How to eat normally and lose weight? It’s the puzzle that most people try to solve throughout their lives. After all, who doesn’t want to lose a few pounds and still not have to give up the weekend barbecue, the ice cream after lunch or the happy hour drink?

Yes, eating is a pleasure.

Let me say it again, yes, it’s totally possible to eat normally and lose weight. Incidentally, this is one of my main recommendations to my patients, who, for the most part, come to my practice starving voluntarily and doing all kinds of diets!

However, when I say to them that they need to eat, their first reaction is usually one of awe. They’re afraid to eat because they’re afraid of getting fat! They think that everything is fattening, that they need to omit gluten, lactose, sugar and fat from their meals to be leaner and healthier.

The world has gone crazy for so many diet fads. The biggest fear people have is of getting fat. They believe that if they lose control eventually, they will gain two, three, five, twenty pounds at a time.

And that’s why so many people think that “zipping their mouths closed” is the solution. I get many patients who lost 20 or 30 pounds after going through some kind of very restrictive diet and then gain it all back, or more! This gaining and losing of weight is not natural or healthy and forces the body to prevent another restriction or to starve. How does it do this? By getting fat!

Many people come to me after losing several pounds, in order to maintain their weight with my method. I’m sincere when I say: this is not possible. After all, if you ask me about, “how to eat normally and lose weight,” I would explain that by resuming normal eating without deprivation, your body will return to your initial weight and you may gain a few extra pounds before you start to lose weight healthily.

But this difference in balance is offset by the tranquility you will feel when you regain control of your life and your food, failing to delegate it to a piece of paper with a list of foods and portions to be consumed or excluded per day. By eating everything, one becomes happy again. And, gradually, you stop overindulging. And you can start to eat normally and lose weight!

Trust your body more

Yes, a lot of people want to know how to eat normally and lose weight. But most dread the thought of eating without restrictions. So not everyone can beat this ‘every food is possible’ eating challenge without eating everything! Eating everything that you desire just to lessen your anxiety around “forbidden foods”.

Do you know the feeling of being obsessed with chocolate because you’re on a diet, and when you “give in” you eat three times more than you normally would?

If you identify with this situation, I would like you to record this tip in your mind: trust your body more. Respect your hunger and your desires. You will then connect again with satiety: that moment when your body indicates that you are satisfied with just one piece of chocolate. You won’t need to eat the whole block.

Believe – weight loss ends up being a consequence of that feeling of fullness and well-being that you’ll begin to feel.

Learn more:

• The mindful eating exercise
• How To Choose Light Meal Ideas for Dinner
• Detox to lose weight fast

Eat normally and lose weight: slowly change your habits

Faced with doubt about how to lose weight, many people choose to cut down on some food groups, believing that, in this way, they’re free to eat everything else without doing much harm.

I don’t recommend this kind of attitude because we need all kinds of food. We’re omnivores! We can eat everything, with the exception of people who have been diagnosed with some kind of restriction.

So one tip I can’t get enough of talking about is: Eat better, not less. Try to include more fresh foods in your daily routine and decrease the consumption of ultra-processed foods. This is the first step to improving the quality of your dish and, gradually, your nutrition as a whole.

To regain the pleasure of eating without counting calories you need to review your habits. Instead of eating very little, or, on the contrary, eating mindlessly, “on autopilot”, try to listen to your needs more.

There will be times when you’ll want to eat something sweet. Or at a party, maybe, you’ll want to drink a soda. But if you consume these foods moderately, and within a varied diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and grains, you’ll see that it’s possible to eat everything without overdoing it. And what’s better: without that feeling of failure you get from diets.

Faced with a diversified supply of nutrients, your appetite becomes more controlled and the overindulgence’s occur only occasionally. So you’ll see that, although seemingly a contradiction, you can “eat normally and lose weight“. It makes a lot of sense and is a very simple answer

How about learning my Sophie Effect method, which teaches you to transform your relationship with food and to listen to your body’s signals again? It includes six weeks of videos and materials that will explain eating habits, and how you can regain the pleasure of eating. Check it out!