Hey, we think you look gorgeous just as you are. But we totally understand feeling a little blah when you’re carrying a little bit more weight than you’d like. Just ask these five women: They’ve been there—lost that. These are the subtle tweaks (getting honest about portions, actually eating dessert) that helped them achieve their happy weight even when a few extra pounds were hanging tough. As for you? Experts agree that these changes can get your body burning again too.

Move more outside of the gym

When Sarah Grant hit a plateau before reaching her goal weight, the working mom of two zeroed in on the long periods she spent parked at her desk. “Even though I was working out outside of the office and eating healthy, it didn’t make up for the hours a day I spent sedentary,” says Grant, 41, the chief financial officer for a South Florida restaurant group.

She made a simple vow to walk more, all day, every day. “It’s an easy, free activity that you can do anywhere,” Grant points out. In addition to weight training in the morning, she added in a walk on her lunch hour and an after-dinner stroll with her son and daughter. “There is a point at which eating less isn’t the best option,” Grant says. “This gave me the ability to avoid having to continually slash calories to lose weight.”

She’s on to something: The more energy you have moving through your system, the better your metabolism functions, says Holly Wyatt, MD, head of the metabolism and obesity clinic at the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Health and Wellness Center. “Adding mini movement blocks to your day sporadically will help you burn more energy than you’re consuming,” Dr. Wyatt says.

Try picking a coffee joint that’s about a 15-minute walk away from your home or office and take a walking break any days that you can; walking for 30 minutes (15 in each direction) at a quick pace burns around 150 calories.

RELATED: These Are the Best Walking Workouts, According to Fitness Experts

Don’t make any foods off limits

Long days of meal sampling at events and restaurants made it all too easy for food blogger Dara Pollak to hold on to an extra five to 10 pounds. “I could be tasting four to five different decadent dishes at a single restaurant,” explains Pollak, 33, the creator of The Skinny Pig blog. To balance the “bad” meals, she would skip breakfast. “I went to events starving and would end up overeating, and then feeling food guilt.”

Pollak has changed her mind-set so that she doesn’t consider any foods restricted, and instead taste-tests just a few bites of everything. “I eat slowly and mindfully and savor a few bites I take of, say, the french fries I’m sampling,” she says. And she eats a hearty breakfast of overnight oats daily. “It curbs my hunger, and even though I might still crave the yummy foods in front of me, I can eat them with more control and joy.”

Chris Mohr, RD, an exercise physiologist, nutritionist, and co-owner of Mohr Results, agrees that telling yourself you can’t have a certain treat sets you up to binge later on. “Then all you can think about is that forbidden fruit,” he says. So next time your friend suggests splitting dessert, go for it. When you give yourself permission to indulge in moderation, you may realize you crave only a bite or two, or none at all.

RELATED: How to Stop Beating Yourself Up About What You Eat

Clean up your weekends

Heather Muir Maffei, Health’s beauty director, wanted to lose a bit of weight and get toned up before her wedding two years ago. One key lifestyle adjustment that helped her knock off the last 10—and keep it off? Not loosening up too much when the weekend hits.

On Saturdays, Muir Maffei and her husband, Dave Maffei, have an “eat whatever we want” meal for dinner—“even if that means Five Guys followed by doughnuts,” says Muir Maffei, 33. “It gives us something to look forward to, yet when we’re done, we feel like eating well again.”

They also hike, run, or walk their dogs, plus do a Saturday morning weigh-in together. “It keeps me accountable,” Muir Maffei says. And this weekend ritual assists in setting the tone for the workweek: “We love eating whole-wheat protein pancakes for breakfast, so Dave preps the batter on Sunday, and we use it for the week ahead.”

All of this is to say, the weekends really count. Data shows that most people do have a weight cycle that involves losing a bit on weekdays only to gain it back over the weekend. One study found that adults ages 19 to 50 consume an extra 115 calories on each weekend day, as well as more fat and alcohol, than on Monday through Thursday. With this in mind, take a move from Heather’s playbook and limit your all-out eating to one meal—instead of two full days of going off your plan.

