Is Now the Right Time to Start a Diet?
Every new client asks this question, and it's one of the biggest success factors. Before starting a weight-loss phase, consider what challenges life may throw your way in the coming weeks and months.
Dieting vs Eating Healthily
It's crucial to distinguish between two things:
Making changes to improve overall health: You can and should do this year-round. This means centring meals around whole, minimally processed foods, eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, and prioritising protein.
Eating with the intentional focus of losing body fat: This phase requires an energy deficit and, crucially, consistent diligence.
Healthy eating is the foundation you should return to after a weight-loss phase, since staying weight stable is weight stability, not just weight loss.
The Biggest Challenges to an Energy Deficit
To sustain a caloric deficit for the 2–3 months needed to lose 4–5 kilos, you need to navigate several "trip hazards" that make diligence difficult:
Social Life & Interactions: Eating out, events, canapés, and drinks.
Stressful Situations: Family pressure, busy periods at work (like year-ends or financial deadlines).
Holidays: Christmas, New Year, and summer holidays when children are off, leading to more parties and gatherings.
While it’s not impossible to diet during these times, it’s certainly much harder, and often not the best time to start if you are new to the process.
Keys to a Successful Diet Phase
If you're less experienced with being in an energy deficit, you'll need to learn certain habits to ensure success and avoid plateauing:
Meal Consistency: Keep day-to-day meals fairly consistent (e.g., 2–3 breakfasts, 3–5 lunches, 3–10 evening meals) to reduce the mental load of counting calories.
Snack Management: Cut down on or eliminate snacks, or have easy, low-energy swaps ready.
Home-Cooked Meals: Order your cooking methods to reduce energy intake (e.g., avoid oils and shop-bought sauces, use more home-cooked sauces).
Planning & Prepping: Plan your week and prep some dishes.
Social Framework: Plan for eating out. This might involve checking restaurant menus beforehand, pre-setting your daily meals, or choosing a couple of meals to drive to and not drink. Energy accumulates sneakily, and these extra edges can quickly slow weight loss.
The Power of Intermittent Diet Breaks
For a robust weight loss goal—say, 15 kilos—trying to lose it all in one 6-month go is statistically unlikely (about as likely as winning the lottery). A much more practical and sustainable approach is to break it up with intermittent periods of weight stability:
8-Week Chunks: Think of your weight loss in manageable 8-week blocks, potentially spread over one to two years.
Strategic Breaks: Use times like Christmas and the summer holidays as intentional diet breaks. For example, you might diet from September to the end of November, take Christmas off to focus on weight stability habits, and then start the next phase from January to March.
Learning Maintenance: These maintenance phases are crucial for building habits around eating at an energy-maintenance level, which is ultimately the final, most important goal.
This strategy isn't without challenges—you might fear gaining weight or lose motivation when returning to a new phase—but entering the process with open eyes and a clear strategy makes all the difference. Booking a treat or holiday at the end of a phase can boost motivation, and weighing yourself consistently during maintenance can help prevent weight regain.
Ultimately, consider working with a qualified coach for guidance, accountability, and support. The core question remains: Is now really the best time to be doing it? Think about setting yourself up for success, not instant failure.
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