How To Win at Weight Loss
For many of us, improving our health
means losing some weight.
Let’s look at how we can accomplish this.
SUMMARY
1. Know your why.
If you don’t have a really good reason for why you want to lose weight, you’re going to end up doing things you really don’t want to do, and that is just not sustainable. Once you know your why, it’s helpful to keep it at the forefront of your mind. This helps as a reminder to keep you on track when the journey gets tough.
2. Be ready to make changes.
Change does not happen by accident.
It is intentional. It happens when you are ready for it to happen.
The good news is weight issues are usually about bad habits, choices, and a
lack of consistency – all of which can be changed.
3. A sustainable lifestyle change is better for successful,
long-term weight loss than a short-term diet.
You’re going to have to keep doing what you did to lose the weight after you’ve lost the weight if you don’t want to gain it back again. This fact makes it very important that you choose a way of eating you know you can stick to from now on.
4. Fiber is incredibly important for weight loss, and overall health.
Eating a diet of real, whole, nutrient-dense foods, primarily
plants, can ensure you get enough of it.
5. The “Calories In vs. Calories Out” weight loss model is important,
but it’s helpful to understand it’s only part
of the weight loss equation.
The quality of food also impacts how many calories your body will burn.
6. Never eat too few calories / Avoid fad diets.
You don’t want to risk missing out on getting your proper nutrients,
slowing your metabolism or getting gallstones.
– And –
7. For your overall health, it’s important to
choose real, whole, nutrient-dense foods.
You want to get your calories from high-quality sources.
Mortgaging your health in effort to lose weight is never the goal.
How To Win at Weight Loss
(Full Article):
As a weight loss coach, the one question I get most often is:
“How do I lose weight?”
This makes sense since many of us are dealing with weight issues.
If you, yourself, aren’t trying to drop a few pounds,
then you know someone who is.
And even though you, or someone you know,
may have failed at it in the past, the first thing to know is:
There is a solution that works.
And, it works for the long-term.
The best part?
It does not involve deprivation, ridiculous rules,
or strange and expensive potions, pills, or powders!
The solution involves creating a simple, yet structured, system.
Having a system allows you to consistently make
better and healthier food and lifestyle
choices that become automatic.
And, when your choices become consistent and automatic, you easily
transform the way you eat. And that gets you dramatic results
for both your weight and your health.
However, the issue for most people, at least in my experience, is that they struggle with the consistency part. But, being consistent is absolutely necessary for successful and sustained weight loss. It’s key.
The thing is, most people know what they ought to be doing. They just find it hard to put these things into practice day in and day out. So, it’s an execution problem.
People simply lack the skills and practices needed to remain committed to that action. To find lasting success, most people need encouragement between committing to something and acquiring the skills to remain steadfast so they can accomplish it. They need some level of support.
And, that’s okay.
That’s actually how we learn.
And it’s how we become better at things.
This is where having a coach or mentor becomes super important. Having someone who’s been through the process successfully guide you through is the key to your accelerated success.
My program teaches you a way of eating for successful and sustained weight loss and combines that with specific and well-defined daily practices.
It’s the exact program I wish I had when
I started my weight loss and wellness journey.
If you’d like to skip this article and jump straight to
my weight loss and wellness program, you can do that here
Then What?
After getting a structed plan in place, the next thing to know is:
Weight loss is just as much
about our hearts and minds
as it is about our bodies.
What does that mean?
It means our bodies know how to lose weight once we put the correct process into place. But, we have to be willing to make changes in the first place. Once someone is willing, they can then be taught all the how in the world for facilitating weight loss.
It’s our mindset that we have to get right in
order to achieve what our hearts desire.
Why Mindset Matters
It is very difficult to stick to a healthy eating plan since we are surrounded by the all the wrong kinds of tempting and hyper-palatable foods, or their cues, literally all the time, as in 24/7.
Think of it for a second. We are constantly bombarded with food cues across all kinds of media whether it be radio, pop-up ads when we’re surfing the web, billboards when we’re driving, commercials when we’re watching television or whatever the case may be.
We are constantly being cued to eat, even when we aren’t even thinking about food. What’s worse is the foods that we are being encouraged to eat, are not the ones that are best for us.
Continually fighting against these influences to stay on track gets exhausting.
And, what happens when we are exhausted?
We cave.
So, having a really good reason why you want to lose weight is important.
