Having a proper meal plan could be the secret weapon for shedding those extra pounds, according to a major study from Australia.
Scientists looking at nearly 78,000 diet programme members found that people who stuck to meal plans lost considerably more weight than those who didn't.
The numbers showed that dieters who regularly used their meal plans dropped an average of 6.4 kilograms over 12 weeks – that's 24 per cent more than those who used them less often.
Timing also appeared to be crucial, as those who embraced meal planning from the start lost 6.9 kilograms after a year, 48 per cent more than reluctant planners.
'Personalisation can make a real difference to weight loss'
| GETTYA follow-up survey of 1,300 current and former members revealed nine out of ten people who hit their weight loss targets had used the meal plan.
And among those who lost more than 10 kilograms in just 12 weeks, 89 per cent said having a structured plan was absolutely crucial.
Dr Gilly Hendrie, CSIRO Research Scientist, explained: "This research shows just how powerful meal planning can be.
"It provides the know-how of what to eat and helps build the habits of planning ahead, which we know are essential for long-term weight loss success."
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She added: "There's no one-size-fits-all approach to weight loss, and that's where personalisation can make a real difference."
Off the back of these findings, CSIRO has launched an AI-powered meal planning tool called My Plan, which creates bespoke meal plans based on what users' likes and dislikes, their allergies or intolerances and preferred eating style.
It can also be tailored for specific health conditions like high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, or life stages such as menopause.
Even better, the tool learns as you use it, becoming more personalised over time.
Planning ahead is essential for long-term weight loss success
| GETTYDr Hendrie revealed: "AI allows us to personalise meal plans at scale.
"We used 23 million data points from more than a decade of meal plan usage among 200,000 Total Wellbeing Diet members to train the AI behind this tool."
Total Wellbeing Diet Dietitian Nicole Pritchard added: "It is grounded in local data, reflective of the national dietary guidelines, and designed to be accessed alongside the support and guidance offered through the trusted CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet framework."
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