Show notes
In this episode of the Next Gen LM Podcast, we explore how lifestyle medicine can help clinicians move beyond disease prevention to support a life of greater health, meaning, and quality of life. From the role of mindset in creating sustainable behavior change to finding practical ways to prioritize nutrition, movement, sleep, and meaningful connection, this conversation highlights how lifestyle medicine can be integrated into both clinical practice and everyday life.
We are joined by Dr. Simran Malhotra, a triple board-certified physician in internal medicine, hospice and palliative care, and lifestyle medicine, as well as a certified health coach with advanced training in plant-based nutrition, culinary coaching, and behavior change. Drawing on nearly a decade of experience in palliative care, her own experience navigating genetic cancer risk, and her work helping women build sustainable lifestyle habits, Dr. Malhotra shares how her personal and professional experiences shaped her approach to lifestyle medicine.
Dr. Malhotra discusses how learning about her BRCA1 genetic mutation led her to discover lifestyle medicine and changed the way she viewed both her own health and the care she provided to patients. She explores the importance of mindset, meaning, focus, and belief in creating lasting change, as well as why perfection and comparison can become barriers to progress. She also shares practical strategies for breaking goals into manageable steps, understanding the “season of life” a person is in, and focusing on what is realistic and sustainable.
By the end of the episode, listeners will gain practical insights into building sustainable lifestyle habits, overcoming perfectionism and comparison, using mindset and meaning to support behavior change, integrating lifestyle medicine into time-limited clinical encounters, and preparing for a career that helps patients live healthier and more fulfilling lives.
Whether you are a medical student, resident, trainee, or practicing clinician, this conversation offers meaningful perspective and actionable strategies for bringing lifestyle medicine into your own life and career—one sustainable step at a time.
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The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) is the medical professional society for physicians and other professionals dedicated to clinical and worksite practice of lifestyle medicine as the foundation of a transformed and sustainable healthcare system. Lifestyle medicine is a medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions as a primary modality to treat chronic conditions including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and obesity.
Lifestyle medicine-certified clinicians are trained to apply evidence-based, whole-person, prescriptive lifestyle change to treat and, when used intensively, often reverse such conditions. Applying the six pillars of lifestyle medicine—a whole-food, plant-predominant eating pattern, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances, and positive social connections—also provides effective prevention for these conditions.
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