weight loss journey starts today

Weight Loss

How to start your journey to lose weight.

• Published March 22, 2021
• 10 minute read

In This Article

Whether you’re at the very beginning of your  weight-loss journey  or revisiting your game plan after hitting a plateau, a realistic and sustainable strategy is a must for your first 30 days and beyond.

To successfully lose weight and keep it off, it’s important to adopt a nutritious diet and create a calorie deficit (slightly less calories in than out through day-to-day living and exercise), add in regular movement , effectively deal with stress, make sure you’re getting enough sleep, surround yourself with a supportive community and keep your motivation up in the face of inevitable challenges and setbacks.

The good news is you don’t have to completely overhaul your lifestyle to lose weight — a simple back-to-basics plan is the way to go. That’s why we broke it down for you, week by week, for the first 30 days (or whenever you need a healthy reset).

WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY WEEK 1: CREATE A FOUNDATION FOR CHANGE

Dedicate your first week to preparing your mind, environment and routine to support healthy living.

FIND YOUR “WHY”

“It’s common for motivation to wax and wane during weight-loss efforts, so it is imperative that you establish a clear ‘why’ in terms of the reason you are engaging in the weight-loss effort in the first place,” says Katie Rickel, PhD, a clinical psychologist and CEO of  Structure House , a residential weight-management facility in Durham, North Carolina.

This increases your sense of autonomy or self-control and helps you shift your perspective from “I have to” eat healthier and exercise to “I want to” create new habits to get me closer to the life I desire, thus empowering you to make positive changes, adds Alan Chu , PhD, director of the Motivation and Performance Research Lab and chair of the Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology Program at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay.

ACTIONS TO TAKE:

• Freewrite or make a list of your “whys,” from having the energy to keep up with your children or partner to feeling more comfortable in your body.
• Create a vision board or collage of your “why.”
• Write yourself a letter from your future self (after having achieved your weight-loss goals) to your current self, describing all the ways your life has improved as a result of your efforts.
• Put up notes around your home like on your bathroom mirror or fridge with mantras, photos or reminders of your “why.”

ESTABLISH YOUR BASELINE

Setting goals and tracking progress is important for any weight-loss plan, but for realistic goals you can actually hit, you need to figure out your baseline first. “Understanding your starting point will make it easier to pinpoint where to make meaningful changes that will get you the results you’re looking for,” confirms Christel Oerum, a certified personal trainer and owner of Diabetes Strong and Diabetic Foodie .

“This is also the beginning of mindful eating, a lifelong practice that can take a lifetime to fully develop but can help you eat less and enjoy what you’re eating more as well as improve your relationship with food,” adds Audra Wilson, RD, a certified strength and conditioning specialist, a board-certified specialist in obesity and weight management at the  Northwestern Medicine Metabolic Health and Surgical Weight Loss Center at Delnor Hospital .

• Use an  app like MyFitnessPal  and  log everything you eat and drink  for the whole week without judgment.
• As you go, note your emotions about food and brainstorm other coping mechanisms for stress, anxiety, worry or boredom, such as calling a friend or doing deep breathing exercises, suggests Wilson.
• Track your movement, step count and  workouts with the MyFitnessPal app  as well.

MASTER THE ESSENTIALS

Proper sleep, stress management and hydration are essential for your overall health and weight-loss efforts. If they’re not covered, it’s that much harder to lose weight when you have to battle increased cravings for comfort foods from off-kilter  hunger hormones due to sleep deprivation  and stress or feel hungry and low on energy because you’re not drinking enough water.

• Set a consistent bedtime and wake-up time to ensure you’re getting 7–9 hours of quality sleep each night.
• Make your bedroom a sleep sanctuary that’s cool, dark and comfortable.
• Incorporate a simple morning and evening routine to reduce stress with meditation, gentle stretching or other self-care activities.
• Keep a water bottle or large glass of water on hand to drink when you first wake up.

WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY WEEK 2: SET GOALS AND PRACTICE SELF-COMPASSION

Now that you’ve built a springboard, make a nutrition and movement plan and swap perfectionism for self-compassion.

CREATE AND TRACK SMART GOALS

Focusing on progress boosts your drive and self-confidence while only paying attention to the outcome (the number on the scale) can hurt motivation when you don’t get the results you want, says Chu. That’s why progress-based  SMART goals  that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound are your secret weapon for weight loss.

With the information you collected during week 1, take a look at your baseline calorie and macronutrient intake and step count. Then, set a calorie goal for  slow-and-steady weight loss and a step count goal that makes sense for you and your lifestyle. Use the MyFitnessPal app to chart your progress so you can notice trends and make healthier choices.

EXAMPLES OF SMART GOALS: 

• Walk an average of  1,000 more steps per day  for one week with a midday walk during my lunch break.
• Eat within 100–200 calories of my calorie goal each day for one week by reducing portion sizes for snacks and dinner.

DIVERSIFY YOUR GROCERY LIST AND MAKE SMALL CHANGES

To avoid feeling deprived during your weight-loss journey, shift your focus from “giving up” high-calorie processed foods and sugary drinks to “ adding in ” tasty lower-calorie whole foods to your eating plan, suggests Rickel.

• Challenge yourself to try one new fruit or vegetable this week as a culinary adventure with new recipes and cuisines .
• Add more vegetables to your lunch and dinner by mixing them into soups, sauces, salads and more. “Any way you slice them, veggies are full of nutrients and will help you cut calories while still feeling satisfied at mealtime,” notes Wilson.
• Find satisfying swaps for some high-calorie indulgences such as banana berry “nice” cream instead of traditional ice cream or sparkling water for half of your week’s soda intake. If there’s no great substitute for an indulgence, enjoy a smaller portion size or adjust your intake elsewhere to stick with your overall calorie goal.

ADOPT A MINDSET OF SELF-COMPASSION

“For someone who has not practiced healthy habits before, it can be hard and exhausting to maintain them,” says Chu. Worse yet, if you see yourself as “lazy” for eating “bad foods,” this can zap motivation and trigger even worse habits (Think: “I already ate poorly. I might as well eat more junk food.”)

This is where treating yourself like you would a close friend — or adopting a mindset of self-compassion — can help  keep your motivation up  and protect you from negative thought spirals. Throughout this week, make it a point to notice when you’re being hard on yourself and practice self-compassion instead of toxic perfectionism.

HERE’S HOW TO DO IT IN THE MOMENT: 

• Be mindful and acknowledge your feelings (“I’m feeling really anxious and upset right now.”)
• Remind yourself that this is a common, human experience (“Everyone feels like this sometimes.”)
• Be kind to yourself (“I’m going to be compassionate with myself.”)

WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY WEEK 3: REVIEW YOUR PROGRESS AND BUILD YOUR SUPPORT SYSTEM

Reflect on your first round of SMART goals, set new ones, and recruit friends and family to help you stick it out long-term.

SET SMARTER GOALS

Goal-tracking takes time, so block out 10–20 minutes each week—such as on a Sunday evening or Monday morning—to review your progress and set new goals. Rather than getting down on yourself if you haven’t met goals, use this intel to set  SMARTER  goals (with evaluation and revision), suggests Chu.

• Evaluate your progress. Did you hit your goals or fall short? How and why?
• Revise your goals to make them easier if you couldn’t reach them or a notch harder if you were successful.

CELEBRATE CONSISTENCY

Whether you met your calorie goal, increased your step count, or just managed to track both for the entire week, that’s progress worth celebrating. To boost your motivation, find ways to acknowledge meaningful wins each week regardless of whether you shed pounds, says Rickel.

• Put colorful stickers or check marks on your chart or calendar to mark days or weeks when you’ve reached a goal or hit a personal record.
• Reward yourself with a non-food prize such as new workout gear or a fun weekend activity.

If you had a challenging week, remember to practice self-compassion. Major lifestyle changes take time and research shows speaking to yourself in a positive manner helps you reach your goals faster.

FIND EXERCISES YOU LOVE AND GET SOCIAL

A  regular workout routine not only helps tip the calorie balance in your favor to make maintaining weight loss easier, but it also boosts mood levels and decreases stress. To be consistent, you shouldn’t dread your workout — instead, it should be something you genuinely love and look forward to doing. “Choose a workout that suits your routine and lifestyle, and recruit family or friends to join in,” says Chu.

• Pick a type of exercise that’s the optimal balance of challenging yet approachable, such as lifting weights once a week with a goal to eventually lift 2–3 times a week or brisk walks to gradually build up to walking or running a 5K .
• Find someone in your life who values fitness and healthy living as much as you do and agree to regular check-ins if you can’t work out together.
• On days when you don’t feel like working out, try lowering the difficulty or setting a goal just to start the workout (like giving yourself permission to stop after 15 minutes). “Once you do, you’re likely to feel good and exercise longer than initially expected,” notes Chu.

WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY WEEK 4: CONTINUE BUILDING ON YOUR PROGRESS

For the last week of month one, take a look at how far you’ve come and add structure to make healthy lifestyle changes more sustainable.

REVISIT YOUR GOALS

By now, you should have a good idea of how to set, track and celebrate SMART goals. Like the week before, take some time to assess your progress and setbacks. Then set new, SMARTER goals to tackle this week.

Keep in mind that “every 2–4 weeks, it’s also a good idea to revisit your calorie goal and make adjustments as necessary to combat weight-loss plateaus,” notes Oerum.

START MEAL PLANNING

When it comes to  healthy eating , planning ahead can help you save calories and money by reducing impromptu drive-thru trips and delivery orders. Beginning this week, designate a day for meal planning.

• Follow this basic template for the week’s grocery shopping: 4–5 lean protein sources (such as beans  and legumes, tofu, fish, chicken, eggs and turkey), 2–3 complex carbohydrates (sweet potatoes, brown rice, quinoa, whole-grain pasta), and 4+ vegetables (mixed greens, kale, broccoli and cauliflower, asparagus, carrots), suggests Wyosnick.
• Buy pre-cut, washed and frozen produce, so it’s ready to go and easy to use.
• Use the  plate method  for healthy portion sizes at each meal (fill half your plate with non-starchy vegetables like leafy greens, a quarter with protein and a quarter with complex carbs).

ASK FOR HELP

Losing weight is challenging, and the first month of your weight-loss plan is just the beginning of a lifelong health journey. If you’re struggling to see results, stick with a routine or battling body image issues, don’t hesitate to reach out for professional help. Depending on your needs, a healthcare provider ,  registered dietitian ,  psychologist  or certified personal trainer could help you address underlying health issues and establish the perfect plan for you.

Originally published March 2016, updated with additional information in March 2021

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Simple 30-Day Plan for Weight Loss, According to a Dietitian

Learn 8 realistic nutrition and fitness tips to lose weight for the long haul.

Cara Rosenbloom RD is a dietitian, journalist, book author, and the founder of Words to Eat By, a nutrition communications company in Toronto, ON.

Melissa Rifkin is a Connecticut-based registered dietitian with over 15 years of experience working in the clinical setting.

Verywell Fit / Amelia Manley

• Setting Goals

Creating a Nutrition Plan

Meal planning, physical activity, hydration and sleep, tracking progress, coping with challenges.

Healthy weight loss plans include eating well, being physically active, and getting enough sleep so you feel your best now and for the long term. Health is about more than a number on the scale, so this weight loss advice looks at the bigger picture.

There are no quick fixes or fad diets that are known to sustain weight loss in the long term. These weight loss plans and fad diets are based on restricting calories or removing specific food groups. Most of the time, it's impossible to follow these plans in the long term, so weight loss is not maintained over time. That's why this article offers sensible nutrition, exercise, and sleep goals, that can be sustained for life. A healthy lifestyle can help you feel your best now while preventing chronic diseases in the future.

Instead of going "on a diet" which you eventually go "off," this sustainable plan includes realistic goals and small changes that can last a lifetime. It also includes a variety of delicious and nutritious foods, as well as exercise that's fun and enjoyable, and tips on healthy sleep.

Setting Realistic Goals

First, decide if weight loss is the right strategy for your health. It's common to have an unrealistic view of what a healthy weight really is. Use this guide to determine what your ideal weight is so you can set an appropriate goal.

If you need to lose weight, aim to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week (or 4 to 8 pounds in 30 days). People who lose weight slowly and gradually are more likely to keep the weight off long term compared to those who lose a lot of weight very quickly.

Set SMART goals that are:

• M easurable
• A ttainable
• Ti me-bound

A goal such as "I will lose 10 pounds" is not time-bound (no timeline is set) and may not be attainable, since weight fluctuates based on many factors, such as hydration, hormones, medications, food intake, and activity level.

A SMART goal that contributes to weight loss may be: "I will replace my daily can of sugar-containing soda with water for the next 30 days." It's more important to set goals about sustaining a healthy lifestyle than about reaching a target number on a scale. The goal of reducing sugary drinks is more realistic than "I will lose 10 pounds," which is harder to control or achieve.

Eating well plays an important role in weight loss and maintenance. A winning strategy for weight loss includes both caloric restriction and adequate exercise. While calories are part of weight control, it's too narrow to think that energy-in and energy-out is the only factor to consider in weight loss. These factors are also involved:

• Medical conditions
• Physical activity levels
• Medications
• Environment
• Mental health

Your best bet is to work with a health care professional for a personalized weight loss plan. If that is not possible, you can follow the general information in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans about the role of nutrition in weight loss. It recommends a varied diet that includes:

• Vegetables and fruit
• Grains (including whole grains)
• Protein foods

The amount (portion) of food that you should eat is specific to your current weight and your weight loss goals. Learn more about how to set calorie goals here . Even if you cut back on calories, it is important to eat a variety of foods to get all of the protein, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals that your body requires. It's also vital to focus on aspects beyond food. Physical activity, hydration, sleep, and other components are all interconnected in your weight loss journey.

Your body requires nutrients every day so it functions properly. The Dietary Guidelines were designed to ensure that nutrient needs are met with a variety of foods including vegetables, fruit, protein, and grains. You can plan meals using the five food groups in the USDA's My Plate model. When you plan meals, consider these plate proportions:

• Make half your plate vegetables and fruits.
• Make a quarter of your plate grains. Choose whole grains at least half of the time.
• Make a quarter of your plate protein from foods such as poultry, fish, eggs, meat, legumes, nuts and seeds.
• Have a serving of calcium-rich foods such as milk, soy beverage, or yogurt.

