The late Dr Michael Mosley shared a simple weight loss technique that helped women shed an average of 15lb in 12 weeks by changing when they ate their evening meal
Vita Molyneux Travel reporter and Rebecca Miller
19:12, 26 Dec 2025
Dr Michael Mosley was a renowned expert(Image: Brook Mitchell, Getty Images)
Finding it difficult to control your weight and stick to conventional diets? You’re far from being on your own.
Countless people throughout Britain struggle with maintaining a healthy weight. The late Dr Michael Mosley revolutionised the lives of numerous people with his approach to weight management.
Though Dr Mosley died in 2024, his guidance remains invaluable for those looking to better their weight and general wellbeing. For anyone who finds standard dieting particularly challenging, the esteemed specialist shared one uncomplicated method to lose weight almost imperceptibly.
The solution is simple: modify when you eat your meals. Dr Michael created several eating programmes for weight management, such as The Very Fast 800, The New 5:2, and Way of Life, according to the Express, reports the Mirror.
Yet, there’s one straightforward adjustment that anybody can implement, which might yield remarkable outcomes for your body: consuming your final meal of the day at an earlier hour.
He had previously described how his demanding schedule as a working father meant he frequently wouldn’t have dinner until “well after 9pm”.
“More recently, we’ve made an effort to start eating our dinner by 7.30pm, as well as avoiding too many late-night snacks,” he shared.
Dr Michael subsequently outlined why this approach is “good for the waistline”.
He referenced recent studies conducted by the University of Nottingham in collaboration with Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Iran. Researchers enlisted 82 healthy yet overweight women for participation in a weight reduction initiative.
The lead researcher elaborated: “The women didn’t normally finish their evening meals until well after 10pm, but now half were asked to finish their eating by 7.30pm at the latest.
“After 12 weeks both groups had lost weight, but those who changed to eating earlier in the evening had lost an average of 15lb, compared with less than 11lb for the late eaters.
“In other words, just by changing the time they ate, the early eaters had shed an extra 4lb.
“They also lost an extra inch around the waist and experienced greater improvements in their cholesterol and blood fats,” the nutrition specialist continued.
Dr Michael made clear this wasn’t down to the late-dining cohort consuming additional calories, given both groups ingested approximately equivalent amounts.
Rather, he highlighted that researchers believe consuming food late into the evening can interfere with the genes regulating your circadian rhythm, potentially increasing the likelihood of obesity and type 2 diabetes developing.
Writing in his Daily Mail column, the medical professional continued: “Further proof that late-night eating really does alter your ability to handle food comes from a recent study by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the U.S.
“[It] which found that when healthy volunteers had their dinner within an hour of going to bed, they burnt 10% less fat overnight than when they stopped eating three hours before shut-eye.”
He highlighted that our bodies struggle to process substantial amounts of food throughout the evening hours, warning that a “midnight snack will have a worse impact” than consuming identical fare during daylight hours.