You might even have a particular diet in mind because you’ve followed it before and know you can lose weight with it. And for the first few days, perhaps even weeks, you feel motivated. You’re making an effort, paying more attention to what you’re eating and feeling pleased that you’re doing something positive.

But then life starts getting in the way. You have a busy day at work. You’re tired. Someone suggests a takeaway. You go away for the weekend, or there’s a birthday celebration.

Suddenly, the changes that seemed perfectly manageable when you started become much harder to maintain. And perhaps you find yourself thinking that you’ve failed again.

But before starting another diet, there’s something I’d encourage you to consider.

How much do you actually understand about your current eating habits, and why you make the decisions you do?

Because if you don’t understand what’s influencing your behaviour now, how can you be confident that the changes you’re planning will work for you over the longer term?

Your everyday eating habits can tell you a lot

Think about an ordinary day.

You get up, have breakfast, go about your normal routine and make dozens of decisions about food.

Some of those decisions are conscious. Others happen almost automatically.

Perhaps you grab a biscuit while making a cup of tea, finish what’s left on somebody else’s plate or help yourself to something from the fridge while watching television.

Maybe you have a snack every afternoon simply because that’s what you’ve always done.

Or perhaps you regularly find yourself eating in the evening, even though you’ve already had a perfectly satisfying dinner.

Now think about what happens when you’re busy.

Do you prepare something to take with you, or do you end up grabbing whatever is convenient?

And when you’re stressed or tired, are you more likely to choose something that requires little effort?

These are everyday behaviours, and most of us have some version of them.

But when you’re regularly consuming more energy than your body needs, those apparently small decisions can contribute to weight gain over time.

The challenge is that you may not even realise how often these behaviours are happening.

And if you’re trying to change your eating habits without understanding them, you may be overlooking some of your biggest opportunities to make progress.

This is why I created my one-month Weight Loss Kickstarter.

It starts with studying you. Your habits, your decisions, your routines and the things that influence your relationship with food.

Because the more you understand about your own behaviour, the better equipped you are to make changes that work for you.

First, become a student of yourself

One of the things I regularly say to my coaching clients is:

“You are the subject of the study.”

Imagine you were studying something completely new.

You wouldn’t expect to understand everything immediately.

You would observe, gather information, ask questions, identify patterns and gradually build your knowledge.

That’s exactly how I encourage people to approach their eating behaviour.

And it’s one of the first things we work on during the month.

Before we start making significant changes, I want you to understand what you’re already doing.

A practical exercise: photograph your food for seven days

For the next seven days, try taking a photograph of everything you eat and drink.

That includes your main meals, snacks, drinks and the little extras you might normally forget about.

Don’t worry about counting calories just yet.

And don’t immediately start changing what you’re eating because you’re photographing it.

The purpose is to build an accurate picture of your current habits.

At the end of the week, look back through your photographs.

What do you notice?

Are you eating more frequently than you realised?

Are some meals larger than others?

Are there particular times when you’re more likely to snack?

Do your eating habits change at weekends?

Are you regularly eating something simply because it’s available?

You might discover that your main meals are reasonably balanced, but you’re consuming quite a lot of additional food between them.

Or perhaps you’re eating very little during the day and then struggling to manage your appetite in the evening.

These observations give you useful information about where changes might help.

This is exactly the kind of work we begin during the Kickstarter, except you won’t be left to interpret everything on your own.

You’ll have me to help you review your records, identify patterns and understand what they mean for your weight management.

Are you hungry, or do you simply want to eat?

One of the most useful things you can begin exploring is the difference between physical hunger and wanting food.

Imagine you walk into the kitchen.

There’s a packet of biscuits sitting on the worktop.

You weren’t thinking about biscuits a moment ago.

But now you’ve seen them, you fancy one.

Perhaps you eat two or three.

Were you hungry?

Possibly.

But it’s equally possible that seeing the biscuits triggered your desire to eat them.

Our brains are particularly responsive to the sight, smell and availability of food, especially foods we find rewarding.

And that makes sense when we consider the role food has played in human survival.

For much of human history, food availability was unpredictable. Our appetite and reward systems helped motivate us to seek food and consume sufficient energy.

Today, many of us live in an environment where highly appealing food is available almost everywhere.

We see it in shops, petrol stations, cafes, advertisements and increasingly in our own homes.

So we’re regularly exposed to things that encourage us to eat, even when we don’t physically need more food.

