Never Diet Again with Max Lowery

#84 How to Eat More Food and Lose 20 Pounds

• Max Lowery

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You’ve been told to eat less, snack constantly, and “just try harder.” But what if everything you’ve learned about weight loss is dead wrong?

In this game-changing episode of the Never Diet Again podcast, Max Lowery reveals the truth that the diet industry doesn’t want you to know:


You don’t need to eat less to lose fat—you need to eat smarter.

Introducing the Volume Eating Method, a proven strategy that helps women over 40 feel full, energized, and in control while still losing weight.


Here’s what you’ll learn:

✅ Why eating tiny meals and cutting calories slows your metabolism
✅ How to build large, satisfying meals that kill cravings and burn fat
✅ The 5 biggest mistakes women make when trying to “eat healthy”
✅ Why snacking is sabotaging your results—even if it’s “clean”
✅ How to eat more food, ditch guilt, and still fit into your favourite jeans

Plus, Max shares the story of Sarah, a 56-year-old lawyer and mom who lost 20 pounds without starving herself, obsessing over calories, or missing out on the foods she loves.


If you’ve ever said…

  • “I barely eat but I still can’t lose weight.”
  • “I’m hungry all the time.”
  • “I just need more willpower…”

 This episode will shift everything.

It’s time to stop fighting your hunger and start working with your body, not against it.

Tune in now and learn how to finally lose fat without feeling like you’re on a diet.

Watch my The Cravings & Fat-Burning Masterclass:  https://www.neverdietagainmethod.uk/register-podcast

Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/max.lowery/

Book a Food Freedom Breakthrough Call: https://www.neverdietagainmethod.uk/call-ig



Max Lowery:

