Losing weight is entirely possible by making changes to your diet alone. Diet also plays a crucial role in maintaining weight after weight loss.
What kind of dietary changes should you make?
When aiming to lose weight, it’s best to make changes to your diet that you can also maintain during the weight maintenance phase. Otherwise, energy is wasted on temporary efforts and constantly learning new habits. More importantly, if new eating habits don’t become permanent, the lost weight often returns once old patterns resume. Your dietary changes should support your weight loss goal in both the short and long term while being realistic and suitable for your everyday life.
Find meals that work for you and support weight loss
It’s often helpful to adjust every meal of the day to better support weight loss. The goal of these changes is to reduce total daily energy intake while improving satiety throughout the day. When energy intake is lower than energy expenditure, weight loss occurs. Feeling full helps reduce snacking and the consumption of high-calorie foods, making it easier to maintain a lower total energy intake from food.
In a consultation with a registered dietitian, you’ll plan meals that support weight loss and fit into your daily life and preferences. The meal plan is based on your current eating habits, making the changes easier to implement. Focus areas include establishing a consistent meal rhythm, understanding portion sizes that support weight loss, and ensuring proper hydration. Depending on your needs, the plan may also address mindful eating, reducing emotional or habitual eating, meal planning, cooking, and food prepping.
Your diet will be planned to remain nutritionally adequate and healthy throughout the weight loss process, ensuring you get all the necessary nutrients.
How long does weight loss take?
In general, it’s best not to set a fixed weight or time target—unless there’s a medical reason to do so. At its best, weight loss can occur naturally as a result of healthier eating habits.
Typical weight loss for Ravitsemusklinikka clients ranges from 1 kg to 2–4 kg per month. The more excess weight a person has and the more physically active they are, the more easily the weight tends to drop. However, losing more than 1 kg per week is usually not recommended.
Is dieting unpleasant—and do you have to eat only “healthy” foods?
Losing weight doesn’t mean you have to eat only light or perfectly healthy foods. Treats can absolutely be part of a weight loss diet. What’s important is learning to enjoy them in moderation and mindfully —a skill that’s also essential for long-term weight maintenance. Without this skill, it can be hard to keep the weight off in the long run.
Learning to enjoy sweets and treats in moderation is a key part of the weight loss journey. It also helps to understand why you reach for these foods. Often, emotional triggers like stress or boredom are involved. Addressing those causes and finding healthier ways to cope is important. Give yourself time to learn and practice these habits as part of your overall progress.