The exact amount of food you will need depends on your goals (see section above). In addition to eating more whole foods like vegetables, you can also cut back on heavily processed foods like fast food, packaged snacks, baked goods, and candy.

A simple meal plan may look like this. You can repeat this 5-day plan 6 times to complete a 30-day plan.

• Breakfast : Plain Greek yogurt with strawberries and low-sugar (3 grams of sugar or less per serving), oat-based granola
• Snack : Almonds and grapes
• Lunch : Tuna melt sandwich with cheese and tomatoes on whole grain bread, served with carrots, red peppers, and an apple on the side
• Snack : Cucumber and hummus
• Dinner : Chicken with brown rice and stir-fried vegetables.
• Breakfast : Chia pudding with Greek yogurt and fruit
• Snack : Cheddar cheese and an apple
• Lunch : Poke bowl: fish (or tofu) with brown rice, mixed vegetables, seaweed and sesame seeds
• Snack : Trail mix
• Dinner : Pesto shrimp and broccoli served over whole-grain pasta
• Breakfast : Mashed avocado and ricotta cheese on whole grain toast with a side of berries
• Snack : Fresh peach, granola, and Greek yogurt
• Lunch : Turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato and sweet peppers; banana
• Snack : Plain popcorn
• Dinner : Chickpea and cauliflower curry with quinoa
• Breakfast : Oatmeal with banana, peanut butter, and soy or cow's milk
• Snack : Hummus and carrots
• Lunch : Black bean and cheddar burrito in whole grain tortilla, with lettuce, tomato, sweet peppers, and avocado
• Dinner : Stir-fried chicken and mixed vegetables on soba noodles
• Breakfast : Scrambled eggs, whole grain toast, and tomato
• Snack : Medjool dates with peanut butter or almond butter
• Lunch : Chicken Caesar salad with parmesan cheese and croutons plus a pear
• Snack : Small portion of your favorite ice cream
• Dinner : Lemon-butter halibut with green beans and potatoes

It's easier to stay on a meal plan if you grocery shop and plan in advance. Learn tips for meal planning here .

Being physically active is associated with weight loss because exercise it burns calories. The CDC suggests 150 minutes per week of physical activity for health benefits. However, this amount may not be enough for weight loss. International guidelines recommend 300 minutes of exercise per week for people trying to lose weight.

Nutrition and exercise are both important factors in weight loss. Studies show that exercise only—without dietary changes — may help with a small amount of weight loss, but is not likely to result in meaningful weight loss. Diet and exercise are both important and should be paired together for the best results.

It's important to choose physical activities that you enjoy so you are more likely to stick to them for the long term. Choose a combination of both aerobic (biking, walking, dancing) and strength-building activities (weight lifting, resistance bands, push-ups) for the best benefits.

As a beginner, start by taking a walk every day and lifting light weights. Walk for longer and do more reps with your weights as the weeks go by. Consider these exercise tips for beginners .

Other factors that affect weight include hydration and sleep. When it comes to fluid and hydration, many Americans rely on sugar-sweetened beverages. However, excess intake of sweet beverages is linked to weight gain.

Water is a better choice than sweet beverages when trying to manage weight since it contains no calories or sugar. Replacing sugary or calorie-rich beverages with water can help with weight loss. Some studies indicate that drinking water before meals may decrease food intake during meals, which may help eaters feel more satisfied with fewer calories. Staying hydrated is important because studies show that consistently being under-hydrated is associated with increased body weight.

Studies also show a connection between sleep patterns and weight. Poor sleep is linked to increased calorie intake, mostly from snacks that are high in fat and refined carbohydrates. Poor sleep also may affect hormones involved in weight, appetite regulation, and metabolism.

Some evidence suggests that people who sleep less than seven hours per night are more likely to have obesity. If you don't sleep for at least seven hours per night, consider working with a sleep specialist as part of your weight loss program. Here are some tips to help with better sleep .

If you set measurable goals, it's easier to track your progress. For example, if your goal was to drink water instead of soda at lunch for 30 days, you can mark each day on a calendar to check your progress.

Some people like to keep a food or exercise journal to monitor progress or use a mobile app to count calories or steps. Make sure to celebrate your successes. If you falter, start again as soon as possible.

One caution for tracking progress: try not to gauge your progress based on a number on the scale. Making lifestyle changes such as improving your eating habits or being more active has so many benefits beyond weight control.

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recognize that losing weight is not easy and is best achieved with a commitment to lifestyle change over the long term and with the help of medical professionals.  

You will have a better chance of sustaining long-term weight loss if you make slow, steady progress that includes a combination of nutrition, fitness, sleep, and hydration changes.

In order to see real progress, don't make too many changes at once. Build up slowly instead. Perhaps the first 30 days of the journey may have progress such as:

• In the first week, you drink water instead of a soda at lunch.
• In the second week, you have water instead of soda and walk 10 minutes per day.
• In the third week, you continue the first two activities and add weight training twice a week.

Remember, 30 days is just the start of this journey. Maintaining these new habits lifelong is how you will see real progress.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Losing Weight.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.  Setting goals and developing specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives .

Damon L. Swift, Joshua E. McGee, Conrad P. Earnest, Erica Carlisle, Madison Nygard, Neil M. Johannsen, The Effects of Exercise and Physical Activity on Weight Loss and Maintenance . Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, Volume 61, Issue 2, 2018. Pages 206-213, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcad.2018.07.014.

Wharton S, Lau DCW, Vallis M, et al. Obesity in adults: a clinical practice guideline .  CMAJ . 2020;192(31):E875-E891. doi:10.1503/cmaj.191707

 USDA. Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025. 9th Edition. December 2020

USDA. My Plate .

USDA My Plate. Protein Foods .

USDA My Plate. Dairy .

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. How much physical activity do adults need?

O'Donoghue G, Blake C, Cunningham C, Lennon O, Perrotta C. What exercise prescription is optimal to improve body composition and cardiorespiratory fitness in adults living with obesity? A network meta-analysis .  Obes Rev . 2021;22(2):e13137. doi:10.1111/obr.13137

Teixeira DS, Rodrigues F, Cid L, Monteiro D. Enjoyment as a Predictor of Exercise Habit, Intention to Continue Exercising, and Exercise Frequency: The Intensity Traits Discrepancy Moderation Role . Front Psychol. 2022 Feb 18;13:780059. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.780059. PMID: 35250719; PMCID: PMC8894246.

Malik VS, Hu FB. The role of sugar-sweetened beverages in the global epidemics of obesity and chronic diseases .  Nat Rev Endocrinol . 2022;18(4):205-218. doi:10.1038/s41574-021-00627-6

Bracamontes-Castelo G, Bacardí-Gascón M, Jiménez Cruz A. Effect of water consumption on weight loss: a systematic review . Nutr Hosp . 2019;36(6):1424-1429. doi:10.20960/nh.02746

Corney RA, Sunderland C, James LJ. Immediate pre-meal water ingestion decreases voluntary food intake in lean young males.   Eur J Nutr . 2016;55(2):815-819. doi:10.1007/s00394-015-0903-4

Kerksick CM, Wilborn CD, Roberts MD, et al.  ISSN exercise & sports nutrition review update: research & recommendations .  Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition . 2018;15(1):38. doi:10.1186/s12970-018-0242-y

Papatriantafyllou E, Efthymiou D, Zoumbaneas E, Popescu CA, Vassilopoulou E. Sleep Deprivation: Effects on Weight Loss and Weight Loss Maintenance .  Nutrients . 2022;14(8):1549. Published 2022 Apr 8. doi:10.3390/nu14081549

Primack C. Obesity and Sleep .  Nurs Clin North Am . 2021;56(4):565-572. doi:10.1016/j.cnur.2021.07.012

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Changing your habits for better health.

By Cara Rosenbloom, RD  Cara Rosenbloom RD is a dietitian, journalist, book author, and the founder of Words to Eat By, a nutrition communications company in Toronto, ON.

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How to Lose Weight When You Don't Know Where to Start, According to a Dietitian

These 10 strategies can help when you're feeling overwhelmed. Here are scientifically proven tips, plus advice from someone who's lost 50 pounds and kept it off.

Lainey is a weight-loss dietitian who helps people ditch diets, change their habits and create a healthy lifestyle that lasts. She has Master's in Nutrition Communication from the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and completed her dietetics training at Massachusetts General Hospital, a Harvard teaching hospital. She writes on a variety of topics including weight loss, gut health, pregnancy, breastfeeding and trendy diets. When she's not writing or counseling, you can find her on a run, out to brunch, or with coffee in hand trying to keep up with her two little boys.

Elizabeth Ward is a registered dietitian and award-winning nutrition communicator and writer. She has authored or co-authored 10 books for consumers about nutrition at all stages of life.

1. Embrace the Long Game

2. rely on a professional to help, 3. adopt the 80/20 philosophy, 4. understand set point theory, 5. track your food (at least to start), 6. rethink the scale, 7. track other metrics, 8. get moving, 9. focus on fiber, 10. eat protein at every meal, the bottom line.

The clickbait is everywhere with snazzy headlines saying, "Drop 10 lbs. Fast" or "Fit Back into Your Skinny Jeans." But what if you feel like you have an overwhelming amount of weight to lose, and you just don't know where to start?

You may have tried keto , celery juice , detoxes, low-carb, low-fat—you name it. You might even be pretty good at losing weight—the problem is you can't seem to keep it off.

If this sounds like you, keep reading.

"Mindset is like 90% of the work." That's what my client, Sarah, said to me regarding the 50 pounds she lost and has maintained. I'm sharing tips directly from her on how to get started—and stick with it—when you're not quite sure where to start on your weight loss journey.

Changing habits requires repeating the new behaviors over the long term, according to 2021 research in Psychology & Health . This includes setting realistic expectations .

A safe, sustainable amount of weight to lose is about 1/2 pound to 2 pounds per week. In reality, however, that might look more like 2 to 3 pounds per week in the beginning, then perhaps 1/2 pound down the next week, then up a pound the next week, then maintaining for a few weeks before dropping a pound again.

Your weight loss graph will look more like a staircase or a squiggly line than a perfectly straight line. If it's jumping all over the place, but trending down overall, you're doing all right.

This is not the time to try another detox or strict meal plan that an Instagram influencer is promoting. Those are diets in disguise—they work for the short term but not for the long term.

Long-term weight loss is about small habit changes you can keep up with over time. Those who are successful at losing weight usually work with professionals, typically, a health care professional, registered dietitian and therapist.

Yes, a therapist. "I've crash dieted and lost 100 pounds before, and I was physically thinner but not at all mentally healthier, so patience and persistence and the ability to fall down and get up over and over again are key," says Sarah. "Also, if you feel you have an eating disorder, like binge eating, seek help from a counselor that specializes in that."

This journey is hard alone. It can also be hard with close friends and family. Health care professionals provide two important things: science-based weight-loss recommendations and accountability from someone who isn't a close friend.

Weekly, or even daily, check-ins are key to helping you stay on track. "I think the most important things for me have been getting accountability that best matches my personality, always allowing the 20%, perfecting the art of moving on and always zooming out and focusing on the long game," reports Sarah.

Many insurance plans cover visits with registered dietitians and therapists, so check with yours to see if your visits may be covered.

So what is the 20% that Sarah mentioned? Think of it as all of the foods you restrict when you're dieting but eventually end up bingeing on.

Sustainable weight loss is about ditching the all-or-nothing mentality, letting go of the idea that one meal can make or break your efforts and embracing balance. Aim to follow the MyPlate guidelines about 80% of the time throughout the week and on weekends. That means trying to have three meals per day, most days, filling your plate with about one-half of vegetables and fruits, one-quarter of whole grains and one-quarter of protein with some healthy fat.

Then, don't stress about the rest. It's a "flexible structure." No guilt allowed.

The body likes balance. Body temperature stays within a narrow range of 98.6°F. The pH of blood is around 7.4. Your body has a weight range it likes to stay within too: It's called your set point.

Unfortunately, it's easier for this range to move up than it is to move down. This is for various reasons scientists are still trying to figure out. For example, a 2022 study in the journal Obesity found that a 16% weight loss decreased metabolic rate (the number of calories burned at rest) in premenopausal women. Weight loss has also been shown to increase ghrelin, the hormone that signals hunger, in breast cancer survivors, per a 2021 study in NPJ Breast Cancer .

With that said, lowering your set point is not impossible. After all, there are numerous success stories, like the people in the National Weight Control Registry who have lost 30 pounds or more and kept it off for at least one year.

So, how do you do it?

According to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) , crash dieting is not the answer. Instead, aim to lose 5% to 10% of your body weight at one time. "That's the amount of weight you can lose before your body starts to fight back," BIDMC reports on its website.

Then, and here's the hard part, work to maintain that loss for six months before trying to lose another 5% to 10%. This is the time during which people often throw in the towel or opt for the crash diet their friend is doing.

But, if you can stay the course and ride out the maintenance for six months, "You can repeat the cycle and reset your set point again by losing another 10%. Through small, gradual changes in your daily habits, you'll be able to stay at that new, lower weight for the rest of your life. This prescription is vital to outsmarting the body's natural tendencies to regain weight," according to the BIDMC website.

You may also have to reassess your initial weight-loss goal. If you reach a point where you feel great, are healthy and have habits you can sustain for months, but the number on the scale is higher than you'd like, it may be time to embrace a new number.

Research, like the 2019 study in the journal Obesity , suggests that those who track their food are most successful with losing weight and keeping it off.

While tracking isn't meant to be done forever, it can be a helpful tool until new habits stick. A habit is an automated behavior. The more habits you create, the fewer decisions you have to make and the more brain space you have to think about other things.

Starting your weight loss journey by tracking your food intake may give you a better idea about what a serving of oatmeal looks like in your bowl, or how many random handfuls of chips you munch on as you try and figure out what to make for dinner. You can track food in a written diary, by taking photos, in a calorie-counting app or a combination of these.

If you've never tracked calories, it can be a good place to start so you can become familiar with portion sizes and macronutrients (fat, protein and carbohydrates). A word of caution, though—calorie counting can become obsessive and backfire, leaving you out of touch with your hunger and satiety signals. You may be more likely to turn to an app to tell you what and when to eat, instead of listening to your body.

Work with a registered dietitian who can help you figure out the best tracking approach for you and can also review your meals so you have accountability.

A 2021 study in Translational Behavioral Medicine suggests that those who self-monitored their weight lost more of it.