Your reason why can help you stay focused and on track
when temptation comes-a-knocking.
And, it will!
Your reason could be as simple as wanting your clothes to fit better, or it might be a bit more complicated, involving suppressing or reversing a medical condition, like my situation was.
Whatever the case may be, what’s key is:
Losing weight starts with getting really clear
about why you want to shed your extra pounds.
Then, it’s important to keep that reason
at the forefront of your mind because
temptation has the ability
to strike at any time.
Become Aware of Your Bad Habits and Be Ready To Change
Next, you have to become aware of the behaviors
and beliefs that have led to your extra weight.
And, you have to be ready to make a conscious effort to change them.
Being overweight is usually the result of unhelpful behaviors and beliefs. The usual culprits include having poor eating habits, thinking eating healthy is too expensive, and/or being inactive.
So, if you’re not ready, like deep in your heart and soul ready, to address what’s caused you to have a weight problem to begin with, you’re just going to end up doing things you really don’t want to do.
And that’s just not sustainable.
And, in order for us to be successful in the long run,
we need to be able to sustain whatever it is we are
doing that helped us lose our weight.
What’s the bottom line?
– Change happens when we want it to happen.
– It doesn’t happen by accident. It’s intentional.
– It happens when the pain of staying the
same is greater than the pain of change.
How Do I Choose A Plan?
Once you know your why and you are ready to make changes, you can devise a strategy.
Or, if you’d like to learn about the process I teach, you can do that here.
If you’d rather go with another plan,
there are two things to consider:
First, keep in mind that you know best what you will or won’t be able to
sustain. If a weight loss plan doesn’t make sense to you, don’t follow it.
Sounds obvious, right?
Yes, yes it does!
But, We Get Caught Up
I have seen so many of us, me included, jump feet-first into the latest diet craze because we get caught up in our own emotions. We get desperate to get the weight off as quickly as humanly possible, so when we see what others are doing that’s “working,” we want in.
We want to do what others are doing when we see it’s “working” for them.
But, is it really?
If we define “working” as losing a few pounds in the short term just to gain them back, plus maybe even a few more, then, yeah, that fad diet your friend or neighbor was on definitely “worked.”
And, while it is true that most of us can hang in there for a while, saying “no” gets harder and harder when the scale won’t budge, when we begin to miss our favorite foods and our favorite drinks, or when hunger, boredom, and/or stressors hit. One cheat turns into two, two into three, and so on.
Then, we convince ourselves that since we’ve already blown it
with a few cheats, why not go for
broke?
Science actually calls
this thinking, “The What The Hell Effect.”
The next thing we know, we have completely
resumed eating the way we used to.
But, how we used to eat is how we got into trouble to begin with.
We regain any weight we may have lost, oftentimes plus some more.
We all know what happens next…
We feel bad about ourselves and about not having reached our goal.
And, because we really want to succeed, we try another diet scheme.
And then…
We get the exact same result, so we start the process all over again.
This way of approaching weight loss is how we end up
stuck on the fad diet yo-yo crazy train to nowhere.
What am I driving at?
Mainstream diets do not work for anybody, let alone those with autoimmune disease. You’ve likely proved that to yourself already, multiple times.
So, if you continue to choose the same types of diets that have failed you in the past, you are never going to be successful, let alone for the long-term.
Nobody wants that for you.
And you ought not want that for yourself.
I’m here to show you there is a better way.
Lifestyle Change vs. Short-Term Diet
This brings me to my second point:
To be successful long-term, you need a plan you’ll be able to
follow as a permanent way of eating – as a lifestyle, rather than as a diet.
This is because diets, with their strict restriction of calories or food groups, or both, some with rigid rules to follow, are difficult to sustain so they simply do not work long-term. And, we are definitely after long-term success because there’s no point in putting in the time and effort to lose weight just to gain it back again.
Changing your thinking from “dieting,” which typically brings up thoughts of lack and deprivation, to a perspective that you’re eating for health instead – making healthier tweaks – sets you on a path of a lifestyle change.
This is a better way to approach weight loss because you’re going to have to keep doing what you did to lose the weight after you’ve lost your weight if you don’t want to gain it back.
For example, if you’re cutting out carbs completely because you believe this is the answer to long-term, sustainable weight loss, what you’re really saying is you’re planning on never having another potato or adult beverage ever again.
We all know that’s not realistic.
