Nope, that is not the approach I advocate…not one bit. I hate the American morality play around weight, and a slew of other issues. I do hope that the actual research into oh…fecal transplant…leads to real results.

I think I got very lucky, 30 days of antibiotics, due to a persistent tooth infection, plus pre-biotics , protein and when I could fiber, did something to my gut biome. I mean a good thing. We could never know for sure, since I had that not checked before or after the event. And doing that kind of a controlled study violates all kinds of ethics rules.

However, I know research goes against me maintaining in the long haul, due to the shitload of research, mostly into cohorts. In fact, I disqualified myself from a bariatric program and the bulk of my gain came from Avandia, a well known side effect. The other was death. Oh, it was taken off the market ok. There are other medicines that do that as well…cough insulin cough…and a slew of others with that precise side effect. SSRIs are well known.

So yes, medicines can have a role. And people should talk to their doctor if they think that is happening. Not everybody is going to read the insert, or the online version. Many docs actually prescribe necessary meds but that little aspect is missed in the doc, patient convo.

A caloric deficit is still needed to lose weight though, but again, pesky research, going nuts and radical will ensure failure far more often (and the difference is a small percentage, they are still arguing about it) than slow and easy. And it’s far more dangerous for the body as well. In fact, again research, it may permanently lower the caloric intake needed even to maintain. See the biggest loser cohort, for example. It’s the best known (albeit small) cohort. It can have other nefarious health effects as well.

You were very choosy in what you picked from the article. I am not just aware of the research, but remained with the dietitian at the bariatric program. I am lucky to have access to that incidentally.

You may want to go read what I have written about will power and weight loss and the American morality play. Granted, I mostly write on history and politics…but my anecdotal experience about food choices and exercise matches research. So is the benefit of a mostly Mediterranean diet…though, due to a gluten allergy, the real thing, I have some grains permanently off my plate.

Here is another one for you. If you want to maintain your weight loss…research shows that doing exercise al least five days a week matters. For the moment, due to a knee injury, it’s minor, not doing my exercise. Since I established a habit, that is driving me up a wall. Oh I mentioned another thing research shows…habit formation for permanent weight loss which is at most ten percent of dieters, and that success only comes after a year of maintainance. I know pesky research.

As to food diaries, the research is split. People at times recommend them for people who eat due to emotional eating. And counting calories is a method that works, but people with disordered eating should probably avoid either a paper or digital version. And there is quite a bit of evidence that the standard American diet, which is usually filled with processed foods can lead to food addiction. I think when that is finally confirmed…insert here special interests against this, it will be as bad as tobacco.

Fun fact: after that infection I am not hungry. Yup, you read that right. I use a calorie counting app to make sure I eat enough calories, as recommended by my RD. We are still in a deficit, because I still need to lose weight, but it is a safe level, a pound a week, maybe a tad less. I may have reached my set point though. It is higher than ideal BMI, but much better than where I was.

Anecdotally the same happened to my mother. After an infection she lost weight…she was 16…she remained thin for the rest of her life. She was rarely hungry.