How do you create a life that allows you to lose weight, eat the foods that you love, and sustain the results? Over the last 10 years, I've helped thousands of people do exactly that. I'm Max Lowry. I'm an author, personal trainer, and weight loss coach. In this podcast, I'm going to share my top tips and tricks from within my one-on-one coaching program. It's my goal to give you the tools and understanding so that you never diet again. What if I told you that the secret to losing weight isn't eating less? It's actually eating more. No, this isn't clickbait rubbish. This is a legitimate strategy I use with my one-on-one coaching clients. Most of the women over 40 I speak to believe that to lose weight, they have to restrict, deprive, and starve themselves. But the thing is, this is exactly why they don't lose weight in the long term. So today I'm going to show you how eating more food can actually help you burn fat, boost your energy, and reduce your hunger. I'll even share with you exactly how to build your meal so you feel full, satisfied, in control and lose weight at the same time. So before I share the tips on how to eat more and lose weight, let's talk about the way that people typically lose weight. Most people think that weight loss is about restriction, starvation, and punishment. They cut out calories, skip meals, swap dinner for shakes, or live off tiny saddles that leave them starving an hour later. And yes, they might lose some weight at first. The number on the scale might drop. And when you restrict, deprive, and starve yourself, your body starts to panic. It does the exact opposite of what you want it to. It reacts in two key ways. When you start suddenly eating a lot less food, your body doesn't think, oh, that's great. We're on a diet and we're going to lose weight. It sees it as danger. It thinks food is running out. So to keep you alive, it starts to slow everything down, including your basal metabolic rate, which essentially is your calories that you burn at rest. So your body starts to decrease this and run everything slower so you conserve fuel. Essentially, your body is trying to conserve emergency fat stores because that's what body fat is. It is stored energy for later use. The second thing that happens is your brain starts to kick in. It increases hunger hormones to make you eat more. It's essentially motivating you to go out and seek food. And this is an incredibly powerful evolutionary response, especially when we are hunter-gatherers. But obviously, the world has changed, the environment has changed, but our physiology has not changed. So your body essentially does the exact opposite of what you want it to do. And that's why people feel tired, hungry, and stuck when they go too extreme with their dieting. They're essentially fighting against their own biology. And you cannot use willpower or motivation or just try harder. And I see this all the time. Women think they just need to push harder, more willpower, more discipline, more motivation, more starvation. They often tell themselves, this time it will be different. And that's exactly what one of my clients, Sarah, told me when we first spoke. Sarah was 56, a lawyer, a mother of two children. When she decided to lose weight, she meant it. No half measures, no excuses. She clears her cupboards, signs up for new programs, tracks every calorie, and nails every workout. And at first, it works. The scale drops, her clothes fit better, people notice, and for a few months, she feels unstoppable. It's like she's finally cracked the code. But then it all starts to go downhill. The hunger, the exhaustion, the obsessive thoughts about food. She can't go out with friends for dinner without overthinking what's on the menu. She lies awake at night wondering why she can't just hold it together this time. And then of course, eventually the pendulum swings back. She finds herself standing in front of the fridge at 10 p.m., eating everything she swore she wouldn't. And a week later, the scale starts to creep up. And then comes the guilt and the shame and the same promise, I'll start again on Monday. This went on for years. Lose 20 pounds, gain 25. Each round chipped away at her confidence, her joy, and her sense of self. And the thing is, this is not Sarah's fault. She was not lazy or weak. She wasn't broken. She was stuck in a pattern built on control, punishment, and fear. And every time she went all in, starved herself, restricted, deprived herself, her body fought back. And it wasn't a lack of willpower, it was a lack of trust in her body, in food, and in herself. And that's exactly what we worked on together. We stopped focusing on restriction and started rebuilding trust. Got her eating more food so she could stay full, energized, and satisfied while still losing fat. And the result? She lost 20 pounds in 90 days. But most importantly, she stopped feeling controlled by food. She now eats out, enjoys her favorite meals, and doesn't feel guilty about it. That's what happens when you start fighting your body and start working with it. I realize this sounds too good to be true, but I do encourage you to go listen to some of our client conversations on this podcast where we go into detail about exactly how this works. So what I want to show you next and how we help our clients eat more is with something called the volume eating method. So what is the volume eating method? It's not about eating less, it's about eating smarter. It's about getting more food from the same calories. It's how you lose fat whilst feeling full, satisfied, and in control. And here's how it works: your stomach has little stretch receptors built into its walls. When you eat, food fills your stomach. And those receptors send a message to your brain that says, I'm full. This is one of the main ways that your body tells you to stop eating. So if you're eating small portions of high calorie foods, things like cheese, butter, chocolate, pastries, your stomach doesn't stretch very much. So you can end up eating a load of calories before your brain ever gets that full signal. That's why you can sometimes finish a meal and feel still hungry or snacky right after. But when you eat high volume foods, foods with more water, fiber, and protein, your stomach stretches more and your brain gets that fullness signal faster and your appetite calms down naturally. Really quick one for me, guys. I don't run ads on this podcast, and I do aim to give you as many high-value tips and tricks as I can for free. All I ask in return is that you help me spread the word. That way I can help as many people as I can to never diet again. The way to do that is to rate, review, and share this podcast. A review will only take 30 seconds, but it would mean the world to me. But more importantly, it could help change the life of someone else. Let me explain what that looks like. Imagine a cheese sandwich made with white bread and butter, roughly 450 calories. Tastes good, everyone loves a cheese sandwich every now and then, but it's gone in five bites. And an hour later, you're already hungry again. Now imagine another meal with the same calories, but this time it's 150 grams of chicken breast, 250 grams of roasted vegetables, and 150 grams of rice. It still comes to around 450 calories, but you get triple the volume of the food and way more nutrients, and you'll stay full for hours. So it's the same calories, but a completely different result. The second meal fills your stomach, triggers those stretch receptors, and keeps you full for hours. This is the magic of volume eating. And the best part, when you eat this way, most of the time, you naturally eat fewer calories without even trying, without needing to count every gram of food. And this is exactly why my clients tell me that they are losing weight without feeling like they're on a diet. They're losing weight without feeling hungry all the