Weight
Loss
So
- you want to lose weight? (top)
Dieting and weight loss can be
a difficult process for many people that requires determination and will
power, and managing to stay at your desired weight when the diet
is over can also be a major challenge. It has been clearly established
that the personal and health rewards of achieving a healthy weight are
definitely worth the effort, and 'yo-yo' dieting can be avoided if you
include small but fundamental and lifelong changes to your eating patterns
and lifestyle habits.
Why
managing your weight is important (top)
There is now
plenty of evidence that if you are overweight, you increase your risks
of heart disease and are more likely to have poor general health. If you
become very overweight you are more likely to have a
heart attack, especially if your weight is around your middle. The good
news is that by losing your excess weight you can reduce those risks considerably.
Getting and keeping to a healthy weight reduces your risks not only of
heart disease but other problems like diabetes, some cancers and arthritis.
What's more, being at a healthy weight can help you to increase your energy
levels and boost self-confidence in your day-to-day life.
Over half of all adults
in the UK are now overweight - so you are not alone. Changing your lifestyle
and following a healthy balanced and varied diet will bring long term
health benefits for you and the whole family.
Am
I overweight?
(top)
To
check if you may be overweight, see where you fit in terms of height and
weight on the chart below. If you find that you need to lose weight, getting
to anywhere in the 'Healthy Weight' section should be your long term goal.
In the short term it may be more helpful to set yourself a series of realistic
and achievable weight loss 'steps' of between 5-10lbs - this way you can
congratulate yourself as you reach and pass each milestone!
Losing
weight safely and effectively
(top)
To lose weight
safely and effectively you need to use up more energy than your body takes
in from food and drink. To achieve this you will need to either
- change your diet and reduce your total
calorie intake from food and drink
- increase your calorie expenditure
by increasing your body's use of energy. Sustained exercise for at least
30 minutes 5 times per week is the most effective way to achieve this,
combined with ensuring that your diet provides sufficient nutrients
to support a healthy metabolism
- a combination of both of the above
Before
Starting Your Weight Loss Programme (top)
DO select a programme that allows you to lose weight
at a healthy rate - this should be no more than approximately 2lbs
per week
DO
consider supplementing your diet with a multivitamin and mineral complex.
Following a restrictive diet can result in insufficient levels of key
nutrients in your diet, and supplementation will help to ensure that you
are taking enough of these to support good health and maintain a healthy
metabolism.
DO
consult your health practitioner before starting any weight loss programme.
They can help guide you on how to lose weight safely and effectively.
If you are very overweight your doctor needs to be involved to monitor
your health.
Choosing
a Weight Loss Programme (top)
There are numerous diets and dieting programmes available
to you to choose from that will help you achieve your weight loss goals.
Your practitioner or local surgery will have details of diet and exercise
programmes that can help you lose weight in a healthy manner. Several
guides are provided by reputable medical organisations such as the British
Heart Foundation at www.bhf.org.uk
and the British Nutrition Foundation website at www.nutrition.org.uk
. Double click on the links to take you to either site.
Whatever programme
you choose to follow, a healthy weight loss programme should not restrict
your calorie intake to less than 1000 calories per day. Guidance on healthy
eating and diet can be found in our General Health section.
Remember that diets,
dieting programmes and dieting aids that offer 'quick fixes' are usually
not healthy or will not work a weight loss of 1lb or 0.5 kg week
is all you should expect. Anything more is a bonus!
Reducing
your Calorie Intake (top)
To reduce your calorie intake the most effective approach is to reduce
your fat intake in your diet, and moderate your carbohydrate
intake from sweet and sugary foods. Alcohol is high in calories,
and is an appetite stimulant so try to limit your intake or avoid it altogether.