Here's the caveat: Weight should not be the only metric you track. And you need to understand what the scale measures.

The scale does not measure fat—and you do not lose or gain fat overnight.

The scale is a measurement of everything in your body, mostly fluid, but also bones, organs, fat and muscle. The scale will show your weight within about a 3- to 4-pound range and goes up and down for various reasons. If you poop, it goes down. If you eat salty takeout food, it goes up (because salt encourages water retention). A strength-training workout can bump it up, due to a temporary increase in inflammation.

Daily weigh-ins do more harm than good for some people, so weighing once a week might be a good frequency. Or, for some, the scale might need to go. If you find you obsess over the number, it stresses you out too much or you're equating the number to your self-worth, ditch the scale. There are other ways to measure your progress.

Sarah was stressing so much about what the scale would say every Monday that she decided to weigh every day and found it more helpful. "Personally, weighing daily has helped because it's normalized the fluctuations for me and helped me realize when I'm averaging in the wrong direction. There are great apps that plot the average trend of your weight, which helps, but I think overall daily weighing has truly been helpful," says Sarah.

Several of my clients might not see the scale move in months, but they lose inches and feel amazing. In addition to weekly weigh-ins, consider taking waist circumference measurements and progress photos once a month.

Five pounds of fat and five pounds of muscle weigh the same, but muscle takes up less space (and adding more means you're getting stronger), so these metrics help you see body composition changes and will motivate you to keep going.

In addition to how you look, take note of how you feel. Can you walk further, run faster or do a pushup? If you know what they were when you started, have your cholesterol levels or blood sugar numbers improved? Include some goals around what your body can do, rather than how you look.

Diet matters more than exercise for weight loss, but exercise is crucial for keeping off the weight. Plus, exercise has plenty of other benefits .

If you are sedentary and then start moving, you will start burning calories, which will create a calorie deficit. "Finding exercise you love helps to maintain the weight loss," reports Sarah.

Don't know where to start? Start walking. Create small, attainable goals like 15 minutes per day and work up to 30 minutes. If you currently walk 2,000 steps per day, don't try to walk 10,000. Start with 4,000 per day and add more every couple of weeks.

Next, add strength training, using either weights or your body weight. Start with one day per week and work up to two to four times per week. Strength training builds muscle, and muscle burns calories even when you're sitting at your desk all day.

Cardio exercise, like running, biking or swimming, is great too. A good balance is daily walking, strength training two to four times per week and cardio or high-intensity interval training (HIIT) one to three times per week.

Progressively increasing your exercise frequency and intensity will help you stick to it. And the best exercise is the one that you'll keep doing.

A calorie deficit is needed for weight loss, but instead of focusing on what to restrict, focus on what to add. The body breaks down protein, carbohydrates and fat from food and absorbs the nutrients. If you're eating more calories than your body needs, the extra will be stored as fat.

However, the body doesn't absorb or store fiber. Fiber passes through the stomach and intestines largely unabsorbed, bulks everything up and then you poop it out. Fiber is found in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans and legumes.

By making half your plate vegetables and fruits at most meals, you automatically shift the caloric composition of your meal. For example, 1 cup of pasta or rice is 200 calories, but 1 cup of vegetables is about 30 calories. So not only can you eat more vegetables for fewer calories, but you also get the added benefit of the fiber (as well as vitamins and minerals), which moves through your system slowly, keeping you full longer.

Fiber also expands and slows the emptying of the stomach, which sends signals to the brain that you are full. Gut bacteria feed off fiber and produce short-chain fatty acids, like acetate, which plays a role in regulating body weight, according to a 2019 review in Nutrients .

Aim for 25 to 35 grams of fiber per day or about 8 to 10 g per meal. According to the USDA, 1 cup of raspberries has 8 g of fiber, 1 cup of cooked broccoli has 5 g of fiber and 1/2 cup of black beans has about 7 g of fiber.

Along with fiber, eat protein at every meal, especially breakfast. A 2021 review in Nutrients suggests that when people eat a high-protein breakfast, they have fewer cravings and eat less later in the day.

Protein suppresses the hunger hormone, ghrelin, and is digested slowly, keeping you full longer. When protein is eaten with carbohydrates, it slows the rise of blood sugar, which prevents the spike-and-crash effect that leaves you craving carbs an hour after you eat. Include protein, fiber and healthy fat at each meal.

Protein needs are based on weight, but about 20 g per meal is a good starting point. According to the USDA, a serving of Greek yogurt packs 16 g of protein, and you can pair it with berries for fiber. Three ounces of cooked chicken , about the size of a deck of cards, has about 26 g of protein. Beans are a protein-packed vegetarian option.

If you feel overwhelmed with how much weight you have to lose, start small. Don't try to tackle everything at once. In order to lose weight and keep it off, you need to embrace a long-term mentality and focus on small habit changes. Get professional help so you have accountability and can focus on the habits that move the needle most. Track other metrics, along with the scale. Finally, move your body most days, focus on making half your plate vegetables at meals, get out of the all-or-nothing mentality and celebrate your success along the way!

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11 Easy Things You Can Do TODAY to Jumpstart Your Weight-Loss Journey

Getting going is the hardest part. Here’s how to make it easier.

Ask Yourself Why You Really Want to Lose Weight

If you're going to quit your junk-food habit and change your lifestyle for good, you are going to need a deeper source of motivation than "I want to fit into a size two," says Pamela Peeke , M.D., M.P.H., senior science advisor at Elements Behavioral Health and author of Body For Life For Women . So ask yourself: Why do you want to fit into a size two? The most motivating reasons are intensely personal, she says. Maybe your best friend has asked you to hike Machu Picchu with her, you can't keep up with your kids any more, or you want to feel better about yourself. (Especially since clothing sizes are so arbitrary anyway .)

Write Down Your Goal

It takes 10 seconds and ups your chances that you'll meet your goal by 42 percent, per research from Dominican University . "Women suffer from wellness amnesia," says Peeke. " Life is overwhelming , so it's easy to shift our focus from healthy living to other things." By writing down your goal—and keeping it where you can see it each and every day—you'll keep it in the forefront of your mind, right up there with your other priorities.

Raid Your Kitchen

Open the refrigerator, every cabinet, and every drawer. Then as yourself the following: When I eat these foods, will I feel loss of control? Will my body feel bad physically after I eat them? If the answer is yes, throw them out, says Peeke. They're your trigger foods , and if they are left in your kitchen, you risk overeating, stalled weight loss, and, most importantly, an unhealthy relationship with food. Sure, in a perfect world, you would remove all refined, processed foods from your kitchen. But that's not realistic—and these trigger foods are the most important to ditch, she says.

Related:  Trash These 6 Seemingly Innocent Foods to Lose More Weight

Think through your trouble spots.

And no, we don't mean your tummy and thighs . Consider what has caused you weight-loss problems in the past, whether it's dinners out or emotional eating, says clinical psychologist and diet coach Terese Weinstein Katz , Ph.D. "Just being aware of these issues can help keep you from giving up when you bump into them."

Prep Some Foods

"The more you cook, the easier it is to drop weight and keep it off , period," says Peeke. But who has time to cook three meals from scratch each and every day? Certainly not us. By prepping healthy foods and meals today, you'll eliminate the amount of time you'll spend in the kitchen during the rest of the week, while guaranteeing you'll eat plenty of healthy home-cooked meals.

Watch out for these "healthy" foods that are actually bad for you:

Tell Your Best Friends Your Plans

When it comes to weight loss, having accountability from the get-go is huge. But, at the same time, friends who take it too far— guilt tripping you when you do splurge, etc.—aren't going to help you have a healthier relationship with food, says Peeke. "You have to make sure the people you tell about your desire to lose weight are people you care about and care about you in a gentle way," she says. For instance, when a server sets down a basket of bread on the table and you start biting your lip, which of your friends will respond by telling the server, "Thank you, but we don't need any bread. Could you please take it back?" That's the friend you should tell about your weight-loss goals.

Schedule Your Workouts

"If you have a hair appointment, you aren't going to break it. You work the rest of your schedule around it," says Peeke. The same should be true with your exercise time . So instead of trying to fit workouts into your free time (who even has free time, anyway?), plan a week's worth of workouts today. Use pen, not pencil.

Make a Vision Board

"Women are visual," says Peeke. "Visual reminders of what we want to achieve light us up like there's no tomorrow." So tape some motivating mantras and pictures to a board to remind you of what you want to achieve. Consider pictures of you from when you were at your fittest or pictures of things you want to achieve—like a half-marathon finish line. Whatever you put on your board should build you up and make you feel like, yes, you've got this.

Related:  10 Quotes for Instant Fitspiration

Buy some cute workout clothes.

"If you wear nice clothes at work or on a date, it makes you feel good. It's the same thing in the gym," says Peeke. And the better you feel about going to the gym, the more often you are going to do it. Go online or hit up the mall: Look for fun, flattering, and comfortable workout pieces that fit your body as it is now, she recommends (like these head-turning workout tees ). As it starts changing, you can reward yourself with some more shopping.

Plan Some Small, Totally Doable Changes

Trying to completely overhaul your lifestyle sets you up for failure and discouragement, says Katz. A better plan: being honest about the small changes that you are willing and able to make starting tomorrow. Can you eat more servings of vegetables? Can you take a 15-minute walk after lunch? What about cutting back on happy hour ? What are you really up for doing, and what's just a pipedream? It's okay to admit that, no, you aren't willing to forgo Sunday brunches. Being realistic sets you up for awesome, "I can totally do this!" moments that are so critical to long-term success, she says.

Go to Sleep Early

Turning in on time tonight will help you lose weight tomorrow: In one study  presented at the American Heart Association's 2011 Scientific Sessions, women who slept only four hours ate 329 more calories the next day than when they slept nine hours. That's largely because he body's two hunger hormones, leptin and ghrelin, go berserk when you skimp on sleep, says Peeke. And you thought beauty sleep was just for those circles under your eyes.

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Weight Loss for Beginners: A Complete Guide

Published in Weight Loss

Heather Davis, MS, RDN, LDN

According to the CDC, about 41.9 percent of adults in the U.S. are obese. This number has increased by more than 11 percent since 1999, signaling that obesity and being overweight are on the rise.

Being overweight or obese can put people at an increased risk for a number of health conditions , including high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and mental health disorders like depression and anxiety.

But when it comes to weight loss, there’s no simple formula that works for everyone. The good news is that healthy and sustainable weight loss is possible when you create and stick to a plan that’s designed for your unique health needs and goals.

In this beginner’s guide to weight loss, we’ll be covering the basics of nutrition, exercise, and other lifestyle factors that can help you succeed in your weight loss journey.

Why Is Weight Loss So Complicated?

Your body’s ability to manage or lose weight is contingent on many different factors. Genetics, medical history, activity levels, stress, sleep, nutrition, and even blood sugar levels can affect weight loss . 

But for many people, weight loss isn’t as simple as eating a low-calorie diet or exercising seven days a week. As anyone who has ever started on a weight loss journey may know, the progress you’re seeing can plateau over time, you may experience cravings , lack motivation, or start to feel burnt out along the way.

But don't fall for the weight loss plateau myth —and if you find yourself experiencing less progress despite following the same healthy habits, your body may simply need time to adapt into a weight mantenance phase.

Reaching a healthy body weight is not only positive for your overall health, it can also reduce your risk of developing metabolic disorders, such as type 2 diabetes . For example, it’s estimated that :

• 38 percent of U.S. adults have prediabetes
• 11.3 percent of the U.S. population has type 2 diabetes

So if you’re someone who’s figuring out how to start your journey, there are a lot of things to keep in mind and many ways to get off track. With this beginner’s guide, our goal is to break through all the weight loss myths out there and provide the information you need to start this journey on the right foot.

Check out what our dietitian Heather Davis, MS, RDN, LDN had to say about one common weight loss myth in her conversation with certified health and fitness coach Caroline Jordan:

5 Tips For Starting On a Weight Loss Journey

Now that we've taken a closer look at some of the ways that being overweight can impact your metabolic health, here are some weight loss tips to keep in mind when starting out on your journey.

1) Start out by setting weight loss goals: Realistic and specific goals can keep you motivated and help you monitor your progress along the way. 

2) Consult a dietitian to create a balanced diet plan: A dietitian can work with you to create a balanced diet plan that is made up of whole foods, limits processed and fast foods, and is tailored to your specific health, calorie, macronutrient, and micronutrient needs.

3) Create a workout plan you can follow consistently and that is appropriate for your body: Exercise is a critical component of weight loss for many people, and creating a realistic and appropriate workout plan that you can actually stick to is important. 

4) Outline which lifestyle habits you may need to optimize: Getting enough sleep, staying hydrated, and taking care of your mental health are all lifestyle habits that may impact your weight loss journey. Your personal dietitian can help you with these as well. 

5) Consider tracking your symptoms . Key symptoms of metabolic and neuroendocrine health include energy levels, digestive health, sleep quality, mood, and cognition, among some others. These symptoms can tell us a lot about what might be holding us back on our bigger-picture health and weight loss success. 

Is Your Diet Important for Weight Loss?

When it comes to weight loss, your diet plays a key role. But research shows that losing weight is actually a lot more complicated than eating fewer calories than you burn. 

Different foods with the same amount of calories can affect the body differently, and our weight can be highly influenced by other factors like hormones. 

With that in mind, here are some dietary tips that go beyond the simple “calories in, calories out” equation. 

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Dietary Tips for Beginners

Eat adequate protein.

Our bodies use protein to build and maintain our bones, muscles, and skin, and can help weight loss by increasing satiety and thermogenesis . Learn more about how protein can support weight loss here .

Eat Enough Fiber

• High Fiber Fruits: Raspberries, pears, apples, and bananas
• High Fiber Veggies: Spinach, broccoli, brussels sprouts, romaine lettuce
• High Fiber Whole Grains: Barley, quinoa, oatmeal, popcorn, brown rice
• High FIber Seeds and Nuts: sunflower seeds, chia seeds, almonds
• High Fiber Legumes: Split peas, lentils, and black beans

Studies show that fiber intake may help promote weight loss , independently of caloric intake and intake of other macronutrients. Unfortunately, only five percent of Americans have enough fiber in their diet. Find out more about how this carbohydrate can be beneficial for your weight loss journey here .

Monitor Your Total Calorie Intake

As mentioned earlier, counting the number of calories you consume can’t tell you everything about how to succeed at weight loss. However, your caloric intake still plays an important role in your weight. 