time. And I want to make something really clear here. You don't have to give up the cheese, the butter, the pastries, the foods that you like. They can still be part of what you eat. You just need to be smart and intelligent about it. Ideally, about 80% of what you eat is going to be made of the low calorie, higher volume foods, things that keep you full and fuel your body. And then that leaves plenty of room for the foods that you love for the other 20%. So, how do you actually incorporate the volume eating method? Here's where most people get this wrong. They try to lose weight by eating tiny meals and snacking all day. That is the fastest way to keep your hunger high and your fat loss slow. Volume eating works when you do the opposite. You eat bigger meals less often. Then you cut out the snacks. And when I say cut out the snacks, I mean all of them. Every bite, lick, and taste counts as a snack. Eat nothing in between your large, satisfying meals. Every single one of my clients is scared to do this at first. They're scared to eat more. It feels strange when they're trying to lose weight. But a few weeks in, they start to lose weight and the penny drops. So let's look at what those larger meals should be composed of. We're going to start with lean protein. This should be the foundation of every meal. It keeps you fuller for longer, stabilizes your blood sugar, and it supports muscle mass. Some of the best lean protein sources are skinless chicken breast, turkey, white fish like cod, haddock, sea bass, prawns, tuna, eggs, Greek yogurt or skier yogurt, cottage cheese, tofu or tempeh. Protein should cover roughly a quarter of your plate or about a palm-sized portion. Number two, then fill your plate with the low-calorie, high-volume fruits and vegetables. These are your secret weapon. They add size, color, and fiber without adding many calories. Some of the best high volume options are pogettes, mushrooms, peppers, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, cabbage, leafy greens like spinach, rocket, kale, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, carrot, celery, fresh fruits like berries, melon, apples, oranges. You can literally eat as much of these foods as you like. These are the things that will stretch your stomach and tell your brain that you don't need to eat anymore. A minimum of half your plate should be filled with these foods. Number three, add complex high fiber carbs. You don't need to cut out carbs. You don't need to fear carbs. Just focus on the ones that keep you fuller for longer. So great options include potatoes, sweet potatoes, brown or basmati rice, quinoa, lentils, oats, beans, chickpeas, whole grain pasta, sourdough bread. Many women over 40 make a big mistake not incorporating these complex carbs. Number four, you can always add in more volume to existing meals. Add fruit to your oats. Add vegetables to your pasta. Add loads of veggies to your eggs. Eat fresh fruit instead of dried fruit. Add lentils or mushrooms and other vegetables to ground beef. Add a big salad to the side of your meal. Add cauliflower to normal rice. And make your own salsa as a nice sauce. Number five, this food doesn't need to be bland. But if you're adding loads of cheesy sauces and mayonnaise, that's going to ramp up the calories. So instead, use things like homemade salsa, soy sauce, balsamic glaze, mustard, sriracha, vinegar, fresh herbs, garlic, and spices. These make your meals satisfying and stop you from feeling deprived. When you combine all of this, larger meals, no snacking, high volume foods, and smart swaps, you'll find yourself eating more food, feeling more energized, and still losing weight. This is the real weight loss secret. You don't need to fight your hunger. You don't need to restrict and starve yourself. But there are some common mistakes people make with volume eating. So before you start loading your plate with vegetables and calling it volume eating, let's talk about them. Biggest mistake that people make is too much oil. An olive oil is healthy, it's full of micronutrients, but it's also one of the most calorie-dense foods on the planet. A few tablespoons can turn a 400-calorie meal into an 800-calorie meal without you even realizing. So use it, but measure it. Maybe use an olive oil spray instead of drizzling it. The second mistake is not enough protein. I can't stress how important protein is for fat loss. It keeps you fuller for longer. You will feel so much less hungry if you are prioritizing lean protein. It prevents you from losing muscle mass when you lose weight. And for women over 40, this is incredibly important because as the hormones change, muscle mass drops. And the more muscle mass you lose, the lower your basal metabolic rate will be. So you'll have to eat less and less and less calories in order to stop yourself from putting on weight. Opping your protein when combined with strength training will reverse this and prevent you from losing as much muscle mass. The third mistake is the snacking. And remember, I mean every bite, lick, and taste counts. You'll be surprised how quickly the calories add up. Most people consume 500 calories every single day, unknowingly, with just the bites, the licks, and the taste. That's essentially an entire meal's worth. And there is lots of research to back this up. So when you eat those big, large, satisfying meals focusing on the volume, you should not need to snack. If you are still snacking, it's likely emotional or psychological hunger. If you want to understand more about emotional eating and psychological hunger, make sure you check out the cravings of fat loss masterclass. You can click that link below to get it. Mistake number four is eating too low calories during the day, which means hunger builds up throughout the day. And then you snack and overeat and binge in the evenings. So remember, you must have proper meals at breakfast and lunch. You must have a protein source. You must feel full and satisfied. Otherwise, hunger is going to build up and you're going to feel out of control. And finally, last mistake is all or nothing thinking. Trying to be perfect, not incorporating any of their fun favorite foods like the pastries, the cheese, or the butter. Avoiding these foods completely takes a ton of willpower, motivation, and discipline. It's also not enjoyable, and you're more likely to give in and binge and overeat if you do this. So incorporate it into your week. Don't try and be perfect. Don't be all or nothing. Because volume eating isn't about perfection, it's just about balance. 80% of the foods you eat are the high volume, nutrient dense. That gives you room for the 20% of foods that you enjoy. To wrap up, stop starving yourself, stop restricting yourself, stop depriving yourself. Just be smarter with the way that you eat. See if you can maximize volume but minimize calories. When you focus on this volume eating method, you will stay full, satisfied, and in control without cutting out the foods that you love. Again, I know it sounds too good to be true, but give it a go. Stop fighting your body and start working with it. If you want more help putting this into practice, make sure you click the link below to get access to my free volume eating guide. It'll show you how to build meals that keep you full, crush cravings, and make fat loss simple. But if you know you need more help, if you know you want the support and accountability of experts, then the next logical step is to book in for a food freedom breakthrough call. This is just a relaxed conversation with me where we'll talk about what's holding you back, why you're stuck, and what is the root cause of your weight gain. One of two things will happen on that call. Either I'll give you a ton of free advice, or if I think we can help you on a deeper level with our Live360 program, I'll explain exactly how that works. All the links are below.