Tips
to reduce dietary fats
- Choose lean cuts of meat and trim off fat before cooking
- Eat chicken, turkey and fish more often as these are
lower in fat than meat
- Remove all skin from poultry
- Grill, bake, poach, braise dishes instead of frying
or roasting
- Substitute polyunsaturated margarine for butter and
use in moderation
- Replace ordinary cheese with low fat or reduced fat
varieties
- Eat smaller portions
- Avoid pre-prepared commercial products that may be
high in fats, eg croissants, biscuits, cakes, puddings and snacks including
sweets and chocolate
- Use skimmed milk instead of semi-skimmed or full fat
milk
- When it is impossible to avoid consuming a high fat
meal, some dietary supplements can help you to reduce your fat absorption
Increasing
your energy expenditure
(top)
Exercise
Metabolic
Support
Tips
for a Healthy Metabolism
Getting your
metabolism moving to burn up calories effectively and efficiently is very
important both in weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight.
The first objective
is to increase your bodies demands for energy by increasing expenditure
through exercise. The second is to stimulate your metabolism - Your thyroid
gland produces thyroid hormone which is involved in the regulation of
metabolism. Thyroid activity can become sluggish as a result of a sedentary
lifestyle, and stimulating its activity can be achieved both through exercise
and diet.
Exercise
(top)
Exercise and activity is the first consideration - you need to aim to
build a higher level of activity into your everyday life. This can be
through a structured exercise programme, but can also be achieved by smaller
changes to your lifestyle
Tips
- Leave the car at home for those short trips, and walk
instead
- Take the stairs, not the lift
- Try cycling to work - or just for pleasure!
- Get out into the garden, and give any flower beds a
good dig
- Build in some structured exercise - such as swimming,
visiting a gym, exercise classes or whatever suits you! 30 minute sustained
exercise sessions will give you the most benefit
- Instead of sitting down to watch a film with the family,
play games outside or go for a walk
Ideally aim for at
least 5 sessions of exercise per week for at least 30 minutes per session.
Take things gently to begin with - you need to get slightly breathless
(but still be able to talk), and you need to get a little hot and sweaty
for the exercise to be worthwhile. If you have any health problems, check
with your doctor before starting any exercise programme.
Metabolic
support (top)
When on a calorie restricted diet, you can become deficient in certain
essential nutrients. Essential fats, vitamins and minerals play a role
in supporting the normal functioning of your metabolism and help your
body to burn and use stored fat and energy reserves, as well as maintaining
stable blood sugar levels. Taking a multivitamin, multi-mineral and Essential
Fatty Acid supplements can help you to ensure that your body does not
become deficient in key nutrients, and can help your body to mobilise
energy reserves.
- Iodine is an essential nutrient used in the production
of thyroid hormones, which are involved in regulation of metabolism
- Chromium plays a vital role in carbohydrate metabolism.
Chromium plays a role in maintaining normal insulin levels which in
turn are involved in controlling blood sugar levels. Appetite stimuli
and sugar cravings are produced as a result of falls or fluctuations
in blood sugar levels, and so controlling these can help in appetite
management.
- Essential fatty acids, such as gamma linoleic acid
(GLA) or conjugated linoleic acid are used in helping the body to mobilise
stored fat reserves - often termed brown fat.
- Vitamin B is responsible for carrying fat to the mitochondria
of the cells (energy powerhouses) where fat is burned for energy.
Once
you have completed your diet programme, as long as you follow a healthy
balanced and varied diet which also includes plenty of fresh fruit and
vegetables (at least 5 portions a day) you should consume sufficient essential
nutrients to maintain general health. See our section on General Health
and Diet, and achieving a healthy balanced and varied diet for more information.
Tips
for a healthy metabolism (top)
- Eat a little and often of the right sorts of foods
(avoid sugary high fat snacks), to keep your body working efficiently.
Eating all your calories at once every day or depriving yourself of
food for long periods slows your metabolism down - so you burn less
energy.
- Drink plenty of fluids - approximately 6 glasses of
water per day is a good idea. Avoid sugary drinks and moderate your
caffeine intake. Fruit juices (even those without added sugars) are
high in sugar content and should be limited to one small glass per day,
and you should aim to limit your alcohol intake to 1 unit /day.
