Eating the same meals every day could help you lose weight faster, according to new research.
The study found that adults who followed a consistent diet – repeating meals and keeping their daily calories steady – lost more weight over 12 weeks than those who ate a more varied diet.
Researchers tracked 112 overweight or obese adults enrolled in a behavioural weight loss program.
Participants logged everything they ate using a mobile app and weighed themselves daily on a wireless scale.
The team measured how ‘routinised’ each diet was by tracking how much a person’s daily calorie intake fluctuated between weekdays and weekends and examining dietary repetition – how often participants ate the same meals and snacks instead of constantly choosing new foods.
Those who repeated many of the same foods lost an average of 5.9 per cent of their body weight, compared with 4.3 per cent for participants with more varied diets.
Greater day-to-day calorie consistency also helped – for every 100-calorie increase in daily fluctuation, weight loss dropped by about 0.6 per cent.
Participants who logged higher calories on weekends than on weekdays also lost more weight.
Eating the same meals every day could help you lose weight faster, according to new research
‘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.’
Ms Hagerman said the weekend pattern likely reflects more diligent tracking habits rather than eating more food.
‘When it comes to weight loss, consistency may matter more than variety,’ she added.
The study, published in Health Psychology, emphasises that this is a correlation, not a cause-and-effect result. Motivation, self-discipline, and other factors may also play a role.
Previous research shows dietary variety within healthy food groups, like fruits and vegetables, is linked to better health.
But Ms Hagerman said the modern food environment is ‘too problematic’ to rely on variety alone.
Instead, repetitive diets may help people make healthier choices consistently, even if some nutritional variety is sacrificed.
Meals should be based on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally wholegrain, according to the NHS
The study comes as obesity rates in the UK continue to rise.
Nearly two-thirds of adults are overweight, and more than a quarter are obese – around 14 million people.
Obesity increases the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and respiratory illnesses, and costs the NHS an estimated £11 billion a year.
The NHS Eatwell Guide recommends a balanced diet – at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, starchy higher-fibre carbohydrates, dairy or alternatives, beans, pulses, fish, and eggs.
It advises limiting saturated fats, salt and sugar, and drinking six to eight glasses of water or fluids daily.
The study suggests that simplifying food choices – rotating a few favourite meals and maintaining steady calorie intake – may help build sustainable habits in a challenging food environment.