A practical exercise: ask three questions

The next time you find yourself wanting something to eat, pause briefly and ask yourself:

1. Am I physically hungry right now?
2. What has made me want this particular food?
3. Do I want to eat it now, or would I enjoy it more another time?

You might still decide to eat it.

And that’s fine.

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying food, including when you’re not physically hungry.

But you’ve created an opportunity to make a conscious decision rather than simply responding automatically.

Over time, practising that pause can help you recognise patterns and develop greater control over your choices.

During the Kickstarter, we’ll explore these kinds of situations in the context of your own life.

Because the triggers that influence your eating may be very different from somebody else’s.

Understanding your personal energy budget

Another important part of managing your weight is understanding how much energy your body needs.

I often compare this to managing your finances.

Imagine trying to manage your money without knowing how much you had coming in, what things cost or how much you were spending.

You’d find it difficult to know whether you could afford something.

You might occasionally get things right, but you’d largely be relying on guesswork.

Managing your energy intake has similarities.

Your body needs energy to function, and your individual requirements depend on factors such as your body size, age, activity and health.

If you’re consistently consuming more energy than your body uses, you’re likely to gain weight over time.

If you’re aiming to lose weight, you generally need to establish an appropriate energy deficit.

But how can you make informed decisions about what you’re eating if you don’t understand your own energy requirements?

This is where learning about calories can be useful.

And it doesn’t have to mean counting every calorie for the rest of your life.

It’s about developing an understanding of the energy content of different foods and how your choices fit together.

A practical exercise: investigate one regular food choice

Choose something you eat frequently.

It might be your usual breakfast, your afternoon snack or something you regularly eat in the evening.

Look at the portion you’re actually having and find out approximately how many calories it contains.

Don’t assume that a food is low in calories simply because it’s healthy.

For example, nuts, cheese, olive oil and avocados can all contribute valuable nutrients to your diet, but they’re also relatively energy dense.

Then consider whether the portion you’re having is appropriate for your needs.

You might discover that you can continue enjoying exactly the same food but adjust the amount.

Or perhaps you’d rather keep that portion and make a different adjustment elsewhere.

The important thing is that you’re beginning to make decisions based on knowledge.

During the Weight Loss Kickstarter, we’ll start building your understanding of your individual energy needs and help you identify how your existing eating habits fit within them.

And we’ll do that in manageable stages, so you’re not suddenly expected to learn everything at once.

Why you don’t need to give up your favourite foods

Here’s something else I often say to clients:

“Don’t waste calories on food you don’t like.”

Think about that for a moment.

How many times have you tried to lose weight by eating things you don’t particularly enjoy because you believe they’re good for you?

Perhaps you’ve forced yourself to eat salads when you would much rather have something warm and satisfying.

Or you’ve stopped buying chocolate even though you really enjoy having some occasionally.

You might manage that for a few weeks.

But how long are you realistically going to continue eating in a way that leaves you feeling deprived?

Your enjoyment of food is important.

And I encourage clients to think about three overlapping areas when managing their weight:

• Eating a healthy, balanced diet.
• Consuming the right amount of energy for their goals.
• Enjoying what they’re eating.

All three need consideration.

Because you could eat a nutritious diet but still consume more energy than you need.

You could achieve an energy deficit by eating an unbalanced diet that doesn’t provide adequate nutrition.

Or you could follow a carefully calculated meal plan that you find thoroughly miserable.

None of those situations provides an ideal foundation for long-term weight management.

A practical exercise: identify the foods you really enjoy

Make a list of five foods that you would particularly miss if you stopped eating them.

Then ask yourself whether you’ve previously tried to cut them out when dieting.

If you have, what happened?

Did you eventually start eating them again?

Did you find yourself eating more than you’d intended because you’d been denying yourself?

Now consider how you might include those foods within an overall balanced approach.

Perhaps you’d enjoy a smaller portion.

Perhaps you’d prefer them less frequently.

Or perhaps there are other foods you wouldn’t mind eating less often to make room for your favourites.

These are the kinds of compromises that can help you develop an approach you’re comfortable living with.

And during the Kickstarter, we’ll explore how to make those decisions using your own energy requirements and preferences.

What happens when your motivation disappears?

Think back to the last time you started a diet.

How motivated did you feel during the first few days?

And how did that compare with how you felt several weeks later?

Motivation can be useful for getting started.

But it’s often much harder to sustain when you’re tired, busy, stressed or dealing with unexpected situations.

Our brains naturally favour familiar behaviours, particularly when our attention and energy are being taken up by other demands.

