Hello all!
First off, I have a success story to tell you, which I hope can encourage someone else today: I used to be very overweight. Obese even, at the peak of my weight struggles. I weighed over 200 pounds (~91 kg) at 5'9.5 in height. I recall the scale reading 202 lbs the day I started to change for good (not just crash diet for a short time). I lost >60 lbs (kg) primarily though changes in dietary habits and learning more about nutrition. It was a very difficult journey, and it took a lot of strength and perseverance. Having others to reach out to when the going gets tough makes it a less lonely road, and I am grateful to all those who encouraged me. This forum was a great resource. The internet as a whole has been a great resource, helping teach me how to cook, what to eat, offering advice, helping troubleshoot, and so on.
I have kept the weight off ever since (which is not to say that there haven't been small blips here and there), now maintaining a closet of size 4 and size S. I can expect the scale to read somewhere between 130 and 145 lbs (~61-66 kg) if I check my weight, averaging about 135.
I spent a lot of time here back when I was losing weight, and now I'd like to tap into the community about a new project of mine:
The Microbiome Diet.
I'm a microbiologist. Among other interests, I study the microbial community that lives in your gut (part of the human "microbiome"). Did you know that when you eat, you're feeding an entire ecosystem?
Despite the fact that the "gut-brain axis" and interactions between diet---microbiome---mental and physical health are now well recognized in my academic circles and I hope in the broader medical community, it has been a shock to me to realize that
microbiome research has had no input in the most current dietary recommendations.
While I don't need to lose weight any more, I have another challenge I want to try to combat with dietary habits: depression and anxiety.
Disclaimer: Depression is a complex problem, and it would be rather disingenuous to suggest that diet alone is the cause or answer (at least in most cases). But I've been waking up depressed every morning for some time now no matter how good or bad the previous day, and that makes me think I need a new metabolic baseline. The way I can change that metabolic baseline is by changing what I eat every day. My eating habits have fallen back into resembling the Standard American Diet (SAD), and I've fallen back into a more depressed state. I remember a time when I had far more energy and overall happiness after shaking up my diet. I want to try to do it again.
My ultimate goal is to change my base mood by changing what I eat (-> cultivating a different garden of bugs in my gut -> changing the neurotransmitters that get to my brain). I've decided to start by chronicling my lunches over on
Instagram - simple, cheap, microbiome-friendly meals. (They can be easily adapted for weight loss purposes!) If you're interested,
follow me @ the_microbiome_diet. I'd love to talk about the future of nutrition!
4-year maintainer returning to talk diets - come talk to me!
