come together, just knowing that will need help and the more help the better for the longest period of time that you can get for the lowest amount of money. So if you can get free help, that is actual help, not people that are there to judge you and hold the baby. I think that is very important for every postpartum person. And it makes everything easier. If you have help, you can have more nutritious meals if you have help. Once you get further along on your journey, you have time to go for a walk, you have time to exercise, it bleeds into everything else, and it just makes your postpartum journey so much better if you have all hands on deck support from your village and all of those things come back into affecting how you feel about yourself and how you look and how you're able to present yourself and deal with whatever body that you are currently in. It is all better once you have help. Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: Well, and I think learning to ask for help, which is often really, really a challenging thing to do, and maybe not just to reach out to the random person, although you can have, we moved into a home and two months in sort of barely knew our next door neighbors and called them in an emergency crisis. I need an adult over at my house now, and they came. But thinking about the people in your life when they say, can I help you, or, oh, I'd love to help. How can I help? I'm telling you, my listener, that is a genuine offer. And it's hard because as the person who is postpartum or really in any situation in life in which you need help, it can be hard to take that responsibility of what is the way that you're going to ask a person for help. But most of those offers, if they're coming from people who are your good friends, people who are your family neighbors that well, if they are offering to help, they probably want to actually help you. And so it can be if they, oh, can I bring you a meal? It is. Okay, I'm going to say to everyone, we had a handful of people bring us meals after our third and after a few pasta dishes, which I like pasta, but I know that when I eat that much carbohydrate, you want to talk about weight gain, pasta is going to make me gain and make most people gain weight. And so people started asking me like, oh, can we bring you dinner? Any allergies or anything? I said, we have no allergies. I would love if you could bring me dinner, bring me your favorite dish, but nothing pasta. It's funny because nobody, I felt a little funny saying that, but people didn't care. People know I'm an obesity medicine physician. So I also think people showed off with some of their healthiest recipes and we got some really, really generous friends who brought us some great meals. But I think to be able to, when someone is offering, how can I help? Can I help? If you can respond with yes, that person is going to, generally speaking, I know there's always going to be malicious people out there, but if you have someone who you know and you trust, if they are offering to help, they really do want to and they may not know how. Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: Yes. And they may also not ask, but are waiting for you to ask. So you are lucky in that you have people asking what can they bring? Some people they think, oh, I don't want to bother her. I don't want to. So it may feel unnatural or you should be able to handle it yourself or whatever other thoughts that you're telling yourself. But realizing that asking for help is not a bad thing and just reframing your postpartum journey in general. You are not supposed to be alone. You are supposed to have people helping you and caring for you. One of my favorite sayings is to mother, the mother, you are supposed to be cared for and you are not the sole person responsible for caring for the baby. It's not just on you. So ask for help, ask for free help, useful people don't just because there are people that are going to come and not be helpful. And if you have the means, pay for it. If you don't have a free village, because that's something else. People with the ideas of what motherhood should be like and what the postpartum period should be. Find it odd to have a stranger in the home or to hire help very early on. But if it's between that and you getting sleep or getting outside, I will choose a stranger, not a random stranger off the street, Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: Someone who's been vetted, had a background check, trained Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: Professional, and that's where the planning comes in. So when we think about things that don't usually happen during a pregnancy, nobody thinks about these things. The registry, like I said, is full of things for the baby, and I really want to have a mommy registry or I don't know what else to call it, but think like a meal, train a doula, service a night nanny. Think of all of these resources that you may need, have people contribute money instead of that fancy stroller or whatever else. Just reframing how we think about this period and what is essential and what's not. Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: Well, and I appreciate you saying that and thinking about what are all of the things that we need, both sort of tangible items and then all of those services, whether they are friends and family, whether they are hired help. I mean, it's hard to do your laundry when you're holding an infant and or sleeping for 15 minute intervals and maybe you got a load started, but how are you going to turn it over? And especially for your first, but then once you have a second, now you have an infant and an older child, whereas as you have a third, there are different complications at each stage. And so I appreciate you talking about that planning and looking early on of who are the people that are going to support me. I think that is so cool about the work that you are doing and being able to support women and understanding what is the pregnancy process, the delivery process, going through the birthing, going through that early postpartum and late postpartum. Tell me a little bit about how you work with people and how you like to support them during this period in their lives. Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: So my work has naturally transitioned here. It just feels like just such a natural progression after practicing obstetrics for the last over 10 years, maybe 12 and postpartum has always been a special time for me. My postpartum visits were always super long. I took the time to really talk to a woman and make sure that they were doing okay mentally and just kind of really paying attention to those nonverbal cues because a lot of people when they come in, they expect to be ignored, unfortunately. So when I ask how you're doing and you're like, fine taking the time to stop and be like, well, tell me what's really going on. And when I was previously employed, I was fortunate to have a psychologist that was dedicated to women's health. So she would come in during my postpartum visits, I would take the baby and go back to my office and let them talk. And so I've always had a special place in my heart for this period. I feel like we were pretty much unsupported and it was all the way at six weeks. And then once I had my own postpartum experience the second time around actually, which was not the best, I realized that this was a time that I really could do some good and support women when they are at a very vulnerable time, and particularly women physicians because we have a unique set of challenges that I feel like a lot of other people may not understand because of the nature of our jobs and how much we have to give of ourselves, not only at home, but then to our patients at work, it can be depleting. So really working with women physicians to structure your postpartum journey, whether you are three months out or two years out, really just getting in a place where you can make sure that you are taken care of first and then making sure that everybody else is okay because it's like they tell you on the plane, put on your mask first and then help other people. You have to be okay first and you have to be recovered, healed, loved, rested, all of those things so that you can then pour back into your family from a full cup. So I really help my clients do that and prioritize themselves, which sounds radical to a lot of people, but I really believe that it is essential for yourself and for the good of your family. So that's how my core tenants, I guess, of my coaching practice and how I work with women physicians to help them during this time. Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: I love that. I think the work that you are doing is so important and I really appreciate you coming on here today to share your perspectives of it. Tell us about what you're doing. So if my listeners want to learn more about you, if they're interested in working with you, how can they learn more about you? Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: So everything leads back to my website. So you can find me on DrToya Coaching.com, that's D-R-T-O-Y-A coaching.com, and you can find a way to sign up for a call to talk about how we can work together. If you are a woman physician who is going back to work and you're in that transition and you're freaking out about what to do, I have a nice little cheat sheet there for you about tips to return to work, and you can download that and of course, follow me on social media. If you just type in my name, I pop up everywhere. So Instagram is Dr. Toya MD. Facebook is just my name, LaToya Luces-Sampson, and on TikTok is Dr. LaToya OBGYN. I also have a YouTube channel literally everywhere. Can't get away. Dr. Sarah Stombaugh: I bet. You can't get away from her, which is so good because what you were doing is going to change the world. Thank you, Dr. Luces-Sampson, I'm so excited. Thank you for being here today. This was really a treat to get to interview you, and I know my listeners are absolutely going to love it. Dr. LaToya Luces-Sampson: Thank you so much. I'm so glad I can come on and talk about all of this because I'm very passionate about it. So thank you.