More than 70 percent of Americans are overweight and their food environment — the kinds of foods they come across regularly in their daily life has a lot to do with it. In the U.S. there are a seemingly unlimited number of high-calorie foods readily available at convenience stores and grocery stores that are designed to make us crave more.

The result? Because these tempting, high-calorie foods make self-control difficult, many people struggle to stay at a healthy weight .

Reaching and maintaining a weight goal takes vigilance. Choosing satisfying, lower-calorie foods takes effort. It's also not easy to sustain.

When people choose from a limited selection of foods they know work for weight-loss, they are less likely to be tempted by less healthy options.

One good strategy is to develop consistent eating habits. Having the same healthy foods in rotation in your diet makes it easier to maintain your weight over the long term. When people choose from a limited selection of foods they know satisfy them and keep the weight off, they are less likely to be tempted by less healthy options.

Researchers from Drexel University recently studied how having an eating routine could help people have more self-control around food. They asked over 100 overweight or obese adults to track everything they ate each day on a mobile app as part of a behavioral weight-loss program. Researchers analyzed these food logs during the first 12 weeks of the program, when participants were most likely to consistently and accurately record their food intake. They also looked at how often participants ate the same foods and snacks.

People who ate a more consistent diet lost almost six percent of their body weight during the study period, while those who ate a more varied diet lost a little more than four percent.

By sticking to the same foods and calorie goal, dieters don't have to do calorie calculations or decide whether this should be their day to cheat.

The researchers also monitored calorie consistency, or daily changes in calorie consumption. They noted changes in calorie consumption on weekends compared to weekdays. Consistent calorie counts led to better results. Every 100-calorie increase in daily calorie consumption yielded about 0.6 percent decrease in weight loss.

“Because they are not making as many decisions, things start to feel easier,” Charlotte Hagerman, lead author on the study, told TheDoctor. The decision is already made for them, she added.

When people choose from a limited number of foods, the most important thing of course is making sure they have a selection of nutritious, well-balanced meals they are happy to eat. Said Hagerman, an assistant research professor at Drexel, as well as a research scientist at the Oregon Research Institute, “I would not obsess over exact nutrient intake versus having good enough, healthy foods you know you will eat.”

The study is published in Health Psychology.