Habit: Flexibility is overrated

An interesting study that was recently conducted showed that people who regularly ate the same meals - they had the same food for breakfast every day for example - lost more weight than people who constantly ate different meals.

One of the reasons for this is that when you eat the same thing regularly you become aware of how much of it you need to eat before feeling too full. You'll also avoid overeating because you are already accustomed to the taste of the meal so you won't get excited about a new taste and eat too much.

The problem with this approach is that if you're someone who loves food, then eating the same three meals day in and day out may become very frustrating. The lack of variety will lead to boredom and you’ll start having ‘cheat’ meals all the time.

The lack of variety will lead to boredom and you’ll start having ‘cheat’ meals all the time

So what’s the answer?

What I recommend to my clients - and what I do myself - is identify two meals of the day that are entirely functional (I do breakfast and lunch). These two meals will be almost the same every day.

Then at dinner time - my social meal - I allow myself some variety. I have found that you can get the benefits shown by the study mentioned above and still enjoy the most important meal of your day like this, so it's a win-win.

You will also find you're more productive during the day when you don't spend time thinking about what to eat at breakfast and lunch - added bonus.

So find a breakfast and a lunch that are easy to prepare, healthy and not going to get too boring and try to eat those two meals every week day (weekends tend to be more flexible) for the next four weeks.

You will see a drop in your weight if you get the quantities right.

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