Eating too few or too many calories for your individual needs can both sabotage weight loss success. Consuming more calories than you need can lead to weight gain , but so can undereating for your needs. If you need a hand to keep you on track, here are some weight tracker apps that can help you monitor your daily calorie intake.

Reduce Your Intake of Processed Foods

Foods that are highly processed tend to contain more ingredients like refined sugar, salt, and trans and saturated fats. High intake of these foods can contribute to weight gain and serious health problems , so when it comes to weight loss snacks , try opting for more whole foods.

Avoid Sugary Drinks and Other Sources of Empty Calories

Avoiding or reducing your intake of sugary drinks can go a long way in helping you lose weight. These drinks not only add empty calories to your diet, which are calories from foods that have little or no nutritional value, they also contain a lot of added sugar .

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Creating a Weight Loss Workout Plan for Beginners

A good weight loss strategy should include a workout plan. Aim for a weight loss plan that suits your individual needs, that you are able to do consistently, and that incorporates both full body strength training and cardio. To learn more about how cardio can benefit your weight loss goals, read our article on cardio exercise .

Strength training is another type of exercise that has been linked to weight loss and improved lean muscle mass. Here’s what you need to know about how it can benefit your weight loss . 

Common Cardio and Strength Training Exercises

Some common cardio exercises are:

• Brisk walking
• Jumping rope
• High intensity interval training (HIIT)

You can also include strength training exercises to lose weight or build muscle while on your journey. Start out with a beginner workout plan that can be done with dumbbells, a barbell, or with your own body weight. 

Check out our sample glute and hamstring workout and a chest and shoulder workout to start with. If you're a beginner, working with a personal trainer can be a great way to get started. 

Sample Weekly Workout Plan

Here is a sample of what a weekly workout plan can look like. This is a great starting point, but be sure to make it work for your specific needs, which may include extra rest days at the beginning.

Doing more than your body is capable of can lead to injury or worsened current health or medical conditions, so it’s always a good idea to start slow and work your way up to more vigorous exercise.

Other Lifestyle Changes for Sustainable Weight Loss

As we mentioned earlier, it isn’t just your diet and exercise habits that affect your weight. Here are some other lifestyle factors to focus on to optimize your weight loss.  

Drink Adequate Water and Stay Hydrated

It’s important for many functions in the body to make sure to drink water and stay hydrated throughout the day. Drinking sufficient water may also be linked to weight loss and may also help people burn more calories . 

One study found that obese women who replaced high-caloric beverages with water experienced an average weight loss of two to 2.5 percent. Learn more about how to stay hydrated here .

Get Plenty of Sleep Each Night

Sleep is also crucial for the functioning of your body, and research shows that not getting enough sleep can affect your mental health , increase your risk of serious health conditions, and even lead to weight gain . 

On the flip side, studies show that getting enough sleep may help with weight loss . Read more about proper sleep hygiene here . 

Aim to Reduce Stress Throughout the Day

Long-term elevated cortisol levels are linked to an increase in abdominal obesity . Stress can also make you more likely to reach for comforting foods that are higher in calories, and may even lead to moving and exercising less. Here are some tips for managing stress that may also support weight management.

Try Using a Weight Loss App to Stay Accountable

Weight loss apps can be a great tool to keep you accountable to your weight loss goals. Many apps, including the Nutrisense app , have features that allow you to track your meals and physical activity, as well as other lifestyle factors that affect weight like sleep and stress.

Check out our article about our favorite weight loss apps here !

3 Key Takeaways for Getting Started with Weight Loss

Engage with Your Blood Glucose Levels with Nutrisense

Your blood sugar levels can significantly impact how your body feels and functions. That’s why stable blood glucose levels can be an important factor in supporting overall wellbeing.

With Nutrisense, you’ll be able to track your blood glucose levels over time using a CGM , so you can make lifestyle choices that support healthy living.

When you join the Nutrisense CGM program , our team of credentialed dietitians and nutritionists are available for additional support and guidance to help you reach your goals.

Ready to take the first step? Start with our quiz to see how Nutrisense can support your health.

Find the right Nutrisense program      to help you discover and reach your health potential .

Reviewed by: Heather Davis, MS, RDN, LDN

Heather is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN, LDN), subject matter expert, and technical writer, with a master's degree in nutrition science from Bastyr University. She has a specialty in neuroendocrinology and has been working in the field of nutrition—including nutrition research, education, medical writing, and clinical integrative and functional nutrition—for over 15 years.

Learn more about Heather

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The weight loss journey can be hard enough without all of the conflicting information and trends out there putting pressure on you. From the Ozempic craze to fad diets, social media and the internet are filled with methods for losing weight quickly. However, there are healthier and less intense ways to start on the right path to losing weight and keeping it off. 

Set realistic goals and be flexible

With the allure of losing weight quickly, fad diets and workout plans that promise fast results can seem appealing. But experts say that the key to making new health habits and behaviors stick is to have realistic expectations. Losing about one to two pounds a week is the safest and most sustainable, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . When starting your weight loss journey, it is best to set short-term goals and reward yourself for meeting those goals. The most effective goals are "specific, realistic and forgiving (less than perfect)," said the CDC. Being realistic about your goals also means "expecting occasional setbacks." When they happen, it is best to "get back on track as quickly as possible."

Avoid having a goal be reaching a specific number on the scale because that has a "pass/fail connotation," said Deviny Mo, manager of UCLA Health Sports Performance . People either struggle to reach the number and "lose confidence in themselves," or they reach their ideal weight and "go back to old habits that don't support what they worked hard for and bounce back," Mo said. "I like to tell my clients to look at it as a journey of change.”

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Be wary of weight loss trends online

Fad diets and dubious weight loss trends are not new phenomena. However, the digital age has added new challenges in discerning what information is trustworthy and which should be avoided. Social media has allowed self-proclaimed experts to claim to know what is best when it is "really just a form of trust hacking through mass confidence as if they know what’s going on with you,” said Dr. Mikhail Varshavski, known as Dr. Mike on Youtube, said to CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the podcast Chasing Life. If you come across a claim online about weight loss that seems too good to be true, "allow that inner skeptic in you to further test it" by researching on your own or "bringing it up at your next visit with your primary care doctor," he said. 

Talk to a health care professional

With weight loss requiring long-term commitments to adopting healthier habits, it is good to prioritize building relationships with medical professionals who can help you along the journey. "That's the biggest tip I would give: to create a long-lasting relationship with a primary care doctor," said Dr. Mike. While many people use urgent care as their primary source of health care, that is not ideal. You will not get the "benefits of having a longitudinal relationship with a single provider." Dr. Mike said having a solid relationship with your doctor is especially important when it comes to weight loss because "how in the world can you help someone sustain weight loss if there's no continuity of care?"

Build a healthy relationship with eating and exercise over time

Diet and exercise are the foundation for healthy and sustainable weight loss but making intense changes too quickly can cause more harm than good. Instead of focusing on what foods you should avoid, you can figure out how to inject healthier food into your diet, like fruits, vegetables and lean proteins. 

Before you start working out, it is essential to check in with your doctor to ensure you are in proper physical condition before going to the gym. Once you have been cleared, incorporate moderate cardio and weight training a few days a week into your routine. How you do that depends on what works best for you, as long as you get moving. If you want the routine to stick, it is best to work it into your lifestyle organically. If you are trying to lose weight "at the expense of other things that are important, like spending time with your family, that's not going to last," Mo said to UCLA Health . "Something is going to give." Instead, you can introduce the changes subtly so that "you can stay consistent for the long haul."

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Theara Coleman has worked as a staff writer at The Week since September 2022. She frequently writes about technology, education, literature and general news. She was previously a contributing writer and assistant editor at Honeysuckle Magazine, where she covered racial politics and cannabis industry news. 

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Weight loss: 6 strategies for success

Follow these proven strategies to reduce your weight and boost your health.

Hundreds of fad diets, weight-loss programs and outright scams promise quick and easy weight loss. However, the foundation of successful weight loss remains a healthy, calorie-controlled diet combined with increased physical activity. For successful, long-term weight loss, you must make permanent changes in your lifestyle and health habits.

How do you make those permanent changes? Consider following these six strategies for weight-loss success.

1. Make sure you're ready

Long-term weight loss takes time and effort — and a long-term commitment. While you don't want to put off weight loss indefinitely, you should make sure you're ready to make permanent changes to eating and activity habits. Ask yourself the following questions to help you determine your readiness:

• Am I motivated to lose weight?
• Am I too distracted by other pressures?
• Do I use food as a means to cope with stress?
• Am I ready to learn or use other strategies to cope with stress?
• Do I need other support — either from friends or professionals — to manage stress?
• Am I willing to change eating habits?
• Am I willing to change activity habits?
• Do I have the time to spend on making these changes?

Talk to your doctor if you need help addressing stressors or emotions that seem like obstacles to your readiness. When you're ready, you'll find it easier to set goals, stay committed and change habits.

2. Find your inner motivation

No one else can make you lose weight. You must undertake diet and exercise changes to please yourself. What's going to give you the burning drive to stick to your weight-loss plan?

Make a list of what's important to you to help you stay motivated and focused, whether it's an upcoming vacation or better overall health. Then find a way to make sure that you can call on your motivational factors during moments of temptation. You might want to post an encouraging note to yourself on the pantry door or refrigerator, for instance.

While you have to take responsibility for your own behavior for successful weight loss, it helps to have support — of the right kind. Pick people to support you who will encourage you in positive ways, without shame, embarrassment or sabotage.

Ideally, find people who will listen to your concerns and feelings, spend time exercising with you or creating healthy menus, and share the priority you've placed on developing a healthier lifestyle. Your support group can also offer accountability, which can be a strong motivation for sticking to your weight-loss goals.

If you prefer to keep your weight-loss plans private, be accountable to yourself by having regular weigh-ins, recording your diet and exercise progress in a journal, or tracking your progress using digital tools.

3. Set realistic goals

It may seem obvious to set realistic weight-loss goals. But do you really know what's realistic? Over the long term, it's smart to aim for losing 1 to 2 pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) a week. Generally to lose 1 to 2 pounds a week, you need to burn 500 to 1,000 calories more than you consume each day, through a lower calorie diet and regular physical activity.

Depending on your weight, 5% of your current weight may be a realistic goal, at least for an initial goal. If you weigh 180 pounds (82 kilograms), that's 9 pounds (4 kilograms). Even this level of weight loss can help lower your risk of chronic health problems, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

When you're setting goals, think about both process and outcome goals. "Walk every day for 30 minutes" is an example of a process goal. "Lose 10 pounds" is an example of an outcome goal. It isn't essential that you have an outcome goal, but you should set process goals because changing your habits is a key to weight loss.

4. Enjoy healthier foods

Adopting a new eating style that promotes weight loss must include lowering your total calorie intake. But decreasing calories need not mean giving up taste, satisfaction or even ease of meal preparation.

One way you can lower your calorie intake is by eating more plant-based foods — fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Strive for variety to help you achieve your goals without giving up taste or nutrition.

Get your weight loss started with these tips:

• Eat at least four servings of vegetables and three servings of fruits daily.
• Replace refined grains with whole grains.
• Use modest amounts of healthy fats, such as olive oil, vegetable oils, avocados, nuts, nut butters and nut oils.
• Cut back on sugar as much as possible, except the natural sugar in fruit.
• Choose low-fat dairy products and lean meat and poultry in limited amounts.

5. Get active, stay active

While you can lose weight without exercise, regular physical activity plus calorie restriction can help give you the weight-loss edge. Exercise can help burn off the excess calories you can't cut through diet alone.

Exercise also offers numerous health benefits, including boosting your mood, strengthening your cardiovascular system and reducing your blood pressure. Exercise can also help in maintaining weight loss. Studies show that people who maintain their weight loss over the long term get regular physical activity.

How many calories you burn depends on the frequency, duration and intensity of your activities. One of the best ways to lose body fat is through steady aerobic exercise — such as brisk walking — for at least 30 minutes most days of the week. Some people may require more physical activity than this to lose weight and maintain that weight loss.

Any extra movement helps burn calories. Think about ways you can increase your physical activity throughout the day if you can't fit in formal exercise on a given day. For example, make several trips up and down stairs instead of using the elevator, or park at the far end of the lot when shopping.

6. Change your perspective

It's not enough to eat healthy foods and exercise for only a few weeks or even months if you want long-term, successful weight management. These habits must become a way of life. Lifestyle changes start with taking an honest look at your eating patterns and daily routine.

After assessing your personal challenges to weight loss, try working out a strategy to gradually change habits and attitudes that have sabotaged your past efforts. Then move beyond simply recognizing your challenges — plan for how you'll deal with them if you're going to succeed in losing weight once and for all.

You likely will have an occasional setback. But instead of giving up entirely after a setback, simply start fresh the next day. Remember that you're planning to change your life. It won't happen all at once. Stick to your healthy lifestyle and the results will be worth it.

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• Hensrud DD, et al. Ready, set, go. In: The Mayo Clinic Diet. 2nd ed. Mayo Clinic; 2017.
• Duyff RL. Reach and maintain your healthy weight. In: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Complete Food and Nutrition Guide. 5th ed. John Wiley & Sons; 2017.
• Losing weight: Getting started. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/losing_weight/getting_started.html. Accessed Nov. 15, 2019.
• Do you know some of the health risks of being overweight? National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-topics/weight-control/health_risks_being_overweight/Pages/health-risks-being-overweight.aspx. Accessed Nov. 15, 2019.
• 2013 AHA/ACC/TOS guideline for the management of overweight and obesity in adults: A report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines and The Obesity Society. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2014; doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2013.11.004.
• 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture. http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines. Accessed Nov. 15, 2019.
• Physical activity for a healthy weight. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/physical_activity/index.html. Accessed Nov. 15, 2019.

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How To Kickstart Your Weight Loss Journey

It doesn't take much to start your weight loss journey.

Every weight loss journey is a personal one. Because a lot of information is available for beginning the path to weight loss, it can take a lot of work to figure out how to get going. Still, there are ways to ease yourself into losing weight, like changing what and how you eat and getting better sleep . 

However, weight and body mass index (BMI) are not always accurate indicators of overall weight. For example, BMI does not consider body composition, ethnicity, sex, race, and age. Likewise, there is no "normal" body weight, and certain foods and behaviors are not "good" and "bad." 

