When we think about weight loss, images of calorie counting, strenuous workouts, and diet fads often come to mind. While these methods may provide short-term results, they often neglect a very important factor in achieving and maintaining a healthy weight: gut health. Surprisingly, the state of your gut plays a large role in your body's ability to shed those extra pounds and maintain a healthy weight.

Instead of staying stuck in the diet culture mindset, which can perpetuate restrictive eating, yo-yo diets, and negative body image, we can create a healthier relationship with food and our bodies. Some of these methods include eating mindfully, celebrating non-scale victories, and finding a healthy balance between nutrition, lifestyle, and weight loss.

Feel like you’re doing all the right things, but still can’t lose weight? Our current weight-loss culture overemphasizes calorie-burning and calorie-counting, when more sustainable results can be found through a balanced diet and regular self-care practices, just to name a few.