Start here
Weight changes through a sustained energy deficit. What you eat, when you eat, and which named diet you follow are ways of getting there — not the thing itself. These six steps explain the thing itself, so that whatever way of eating you pick afterwards, you pick it with the right expectations.
About twenty-five minutes of reading in total. Each step ends with the next one, and the bar at the top of every step shows where you are.
Every number on these pages carries a source and that source's limitation. Where the evidence is mixed, the page says so.
Who this is not for
This path is written for adults. It is not for people under 18, during pregnancy or breastfeeding, or with a history of an eating disorder, and it does not replace medical care for anyone with a condition that affects eating. In each of those cases the right first step is a doctor or a registered dietitian, not a reading list.