Consult a healthcare provider if you plan on starting a weight loss journey. For example, a registered dietitian nutritionist can help ensure you get enough nutrients and offer tips that fit your needs . Also, if you have a history of disordered eating, talk to a mental healthcare provider before changing your eating patterns.

Dreamer Company / Getty Images

Weight and Health

Research has found no singular, universal diet for weight loss. Instead, weight loss depends on each person's unique goals and needs. Also, the best diet is one that you can maintain for long periods.

Therefore, setting realistic goals is key before kickstarting a weight loss journey. Generally, weight loss depends on the amount and type of food you eat and when you eat your meals. From there, some evidence suggests that your personal goals should fulfill your nutritional needs, be safe and effective, culturally acceptable, and be inexpensive.

Consulting a healthcare provider may help you figure out your personal goals. For example, a healthcare provider can identify areas you can improve. For example, if you eat out several times per week, you might limit eating out to every Friday. Or, if you find yourself eating for emotional reasons, a healthcare provider can help you adopt other coping skills.

After identifying those areas and making changes, keeping track of your habits helps monitor and maintain your weight loss journey. Then, regularly check in with a healthcare provider to update your goals as needed.

Factors That Affect Weight Loss

Several factors may affect your ability to lose weight, like:

• Social determinants of health :  Where you live and work can influence your diet. For example, some communities might have different access to fresh fruits and vegetables than others.
• Health conditions:  Some diseases impact a person's ability to lose weight. For instance, illnesses that cause hormonal changes and insulin resistance can cause obesity. Examples include polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), Cushing's disease, and diabetes. Also, mental health conditions that impact how you manage stress can also lead to weight gain.
• Medications:  Steroids and antidepressants may cause weight gain.
• Genetics:  In some cases, overweight and obesity run in families. For example, your genes may determine how your body stores fat.

How To Kickstart Weight Loss

There are a few lifestyle changes that you can implement to kickstart your weight loss journey. However, keep in mind that certain foods and behaviors are not "good" or "bad." You can still make room for your favorite indulgences in moderation. 

Fill Your Meals With Vegetables

Adding more vegetables to your diet can help you start losing weight. Vegetables are rich in nutrients like magnesium and vitamin A. Magnesium helps build strong bones, while vitamin A supports your immune system and eyesight.

Vegetables are also low in calories but high in both fiber and water. By making vegetables the main meal staple, you'll eat fewer calories without giving up nutrition. Also, the fiber will add bulk to your meals, satiating your appetite and helping you feel full. 

The amount of vegetables you ought to eat depends on factors like age or activity. A good place to start would be to have at least one to two cups (a cup is the size of a tennis ball) at each meal, including breakfast.

For breakfast, you could scramble a few eggs with the following: 

• Italian seasoning
• Black pepper
• A handful or two of chopped vegetables (e.g., spinach, tomatoes)

You can also enjoy your scramble with a side of fresh fruit. 

Then, at lunch, opt for a salad or include ingredients on a sandwich or wrap, like lettuce or tomato. Add vegetables to grain dishes at dinnertime, such as quinoa with roasted vegetables or whole grain pasta with sautéed broccoli. Or spiralize, chop, or shred vegetables to create fun alternatives like zoodles (zucchini noodles) with pesto or tomato sauce.

Cauliflower rice is another good option. Take four cups of cauliflower florets and chop them using the pulse feature on a food processor until they look like rice grains.

To complete a meal and ensure you're getting essential macronutrients, include a lean protein source, such as salmon, chicken breast, or lentils. Then, add a healthy fat, like avocado, nuts, or seeds.

What Are Healthy Fats?

Healthy fats consist of unsaturated fats in foods from plants and animals, like monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Those healthy fats have several health benefits, like:

• Lowers LDL ("bad") cholesterol, which helps protect your heart
• Protects against dry eyes
• Reduces inflammation
• Promotes the functions of your brain and nervous system

Be Mindful of Your Drinks

Opting for certain drinks can lead to weight loss, too. One review published in 2022 in  JAMA Network Open  found that drinking low- and zero-calorie sweetened beverages rather than sugar-sweetened beverages helped lower body weight and fat percentage.

Water is also a great choice since it has benefits beyond helping manage weight. Drinking water keeps you hydrated, protects your spinal cord, and helps your body get rid of waste. You do not have to give up coffee in the morning, but be sure to include a side of water.

Also, if you don't love the taste of water, add flavor by using the following:

• Fresh mint 
• Ginger root
• Mashed berries
• Squeezed lemon, lime, or orange

Consider experimenting with teas , as well. Many teas, like green tea, are rich in antioxidants.

Of note, people can lose water from the body in many ways, like sweating more if they're very active, being sick with a fever, or living at high altitudes or temperatures. Those and other factors (e.g., age, sex) determine if a person should consume more or less water daily. In other words, not everyone will have the same daily water needs.

Snack Throughout the Day

Snacking is a great way to increase nutrition and energy between meals when you are hungry. Aim to choose snacks that contain fiber, fat, and protein. Those snacks will keep you satisfied and provide essential nutrients.

Consider the following snacks, for instance:

• Nuts or seeds along with fruit
• A cup of raw vegetables with hummus or roasted chickpeas
• String cheese or yogurt
• Air-popped popcorn

Although, keep in mind that snacks can be for pleasure, as well. Incorporate some of your favorite indulgences throughout the week.

Get Enough Sleep

Chronic insufficient sleep can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. A lack of sleep may also result in weight gain. 

According to a 2019 study, people who slept for shorter periods had increased hunger, food cravings, food reward, and food intake the next day compared to people who slept longer.

What Is Food Reward?

Food reward concerns how a person measures the short-term value of food (e.g., if they like or dislike it) while they eat it.

Also, some evidence suggests poor sleeping patterns increase snacking on high-carb and high-fat foods.

Generally, quality sleep promotes successful weight loss. Aim to get the quality sleep you need, which is at least seven hours for adults. Engaging in good sleep hygiene , like going to sleep at the same time every night and limiting time spent looking at screens, can also help you get quality sleep.

A Quick Review

It can take a lot of work to start when you want to lose weight. Fortunately, you can do a few things that can help, such as adding more vegetables to your diet and opting for low-calorie drinks or water. Practicing good snacking and sleeping habits can also benefit weight loss efforts. 

If you need help kickstarting your weight loss, consulting a healthcare provider can help. For example, a registered dietitian nutritionist can offer guidance and insight on how to help you lose weight.

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McGlynn ND, Khan TA, Wang L, et al. Association of low- and no-calorie sweetened beverages as a replacement for sugar-sweetened beverages with body weight and cardiometabolic risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis . JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(3):e222092. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.2092

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Water and healthier drinks .

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. The health benefits of tea .

Yamada Y, Zhang X, Henderson MET, et al. Variation in human water turnover associated with environmental and lifestyle factors .  Science . 2022;378(6622):909-915. doi:10.1126/science.abm8668

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. How much water do you need?

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Yang CL, Schnepp J, Tucker R. Increased hunger, food cravings, food reward, and portion size selection after sleep curtailment in women without obesity . Nutrients . 2019;11(3):663. doi:10.3390/nu11030663

Papatriantafyllou E, Efthymiou D, Zoumbaneas E, Popescu CA, Vassilopoulou E. Sleep deprivation: effects on weight loss and weight loss maintenance .  Nutrients . 2022;14(8):1549. doi:10.3390/nu14081549

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Are you getting enough sleep?

Related Articles

Losing weight: Three ways to start your 2021 weight loss journey TODAY

Fitness is on most people's minds at this time of year. so here's three simple weight loss tricks you can try today

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Happy new year! We're all hoping 2021 is better than last year, especially with a coronavirus vaccine being rolled out across the world. right now, we usually start thinking about our new year's resolutions – and often, weight loss comes top of the list. 

If that's the case for you, you should know diet and exercise are long-term habits which can take a while to get right and see results. They're also the two most important things you can do for your weight loss goals. 

However, there are supplementary things you can start doing right now, to get into the mindset of developing healthy habits this year. Here's our top three quick-fix, weight loss life hacks. 

• Track your calorie intake with the best  Fitbit deals
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Weight loss tip: Cut down on alcohol 

A glass of red wine contains around 150 calories, mostly from the sugar. Meanwhile a pint of beer contains around 225 calories. If you drink a few glasses of alcohol in a single night, it would be easy to take in another 1,000 calories without even factoring it into your day. 

In addition, alcohol acts as a diuretic, artificially dehydrating you and increasing your appetite. This is the reason you crave salty, unhealthy foods after a few drinks, while the hangovers from alcohol are often bad enough to prevent you doing a workout the next day. 

You can avoid the excess calories, unplanned days off and junk food cravings but cutting down on, or quitting, drinking alcohol. Dry January is a popular movement encouraging people to quit for the whole of January, as a way to kickstart your year of health and fitness the right way. 

Weight loss tip: Try food journaling

The practice of food journaling is just spending a few minutes every day recording your meals and snacks. It might not sound like a particularly revolutionary habit, but research has shown it can produce incredible results.

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A study published  way back in 2008  showed that people who monitor their diet by keeping a food diary lose approximately twice as much weight as those who don't keep track of what they eat. 

The study found "most people can lose weight if they have the right tools and support. And food journaling, in conjunction with a weight management program or class, is the ideal combination of tools and support." 

It takes just a few minutes a day to jot down your daily diet in a notepad, but it ensures you're thinking about what you eat rather than snacking mindlessly. Looking at your diet on paper provides a positive psychological effect, helping you to make better choices and plan your diet in future. 

Weight loss tip: Drink more water

A study published in the journal  Clinical Nutrition Research  recruited 15 participants and had them drink a glass of water before mealtimes, in order to find out whether it lowered or raised appetites.

The results were extremely positive, as it was found drinking water reduced the amount of food the participants ate with no significant drop in their satiety levels, so they still felt as full as they ever did.

How this actually works in the human body has yet to be determined, but it's thought we misconstrue thirst or dehydration as hunger, especially when it comes to meal times. The researchers concluded that a glass of water before every meal could be an effective way to curb overeating.

Water is the best thing we could be drinking: it's a calorie-free alternative to sugary sweetened, caffeine-laden beverages, and the human body needs it to survive. Proper hydration allows your brain perform at maximum capacity, and even helps relieve constipation.

More Get Fit For 2021 resources here:

• Best treadmill
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Get Fit for 2021 with Fit&Well As the sun rises on a brand new year, Fit&Well is here to help put last year behind you and make 2021 your happiest, healthiest yet. Here at fitandwell.com , we’ll be bringing you a wealth of workouts, diet plans and expert advice throughout January to help kick-start your health and fitness goals.

Matt Evans is an experienced health and fitness journalist and is currently Fitness and Wellbeing Editor at TechRadar, covering all things exercise and nutrition on Fit&Well's tech-focused sister site. Matt originally discovered exercise through martial arts: he holds a black belt in Karate and remains a keen runner, gym-goer, and infrequent yogi. His top fitness tip? Stretch.

Mobility Begin your day with these seven exercises to feel more limber and energized

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📱  A month from now, you'll thank yourself for starting today. Click to get your 14 days of FREE workouts

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💪🏼  workout, written by sarah louise & bill wynne • updated jan 9, 2022, how to start your weight loss journey (+free guide).

Starting a weight loss journey can seem daunting for many. How do you start? How often should you workout? How much cardio do you need to add? What and how much can you eat? These are all valid questions. That's why today we're sharing our trainn tips on how to start a healthy weight loss journey 👇🏼

#1 Set a realistic weight loss goal  📝   How to start a weight loss journey

You already know the direction you want your fitness journey to go in, but setting yourself a clear & realistic goal is paramount to success.  It will keep you organised in your efforts and make it easier to chart your progress & keep tabs.

How to do it: Ask yourself a few key questions to determine your goal:

Is there a specific weight, feeling or health condition I am trying to achieve?

Do I have a certain time frame, or do I just want to change my overall lifestyle?

How many times per week do I realistically see myself working out long term?

Which healthy habits would I like to include more of in my life?

Which less healthy habits would I like to minimise?

#2 Get the right amount of protein 🥜   How to start a weight loss journey

Protein is an incredible help for your weight loss journey. Firstly, it helps you feel full for longer, so you therefore snack less on sugary treats. And secondly, it maintains and builds up your muscles, so you ensure it’s fat you’re burning off.  

How to do it: Aim to eat 15-25g of protein for each main meal . Examples could be 150g tofu, 120g soy mince, or 200g of cooked red lentils, chickpeas or black beans. Out of your 3 main meals every day , try to keep 1 of those meals solely protein and veg. This could be a spicy black bean chili, or scrambled tofu. For the other 2 meals be sure to include carbs & healthy fats as well.

Just because you're trying to lose weight, it doesn't mean your diet should only consist of protein and vegetables - healthy carbs & fats are just as important. Fats keep your brain & hormones healthy, while carbs give you energy for your day (and workouts). Be sure to include carbs & healthy fats in your diet.

#3 Start a realistic workout routine 💪🏼  How to start a weight loss journey

It’s easy to think non-stop cardio is the answer when it comes to weight loss. When you’re starting your fitness journey build cardio in slowly – you’ll avoid feeling burnt out, losing motivation and having no energy.

Strength training is more important, because it not only burns more calories in the long run, but also maintains your strength and leaves you with more overall rewarding results . How to do it: Aim for 2-4 strength workouts per week and start with a total of 90 mins low intensity cardio per week . For best results, do cardio after your strength workouts or on separate days.

#4 Monitor your progress 📉 How to start a weight loss journey

Whichever fitness journey you’re on, monitoring your progress is useful. It will help you stay on track and motivate you in the long run.  

The 2 best measures of progress are taking pictures and weighing yourself  (in the morning, before eating) Pictures help us see the changes we don’t notice looking in the mirror every day. Comparing them to your start pictures will motivate you more than you think!  

Weighing yourself regularly lets you know if you're losing weight steadily and when it's time to any changes.  

How to do it: Aim to take pictures before your journey and every 8-10 weeks thereafter. Weigh yourself (regularly) in the morning and take note of your progress.

