6 habits for weight loss success

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Losing weight can be hard – but embracing better eating habits is easier.

What if I told you that you can lose weight while continuing to eat all your favourite foods? You'd probably call me crazy – but this really is the best way to reach your weight loss goals. Think about your last diet – what did you try to cut out? How long did it last until you caved in? I'd bet it was sooner than you intended. And that's because you're trying to change what you eat rather than adopting healthier eating habits.

The reason losing weight can be so difficult is because the majority of weight loss strategies begin by eliminating foods from our diet. While that might make sense, stacking up major diet change on top of major diet change is hard to sustain, and can make you feel overwhelmed and deprived. As a result, you might lose weight initially, but it will come right back on when your willpower caves.

We have to repeat actions to make them become behaviours we do without thinking. All our habits are formed under the same principles – stimulus, response and reward. And the end reward is usually the thing that prompts us to repeat the action. Recognising this 'stimulus, response, reward, repeat' process can be really beneficial when we want to develop new 'good' habits and potentially break old 'bad' ones.

So, rather than changing what you eat, focus on thinking about why and when you eat. As you'll find out, a shift in mindset can be very effective in helping you change your behaviour.

We make more than 200 food decisions a day, and most of these are automatic or habitual, which means we unconsciously eat without reflection, deliberation or sense of awareness of how much food we've consumed. So often our habitual behaviours override our best intentions – but we can change that.

6 habits to help with weight loss

1. Drink plenty of water – aim for around 6-8 glasses a day
2. Control portion sizes – most of us simply serve too much
3. Plan meals in advance – takes away guesswork
4. Eat more fruits and vegetables – prepping makes this easy
5. Take regular exercise – just 10 minutes a day is a good start
6. Track what you eat to monitor calorie intake – and stick to it!

How to make these actions habits

Firstly, it's important to want to develop new habits. Secondly, you need to make the process as easy as possible for yourself, so set reminders or place things in convenient spots. Thirdly, choose a reward for yourself if there isn't an instant one – it should be something you truly view as a treat.

Here are some examples of how you might turn an action into a habit - you need to make the reward your own.

1Drinking plenty of water

How to: Purchase a handy water bottle with times of the day marked on it as prompts for you to drink water at these times.

Stimulus: Seeing your water bottle on your desk with the next time line to achieve clearly marked.

Response: Grab the bottle and drink down to the next line.

Reward example: Get up from your desk and walk down the corridor and back. The screen break and stretching your legs will give a small energy boost.

2 Control your portion sizes

How to: Find a medium size plate and draw a mental line down the middle, then half one into quarters. So you have 3 sections to fill with food – half for vegetables and one quarter for protein and one quarter for carbs.

Stimulus: Plating up your evening meal.

Response: Use your chosen plate and load your vegetables, then your meat/fish, then your carbs into their sections.

Reward example:Follow up with your favourite dessert - just ensure it is factored into your daily calorie allowance.

3Plan meals in advance

How to: Place your diary next to your cookbooks in the kitchen, along with a notepad and pen. Then set a reminder for a convenient time each week, for example 10am every Saturday morning, to plan your week's meals.

Stimulus: Saturday morning at 10am.

Response: Make a cup of tea/coffee and take a seat with your favourite cook books for inspiration to plan meals for the week ahead and write up your shopping list.

Reward example: Treat yourself to 15 minutes on social media after you've finished your list.

4 Eat more fruits and vegetables

How to: Chop up pineapple, melon and strawberries and pop into a sealed container in the fridge. Make sure it's eyeline when you open the fridge door.

Stimulus: Heading to the fridge for a snack.

Response: Grab the first thing you see.

Reward example: Satisfying your hunger with delicious fresh fruit, with the knowledge you've hit a couple of 5-a-day servings and are on track with your healthy eating plan.

5 Take regular exercising

How to: Place your walking shoes right by the front door every day, so you see them when you get home.

Stimulus: Walking through the front door after work.

Response: Grab your walking shoes and head out for a walk.

Reward example: Watching your favourite TV show after dinner.

6 Keep an accurate food diary every day

How to: Make it super easy by installing the Nutracheck app on your phone. Also keep your kitchen scales out on the worktop where you prepare food.

Stimulus: Prepare your meal, making sure you are weighing the ingredients.

Response: Use the My Meals feature in the Nutracheck app to create and save your meal/recipe.

Reward example: Put £1 in a jar every day that you complete your diary accurately and at the end of the month, treat yourself with your [hopefully!] £30 savings.

REPEAT! With all of these actions, the most important thing is to repeat it regularly so it becomes second nature and turns into a habit. The goal is to make it automatic, something you do without thinking. It will initially take some effort, but you can help yourself by making each action as easy as possible – setting reminders, placing things in convenient places as prompts. And importantly - give yourself a good non-food reward each time. Good luck!