Experience with (planned) slow start of weight loss journey?

tl,dr; Did you start the weight loss journey slowly, meaning changing one small thing at a time over several weeks? How was it?

Hello reddit world (first ever post)! I (39f, 167cm/5'6, 76kg/168lbs) have gained 13kg/29lbs between 2019 and 2021 (health issues and pandemic) and another 18kg/40lbs during 2021 from pregnancy. I lost the pregnancy weight without much effort over the course of 2022 but the remaining 13kg/29lbs are more stubborn. Currently I am even on an upwards trend where I gained about 2kg in the last 2 months so I decided to take the weight loss more seriously.

I am not in a particular rush with losing the extra weight, it's more important for me to make sure I don't give up and that the new lifestyle is sustainable. I made a plan for a very slow start and while it sounds good to me in theory, I am worried that I might lose my motivation if I don't see any results for quite a while. I'd be very happy to hear experiences, both good and bad, with a slow start into a hopefully healthier lifestyle.

If anyone is interested, here is my plan: In my case, the main meals are usually home-cooked and quite healthy and I drink mostly water, tea without sugar, and sugarfree soda (not a lot). My problem is tons of crappy snacks in between meals (even right before and right after meals) and also portion size in general.

• week 1: no snacks between breakfast and lunch

• week 2: as before + no snacks after dinner

• week 3: as before + no solid snacks between lunch and dinner; if necessary, a smoothy / veggie juice is ok

• week 4: as before + limit portion size for dinner

• week 6: check weight to see if I need to adjust more (I would really like to avoid counting calories but if I see no progress at the 6 week mark, I might look into it. )

• week ? (whenever the days get a bit longer and the temperatures a bit more friendly): re-start running slowly

Any thoughts are very welcome! I am mostly worried about losing motivation without any early results.