#5 Avoid hitting a plateau ✍🏼  How to start a weight loss journey

‘Plateauing’ is when your progress comes to a standstill – when you haven’t lost weight for a few weeks and you’re not feeling stronger in the gym. Think of it like athletes ‘hitting the wall’. Hitting a plateau happens to all of us, and simply means it’s time to make small but necessary adjustments. It is however important to remind yourself, that your weight won’t necessarily go down every single week - that’s normal. So don't take any drastic measures after a bad few days or a week. How to do it: If 2 or 3 weeks have gone by with no progress at all, try making simple adjustments like; eating more protein, lowering calories slightly, or upping your strength or cardio training. Nothing too drastic.

#6 Healthy approaches to food 🌱 How to start a weight loss journey

It’s no secret that you need to make diet changes, when you're starting a weight loss journey. However, avoid falling into the trap of thinking you can ‘never eat’ your favourite snacks again, or that you have to completely cut them out. It’s not true and it probably won’t be sustainable. Instead, think of all the new things you are gaining in your diet - new healthy recipes, new snacks, more energy and veggies you probably haven't cooked with before. It’s time to learn new healthy ways of living and eating.  

Summary  

There can be plenty of changes to make when starting a weight loss journey. That's why a slow and steady approach will give you the best results in the long run

To recap here are the initial steps you should go through:

Set yourself a realistic goal

Build in strength training 2-4 times per week

Slowly build up cardio

Include protein with almost every meal

Include carbs & fats for 2 meals per day

Make minor adjustments if your progress stalls

Keep a routine of tracking your progress

Enjoy food with a healthy mindset of gaining rather than cutting out

Enter your email below to download our FREE 20 week  Trainn Guide  designed to help you level up your workouts. Created by our personal trainers with week-by-week adjustments to progress your journey in the right direction. Every week receive effective workouts, high-protein recipes and healthy habits to live by. Sign up for FREE below 👇🏼

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How to Lose Weight the Healthy Way, According to Experts

Extreme diets might help you lose weight fast, but dietitians say the results won't last (and are potentially dangerous for your health). Try these science-backed tips instead.

We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.

Editor's note: Weight loss, health and body image are complex subjects — before deciding to go on a diet, we invite you to gain a broader perspective by reading our exploration into the hazards of diet culture .

The truth is, you don't, and Good Housekeeping does not recommend rapid weight loss. " Losing weight quickly is not safe for most people because of the immense physical demand it puts on the body ," says Stefani Sassos, M.S., R.D.N., C.D.N., NASM-CPT , the director of the Good Housekeeping Institute Nutrition Lab. There are serious risks associated with rapid weight loss, including developing gallstones, dehydration , malnutrition and even potentially life-threatening electrolyte imbalances, she says.

Plus, weight re-gain after a rapid loss is not only discouraging — it's taxing. "Losing weight rapidly and then regaining it puts an enormous amount of pressure on the body and can stress your heart, blood vessels and other organs," adds Sassos.

The fact is, keeping lost weight off is extremely difficult. But the good news is, bodyweight is not the end all be all of health and happiness, and you can be fit and healthy and feel really good, even if you're not as thin as you'd like to be.

All that said, if losing weight is a priority for you, there are better ways to approach it than the severe restrictions, untested supplements or bizarre food combos you see on social media . Sassos advises getting nutritional support, especially if you've tried for years and haven't had lasting success. "It’s important to work with a registered dietitian to help you set realistic goals for your lifestyle, body type and more," she says. There could also be other factors at play, such as hormonal imbalances and thyroid issues that are making it hard for you to keep weight off .

Below, registered dietitians share their best advice for eating and exercising healthfully — rest assured that these tips are just plain good for you, even as they set you up for reaching and maintaining a healthy weight.

Safe Weight Loss Tips, According to Nutritionists

1. Up your fiber intake.

Some 95% of us aren't getting enough dietary fiber, says Sassos, which is a shame because not only does fiber help keep your digestive system humming (and your poops regular), it also can add to satiety, making you feel less hungry.

" High-fiber foods take longer to digest and also provide volume, so you’ll feel fuller on less calories ," says Sassos. "Fiber can help keep you regular, control blood sugar levels and even lower cholesterol." Women will want to aim for 25 g of fiber a day (38 g if you're a man) from high-fiber foods like oatmeal, beans and other pulses, as well as seeds and fruits. "Just ramp it up gradually to avoid gas and bloating," says Sassos. "As you increase the fiber in your diet, make sure to also focus on hydration to help the fiber expand in your stomach and digest properly."

2. Start weight training.

Building muscle is essential for your body for many reasons, but it also aids in achieving a healthy weight. In general, regular exercise can help you manage your weight, but "the more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolic rate," says Sassos, who is also a personal trainer.

Strength training can be done with weights , resistance bands or using your own body weight in activities like yoga and Pilates . Don't worry if you're a weight-lifting beginner : Just know that because muscle is denser than fat, you might be losing body fat even if the number on the scale doesn't reflect weight loss . "You can get a better glimpse at the benefits of strength training when looking specifically at your body composition including metrics such as body fat," says Sassos.

3. Eat more plants.

Instead of restricting certain foods or food groups , focus on incorporating an abundance of nourishing foods into your diet to promote overall health and weight management. Case in point: Produce is naturally low in fat and calories, but it's also nutrient-dense and filling, since the water and fiber adds volume to dishes .

You can create lower-calorie versions of your favorite dishes by swapping out higher calorie ingredients for fruits and veggies . Think cauliflower rice in place of starchy white rice or doing a 50/50 blend. If you're aiming to make any meal mostly veggies (at least 50% of whatever you’re having), you’re on the right track to better health.

4. Build a better breakfast.

A balanced breakfast that is stacked with fiber, protein, healthy fats will revolutionize your day. In fact, skipping breakfast may influence your hunger hormones later in the day, leading to you feeling "hangry" in the afternoon and making it harder to refrain from oversized portions or cravings for sugar and refined carbohydrates.

The best breakfast recipes are ones that will fill you up, keep you satisfied and stave off cravings later in the day. Aim to eat anywhere between 350 and 500 calories for your morning meal , and make sure you're including a source of lean protein plus filling fat (think eggs, unsweetened Greek yogurt , nuts or nut butters) and fiber (veggies, fruit or 100% whole grains ). Starting your day with a blood sugar-stabilizing blend of nutrients will help you slim down.

5. Skip sugary beverages.

Liquid calories simply don't fill you up in quite the same way as real food. Skipping sugary beverages is often the easiest way to lose weight faster, and as a bonus, it's good for heart health and diabetes prevention, too.

So monitor your intake of juice, soda, sweetened coffee and tea and alcoholic beverages. If you consume one of each of those beverages during the day, you'll have taken in at least 800 extra calories by nighttime — and you'll still be hungry. (Incidentally, alcohol may even suppress the metabolism of fat , making it tougher for you to burn those calories.)

6. Get moving.

Consider walking for weight loss and better overall health. Movement of any type can be a very useful weight management tool, but walking is a great, inexpensive option that doesn't require any extra gym equipment except for a good pair of walking shoes . While any amount of walking is good for you, one study showed that people who walked 8,200 steps per day were less likely to become obese , suffer from major depressive disorder and other chronic health related conditions.

7. Eat mindfully.

Slowing down to focus on things like the taste, texture, temperature and smell of what you're eating can help with portion control. But mindful eating also means focusing on what you're eating and when, which can help you identify unnecessary munching moments you may not realize you're engaging in throughout the day.

More importantly, try to avoid eating foods that you don't choose for yourself . Mindful eating can help shift the focus of control from external authorities and cues to your body's own inner wisdom. Noticing where your extra calories actually come from is another step to making better choices in the short and long term.

8. Keep things spicy.

Spicy foods can actually help you cut back on calories. That's because capsaicin , a compound found in jalapeño and cayenne peppers, may (slightly) increase your body's release of stress hormones such as adrenaline, which can speed up your ability to burn calories. What's more, eating hot peppers may help you eat more slowly and avoid overeating. You're more likely to stay more mindful of when you're full. Some great choices besides hot peppers are ginger and turmeric .

9. Get more sleep.

According to research, getting less than seven hours of sleep per night can slow down your metabolism. Chronic sleep deprivation may even alter hormones that control hunger, and some studies show that there is a connection between poor quality food choices and less sleep.

Good sleep has a ton of other benefits too, like boosting alertness, improving mood and overall quality of life. So don't skimp on your ZZZ's, and you'll be rewarded with an extra edge when it comes to overall health and losing weight. Start small by pushing up bedtime by 15 to 30 minutes — every minute counts!

10. Keep a food journal.

People who log everything they eat — especially those who log while they're eating — are more likely to lose weight and keep it off for the long haul, studies consistently indicate . The habit also takes less than 15 minutes per day on average when you do it regularly, according to a study published in the journal Obesity .

Start tracking on a calorie-counting app like MyFitnessPal or use a regular notebook. It'll help you stay accountable for what you've eaten. Plus, you can easily identify areas that could use a little improvement when it's written out in front of you.

11. Resist the urge to skip a meal.

Nutrition experts stress that skipping meals will not make you lose weight faster. If a hectic day makes a sit-down meal impossible, stash a piece of fruit and pack of nut butter in your car or purse and keep snacks in your desk drawer — anything that will keep you from going hungry!

Going long periods of time without food does double-duty harm on our healthy eating efforts by both slowing down your metabolism and priming you for a binge later in the day. Make it your mission to eat three meals and two snacks every day , and don't wait longer than three to four hours without eating. Set a "snack alarm" on your phone if needed.

12. Munch on mineral-rich foods.

Potassium , magnesium and calcium can help to serve as a counter-balance for bloat-inducing sodium. Foods that are rich in potassium include leafy greens, most "orange" foods (oranges, sweet potatoes, carrots, melon), bananas, tomatoes and cruciferous veggies — especially cauliflower. Low-fat dairy, plus nuts and seeds can also help give you a bloat-busting boost. They've also been linked to a whole host of additional health benefits, such as lowering blood pressure, controlling blood sugar and reducing the risk of chronic disease overall.

13. Prioritize stress management.

Weight loss can be influenced by many factors, including stress . When you're stressed, your body conserves energy which can lead to fewer calories burned and possible weight gain in the long run.

Not only that, stress can trigger unhealthy coping behaviors like stress eating driven by cortisol, a stress hormone that increases appetite and cravings for high-calorie foods. Stress can also interfere with the brain's ability to recognize fullness, leading to continuous eating. Practicing self-care activities can help combat stress and its impact on eating habits .

A registered dietitian with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern University and a Master of Science degree in Clinical Nutrition from New York University, Jaclyn “Jackie” London handled all of Good Housekeeping ’s nutrition-related content, testing, and evaluation from 2014 to 2019. Prior to joining GH, she was a clinical dietitian at Mount Sinai Hospital. Jackie has also appeared as an expert guest on The Dr. Oz Show and The Today Show . She is also author of the book Dressing on the Side (and Other Diet Myths Debunked) .

Amy (she/her) is a registered dietitian with the Nutrition Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute , covering nutrition- and health-related content and product testing. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Miami University of Ohio and a master's degree in clinical nutrition from NYU. Prior to Good Housekeeping , she worked at one of the largest teaching hospitals in New York City as a cardiac transplant dietitian. She has authored numerous chapters in clinical nutrition textbooks and has also worked in PR and marketing for food company start-ups.

Valerie Agyeman (she/her) is a women's health dietitian and the host of the Flourish Heights podcast, where she produces science-driven content covering overlooked nutrition, wellness and women’s health topics. She has over 10 years of nutrition communications, corporate wellness and clinical nutrition experience. Valerie is a trusted expert and regularly appears on networks including ABC’s Good Morning Washington , and she is a contributing expert to publications like Women’s Health , The Thirty and Shape .

@media(max-width: 64rem){.css-o9j0dn:before{margin-bottom:0.5rem;margin-right:0.625rem;color:#ffffff;width:1.25rem;bottom:-0.2rem;height:1.25rem;content:'_';display:inline-block;position:relative;line-height:1;background-repeat:no-repeat;}.loaded .css-o9j0dn:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/goodhousekeeping/static/images/Clover.5c7a1a0.svg);}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.loaded .css-o9j0dn:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/goodhousekeeping/static/images/Clover.5c7a1a0.svg);}} Low-Calorie Meal Plans

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Inside Kelly Clarkson's weight loss journey after she was unable to use Ozempic

A fter joining the growing list of celebrities accused of using weight loss medications, Kelly Clarkson admitted that a supplement aided her dramatic transformation .

During Monday's episode of her self-titled show, the singer opened up about her health journey alongside her guest Whoopi Goldberg .

Kelly revealed she turned to medication to help her shed the pounds and shut down rumors as she specified it wasn't Ozempic .

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She told The View host: "My doctor chased me for like two years and I was like, 'No, I'm afraid of it. I already have thyroid problems,' I was afraid."

Despite her initial hesitancy, Kelly has reportedly lost 60lb, after weighing 203lb at her heaviest which sparked concern with her physician as she is only 5ft 3in.

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The 42-year-old rose to fame in 2002 after winning the first season of American Idol and although she had a slender frame, Kelly revealed she still received nasty comments about her looks.

"Even on American Idol I was really thin, but I was bigger than the other girls on the show, so people would say things to me," she admitted to People in 2017.

"But luckily I am super confident, so I've never had a problem with shutting people down and saying, 'Yeah, you know, that's just what I'm rocking. It's fine,'" she added.

Although Kelly stated she didn't feel pressure "to be a certain weight," she admitted that at her "skinniest" she "wanted to kill herself" during her post-American Idol rise to fame.

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Speaking to Attitude Magazine , the Stronger star revealed: "I was miserable, like, inside and out, for four years of my life. But no one cared, because aesthetically you make sense."

As Kelly clarified these feelings were partly due to not yet having control of her career, she added: "People are always pushing us, but we're also pushing ourselves and you don't really know your limits until it's too late sometimes."

In recent years, the songstress has displayed a fuller figure as well as welcoming two children, Kelly had previously said that living in Los Angeles made it hard to exercise regularly.

Since relocating to New York , she now enjoys strolls across the city alongside the continued success of her talk show, which came after her role as a coach on The Voice from 2018 to 2021.

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I lost 73 pounds in 10 months and still go to my favorite fast-food chains. Here are 5 of my go-to meals.

• I lost 73 pounds in 10 months and still like going to my favorite fast-food chains .
• I try to order protein-packed items, like Taco Bell's black-bean Crunchwrap Supreme.
• I load up on veggies with a tuna footlong from Subway or a bowl at Chipotle.

Like the majority of Americans who eat fast food at least once a week , I love grabbing a crispy Filet-O-Fish sandwich at McDonald's or a protein-packed Crunchwrap at Taco Bell every so often.