And, it’s certainly not sustainable for the long-term.
Here’s what’s key:
It’s important to look at your new way of eating as a lifestyle change and not as a diet. This is because you’re going to have to keep doing what you did to lose the weight after you’ve lost it if you don’t want to gain it back.
→ Diets, especially those mainstream fad diets, do not work long-term
because you can’t stay on them indefinitely.
Identifying a Fad Diet
Common characteristics of fad diets include:
– A promise of fast weight loss
without giving up fatty, rich-in-calories foods
We have to remember there are no quick fixes that work for long-term weight loss.
And some of these diets can even be harmful.
(You can do a deep dive on fad diets here).
So What Works?
Gradually shifting the way you eat to a diet full of real, whole, nutrient-dense,
foods, while limiting highly-processed foods that contain excess fat, sugar, and salt, works.
And, when you pair this eating strategy with healthier habits that become automatic, you transform your food and lifestyle choices into a simple and easy, yet structured, system that gets dramatic results for both your health, and your weight.
Why Real Food Works
– First, real, whole foods typically contain less calories than highly processed foods so we’re able to eat more. This squashes the deprivation mentality.
We don’t feel like we’re missing out.
This is more than half the
battle when we are trying to drop pounds.
NEXT:
– Real, whole foods typically do not contain excess fat, sugar, and salt. Neither do they contain additives, preservatives, dyes, and chemicals that most of us can’t pronounce, let alone understand what they are and what they do to our bodies. These substances contribute to us being overweight. We avoid them when we choose real, whole food.
NEXT:
– Real foods contain more fiber than highly-processed foods.
Fiber is a plant-based nutrient and it helps with weight loss.
There are two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble.
Soluble easily dissolves in water and gets broken down into a gel like substance in our digestive tracts.
Insoluble fiber does not dissolve in water. It is left intact as food moves through our digestive tracts. Because the body cannot digest it, it is not a source of calories. If you’ve ever been on a diet where you were instructed to count only net carbs, this is why.
Regardless of which kind we are ingesting, both fibers are beneficial.
Let’s look at why…
How Fiber Aids Weight Loss
Fiber helps us with loss weight because it:
– Fills us up faster
– Helps us stay satisfied longer
– Helps us limit calorie absorption
– Helps ground insulin and inflammation levels
– Provides sustenance for our beneficial gut bacteria
Let’s take a closer look:
– Getting full faster means we aren’t likely to overeat.
This helps keep us from consuming too many calories.
– Higher fiber meals take longer to digest, keeping us satisfied longer.
– Fiber also keeps our bodies from absorbing some of a food‘s calories.
Because of this, not all calories are equal.
Let’s check out an example:
100 calories of chocolate chip cookies does not have the same impact on the body as 100 calories of almonds. Our bodies only absorb about 3/4 of the calories the almonds contain because of their higher fiber content. Our bodies eliminate the rest.
The higher fiber content also helps us digest slower so we aren’t spiking our insulin.
This is a crucial point because high insulin levels are linked to a whole host of medical issues, including overweight and obesity. [2]
On the flip side, the cookies contain sugar and flour and are lower in fiber. They break down more quickly causing an insulin spike. And, spiking our insulin means we are increasing the chances those calories will be stored as fat. [3] Therefore, it’s important to choose foods higher in fiber so we don’t spike our insulin levels.
Fiber
And
Inflammation
Another benefit of eating more fiber has to do with our inflammation levels.
Many studies have shown that a high fiber diet is associated with lowering our inflammation levels.
Why is this important?
It’s important because inflammation is a common underlying factor in all major degenerative diseases, including overweight, obesity and autoimmune diseases.
To be clear, I’m not talking about the kind of inflammation that occurs when we get a cut, bruise, or sprain. This type of inflammation is essential for our healing and is temporary, usually lasting for a short duration.
It’s known as acute inflammation.
If you’ve ever experienced redness, heat, swelling, and pain at the site of an injury, you know exactly what this type of inflammation is.
What I am talking about is the kind of inflammation that is prolonged.
This is known as chronic inflammation.
It is an on-going response in our bodies that involves a progressive and destructive change to our cells that lasts several weeks, months, or years.
This is the type that causes us health problems.
Some scientists think that overeating increases our immune response. This increased immune response causes our bodies to generate excessive body-wide inflammation.
And, this inflammation can then lead to a whole host of issues like insulin and leptin resistance (just to name a few), which then makes weight gain easier and weight loss harder.
