In one study of more than dieters, those who adopted a low-fat plant-based diet for 16 weeks lost significantly more weight compared with a control group, according to results published in October in Obesity Science and Practice.

Another study published in November in the journal JAMA Network compared twins on vegan and omnivore diets, and found that identical twins on a healthy vegan diet lost more weight in eight weeks and experienced improved cardiovascular markers , compared to their identical twin counterparts on an omnivore diet.

RELATED: Weight Loss Reframed Special Report. There are also multiple studies suggesting having strong social support in your weight loss effort can help, whether that comes from family and friends, a coach , or even an app or online community.

Participating in an online support group can help increase motivation, according to research published in July in Digital Health. And a year review of literature on the role of social support in online obesity health communities concluded that such support is associated with better adherence to weight loss behaviors, according to a study published in June in Review of Communication Research.

Your mindset matters, too, when it comes to weight loss. Research published in February in the journal Obesity found that those who lost weight and maintained it embraced their setbacks, seeing them as temporary pauses in their plan, rather than as failures.

Here are some more expert-approved and science-backed tips that can help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight. I advise them to chew slowly, swallow only when the food is all chewed up, and repeat. It takes time to know we're full. Eating slowly not only allows us to enjoy our food more but gives us better cues of satiety.

Try new fruits and vegetables. Find out how to prepare new dishes that provide variety and flavor. Add herbs and spices to elevate flavor. Or if you prefer, savor the sweetness of fruit and the depth of raw and steamed vegetables.

When we're stressed, we may use food to help cope with the stress. I work with clients on keeping a daily journal of things they're grateful for — or even just a journal to write in when stressed — so that they're better prepared to cope with the stress by acknowledging it and utilizing other tools, rather than reaching for food as a coping mechanism.

I cut off the fat, bake it with seasoning, measure 3. I also take the time to divvy up in individual containers ¼ cup of rolled oats , 1 tablespoon each of natural peanut butter and ground flax , and a pinch each of protein powder and cinnamon to sweeten.

Using moderate to heavy weights — three or four sets of 10 to 15 reps with weights that challenge you — helps increase your muscle mass.

When you have more muscle on your body, the food you eat is more likely to be utilized as fuel, rather than be stored as fat [and research also shows resistance training can make a weight loss plan more effective].

When we are sleep deprived , we crave more salty and sweet foods. Because anytime you feel more intense hunger, your cravings for higher energy — aka higher calorie — foods intensify.

If we flip the coin, we can safely assume that when we are well rested, our bodies work better. When it comes to eating, that would mean that we would eat when we are truly hungry and eat just until satisfied.

Our hormones are also going to be better balanced because our bodies got the time needed to sleep, repair, and refresh. As soon as we are being kept from calories, which are literally the life energy for our bodies, it will do things to survive.

Our body knows what foods are higher in energy density, and we will crave those more. This goes against many of the dieting tactics, but those tactics truly don't work well for people in the long term. I generally recommend eating every four hours. This simple tip works in two ways. Thirst can mask itself as hunger, causing you to eat more.

And water makes you feel fuller, causing you to eat less during a meal. When you switch the portions of grains and vegetables on your plate, you'll see a difference. The only caveat: Potatoes, corn, and peas are starchy vegetables , so they go in the grains category.

A great starting point for mostly sedentary people is to get a step counter and see how much you walk on a normal day. Then set a step goal slightly higher than the norm and strive for that, working your way up slowly to a goal of 10, steps per day. Prioritizing those and letting go of all the minutiae that contribute to overwhelm will make reaching your goals feel easier and more sustainable.

On the nutrition front, pay attention to calories, protein, and fiber. For exercise, prioritize strength training , daily steps, and recovery. To help you gauge progress that might not be reflected on the scale, take regular photos and measurements, in addition to keeping a running list of nonscale victories.

This will help keep the scale in perspective and show you all the positive changes you're making to your health and overall lifestyle.

Protein is digested slowly and suppresses hunger hormones, helping keep you full. Additionally, a high-protein breakfast helps curb cravings later in the day.

Pair protein foods with fiber and healthy fats, like two eggs with whole-wheat toast and avocado or high-protein frozen waffles with nuts, berries , and a little maple syrup.

Protein slows down the digestive process and positively impacts your hunger hormones. Protein can also do better at staving off hunger than carbohydrates. Protein-rich foods include quinoa , edamame , beans, seeds, nuts, eggs, yogurt, cheese, tofu, lentil pasta, poultry, fish, and meat.

Palumbo, RDN , a nutrition consultant from Naperville, Illinois. They tend to contain large amounts of added sugars, fats and salt. Research suggests that people can take in up to more calories a day when they're offered unlimited amounts of ultra-processed foods compared to unprocessed foods.

Eating high-glycemic carbohydrate foods like white potatoes and refined bread, especially when eaten alone, will cause a surge in blood sugar, followed by a quick drop.

This leaves you feeling hungry and wanting more food. More long-term studies are needed, but short-term studies provide evidence there is a connection. High-glycemic foods are not totally off-limits though. When you work with a registered dietitian-nutritionist, we provide individualized ways to help you balance nutrients to prevent spikes in blood sugar, which can help with curbing appetite.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC , only about 12 percent of the U. Bariatric surgery Weight-loss surgery, also known as bariatric surgery, is an operation that makes changes to the digestive system.

Body Image Creating a positive body image through healthy eating habits. Strategies for Success Find resources to help you lose or gain weight safely and effectively. Weight Management for Youth Address weight issues in children and teens with healthy guidelines, links to interactive and skill-building tools, and more.

What you should know about popular diets Learn how to evaluate claims made by weight loss products and diets. Find information to choose weight loss strategies that are healthy, effective, and safe for you. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to search.

Español Other Languages. Losing Weight. Español Spanish. Minus Related Pages. Getting Started Losing weight takes a well-thought-out plan. Step 1: Make a commitment Whether you have a family history of heart disease, want to see your kids get married, or want to feel better in your clothes, write down why you want to lose weight.

Step 2: Take stock of where you are Write down everything you eat and drink for a few days in a food and beverage diary. On This Page. Step 1: Make a commitment Step 2: Take stock of where you are Step 3: Set realistic goals Step 4: Identify resources for information and support Step 5: Continually monitor your progress.

Step 3: Set realistic goals. Focus on two or three goals at a time. Even Modest Weight Loss Helps. Step 4: Identify resources for information and support.

For More Information. Connect with Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity. Last Reviewed: June 15, Source: Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity , National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. home Healthy Weight, Nutrition, and Physical Activity. To receive email updates about this topic, enter your email address. Email Address. 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.

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. 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, steps per day, don't try to walk 10, Start with 4, 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 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 review in Nutrients. Aim for 25 to 35 grams of fiber per day or about 8 to 10 g per meal.

Along with fiber, eat protein at every meal, especially breakfast. A 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.