As someone who lost 73 pounds and is continuing to work toward other fitness goals, I prioritize lighter, more satisfying fast-food finds to help me stay full. Luckily, eating lighter meals on the run doesn't have to mean sacrificing taste or convenience.

By choosing wisely at popular fast-food chains, I can still eat delicious, balanced meals that support my taste buds and health goals. Here's what I order whenever I want to eat at my favorite chains.

The tuna footlong at Subway tastes fresh and is super filling

Subway offers lots of customization, and I love the chain's tuna footlong stacked with veggies . My go-to sandwich order includes lettuce, spinach, tomato, cucumber, pickles, green and banana peppers, and black olives.

The finished sub is brimming with protein and fiber, keeping me fueled and satisfied. I also save half of the sandwich for later, making my wallet and waistline happy. It's a tasty win-win.

The Filet-O-Fish sandwich from McDonald's is absolutely delicious

My go-to order at McDonald's is the Filet-O-Fish sandwich — it's crispy on the outside, buttery and flaky on the inside, and packed with protein to keep me going.

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And yes, I'll still snag a small side of fries because they're too good to pass up. Remember, it's all about moderation, not deprivation.

The soup-and-sandwich combo from Panera has a comfort-food feel in every bite

Nothing says comfort like Panera's Mexican street-corn chowder, especially alongside a sandwich in their You Pick Two deal. This allows the customer to pair soups, pasta, half salads, or half sandwiches with each other.

For a more satisfying option, I pay $0.50 more to swap the bread for a full bagel. I typically save part of the bagel sandwich to have some leftovers for later.

I usually get a veggie-loaded bowl at Chipotle

Chipotle is my go-to stop for a flavor-packed meal I can feel good about. I usually order a bowl, which is a treasure trove of fiber from rice and beans. I also love adding a burst of flavor with salsas and vegetables.

I ask for white rice, a ton of lettuce, black and pinto beans, double tomato and roasted chile-corn salsas, guacamole, and sides of sour cream and cheese. It's seriously good and super budget-friendly.

I'll grab the black-bean Crunchwrap Supreme from Taco Bell for a tasty on-the-go meal

Taco Bell's black-bean Crunchwrap Supreme is a game changer. I order mine with tomatoes, lettuce, guacamole, and protein-rich black beans and top the meal with tangy avocado-verde salsa and hot sauce.

It's perfect when I'm between meetings or errands and need a quick pick-me-up.

Watch: US vs India McDonald's | Food Wars

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#154: 8 Effective Tips To Boost Your Motivation for Weight Loss (Or Any Other Goal!‪)‬ Body Bites With Bec

We all know how challenging it can be to stay consistent with the things that we KNOW we should be doing daily to reach our goals. So, today, I want to share 8 of my best tips with you to help you optimise your motivation each day so that you can reach your goals faster and with more ease!   Links: Podcast on sleep: Episode 35: Can Sleep Loss Make You Gain Weight?  Download my FREE eBook with 4 15 minute meals: click here Start your weight loss, gut healing and anti-inflammatory journey now with my 3 Week Body Reset Continue your journey and figuring out YOUR own balance in the Health with Bec Tribe Explore my free recipes & website: Click here  Follow me on instagram: @health_with_bec      

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'Home Town' Star Ben Napier's Weight Loss Transformation Has Deeper Implications

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The Big Picture

• Home Town star Ben Napier's weight-loss journey is an inspiring transformation driven by a desire to be healthier for his family.
• Fans have been thrilled by Ben's 95-pound weight loss, which has been openly shared on the show, creating a deeper connection with viewers.
• Ben's dedication to health and fitness was sparked by a family history of health issues, motivating him to make positive changes.

Fans of HGTV's hit show Home Town have fallen for the sweet-as-pie couple Erin and Ben Napier . Like many other shows on the network, the series uses a husband and wife team to help future homeowners' dreams come true. They have gotten to know the couple as the adoring wife who designs their client's homes and her burly bear of a husband who handles the construction elements. Through all the ins and outs of giving a home a new life, fans have been granted some intimate sneak peaks into the Napiers and their family. But after Ben Napier's recent physical transformation, they might have been shocked to see the new man on their screens. After undergoing a dramatic 95-pound weight loss, Ben revealed he did it to be healthier , in order to live a better and happier life. And fans couldn't be happier for him!

Adding to the cavalcade of home renovation and flipping shows, Home Town joined the HGTV lineup following a successful 2016 pilot and first season. Capturing the charm of the historical town of Laurel, Mississippi, Home Town follows Ben and Erin Napier as they work with their clients to select a home which the Napiers will turn into their dream home. With the new owners not participating in the process, Erin and Ben would often work with their clients' loved ones to throw in some secret projects to help add that special spark that makes it their own. Home Town has been a sugary-sweet show that has captured the heart of the Napiers, and the network as a whole. But like many of the other personalities on the network, some off-screen moments have helped shape the future of what viewers will see. For Ben Napier, his life could have been at risk had he not had a new drive and determination to better himself.

A heartwarming renovation series featuring Ben and Erin Napier, who work together to restore old homes in Laurel, Mississippi. Erin, an artist and designer, and Ben, a skilled carpenter, combine their talents to breathe new life into neglected properties. The series showcases their journey from initial consultation with homeowners to the final reveal, emphasizing the importance of preserving architectural heritage and enhancing the beauty of their community.

Ben Napier's Weight Loss Journey Was Sparked by an Embarrassing Moment

Ben and Erin Napier met one another as students while attending Jones County Junior College. The school was close to their hometown and home of their future pet project, Home Town . Their impact on their community has extended beyond their HGTV show , as Jones County Junior College named a building that was home to teaching craftsmanship, designers, craftspeople, and trade work the Erin and Ben Napier School of Design and Building Arts. They later took their educations over to the University of Mississippi, where their love continued to blossom. The Napiers officially became husband and wife in 2008. As they expanded their family, a major part of what made Home Town grow was the foundation Ben and Erin had established.

A physical transformation of a house was not the only transformation Home Town fans have seen in recent seasons. Ben Napier's extraordinary physical transformation has given fans of him and the show something to cheer for. The moment Ben knew something needed to be changed was when, during an interview, he noticed his shirt would not stay buttoned. He knew it looked bad, but he also knew that it was more than that. Following that moment, the HGTV star jump started his important weight-loss journey . While he started this journey on his own volition, something else sparked this major transformation. Upon undergoing shoulder surgery, Ben's doctor altered him to the necessity of blood pressure medication, which made him realize that he needed to change his entire lifestyle . Striving to be healthier was yet another factor in his desire to shed some weight.

As his wife Erin noted, Ben got hardcore about his health and fitness. In addition to his appearance, Ben was driven to be present for his family, namely the couple's two children, Helen and Mae. He wanted to be there for his children for as long as possible, and knowing that he had some health scares before the age of 40, he was determined to better himself for everyone in his life. His journey was bigger than just him. Ben knew that his well-being affected everyone he loved. Unlike some other HGTV shows, Ben and Erin brought his health journey to the screen during the filming of Home Town . In a 2022 episode, Ben discussed how he was changing his lifestyle for his daughters. By bringing this to the attention of long-time fans of Home Town , it allowed them to learn about the man they loved watching. It was also an opportunity for Ben to inspire the viewers and people in their own lives.

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The ‘Flip or Flop’ stars experienced their fair share of drama off-camera.

A History of Family Health Problems Is the Driving Force Behind Ben Napier's Health Journey

Ben has disclosed that health issues have run in his family. With those as a factor, Ben knew he had the power to change his future by attending to his present. Before his father's 60th birthday, his father underwent emergency bypass surgery. Coincidentally, his paternal grandfather also underwent heart surgery that year, while he lost his maternal grandfather from a stroke. The family history awakened Ben to the problems that might come down the path for him during his own life. With his goal to be there for his family, Ben went hard into the world of health, fitness, and diet.

Like many individuals hoping to lose weight, it was the old faithfuls that helped do the job. Ben used the family's home gym and drastically changed his eating habits. His wife also shared that he would get up in the early morning hours to play basketball in the backyard. Since he began his weight-loss journey, Ben has dropped a whopping 95 pounds. It's certainly an incredible accomplishment to be celebrated! Ben is a complete inspiration to many hoping to follow in his footsteps. When it comes to eating better, Ben focused mostly on one large meal for dinner with healthy snacks with his wife at night. Thanks to his wife's eating habits, Ben adapted his ways — helping him lose weight has become a full family affair! With Erin being there for Ben to motivate him, it proved the beautiful bond they have that has been showcased on Home Town .

Ben Napier Has Been Bettering Himself Since His Daughter's Birth

Before his massive weight-loss transformation, losing weight had always been on Ben Napier’s mind. As fans of Home Town are aware, Ben and Erin began their HGTV journey only shortly before Erin became pregnant with the couple’s first daughter. While fatherhood would play a major factor later on in his health journey, the birth of his first child, Helen, jump started it all . With a booming stature at 6’6", dropping pounds was quite noticeable for him, and others. During his first stint at weight loss, he told Country Living that he lost 55 pounds in a year, stating that it was a noticeable drop that fans could see during the filming of Season 3.

He joked that due to the way Home Town was filmed, he and Erin would have to go back and do talking head interviews two months later as his weight had fluctuated. It became quite noticeable to him when the shirt he wore during filming was too big during those interviews . As much as Erin wants Ben to be healthier, she had stated that she wanted him to stay “Big Ben” and not be called “Slim Ben” because of his new appearance — no matter what, she'd still call him “Big” because of his generous heart.

And now, the HGTV star's mission is accomplished! Ben's health goal has been met, and he and Erin couldn't be happier. He's even been none too shy to share some shirtless selfies with the world! Erin has stated that she wants to see her husband live forever, so she's beyond proud of her hubby's success. Home Town has been that feel-good show that has brought viewers to HGTV season after season. Thanks to Ben's feel-good story, fans feel even more connected to the Napiers.

All episodes of Home Town are available to stream on Max in the U.S.

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The Government Takes On Ticketmaster

Explaining a case that could reshape the multibillion-dollar live entertainment industry..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

Hi, everybody, it’s Sabrina. Before we start today, we wanted to invite you to something special. The Tribeca Festival is starting a brand new annual gala to celebrate excellence in audio. For this, the inaugural year, they’ve chosen to celebrate “The Daily.” We know you, our incredible audience, live all over the world, but we’d like to invite you to join us.

The gala is in New York, on June 9, at 5:00 pm. You can get all the details and buy tickets at tribecafil.com/thedaily. That’s tribecafilm.com/thedaily. I’ll be there, Michael too, along with a bunch of us from the show. Mo Rocca is going to host it. So if you’re in the area or you’re visiting, we’d love to see you there. OK, on with today’s show. From “The New York Times,” I’m Sabrina Tavernise. And this is “The Daily.”

I have got a bone to pick, as usual, with Ticketmaster.

The biggest problem that I have right now is not getting tickets to the Era Tour.

Loading, loading, loading. Want them so bad. Want them so bad. Want them so bad. Nope.

I looked at my account and the tickets are gone.

Over the past few years, few companies have provoked as much anger —

I cannot afford $1,500 tickets.

— among music fans.

Oh, my god.

— as Ticketmaster.

I literally hate Ticketmaster. Like, there is no company I think I hate more than Ticketmaster.

Ticketmaster ought to look in the mirror and say, I’m the problem. It’s me.

Last week, the Department of Justice announced it was taking the company to court. Today, my colleague David McCabe, on how the government’s case could reshape America’s multi-billion dollar live music industry.

It’s Thursday, May 30.

So, David, good to have you back. You have become a beloved guest at “The Daily,” because the government keeps bringing these huge antitrust cases and we keep turning to you to explain them.

Well, it’s a pleasure to be back. And today I have a question for you, which is, what was the first concert you ever went to?

Oh, my gosh. The first concert I ever went to? Oh, my god, I think it was Van Halen in the 1980s, which maybe is before you were born.

You know, no comment, but that’s a pretty good first concert.

And the case that we’re here to talk about today is actually all about shows like a Van Halen concert in 1980.

OK, I’m ready. So let’s get into it. This case, as you and I both know, is about Ticketmaster. So tell us about this case.

So anyone who attends concerts regularly or even irregularly probably knows about Ticketmaster. It’s kind of the ubiquitous digital box office. And those people are probably also familiar with the ubiquitous fan complaints about Ticketmaster — that the company puts high fees that they don’t entirely explain onto tickets, that tickets will sell out really fast during these sort of frantic pre-sales for tours, and that the website doesn’t always work very well.

And probably the most infamous Ticketmaster incident in recent memory was a couple of years ago when the pre-sale began for Taylor Swift’s massive Eras Tour. And fans got locked out, couldn’t get tickets and were absolutely furious. And it really put in the spotlight the power of this company over the ability to buy a ticket to a live music event.

So the DOJ is pointing the finger at this company for all this consumer angst at Ticketmaster.

Well, and when you say this company, it’s not just Ticketmaster. It’s the company that owns Ticketmaster, a company called Live Nation Entertainment. We’ll say Live Nation for short. And it’s a giant company. And to think about just how gigantic and how expansive Live Nation is, I think it’s helpful to think about the fan experience of going to a concert.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

It starts with buying a ticket. And maybe you buy a group of tickets for you and your friends. And then one of your friends can’t make it. They’ve got other plans. You resell their tickets so you can make your money back. And then the day of the show you go, it’s this big production. It’s at a venue. Someone has booked the artist to appear. You go, you buy a beer, you have a good time.

Live Nation is involved in many parts of that process, and that starts with being a major concert promoter. They’re the one putting it on, arranging the event. They’re also selling the tickets through Ticketmaster. Sometimes they’re also involved in reselling the tickets when your friend can’t make it.

And not only that, they actually sometimes manage the artists. And they own or operate the venues where the show is happening. So even down to that beer you’re drinking to enjoy with the show, they might be involved in picking the person who sells that beer to you.

So, basically, they’re everywhere.

They’re everywhere. And the Justice Department says that’s a big part of the problem, that its power is bad for fans.

Good morning. Earlier today, the Department of Justice —

And we really heard that come through at the press conference last week that the Justice Department held to announce this case —

People always remember the first time that they were transformed by live music.

— where Merrick Garland, the Attorney General, really personalized this issue.

