For people trying to lose weight, the answer might be a little less exciting than a fresh meal plan every day. New research suggests sticking to similar meals and keeping calorie intake steady may help people lose more weight.
The study, published in Health Psychology and reported by the American Psychological Association, found that adults in a 12-week behavioral weight loss program did better when their eating patterns were more structured. Participants who repeated meals and kept their calorie intake stable over time lost more weight than those whose diets changed more often.
“Maintaining a healthy diet in today’s food environment requires constant effort and self-control,” said lead author Charlotte Hagerman, PhD, of the Oregon Research Institute. “Creating routines around eating may reduce that burden and make healthy choices feel more automatic.”
Researchers looked at detailed, real-time food logs from 112 adults who were overweight or obese and taking part in a structured weight loss program. Participants recorded everything they ate in a mobile app and weighed themselves every day using a wireless scale.
The analysis focused on the first 12 weeks of the program. The researchers said that period is usually when participants are most engaged and provide the most accurate data about their eating habits.
To measure how structured each person’s diet was, the researchers used two markers. One was caloric stability, which looked at how much daily calorie intake changed from day to day and between weekdays and weekends. The other was dietary repetition, which tracked how often people logged the same meals and snacks instead of regularly choosing new foods.
The results showed a clear link between consistency and greater weight loss. Participants who often ate the same foods lost an average of 5.9 percent of their body weight. Those who ate a wider variety of foods lost 4.3 percent on average.
More stable calorie intake was also tied to better results. For every 100-calorie increase in daily fluctuation, weight loss dropped by about 0.6 percent over the study period.
The findings suggest that simplifying food choices, such as using a set rotation of meals and keeping calorie intake steady, may help people build habits that are easier to keep up. But the researchers said the study shows a correlation, not cause and effect. They also said factors such as motivation or self-discipline may play a part in the results.
The paper also pushes back on the idea that more variety is always better. The researchers noted that earlier studies have linked dietary variety to better overall health, but those findings usually focus on variety within healthy food groups like fruits and vegetables.
“If we lived in a healthier food environment, we might encourage people to have as much variety in their diet as possible,” Hagerman said. “However, our modern food environment is too problematic. Instead, people may do best with a more repetitive diet that helps them consistently make healthier choices, even if they might sacrifice some nutritional variety.”
The study also turned up an extra finding about weekends. Participants who reported higher calorie totals on weekends than on weekdays also lost more weight.
Hagerman said that the result likely reflects more consistent tracking, rather than higher food intake, because people often log their meals less reliably on weekends.
The study’s overall message was simple: in this group, people who kept their eating habits more consistent tended to lose more weight than people whose diets were more varied. Participants who frequently ate the same foods lost an average of 5.9 percent of their body weight, compared with 4.3 percent among those who ate a wider variety of foods.
