8 Science-Backed Weight Loss Tips

Cut the soft drink

“Avoid all sugary drinks, as they provide ’empty calories’ that don’t fill you up. The sugar may uniquely act on the liver to produce belly fat.”

—Dr. Dean Schillinger, chief of theUniversity of California, San Francisco Division of General Internal Medicine

“You need a program that satisfies hunger and has good food so it doesn’t feel like a diet. Hunger erodes willpower, and that’s the reason most diets fail.”

—Susan B. Roberts, professor of nutrition at Tufts University and founder of iDiet

“The simple message is to eat a healthful diet and to engage in more moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. The challenge is how to actually accomplish that in an environment that seems to push us constantly in the wrong direction.”

—Dr. Stephen R. Daniels, pediatrician-in-chief at Children’s Hospital Colorado

“Aim to achieve and improve health and reach a psychologically ‘happy weight,’ not an unrealistic ‘ideal’ weight that may be impossible to reach for most.”

—Dr. Jaideep Behari, associate professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

“People need to have the mindset of someone who is ready and willing to make some permanent changes in the way they live. A number of treatments can create short-term weight loss without a great deal of effort from the person, but they don’t allow for long-term weight loss.”

—Dr. Michael Jensen, obesity researcher at the Mayo Clinic

“Make small changes that stick, make changes as a family and keep it positive.”

—Dr. Stephen Pont, medical director of the childhood obesity center at Dell Children’s Medical Center

“The culprit is not bad choices by individuals. It is the toxic food environment in which calories are ubiquitous. Until the food environment changes, everyone must become aware of the calories they consume, especially those from beverages, sweets, and other calorie-dense foods.”

—Dr. Lawrence J. Appel, director of the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research at Johns Hopkins University

“The ‘calorie in, calorie out’ approach fails, because it disregards how food affects our hormones and metabolism. Pay attention to food quality.”

—Dr. David S. Ludwig, professor of nutrition at Harvard Medical School