I still remember, as a senior in college, going to a Bonnie Raitt concert and seeing a —

He told this story about going to a Bonnie Raitt concert in college.

Merrick Garland did?

Yeah, Merrick Garland did.

I don’t think of Merrick Garland and Bonnie Raitt together in the same sentence.

Well, apparently, in college he attended a Bonnie Raitt show. And the thing he highlighted was that the opener was a young Bruce Springsteen.

We all knew that we had just seen the future of rock and roll.

And in that story, the attorney general seems to be getting at two important threads of this case. The first is that concerts are formative for the people who attend them. And the second is that concerts are an important way that artists reach their fans. That young Bruce Springsteen went on to now be one of the biggest touring artists in the world.

The Justice Department filed this lawsuit on behalf of fans who should be able to go to concerts without a monopoly standing in their way. We have filed this lawsuit on behalf of artists who should be able —

And so the Justice Department is responding here to a feeling that Live Nation, this giant company, has become a gatekeeper for both artists and fans. And that has allowed it to pay artists less sometimes, but also charge fans those fees that they’re so mad about.

It is time for fans and artists to stop paying the price for Live Nation’s monopoly. Thank you.

So help us understand how things have gotten to this point, where Live Nation is so powerful that the DOJ feels the need to sue them.

Well, this company has a long history of tangling with the Justice Department. And that really starts in 2009, when Live Nation and Ticketmaster announced that they were going to merge. And this merger, this big corporate deal, will marry Live Nation’s concert promotion business, the business of putting on shows, with Ticketmaster’s experience as an online ticketing platform.

And the Justice Department — a big part of its job is looking at corporate mergers to figure out if they will substantially lessen competition in the economy. So the Justice Department reviews this merger, and in 2010 decides we will let this merger go through. But we do have some concerns that it might reduce competition in the industry of ticketing. And so we’re going to reach a legal settlement with Live Nation and Ticketmaster that puts conditions on the deal, that requires the company to sell some assets to kind of lessen its footprint. And so the merger goes through. And that creates the sort of modern day Live Nation, Ticketmaster combination.

So the government ultimately actually just lets it happen.

That’s right. They put conditions on the merger, but ultimately they let it go through. And the company continues to tangle with the Justice Department over the next 15 or so years. But mostly they keep getting bigger. They keep growing their footprint across this ecosystem that creates some of the biggest concert tours in the country.

So just how big has the company actually become? Give me some numbers.

Well, let’s start here. Every year, they sell about 600 million tickets.

600 million tickets? That’s more than the number of people in the United States of America.

Yeah. And that is a global number, but it’s a lot of tickets. Right? The Department of Justice estimates that in the United states, Live Nation controls about percent of ticketing to major venue concerts.

So that’s a big percentage. They also own or control, like, in excess of 250 venues, including a big percentage, the Justice Department says, of major amphitheaters, the kind of big outdoor concert venues that are ultimately kind of in between a nightclub and the size of a big football stadium. And they manage hundreds of artists. They have this direct relationship with artists. And so this company is wide and it is deep into this industry.

So ultimately, the Justice Department says that — and I’m going to quote here — it’s the, quote, “gatekeeper for delivery of nearly all live music in America today.”

OK, it’s big. But as we know from other DOJ cases — and this is something that you have taught me, David — the cases against Apple and Google, just being big is not in and of itself a problem.

That’s right. Where companies run afoul of the law is when they use their power as a monopoly against their competitors in order to stay powerful or get more powerful.

And the Justice Department says that Live Nation has built a complex machine to do just that.

We’ll be right back.

So what does the DOJ say that Live Nation is able to do because it is so big? How does it use its bigness?

So the most prominent allegation is that Live Nation uses its power as a concert promoter to entrench its power in ticketing. As a reminder, when you put together a concert, a promoter works with an artist to book the show. They book the show at a venue. And that venue, for all of its shows, has to choose a ticketing provider, a digital box office where people can buy their way into the shows.

And what the Justice Department is arguing here is that Live Nation is able to wield its big artists, the tours that it promotes, as a cudgel to force venues to use Ticketmaster, its ticketing service. So the Justice Department says that in an instance in which a venue switched away from using Ticketmaster, that Live Nation routed tours around that venue, which of course means less money for that venue and a problem for their business.

Interesting. So basically, Live Nation is saying, look, if you want Taylor Swift in your little amphitheater over there, you’re going to have to use Ticketmaster. It’s Ticketmaster or no Taylor Swift.

That is effectively the behavior the Justice Department is arguing has happened here. They’re saying that Live Nation does this in veiled ways and that, more importantly, it’s really understood by venues throughout the industry that if you don’t use Ticketmaster, that you really risk out on losing important Live Nation managed tours. And then once these venues do choose Ticketmaster, Live Nation locks them into these long, exclusive ticketing contracts, which can last for as long as 14 years.

14 years? That’s pretty long. What else is DOJ alleging that Live Nation has done?

Another thing the Justice Department says that Live Nation does is use its power as an owner of venues to get away with paying artists less money for their tours.

So how does that work?

Basically, the argument is that because Live Nation controls so many of certain types of venues, that there are instances in which an artist’s tour might largely be dominated by Live Nation owned venues. And the Justice Department is saying that Live Nation knows that artists don’t have a lot of other options for where to play their concerts and, as a result, is able to pay those artists less. Because there’s not competitive pressure when they’re booking those tours.

That seems pretty unfair to artists who would really benefit from other venues owned by other people competing for them.

And that’s exactly what the Justice Department is saying, that artists lose out, not just fans. And there’s a striking story in the complaint that I think crystallizes how the Justice Department sees these streams of power coming together.

And it concerns a concert, which the lawsuit doesn’t name, in 2021. My colleague Ben Sisario has reported that it was a Kanye West concert featuring Drake. It was a benefit show, and it was taking place at the LA Coliseum in Los Angeles.

One of the companies involved in putting on this show was a firm called TEG. They do promotion and ticketing of the kind that Live Nation does. And the government says that Live Nation saw this as a threat, that they saw this company TEG involved in this show, and they were worried about what it would mean for them, and that they then undertook steps to put pressure on TEG and make their life difficult in a couple of ways.

The first was that TEG had reached a deal to sell some tickets, according to the complaint, through StubHub. StubHub is a secondary resale market. You can buy tickets to shows when people aren’t going to use them.

Right, and competitor to Ticketmaster, right?

And competitor to Ticketmaster. And the Justice Department says that Live Nation found out about that and said, well, we have the exclusive ticketing contract for this venue. And so we will make sure that if you bought your ticket on StubHub, you won’t be allowed to come in to this show.

Really? Like, they couldn’t come into the concert?

Well, and ultimately, the complaint says that StubHub had to work with Ticketmaster to fulfill the tickets that had already been sold, that they stopped selling new tickets, and that hundreds of people who bought their tickets on StubHub didn’t get into the show.

That seems very unfair. Like, they bought a ticket.

Well, and according to the Justice Department, it didn’t stop there, that Live Nation used its industry connections to pressure an investor in TEG, this company that it viewed as a threat, and that it pushed that investor to pull back from its relationship with TEG, which obviously would have weakened this potential competitor.

So these are very strong armed tactics. What is the DOJ saying is the result of all of this? What does all of this amount to?

It says that all of this adds up to higher fees for consumers and a worse product, a worse quality ticketing experience when fans go to buy. Because Live Nation doesn’t have to compete with anyone. It doesn’t have to innovate in response to competitors. So, among other things, the Justice Department wants to break this company up, at the very least by separating Ticketmaster, the ticketing unit, the box office unit, from the rest of Live Nation that does all these other things — promotes concerts, owns venues, et cetera.

So in other words, go back to the way it was in the beginning.

Yeah, or as much as you can.

And why does that fix the problem?

Well, the Justice Department doesn’t say a lot on this point. But it’s clear that what they want to do with this lawsuit is disrupt this cycle where Live Nation’s power reinforces itself again, and again, and again.

And what does Live Nation say in response? I imagine they disagree with all of this.

They do. They’ve said a lot. And they start out by saying something that will be familiar to you, because other companies that have been accused of antitrust violations say it as well, which is that they don’t fit the profile of a monopoly, that their overall profit margins are lower than those of companies like Meta, or Apple, or Google, and that even if you look at Ticketmaster specifically, they take a smaller percentage of every sale than a lot of other digital platforms. So they say basically the numbers show that we don’t have the kind of power you would normally associate with a monopoly.

And then they say, listen, we know that there are things that fans don’t like about the ticketing experience. There may be fixes to those. But largely, it’s not Live Nation’s fault, they say. They say that artists generally set the prices they want people to pay for tickets.

Really? So artists themselves do it.

Right, that artists sign off on how much a ticket will cost to their shows.

And they also say that demand sometimes drives ticket prices up. If there are more people who want to see a show than there are seats or standing room to see that show, the prices will be higher. And finally, they say that there’s this kind of pernicious outside force of scalpers, people who resell tickets, that use bots to hoover up way more tickets than they could possibly use and then resell them at a higher price. And so they say that all of these things may contribute to a fan experience that people don’t like, but that it’s not necessarily Live Nation’s fault.

I mean, to me, this makes certain sense. I guess if you think of a Taylor Swift show and lots of people trying to buy tickets, one reason why those tickets are expensive is not necessarily because there’s something nefarious going on, but because lots of people want to buy tickets. And there’s a market, and supply and demand has a role here.

Well, and a clear question here that I have, that other people have asked, is how much does the Justice Department think ticket prices have gone up because of this alleged Live Nation monopoly? And the Justice Department hasn’t answered that question.

They haven’t disentangled it with all of the other stuff that’s around — market forces, everything?

That’s right. And there’s another element of Live Nation’s response that we should mention, which is that the company basically says this lawsuit is politically motivated, that this administration, the Biden administration, is bringing lawsuits that don’t hold a lot of water but are anti-business. That’s what Live Nation is saying.

I mean, it does sort of ring true in some sense. Right? This has been the tilt of this administration toward cracking down on big companies. The DOJ has changed in this respect. They’re filing a lawsuit to break up a merger that a previous DOJ had actually approved.

Well, you’re right. This Department of Justice, this administration more broadly, has a different view about antitrust. They think that antitrust law can be a more expansive tool to address problems in the economy. And they’ve put that into practice. They’ve sued Google for violating anti-monopoly laws. They’ve sued Apple for violating anti-monopoly laws.

But I think ultimately what they believe is that they’re responding to a change in the economy, that these companies have gotten much bigger, that they have gotten more powerful. And they are responding to the way the companies broke the law on their way to becoming that big.

So, David, when you and I talked about Google and Apple — you referenced them here — you know, we talked about how there were broad repercussions for the future on American society. What would you say the implications are in this case?

This case ultimately, for the Justice Department, is about the market for culture and creativity. You know, a few years ago, the Justice Department successfully blocked Penguin Random House, a big publisher, from buying Simon and Schuster, another publisher. And they said that one problem with this merger was that it would reduce how much authors got paid, and that it would create a market where fewer books and fewer types of stories broke through.

This Justice Department is embracing an idea that the more concentrated the economy gets, the more it stifles creative expression, the ability of artists to make art and get it to the public and the ability of the public to consume it. And that, they say, is a central question of democracy. Because things like music are how we talk about big social issues or big political issues. So that is, they say, what’s at the heart of this case, that it is not just about the fees, it’s not just about how much an artist gets paid. But it’s about whether or not there is a fair marketplace for ideas, and whether or not consumers are able to access it.

David, thank you.

Thank you. [MUSIC PLAYING]

Here’s what else you should know today. On Wednesday, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito declined to recuse himself from two cases arising from the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol after “The Times” reported that flags displayed outside his houses appeared to support the Stop the Steal movement. In letters to Democratic members of Congress who had demanded his recusal, Justice Alito said that the flags, at his home in Virginia and a beach house in New Jersey, were flown by his wife, Martha Ann, and that he had had nothing to do with it.

And a group of 12 New York jurors deliberated for more than four hours in the final stretch of the criminal trial of Donald Trump, in which the former president is accused of falsifying business records. The jurors asked for portions of the testimony from two witnesses to be read back to them, as well as the judge’s instructions. They were then dismissed for the day and will resume deliberations today.

Today’s episode was produced by Will Reid, Rob Szypko and Rachelle Bonja. It was edited by Michael Benoit and Brendan Klinkenberg, contains original music by Marion Lozano, Dan Powell, and Will Reid, and was engineered by Alyssa Moxley. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly.

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Sabrina Tavernise. See you tomorrow.

• June 3, 2024   •   32:07 How Trump’s Conviction Could Reshape the Election
• May 31, 2024   •   31:29 Guilty
• May 30, 2024   •   25:21 The Government Takes On Ticketmaster
• May 29, 2024   •   29:46 The Closing Arguments in the Trump Trial
• May 28, 2024   •   25:56 The Alitos and Their Flags
• May 24, 2024   •   25:18 Whales Have an Alphabet
• May 23, 2024   •   34:24 I.C.C. Prosecutor Requests Warrants for Israeli and Hamas Leaders
• May 22, 2024   •   23:20 Biden’s Open War on Hidden Fees
• May 21, 2024   •   24:14 The Crypto Comeback
• May 20, 2024   •   31:51 Was the 401(k) a Mistake?
• May 19, 2024   •   33:23 The Sunday Read: ‘Why Did This Guy Put a Song About Me on Spotify?’
• May 17, 2024   •   51:10 The Campus Protesters Explain Themselves

Hosted by Sabrina Tavernise

Featuring David McCabe

Produced by Will Reid ,  Rob Szypko and Rachelle Bonja

Edited by Brendan Klinkenberg and Michael Benoist

Original music by Marion Lozano ,  Dan Powell and Will Reid

Engineered by Alyssa Moxley

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | YouTube

Over recent years, few companies have provoked more anger among music fans than Ticketmaster. Last week, the Department of Justice announced it was taking the business to court.

David McCabe, who covers technology policy for The Times, explains how the case could reshape America’s multibillion-dollar live music industry.

On today’s episode

David McCabe , a technology policy correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading

The government is accusing Ticketmaster’s corporate parent, Live Nation Entertainment, of violating antitrust laws .

Here’s a guide to the emails at the heart of the government’s case .

There are a lot of ways to listen to The Daily. Here’s how.

We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.

The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson, Nina Lassam and Nick Pitman.

David McCabe covers tech policy. He joined The Times from Axios in 2019. More about David McCabe

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