Be meticulous about portion sizes

Allison Constantino, 69, eats healthy and is super active, but she notices her weight creep up if she gets lax about the sizes of her meals and snacks (even when they’re healthy). “I can run circles around many people my age, but I can’t deny the fact that I’m older and I don’t burn calories the way I used to,” she says. “If I overeat even a little bit the calories seem to hang onto me.”

Constantino now reads nutrition labels more than ever; she also uses a food scale and measuring cups. “I will look at a label for a healthy bag of nuts, and I will see that 10 pieces is a serving and put them in a bowl or baggy,” she explains. “Without measuring it out, I can easily do damage and gain weight, even those it’s a healthy snack.”

Misjudging portions is a common weight-loss speedbump, says Mohr. But if cups and scales sound too tedious, he recommends pre-portioned dishes (think summer and those BBQ divided plates!) from time to time to reorient yourself with accurate meal portions.

Or, use your hands: One handful of carbohydrate, two handfuls of veggies and/or fruit, and one palm-sized piece of protein is a no-fuss way to balance your meal. As for snacks? Shop for single-serving packs or think “golf-ball size” when pouring from a family-size bag.

RELATED: 8 Tips for Controlling Portion Sizes

Start lifting weights

When Anna Laura Sommer began grad school, she found it tough to maintain a healthy lifestyle. “I carried an extra layer of ‘fluff’ around my mid­section,” says the 27-year-old, who is now a fitness and health coach in Philadelphia. “I was never overweight, per se, but I knew I didn’t feel my best.”

She started lifting weights as a form of stress relief (“I called it my beast-mode time and took it all out on the weights”), but in about a month she noticed the fluff melt away and muscle begin to show. “I was seeing so much more change in my body from shorter strength sessions compared with long cardio workouts,” she says.

There’s science behind her results: “In general, the more lean muscle mass you carry, the faster your resting metabolism is—and you don’t build muscle by only focusing on cardio,” explains Michelle Lovitt, an exercise physiologist based in Los Angeles. So head for those dumbbells at the gym, or add body-weight exercises to your routine.

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How much does 10 lbs. really matter?

Carrying a few extra pounds actually isn’t the biggest deal (as long as 10 doesn’t turn into 20, and so on!). “If a woman is a normal weight and puts on a few pounds, and her BMI is still in a healthy zone, those 10 pounds probably don’t have a huge impact on her risk factors for things like diabetes and metabolic syndrome,” Dr. Wyatt notes.

So ask why you want to slim down: Do you just feel better and more confident when your jeans are less snug? Do you feel stronger and more energized during workouts? “If losing a little weight achieves that for you, that’s great,” she says.

Is there any truth to the idea that your body weight has a “set point” it likes to function at? We asked a doctor to weigh in.

For the first time in years, Fleming is going to leave her bed.

You know what dieting demands: cut calories, go hard on veggies, exercise, and repeat, well, forever. But what if you could hit pause on dieting once in a while, but still reap weight-loss benefits?

That’s the premise of part-time diets. “ ‘Part-time dieting’ is an umbrella term for eating styles that let you be flexible with the hours, days, even weeks that you cut calories,” explains Courtney Peterson, PhD, assistant professor in the department of nutrition sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. And recent research is starting to uncover how different methods may make it easier to shed pounds and improve health.

No, dieting part-time doesn’t mean you can go crazy on burgers and fries when you’re not watching your calories as closely—and there’s no one-size-fits-all plan. Here, our experts dive into ways you can try this trend and how to customize it just for you.

