Lose weight without dieting: habits that last

Why do restrictive diets fail in the long term?

There are many ways to lose weight. Keeping it off is much harder, and regaining some or all of the weight is common in the following years [1].

It has little to do with willpower. When you eat much less than you need, your body pushes back. Hunger increases and energy expenditure drops somewhat, and these responses last longer than the plan itself [1].

Besides, a plan with an end date has a day after it ends. If you go back to eating as before, the weight returns along with the habits that brought it on. So the goal is to change those habits; weight loss often follows.

What habits can help you lose weight without dieting?

The habits that last are small, repeatable and fit into your week. These are the six we work on most.

Structured meals

Eat at similar times each day, with three main meals and, if you need them, one or two small snacks. Structure stops you arriving at dinner so hungry that hunger makes the decisions for you.

There is no ideal number of meals. Choose what helps you avoid mindless snacking. If you eat out, prepare your lunchbox the night before, and if you know the afternoon will be long, carry a piece of fruit or a yoghurt in your bag.

The plate method

Without weighing anything, fill half your plate with vegetables, a quarter with protein and a quarter with wholegrain cereal or potatoes. Protein can come from pulses, eggs, fish or meat. Dress with olive oil and have water with your meal.

It is the simplest way to eat well without counting calories, and works just as well for a one-dish meal as for a starter and main course. You can find plate examples in our guide to the plate method.

Eat slowly and without screens

Eating while watching TV makes you eat a little more, and the effect is most noticeable at the next meal [2]. It seems that you are less aware of what you have eaten when your attention is elsewhere [2].

Sit at the table, serve your food in the kitchen and put your cutlery down between bites. Eating slowly gives you time to notice that you have had enough before scraping your plate clean.

Get enough sleep

Sleep matters too. In a trial involving adults with overweight who slept too little, extending their sleep by just over an hour reduced their food intake by about 270 kcal a day [3].

Go to bed at a similar time every day, have dinner a couple of hours beforehand and leave your phone outside the bedroom. When you are tired, you eat more and less well, and feel less like moving.

Move more each day

The World Health Organization recommends 150 to 300 minutes a week of moderate activity, such as brisk walking [4]. Add strength exercise on at least two days [4]. In consultations, we emphasise strength because it helps preserve muscle .

Outside exercise, any time spent standing instead of sitting counts [4]. Take the stairs, get off one stop early or make your phone calls while walking. If you have never done strength training, start with someone who can teach you the technique.

Make your home work for you

What you can see and reach is what you end up eating. Leave washed fruit where you can see it and keep occasional treats on a high shelf, or better still, do not buy them every week.

Serve food from the kitchen and do not leave the serving dish on the table. Keep something ready to eat in the fridge that is not a treat, such as hummus, chopped vegetables or boiled eggs. Your environment helps on the days when you are tired.

Stomach hunger or emotional hunger?

Physical hunger comes on gradually and can be eased by almost any food. Emotional hunger comes on suddenly, calls for something specific and often comes with tiredness, stress or boredom. If you notice that you eat to manage how you feel, our Psychology team can talk it through with you before making changes to your diet.

What can you expect, and at what pace?

In consultations, we suggest a realistic pace of around half a kilo a week, sometimes a little more at first . Losing 5% to 10% of your weight already brings significant health benefits [5]. And reducing your waist circumference matters even more than what the scales say [5].

Weight loss is not linear. Your weight goes up and down from one day to the next because of water, your menstrual cycle, a salty dinner or bowel movements. There will be better and worse weeks, and both are part of the process.

What matters is not the speed, but being able to keep eating this way a year from now.

You will not always have everyone around you cheering you on, either. Some people will encourage you; others will offer you ‘just a little more’. Knowing why you are doing this can help at those meals.

When would you benefit from guidance from a dietitian-nutritionist?

These habits work for almost everyone. It is a good idea to get a personalised plan, based on your information and test results, if any of the following apply to you.

• You have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or fatty liver disease.
• You take medication that affects your appetite or weight.
• You are pregnant, breastfeeding or going through menopause .
• You have been making these changes for months but your weight is not shifting.
• You have a lot of weight to lose and would prefer support along the way.

The full plan for losing fat without losing muscle or regaining the weight is in the weight loss diet.

What mistakes do we see in consultations?

• Weighing yourself every day. A water-related increase can feel like failure and make you give up. Weigh yourself no more than once a week to avoid becoming preoccupied with your weight. Measuring your waist and hips, or using a familiar belt as a reference, is more useful.
• Skipping meals to make up for eating more. Skipping dinner after a big meal often leads to snacking at midnight.
• Sweating to lose fat. Saunas, exercising in too many layers or taking water pills only make you lose water, which returns when you drink.
• All or nothing. A weekend of overindulgence does not undo your progress; return to your habits at your next meal.
• Saying ‘I’m on a diet’. The phrase already suggests an end point. ‘I’m learning to eat better’ is easier to sustain.

If you have been doing everything right for a while but are not losing weight, we look at other possible causes in why am I not losing weight? Common mistakes.