Other findings suggest inflammation is a consequence of being overweight or obese, rather than being the cause of it.
Boiling this down, we can see this is just a version of the classic debate of which came first, the chicken or the egg? … Does inflammation cause overweight and obesity, or is it a consequence of it?
As far as we’re concerned, it doesn’t matter which came first.
What matters is we are interested in quelling inflammation altogether because it’s just plain bad for our health.
In fact, inflammation is the root cause of many diseases, and not just overweight, obesity, and autoimmune diseases. [source]
But, eating high-fiber, real, whole, nutrient-dense foods,
while limiting highly-processed ones,
helps us reduce inflammation.
Fiber
And
our
Microbiome
And, finally, fiber plays a major role in the diversity and health of our microbiome.
Having lots of different gut bacteria keeps our ecosystem balanced. This allows our gut bacteria to go about their beneficial activities.
One of these beneficial activities has to with controlling our weight.
Studies tell us that weight gain is related to low microbial diversity within the gut. Not only that, it’s made worse by not eating enough fiber because our gut bacteria feed off fiber.
So, diets high in fiber promote the growth of healthy and beneficial bacteria that help protect us from overweight and obesity. [5]
With all of the ways fiber helps us out, you can see why it is important that we get plenty of it in our daily diets.
The Points
To
Remember
About Fiber
Eating a diet full of real, whole, nutrient-dense foods, while limiting highly-processed ones, helps us lose our excess pounds – naturally. This is because they are higher in fiber.
And fiber helps us lose weight because it:
– helps us eat less
– helps us stay satiated longer
– helps us to not absorb some calories
– grounds our insulin and inflammation levels
– and –
– provides critical sustenance for our beneficial gut bacteria.
Are Small Changes Better?
We want to make changes gradually because,
according to science, small changes, when compared
to larger ones, are more realistic and feasible
to achieve and maintain.
And, small changes can foster additional changes that
can ultimately lead to larger ones.
The truth is most of us fail at our efforts for two reasons:
– First, we lack a manageable plan.
But, I’ve got one!
You can learn about it here.
– Second, we try to change too much at once.
Comprising a plan that will work for you is the really easy part.
What people find difficult is executing the plan in real life.
My program address this issue.
I’ve been there myself and maybe you’ve been there, too. We start off all gung-ho with much passion and drive. We decide we’re going to eat better, join a gym, keep a food journal, drink more water, start running, and to boot, we’re going to read a new health or wellness book each week.
While these are all great ideas, and are all things any health professional would be elated to see us take on, all this change at once is going to backfire.
Simply put, you will burn out and fall back into the bad habits that have gotten you where you are.
When we attempt all this change at once, we get overwhelmed. And once we feel stressed about our efforts, we as humans, resort back to what is familiar. We fall back into our bad habits because we revert back to doing things that are comfortable.
This is why we see so many people failing at their new year’s resolutions.
They attempted too much change at once.
To succeed, we’ve got to focus on one change at a time so we don’t thin out our efforts and energy. Then, we have to keep working on that one change until it becomes automatic – we do it without even thinking about it. And, then, once we’ve got that change down pat, we can move on and add another positive change.
For those who like to “go big or go home,” yes, it is possible to change all at once. It really just depends on each person and their individual circumstances.
However, science does not support giant leaps for getting lasting results.
Here’s what’s key:
To ensure we’ll be successful long-term, it’s best to make small, gradual changes.
How Are Calories Important?
It is important to note, however, even with the advantages a real, whole food, nutrient-dense diet has for long-term weight loss, we can’t simply gorge ourselves and expect to lose weight.
If we eat more calories than we burn,
regardless of which diet we are following or
how healthy and nutrient-dense our food is,
we will not lose weight.
This is the idea behind the calories in versus
calories out weight loss (CICO) model.
And, in general this model holds true.
But, be aware that calories are not the only factor in weight management. Other factors that make a difference in how many calories your body will burn include things like: medical conditions, medication use, hormones, the incorrect balance of your macros (carbs, fats, and proteins), and even the rate at which you absorb food.
Regardless, calculating calories involves
knowing your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).
What Is TDEE & How To Calculate It
Our Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is an estimation of
how many calories we burn per day when activity
is taken into account.