The fasting-mimicking diet

Despite the name, the fasting-mimicking diet (FMD) doesn’t actually involve fasting. You restrict your calorie intake for five consecutive days, every three to four months, on average. The evidence behind the method: In a clinical trial, when healthy adults did FMD (eating around 1,100 calories on the first day, and about 750 calories on days two, three, four, and five) once a month for three months, they saw drops in body weight, total body fat, and blood pressure, while the people who followed a normal diet did not. How does it work? FMD puts the body in a fat-burning, ketogenic mode over the “fasting” period, explains Valter Longo, PhD, professor and director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California and author of the new book The Longevity Diet ($27; amazon.com). “The average healthy adult can do an FMD cycle a few times a year and reap the benefits,” says Longo, who worked on the aforementioned trial. The caveat: Any diet that involves fasting or major eating changes is not recommended for pregnant or breastfeeding women. And it’s always a good idea to talk to your doc before making significant diet changes.

Time-restricted feeding

The time-restricted feeding (TRF) concept is simple: Narrow the window when you consume food. A recent small study conducted by Peterson with the Louisiana State University’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center suggests that eating within a six-hour window may boost fat burn. Two other small studies found that even eating meals within an eight-hour period may promote fat loss. If this narrow time frame sounds like a freaky fad diet, don’t worry—Peterson says that a 10-hour window, like 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., is very doable and still works.

Keep in mind that shifting your entire meal schedule can be a tricky behavioral change. “Fasting isn’t for everyone,” says Stephanie Middleberg, RD, owner of Middleberg Nutrition in New York City. “I am a fan of people working on eating less at night. Even stretching your fasting period from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. could have tremendous benefits.”

Two-week cycling

A study in the International Journal for Obesity found that obese men who dieted two weeks on, then two weeks off for 30 weeks lost more weight than those who dieted continuously. These intermittent dieters kept the weight off for the long term, too. The mechanism at play isn’t totally clear, but it’s possible that “the body may not fully adapt to intermittent dieting in a way that would permanently slow down your metabolism,” Peterson says.

You don’t even have to do two-week cycles. “We don’t know at this point what the ideal schedule is,” Peterson notes. “To a degree, I think the scheduling depends on the person and her preferences.” So if, say, one week on, two weeks off seems more realistic for you, it’s fine to tweak the format to fit your needs. Peterson recommends giving it a couple of months for your body to adapt.

Before you try this on-off strategy, remember this: You can’t eat whatever you want during your no-dieting period. “Consuming 5,000 calories just because it’s a ‘free’ week is not efficient. You still want to think about filling your body with whole foods,” says Jennifer Cholewka, RD, senior clinical dietitian at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

Going vegan… until dinner

Popularized by the book Eat Vegan Before 6:00, by Mark Bittman, this scenario eliminates all animal products and focuses on eating vegan protein sources, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats until your evening meal. Plus, swapping animal protein for vegan sources slashes calories and saturated fat and has real weightloss potential. “When my clients break from consuming animal protein at all meals, they also realize how full they get when reintroducing it, so they often have a lot less at one sitting,” Middleberg says.

On the flip side, she points out that you need to make sure you’re still getting enough protein, carbs, and fat during the day so you aren’t ravenous at dinner and end up overeating.

The 5:2 diet

This plan is named after a book by the same name. (Benedict Cumberbatch and Jimmy Kimmel have both tried it.) A few studies have linked the regimen—which calls for eating normally five days of the week and only 25 percent of your typical calorie intake for two days of your choice—to weight loss and lower insulin levels. “If I were to try any part-time diet, the 5:2 plan would be my pick,” says Cholewka.

“You’re responsible for remembering your eating schedule and keeping an eye on calorie counts, but you aren’t burdened by strict food lists.” However, keep in mind that, as your body adjusts, you may feel the effects of hunger more acutely, she adds.

Worried that severe restriction will get to you? Peterson reversed the plan a bit for herself. “In the past, when I lost weight, I did an approach where five days a week I would cut down about 15 percent of my calories,” she explains. “Then I would eat healthy but normal for two days each week.”

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