That’s why you might have every intention of preparing a nutritious lunch, only to end up grabbing something convenient when your day becomes hectic.

And it’s why changing eating habits requires more than knowing which foods contain fewer calories.

You also need to understand how your environment, routines, emotions and other people influence your decisions.

A practical exercise: identify your vulnerable moments

Think about the times when you’re most likely to make food choices that don’t support your weight goals.

Perhaps it’s late in the evening.

Perhaps it’s when you come home from work.

Maybe it’s when you’re shopping while hungry or when somebody offers you food.

Choose one of those situations.

Then ask yourself:

What usually happens? What makes this situation difficult? What could I do differently next time?

For example, if you regularly grab something convenient because you haven’t organised lunch, perhaps you could identify two or three easy options that you actually enjoy.

If you tend to snack while watching television, perhaps you could decide what you’d like to have before you sit down rather than repeatedly visiting the kitchen.

The more specific your plan, the more useful it becomes.

And you don’t need to tackle every situation immediately.

Why I encourage you to make changes in layers

One of the problems with starting a new diet is that you can end up trying to change too many things at once.

You’re suddenly eating differently, shopping differently, preparing unfamiliar meals, tracking everything and perhaps trying to increase your activity.

That’s a significant amount of change to manage alongside everything else in your life.

And when your routine gets disrupted, it can be difficult to keep going.

I prefer to build changes up in layers.

First, you develop awareness of what you’re currently doing.

Then you begin understanding why.

Next, you identify changes that are manageable within your circumstances.

As those changes become more familiar, you can build on them.

You also need opportunities to review what’s working and what needs adjusting.

Because something that seems perfectly sensible in theory might be much harder to put into practice than you expected.

That’s where having someone to help you work through the challenges can make a difference.

During my 1-month Kickstarter, you have weekly one-to-one coaching sessions, access to your coaching portal and WhatsApp support between appointments.

So when something happens that you weren’t expecting, or you’re unsure how to approach a situation, you can ask for guidance rather than waiting until your next session.

And when you make progress, we can identify what helped so you can repeat it.

You also need to learn how to maintain your weight

Here’s something that often gets overlooked.

If you’ve successfully lost weight before but then regained it, how much time did you spend learning how to maintain it?

Perhaps you’ve spent years moving between periods of dieting and periods of gaining weight.

You know how to follow a plan and make the number on the scales go down.

But what happens when you’re no longer actively trying to lose weight?

I understand this from personal experience.

I spent around 25 years yo-yo dieting before I learned how to manage and maintain my weight.

One of the changes I made was to lose weight in stages, allowing periods when I could practise maintaining my weight before moving on to further weight loss.

I’ve now maintained a healthy weight for around 15 years.

And that experience is one of the reasons I place so much emphasis on helping clients develop the skills to manage their weight in different circumstances.

Because your life won’t stop while you’re trying to lose weight.

You’ll have holidays, birthdays, Christmas, work commitments, illnesses and unexpected events.

Sometimes continuing to lose weight will be a sensible objective.

At other times, maintaining your weight may be more realistic.

And learning how to do both gives you more flexibility.

A practical exercise: look ahead at your next three months

Take a look at your calendar.

Are you going away?

Do you have any celebrations coming up?

Are there particularly busy periods at work or family commitments that might disrupt your usual routine?

Think about how those events might influence your eating habits.

Rather than waiting until they happen and then feeling you’ve gone off track, consider what a realistic approach might look like.

Perhaps you’ll continue working towards weight loss.

Perhaps you’ll plan to maintain your weight for a short period.

Perhaps you’ll need to adjust your routines.

The important thing is recognising that managing your weight needs to fit the life you’re actually living.

And this is something we begin considering during your Kickstarter, because the skills you develop need to be useful beyond the first four weeks.

What if you discover things you don’t like about your eating habits?

Perhaps you start recording what you’re eating and realise you’re consuming considerably more than you thought.

Maybe you notice that you’re regularly eating when you’re not hungry.

Or perhaps you recognise that you’ve been relying on food to help manage stress or difficult emotions.

Those discoveries can feel uncomfortable.

But they’re useful information.

You don’t need to criticise yourself or immediately try to compensate by eating very little the following day.

Instead, ask yourself what you’ve learned.

What was influencing your behaviour?

What could you do differently next time?

And what would make that change easier to manage?

Remember, you’re learning.

You wouldn’t expect to master a new skill without making mistakes.

And changing eating habits that you’ve developed over many years requires practice.