If we don’t have any factors like the ones just mentioned that hinder the calories in versus calories out equation, then we can say all diets achieve weight loss by taking in less food energy each day than our bodies burn.
Therefore, we need to know how many calories we burn
every day so we can eat below this number to
create a daily calorie deficit.
Our TDEE is calculated by first figuring out our Basal Metabolic Rate
(the rate at which the body uses energy while at rest to keep vital
functions going), then multiplying that value by an activity multiplier.
You don’t need to figure these numbers out on your own.
There are plenty of TDEE calculators online that will calculate this number for you.
We like this one.
Using TDEE to Facilitate Weight Loss
In general, the trick for losing weight is to
eat below your daily Total Daily Energy Expenditure.
But with a few important caveats:
Experts say it’s better to space
your allotted calories throughout
the day than to eat them
all at once.
– and –
Cutting out too many calories can be harmful to our health.
You can read more about this here.
Experts say a healthy and safe rate of weight loss is 1 to 2 pounds per week.
– AND –
The general consensus among health and nutrition professionals
is that 3,500 calories equals one pound.
So, let’s look at the math:
If you are interested in losing 1 pound per week like the experts suggest,
then you’ll need to cut 500 calories out of your diet per day, for 7
days (500 calories x 7 days = 3500 calories).
Cutting 500 calories per day, for 7 days, means
you can expect to lose one pound in that week.
But, what number do you subtract the 500 calorie deficit from?
You subtract the 500 calorie deficit from your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE).
Doing so will tell you how many calories you should eat every day
to reach your 1 pound per week goal.
For example, if my TDEE is 2,000 calories per day
and I want to lose one pound per week,
my math would look like this:
2,000 (TDEE) – 500 (calorie deficit) = 1,500 calories per day.
Reverse Engineering Our Meals
Knowing how many calories you need each day in order to lose weight means you can now begin to reverse engineer your meal plan. For example, we saw that in order for me to lose 1 pound per week, I need to consume 1,500 calories per day. If I’m eating 3 times a day, I divide 1,500 calories by 3 meals to get the number of calories I can eat at each meal. In my case, the answer is 500 calories per meal.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that this is just an estimate of how many calories to eat at each meal – a calculation, on paper.
In the actual real-world, some folks find they are more successful dividing up their daily allotted calories in other ways. For example, by eating the majority of their daily calories earlier in the day, at breakfast and lunch, and then having a lighter calorie dinner.
What matters is getting the overall daily calorie deficit correct for you.
Figuring out the caloric breakdown per meal that works for each one of us happens over time, depending on how fast and how far down the scale moves for you.
It’s also useful to keep in mind that your daily calorie requirement changes as you lose weight (a smaller body needs less calories than a larger one) and even as you age (we tend to lose height as we get older, so we don’t need as many calories as we use to).
Can I Eat What I Want?
Finally, you certainly can opt to eat unhelpful foods
and still lose weight, as long as you’re staying below your daily TDEE.
It has been done.
You can read about an example here.
After reading that little gem of a story, you might now be asking yourself,
“If I can lose weight on a Twinkie and Little Debbie diet,
with a few Oreos thrown into the mix for variety,
why wouldn’t I just do that?”
Great question!
It comes down to this:
Just like many other sensationalized success stories out there, there’s a bit more to it.
And, not surprisingly, it has to do with money.
More specifically, it has to do with who paid for this
experiment and who paid the professor.
You can check out those details here.
In the end, we are left with two different perspectives.
So, where does all this leave us?
The distinction that makes a a world of difference is this:
It’s possible to lose weight eating any kind of food as long as you’re eating less calories than what you’re burning off. This means you absolutely can enjoy what you want as long as you account for the calories.
I hear all of you cheering and whoot – whooting!
But, hold on a sec…
Health is About More Than Just Calories
Even though weight loss is primarily about a numbers game,
health is about more than just calories.
So, the quality of our calories matter.
We need to proceed with caution.
Different foods have different effects on the various processes in our bodies – regardless of how many calorie they contain. This was demonstrated in the almonds vs. cookie example above.
If nothing else from this guide grabs your attention,
please, please, please remember this:
You simply cannot undo the deleterious (bad!) effects
unhelpful foods might cause you.
What are the bad effects?
Jacking up inflammation levels, for one. Remember, if you’re struggling with autoimmune disease (or any other disease really as inflammation is at the root of most disease) to begin with, you already have high inflammation. And, if you’re battling obesity, to boot, that is also contributing to high inflammation. Do you really want to add to this by eating foods that can inflame you further?
