Struggling to lose Weight? You're Probably Missing the Obvious Culprit.

A friend and I were having a conversation the other day about our plans to slim down by summer.  Both of us started off strong and experienced decent weight loss thanks to our newly formed habits. But now, we've hit a slight plateau.

I'm sure that a lot of that is related to some backsliding in our eating habits, but there could be something else at play.
That same afternoon, I jumped on a conference call where one of my mentors takes on business questions for aspiring entrepreneurs.  The second caller introduced herself and described her business.  She was essentially a wellness coach.  She went on to detail how many of her clients struggle with being lethargic, had brain fog and couldn't lose stubborn weight  (despite working out & eating relatively healthy).

Her strategy was to address the root cause by focusing on the gut health of her clients.  Once the gut becomes balanced, a slew of symptoms seem to suddenly go away.

A light bulb flashed in my mind.  I recalled watching a video of a Youtuber who discussed her 20 lb weight loss journey.  This girl was quite slender so it was quite a shock when she shared pics of her appearing quite chubbier.  Her issue was gastrointestinal (GI).  She actually didn't plan her weight loss.  After suffering from a sinus infection, she was placed on antibiotics.

Shortly afterward, she experienced quite a bit of pain and bloat in her intestines.  Eventually, she was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome due to the imbalance of bacteria in her gut.  IBS forced her to change her diet in a way that promoted a healthy GI tract.  Eventually, the symptoms went away and so did the extra pounds.

I've mentioned the study involving overweight and obese mice.   The difference between the two was their bacterial makeup. When we eat unhealthy for a long time, our bacterial composition shifts.  Even when we go back a balanced diet, the stubborn unhealthy bacteria remains. This could be the reason why we hold on to weight or gain it right back as the obese mice did.   Basically, the study implicated that gut bacteria actually drives weight gain.  One researcher said in her presentation that "our body's metabolic rate is directly related to our gut bacteria."

This statement is huge because when we think about metabolism, we typically only think about how it related to physical fitness.  We might be missing the biggest key to a healthy metabolism.
 We rarely think about our gut health but it's a huge part of our health.  Our bodies are made up of cells but our ecosystem contains just as much bacteria as living cells.  We feed our cells with oxygen & water. We feed our bacterial flora through the foods we eat.

Unfortunately,  diet choices, stress, and even modern medicine disrupt our healthy internal balance.  The consequences extend beyond a bloated stomach.  It affects our mental clarity, skin, overall health.   Are you constantly craving sugar and unhealthy food? This could be because of an overgrowth of bad bacteria.  The worse you eat, the more they thrive.

It's critical that we make our gut health top of mind because 80% of our immune system is in our gut.
For the past several days I've binged on countless videos on the topic of maintaining a healthy gut. At a basic level, we should all add a probiotic to our supplement regimen.  Then consider adding digestive enzymes to help break down the foods you eat.  Once we have that done, we should adjust our diet to promote a healthy gut.  Increasing our fiber intake helps a ton. It's also important to include gut-friendly choices like bone broth and fermented foods.

In recent days, I've been diligent with taking probiotics & enzymes.  I've already noticed a slight improvement in my weight.  If this continues, maintaining a healthy body weight could no longer be a struggle.