During the Kickstarter, I’ll help you approach those situations constructively, so you’re learning from your experiences rather than repeatedly becoming frustrated with yourself.

Can you do this by yourself?

Yes, of course you can.

You can begin observing your eating habits, learning about your energy needs and making changes without working with a coach.

But what I’ve found through years of coaching is that understanding what you need to do and consistently putting it into practice can be two very different things.

Sometimes the biggest challenges involve looking at behaviours, habits and emotions that you’d rather avoid.

It’s uncomfortable to recognise that you’re eating more than you realised, that food has become your way of coping with difficult emotions, or that you’re repeatedly making choices that take you further away from what you want.

And when things get uncomfortable, it’s very easy to return to familiar habits or convince yourself you’ll start again next week.

This is where having someone to hold you accountable, help you work through those uncomfortable discoveries and challenge your thinking can make a difference.

Accountability isn’t about being judged or told off when things don’t go to plan. It’s about having someone who will listen, understand your circumstances and help you take responsibility for your decisions, while being willing to ask difficult questions with compassion when needed.

With my guidance, you don’t have to work everything out on your own. We can explore what’s happening, understand why and identify practical ways forward, even when things don’t go to plan.

You’ll still be responsible for making the changes, but you’ll have support while you learn how to make them part of your everyday life.

What happens during the one-month Weight Loss Kickstarter?

The Weight Loss Kickstarter is designed to help you understand your eating habits, identify what’s been getting in your way and begin making changes you can maintain.

Over the month, we’ll work together on:

Understanding your starting point

We’ll explore your weight history, goals, current habits and previous experiences of dieting, including what’s worked and what hasn’t.

Recognising your eating patterns

You’ll begin observing your eating habits, identifying triggers and understanding why you make certain food choices. This might start with something as simple as photographing your food.

Understanding your energy needs

We’ll explore energy balance, portion sizes and how your food choices fit within your individual requirements, without relying on restrictive meal plans.

Making practical changes

Together, we’ll identify manageable adjustments that suit your lifestyle, preferences and circumstances, building on them as you develop your confidence.

Developing accountability and independence

You’ll have weekly one-to-one coaching sessions, WhatsApp support between appointments and access to your online coaching portal and resources.

You’ll have opportunities to ask questions, work through challenges and learn from what happens in your everyday life.

What happens at the end of the month?

We’ll review your progress, what you’ve learned, the changes you’ve made and what you’d like to work on next.

You may feel ready to continue independently, or you might benefit from ongoing coaching and accountability.

There are different levels of support available, which we’ll discuss together. There’s no obligation to continue after your Kickstarter month.

Your next step starts today

You don’t have to wait until Monday or the beginning of another month to start learning about your eating habits.

You could begin today by paying attention to what you’re eating, noticing when you eat without being physically hungry and considering what’s influencing your decisions.

You might be surprised by what you discover.

But if you’ve spent years losing weight, regaining it and starting again, having someone help you understand your behaviour and put that knowledge into practice could make a significant difference.

You bring your experiences, your circumstances and your willingness to learn. I’ll help you turn what you discover into practical actions you can build on.

You don’t need to arrive knowing all the answers, feeling perfectly motivated or having everything organised.

You do need to be willing to look at what you’re doing, take responsibility for your decisions and practise the changes we agree together.

Ready to get started?

Step 1: Your Weight Loss Kickstarter

Your first month of personalised coaching, including weekly one-to-one sessions, WhatsApp support and access to your coaching portal.

£249 (increasing to £299 in January 2027).

Step 2: Your ongoing support options

Once you’ve completed your Kickstarter month, you can choose to continue with:

• Weight Loss Accountability Club: Flexible ongoing coaching and accountability, with one month’s notice to cancel. From £39 per month (increasing to £49 from January 2027).
• Energize Your Life: My intensive 12-month, one-to-one coaching programme for those who want longer-term structured support. From £397 per month (increasing to £449 from January 2027).

Or you can take what you’ve learned and continue independently.

New Kickstarter places are available each month.

If you’re ready to stop repeating the same cycle and begin understanding what will work for you in real life, I’d be pleased to help.

Find out more and apply for your one-month Weight Loss Kickstarter

Prices correct at the time of publication and subject to change.

Further Reading

Why Understanding Yourself is the Key to Changing Your Eating Habits — Claire Jones, Brainz Magazine.

Why Weight Loss Often Fails After 12 Months — Claire Jones, Brainz Magazine.

Why Discipline Is Overrated in Weight Loss — Claire Jones, Brainz Magazine.