My Number One Weight Loss Tip (It Isn't a Food)
By Ami · 8 June 2026 · 6 min read
A follower messaged me saying she could not stick to it because her house was full of junk. I get it. That message turned into my most important tip, and it has nothing to do with willpower.
A lovely woman messaged me the other week. She said, Ami, I know what to do, I want to do it, but my house is full of junk food and I just cannot stick to it.
I read that and thought, oh my gosh, I have been exactly there. And it made me want to share the tip I think matters more than any recipe I have ever posted. It is not a food. It is not a hack. It is your environment.
If it is in the house, you will eat it
If your kitchen is full of junk, you are going to be eating everything in sight. Not because you are weak. Because your body is wired, from thousands of years of scarcity, to seek out the highest calorie food available and eat it. That is not a moral failing. It is biology doing its job very, very well.
I will be honest with you. If there was a packet of Oreos in my cupboard on a stressful day, I would eat them. Of course I would. I am a human being. So I do not keep them in the cupboard. That is the whole strategy. It sounds too simple, and it is the thing that changed everything.
So here is what I would say to that lovely woman, and to you. Clear it out. Not "hide it on a high shelf." Out. If you live with people who want their own snacks, have an honest conversation. Ask them to keep their stuff in their own room, or a drawer that is not yours, or honestly, a box with a padlock if that is what it takes. I am not joking. Your kitchen is where you spend your life. Make it a place that is on your side.
Half a toe in does not work
Now for the harder bit, and I say this with so much love, because I did it for years.
I knew about this way of eating for about five years before I actually committed. Five years of umming and ahhing. Potatoes some days, doughnuts other days. Half a toe in. And my weight stayed exactly where it was that entire time.
Nothing happened until I went all in. The moment I said right, I am going to trust this, I am going to eat this way properly, not perfectly but properly, that is when it came off. Sixty-six pounds. Not from a new recipe. From finally deciding.
You are the only person who is going to make this change for you. Nobody is swooping in to do it. You have to decide how important it is, and then you have to act like it is that important. Not on Monday. Now.
This was never about being small
I used to feel a bit selfish for wanting to lose weight. Like it was vanity. What changed that for me was realising it was never really about the number. It was about being able to run around after my kids without getting out of breath. It was about being here, properly here, for a long time. It was about having the energy to enjoy my life instead of managing it.
When I reframed it that way, the commitment got a lot easier, because it stopped being about looking a certain way and started being about the woman I wanted to be for my family.
The broccoli test
One more thing from that day, because it is something I do constantly. When I think I am hungry, I ask myself: would I eat a head of broccoli right now? A bowl of fruit? If yes, brilliant, I am hungry, I eat. If the answer is "no, but I would eat a biscuit," then I am not hungry. I am bored, or tired, or stressed. And the fix for that is not food.
That evening I had planned sushi for dinner. I checked in, did not fancy the broccoli, so I waited. By half eight I did, and the sushi was so good. It is a little game you play with yourself, and it works.
Make it delicious or you will not stick to it
Weight loss does not have to be boring or hard. It can just be incredibly delicious. It depends on your mindset, and on whether you have found meals you genuinely love. That day I had a chocolate lava cake made with cauliflower for breakfast (my kids had it with ice cream), an improvised tofu and spinach pasta from a nearly empty fridge, and homemade sushi. I get more excited about my own cooking than I ever did about a restaurant.
People are creatures of habit. Use that to your advantage. Find ten recipes you love and eat them on repeat.
Watch: The whole day, the empty fridge, my daughter Romy helping with a corn casserole, and the full number one tip is in A full day of low calorie density eating and my number one tip.
Clean kitchen. Full commitment. Food you love. That is the recipe underneath all the recipes, lovely.
Ready to actually go all in?
I spent five years dabbling before I committed. If you want someone to help you go all in and stay there, apply for coaching below.
Free to apply. No pressure, just a chat.
Quick answers
How do I stop eating junk food when it is in the house?
Honestly, you mostly can't, and that is not a character flaw. Our bodies are wired to seek the most calorie-dense food available. The fix is to get it out of the house, or have an honest chat with whoever you live with about keeping it out of shared spaces.
How do I know if I am actually hungry?
Ask whether you would happily eat a head of broccoli or a bowl of fruit right now. If yes, you are hungry, eat. If the only thing you fancy is something rich or sweet, it is probably not hunger.
Why am I not losing weight on a plant-based diet?
The most common reason I see is half-commitment: potatoes some days, takeaway the others. I did that for five years and my weight did not move. It shifted the moment I went all in.
Topics
- weight loss tips
- food environment weight loss
- how to stop eating junk food at home
- clean eating kitchen
- how to stay consistent with weight loss
- willpower vs environment
- plant based weight loss tips
- vegan weight loss motivation
- commit to weight loss
- hunger test
- Broccoli Mum
Ami x 🥦
Broccoli Mum