Losing weight

Keeping Healthy Contents

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Before conception
Emotional health
Enjoy the Sun
Exercise
Five a day
Healthy eating
Men's health
Losing weight
Safer drinking
Screening tests
Smoking and health
Waist Hip Ratio
Women's health

Do I need to lose weight?

Before thinking about losing weight check if it is necessary. Use the waist hip ratio calculator on this site to see if you are at increased risk of heart disease.

Apples and Pears
Research has shown that people with a lot of fat stored in their tummy area ("apple" shaped people) are more likely to develop heart disease than those who store fat round their bottom and thighs ("pears"). It is possible to have an above average weight and a normal waist measurement if you are a fit, lean, muscular man. The same muscular man will also have a larger hip measurement because of all the muscle around his buttocks. For these reasons it is better to use the waist hip ratio than weight charts to assess the need for weight loss.

Be careful not to lose more weight than you need. If other people are saying that you are underweight, take notice of them. Let us see you at the surgery and we will be able to advise you on the correct weight for your build.

How can I lose weight?

Unfortunately there are no easy ways to do this. Fat is stored, and you put on weight when you take in more calories as food than you burn in everyday life. So to lose weight you can either

burn more calories by being more active and exercising
eat less food
do both 1 and 2

You have to do a lot of exercise to burn relatively few calories. For example, you would have to jog for around 15 minutes to burn 200 calories (about one 42g Mars Bar) See the links on the right to check this for yourself.

Why bother with exercise?
If you have to do such a lot of exercise to lose weight, what's the point? There are several good reasons
Firstly, exercise is good for your health, see our page on Keeping Active.
Secondly, exercise builds up your muscles, and even when you are sitting doing nothing your muscles burn up calories for you!
Lastly, exercise raises your basal metabolic rate, this is the speed at which you burn up calories when you are resting. The increase is about 10% and can last up to 48 hours after exercise in some people.

Probably the most sensible way to lose weight is to concentrate on eating a healthy diet initially, see our page on Healthy Eating. If you are already doing this then you will need to pay more attention to the number of calories you eat, see the calorie guidelines below.

At the same time it is a good idea to increase your exercise level. If you find it difficult to motivate yourself to do this, ask us for a referral to the Live Life exercise programme.

How can a healthy diet help me to lose weight?

Eating a healthy diet, (see our page on Healthy Eating), lowers the calorie intake for many people because a healthy diet means eating lots more fruit and vegetables and foods which are high in fibre. At the same time the amount of calorie rich fat and sugar is reduced. The overall result is a diet that is filling and satisfying, but with fewer calories.

I find it really difficult to keep to a diet, how can I help myself?

There are some ways in which you can help yourself to keep to a weight loss programme.

First you need to be thoroughly convinced this is what you want to do. Check out our Healthy Eating page for the health benefits.

Secondly, set yourself achievable goals. Remember that slow weight loss is the safest and most lasting method.

Involve your family in your healthy eating programme, so that you are not so tempted to return to your old habits, and so that there is less time spent on food preparation.

Be aware of how feelings affect the way you eat. You could keep a food diary in which you note the way you feel and what you eat. Are you eating because you are bored, lonely or anxious? If this is the case perhaps you can plan a strategy for coping with the times when you are likely to be most vulnerable.

Before eating, check if you are really hungry or are you eating for pleasure or out of habit, for example because you always eat at a certain time.

Look at your current eating patterns. Do you always want a snack before bedtime for example? If so, then save some of your daily allowance for this time rather than adding it on as an extra.

Here is a list of other useful coping strategies

eat at regular times
eat sitting down
take your time over eating, don't rush it
don't put serving dishes on the table, so that you are not so tempted to have a second helping
wait for five minutes after finishing your plate before deciding if you should have another helping
don't feel you have to always finish your plate, you decide when you have had enough
keep some healthy snacks available, for example, fresh fruit in a bowl, some chopped vegetables like raw carrot or celery in a plastic bag in the fridge.

Calorie Guidelines

Once you are eating a healthy diet, (see our page on Healthy Eating), you can lose further weight by limiting the amount of carbohydrate you are having in a day. You should aim for seven portions a day if you are a woman and eight if you are a man. This table is a list of common foods with the measure that is equal to one portion.

**Everyday Foods**
Carbohydrate (starchy food)	One Portion
Breakfast cereal, e.g. rice crispies or corn flakes (without added sugar)	3 tablespoons
Weetabix	1
Shredded wheat	1
Muesli	2 tablespoons
Bread or toast	1 large slice (medium thick)
Bread roll	half a large roll
Crispbreads	4
Rice, plain boiled	2 heaped tablespoons
Pasta, plain boiled	3 heaped tablespoons
Potatoes	2 egg sized
Muesli bar	1
Chapati	1 small

In addition there are some foods that you should eat only occasionally. Your ration is one portion a day, so you could save them up for a weekly treat

**Occasional Treats**
Occasional foods	One portion
Sugar	3 teaspoons
Jam or honey	One heaped teaspoon
Crisps, low fat variety	One small packet
Cake	half a slice !
Danish pastry	half
Biscuits, plain	2
Chocolate	One small bar or 2 mini bars

The above table is adapted from the British Heart Foundation's booklet "So you want to lose weight ... for good".

We have free copies at the surgery or you can contact the British Heart Foundation for a copy.
Click here for a printer friendly version of these tables.

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Keeping Healthy

Losing Weight