Total diet replacement (TDR) is a nutritional tool used to achieve significant weight loss. Each day on TDR consists of four nutritionally-complete soups, shakes, and porridges instead of your regular diet. Each meal contains everything you need to stay healthy while providing 800 calories in total per day. It is the quickest and safest way to lose weight without surgery and has been clinically proven to help people lose about 15% of their body weight.[1,2]

It’s important to note that TDR is not the same as “meal replacement”. These products are readily available but their nutritional value is not sufficient to be used as a complete diet replacement. 

When you start the Habitual programme you will be on full TDR for the first 12 weeks. This means you will only eat our TDR meals during this time (with allowance for meals or days off, of course). In weeks 13-16, we guide you through food reintroduction so that you can gradually reduce the number of TDR meals you have each day. It’s important to transition off TDR slowly to allow your body to become re-accustomed to regular meals while maintaining your weight loss and building healthier and sustainable eating habits for the future.

For TDR to work, it's important that you stick to just the four Habitual meals each day (at least most of the time). However, you can pep up your meals with additions such as zero-calorie hot sauces, dried or fresh herbs, and small amounts of garlic, cinnamon, and zero-calorie syrups. Where possible, we recommend drinking water but you can also include tea and coffee (ideally black), diet soda, sparkling water, herbal tea, and flavoured zero-calorie water. For something to chew on, sugar-free gum is also allowed. Read more about what you can and can’t eat whilst on TDR.

Here at Habitual we understand that life happens and that sometimes it just isn’t practical to be on TDR. That’s why in the programme we place a big emphasis on giving you the tools to get back on track should a planned deviation happen. But we know that full TDR isn’t feasible for some people, so if you would like to customise your journey, we recommend getting in touch with our Patient Care team first to plan your personal journey - or you can switch to our 2/day plan from the Profile section of your Habitual app.

TDR has been tested in large randomised control trials and proven to be not only safe, but also incredibly effective. TDR provides you with all the micro and macronutrients your body needs, keeping you safe and healthy while losing weight. The significant weight loss associated with a TDR diet means it is best suited to people who could benefit from a substantial amount of weight—around 10-15kg. We therefore do not recommend it to anyone with a BMI of less than 24.

There are a few rare conditions and recent health events that might preclude someone from undertaking TDR. That’s why we work closely with your GP before welcoming you onto the full programme, to make sure that you can benefit from the journey while staying safe and healthy. Read more about the safety of TDR.

You might think that eating just 800 calories means you’ll be hungry all the time... but incredibly, that’s not the case! You may be a bit peckish during the first few days, while your body is adjusting to the reduced calorie intake, but after that you will feel surprisingly full!

This is because during TDR, your body goes into a state of mild ketosis, which has a satiating effect. There is also research to suggest that an all-liquid diet increases satiety, meaning that you’ll feel fuller than if you were eating the same amount of solid food.

Yes, of course! Ahead of each month’s new food order you can choose how many of each meal and flavour you would like to receive. So, if you have a few select favourites, you can make sure you get to enjoy those as much as possible.

While the full Habitual programme contains 16 weeks of daily habit change lessons and exercises (plus bonus content on nutrition, exercise, and more!), TDR in itself is a powerful behaviour tool. This is because it acts as a reset for your body and your mind. For most people, TDR provides the first opportunity they’ve ever had to stop thinking about food completely. You’ll have four meals a day without needing to think about what you’ll eat, portion sizes, shopping, and cooking. By freeing up all this mental space normally used to make eating decisions, you’ll have extra brain power (and time!) to use in your daily lessons, which help you build healthy habits for life.

Habitual is a 16-week diabetes remission programme based on years of scientific research into the best strategies for reversing type 2 diabetes. We’re different because we understand the science behind diabetes reversal and combine it with a holistic and fully digital approach to changing behaviours. This means that our Patient Care team can provide a high level of support throughout the programme because all of the behaviour change in the programme is delivered via our app.

Absolutely! While we talk a lot about reversing type 2 diabetes, our programme is suitable for anyone needing to lose 10-15kg to achieve better health—whether that’s reversing type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes, lowering blood pressure, curing sleep apnoea, reducing knee pain, or simply feeling better day to day. You can check your eligibility by signing up to a plan here.

We always say that we’ll support you for life—but the intensive bit of our programme is 16 weeks long, consisting of a 12-week Health Reset, during which you'll consume 800kcal/day, and 4 more weeks of gradual calorie increase. You can learn more about the Habitual journey on our Programme page here.

The first step with Habitual is to decide and sign up for the plan that's best for you (at least to start with—you can always change later!). Once you’ve paid and downloaded our app, we’ll do a quick medical onboarding to make sure you’re safe to get started, then you can claim your free taster box. When you've tried the meals, you can order your first monthly meal box via the app, then you'll get started on the programme! Over the course of the 4 months you will receive daily behaviour change lessons in our app to help you learn about the science of nutrition and feel confident in your decisions as you create your new way of eating for a healthier, happier life. You can learn more about the Habitual journey on our Programme page.

The outcomes of the Habitual programme differ for each participant, but as our approach is based on years of scientific research so we can share the average outcomes which have been observed. In the clinical research, average weight loss on a total diet replacement programme is 15kg at 6 months; Habitual participants see an average of 17kg at 6 months. Along with this weight loss comes a variety of health benefits: 46-60% of people put type 2 diabetes into remission, 60% of patients improve knee pain symptoms, and half the risk of a heart attack or stroke.[2]

Reversal of the underlying disease process of type 2 diabetes is possible for many people undergoing a low-calorie diet programme, however it’s impossible to say when it will occur. Whether and how quickly you’re able to achieve remission depends on factors such as how long you’ve been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, your starting weight, and your body’s response to different foods. What we can say is that blood sugars tend to stabilise at healthy levels within the first few weeks, even without medication. Type 2 diabetes remission is measured by taking at least HbA1c tests separated by three months.

During your 16 weeks with Habitual, our app guides you through in-depth lessons and exercises to change your habits and your psychology around food, exercise, and your relationship with yourself. So it’s really a combination of your food plan plus the Habitual app: a low-calorie diet creates the mental space necessary to break, build, and practice new habits, whilst the lessons in our app guide you through the psychology of doing just that.

That really depends on which plan you sign up for! The more Habitual meals you opt in for, the more you'll pay—but do bear in mind these meals will replace what you would be spending on groceries or eating out. You can learn more about our pricing here.

Your monthly payment includes lifelong access to our app (including expert-developed behaviour change lessons and exercises), ongoing support from our Patient Care team, and access to a bespoke cohort of peers that you’ll go through the programme with. Depending on the plan you select, your monthly payment may also include Habitual meals.

If you wish to cancel your monthly subscription at any point, please cancel through the Habitual app (via the ‘Help’ option in the Profile section). Please note that if you do decide to cancel, any outstanding payments for meal boxes already delivered will be taken.

While the first step for getting started is signing up to one of our plans, do bear in mind that all plans come with a free taster box—and if you decide that the meals aren't for you, we'll refund your first payment, no questions asked. Plus, it's easy to switch plans in the app, so you don't need to worry about choosing the wrong plan.

We understand that it won't always be convenient to follow an 800kcal plan, which is why we encourage you to actively include guilt-free time off into your plan. If you need to pause your meal delivery at all, you can change your subscription to Digital—you'll maintain access to the app without receiving monthly meal boxes. To discuss a break and switch your plan, content Patient Care via the Care team tab in the app.