Bad effects also include increased insulin levels, contributing to insulin resistance. And, then there’s leptin (the hormone that tells you that you’ve had enough to eat and motivates your body to get moving) resistance. You’re also running the risk of starving off your beneficial gut bacteria. And these are just naming a few bad effects when we are eating unhelpful foods!
For weight loss (and health in general), keeping our insulin, leptin,
and inflammation levels in check is critical, as is feeding our beneficial gut bacteria.
Here’s what’s key:
– While losing weight is an important factor for health,
and a must for many of us,
We don’t want to mortgage our overall health in the process.
We simply cannot disregard the fundamentals of good nutrition.
– It’s best to eat a healthy and balanced diet because it’s a
smart strategy for not only weight loss, but for health also.
What Does A Healthy and Balanced Diet Look Like?
First, no one diet fits all, so your plan will be unique unto you.
But there are certain key elements:
A healthy and balanced diet is about getting your
appropriate levels of high-quality nutrients.
High quality nutrients include:
– carbohydrates for energy
– protein for tissue growth and maintenance
– fat for energy storage and hormone
production
– fiber for regulating blood sugar level and for bowel function and health
– vitamins and minerals for metabolism regulation and cell growth
– and –
– water for maintaining hydration
A healthy and balanced diet is also about what we should limit.
We should limit:
– saturated fat
– trans fat
– added sugars
– excess salt
– highly-processed food
– and –
– alcohol
Key Points To Remember
– Mindset is important.
Keep your reason why at the forefront of your mind.
– Be ready to make changes.
Weight issue are usually about
bad habits and choices that can be changed.
– A sustainable lifestyle change is better for
successful long-term weight loss than a diet.
This is because you’re going to have to keep doing what
you did to lose the weight after you’ve lost it if you don’t
want to gain it back again.
– Fiber is incredibly important for weight loss, and overall health.
Eating a diet of real, whole, nutrient-dense foods,
primarily plants, can ensure you get enough of it.
– Make sure your daily intake is less than your total daily energy expenditure.
You need to eat less than what you burn off for weight loss to occur.
– Never eat too few calories.
You don’t want to risk missing out on getting your proper nutrients,
slowing your metabolism or getting gallstones.
– And –
– For your overall health, it’s important to choose
real, whole, nutrient-dense foods.
Getting your calories from high-quality sources is important.
Mortgaging your health in effort to lose weight is never the goal.
If you’d like to learn about my program, feel free to contact me.
You can do that here.
Note:
The topic of exercise was not mentioned this guide.
This was done deliberately because I want to address exercise separately as it is a myth that exercise is needed for weight loss. As it turns out, exercise is great for a whole host of things, but losing weight is not one of them!
Once the guide is complete, I will link it here for anyone who is interested.
REFERENCES:
Photo: Simone Secci on Unsplash
1. Khawandanah, Jomana, et. al. “Fad Diets: Lifestyle Promises and Health Challenges,” November 2016. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310474556_Fad_Diets_Lifestyle_Promises_and_Health_Challenges
2. Harvard Health Writer. “The Metabolic Syndrome Diagnosis,” June 2006, https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/The_metabolic_syndrome_Diagnosis
3. Fitbit Staff Writer. “All Calories Are Not Created Equal,” January 20, 2015, https://blog.fitbit.com/not-all-calories-are-created-equal/
4. Staff Writer. “Does a High Fibre Diet Reduce My Risk of Cancer,” November 5, 2020, https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/causes-of-cancer/diet-and-cancer/do-foods-high-in-fibre-reduce-my-risk-of-cancer
5. Edermaniger, Leanne. “Gut Bacteria and Weight Gain,” December 3, 2020, https://atlasbiomed.com/blog/gut-bacteria-and-weight-gain-whats-going-on/
Other Sources:
The Nutrition Source. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Fiber” https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/carbohydrates/fiber/
Kennedy, Martha Nicole. “Understanding Fiber,” 2007-2021, https://dtc.ucsf.edu/living-with-diabetes/diet-and-nutrition/understanding-carbohydrates/counting-carbohydrates/learning-to-read-labels/understanding-fiber
Harvard Health Writer. “Do Gut Bacteria Inhibit Weight Loss,” https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/do-gut-bacteria-inhibit-weight-loss