- Take a dietary supplement whilst on a restricted diet,
and ensure that you follow a healthy balanced and varied diet when your
Diet Programme has ceased
- Take regular exercise to help keep your thyroid gland
active
Maintaining
Your Weight
After the diet is over……
(top)
Remember
preventing weight gain and maintaining your current weight is an achievement
in itself, and can be as difficult as losing weight in the first place.
Many
people follow a diet and/or exercise programme, only to find that the
pounds pile on once the 'Diet' stops. Usually this is because lifestyles
and eating habits return to the unhealthy patterns that were established
before the diet began - which is why it is so important to follow a programme
that will help you to establish new and healthy lifestyle practices.
Tips
- Once your diet is over don't let the size of your food
portions grow.
- Avoid slipping back into using food products with a
high fat content, and keep following a healthy balanced diet.
- Keep following your exercise programme. Using the car
less helps you stay fit, is environmentally friendly, and helps keep
you mobile.
- Try to eat regularly - a little and often throughout
the day will help you control food and sugar cravings, as well as helping
to ensure that your metabolism works efficiently. Food cravings can
also be a sign of poor insulin regulation of blood sugar levels or nutritional
imbalances.
- When eating out or at work, choose a low fat option
from the menu. Where this is not possible, consider taking a supplement
that will help you to regulate the amount of fats you absorb from your
meal
- Follow guidelines for achieving a healthy, balanced
and varied diet. Ensuring that you have an adequate intake of vitamins,
minerals, Essential Fatty Acids and plant nutrients from a sensible
diet will not only help you to stay healthy, but will also help you
to maintain an efficient metabolism and help to keep you at your desired
weight.
To learn more about food and its components, and what you need to do eat
to achieve a healthy diet, click on the links below.
General
Health and Diet
A guide to diet and health
Achieving
a Healthy, Balanced and Varied Diet
What is a portion? The 5 food groups needed to achieve a healthy, balanced
diet
Vitamins
& Mineral Requirements
Balancing
your Essential Fatty Acids
Supplements
during weight loss or weight management programmes
A wide range
of supplements are available and can be of benefit during a weight
loss or maintenance programme. Supplements are designed to help
maintain health and support weight management in several areas:-
- Ensuring that deficiencies in essential nutrients
such as vitamins and minerals do not occur whilst on a restricted diet
- Metabolic support to help maintain healthy metabolic
function
- Appetite management and nutritional support to help
maintain stable blood sugar levels
- Mild stimulants to boost 'energy' levels and reduce
the sensation of tiredness
- Supplements to help reduce fat absorption from the
diet when eating high fat meals
Multivitamin
and Mineral Complexes(supplement
top)
A comprehensive multivitamin and mineral complex will usually provide
100% of the Recommended Daily Allowances
of key nutrients to support good health and avoid deficiencies
during a restricted diet and weight loss programme.
Chitosan
(supplement top)
Chitosan is usually extracted from the shells of crustaceans and is used
to help reduce the absorption from the digestive tract of dietary fats
contained in fatty meals. Chitosan
products are used as a supplement to support weight management and
weight maintenance.
Recent
advances in production technology have enabled the development of high
density and rapidly soluble Chitosan's which can be taken at the beginning
of a main meal. Chitosan in a dissolved or liquid form will encapsulate
a proportion of dietary fats in the digestive tract to make them unavailable
for digestion and absorption. Liposan Ultra is the trademark name for
a new high specification formulation of Chitosan which
has been used in recently published studies designed to evaluate the ability
of Liposan Ultra to aid weight management. Individuals
taking Liposan Ultra with their main meals whilst continuing their normal
diet over a period of 3 months were found to lose weight at an average
of 2lbs per month, compared with the control group who continued with
their normal unrestricted diet. This shows that this particular form of
Chitosan can be a useful tool in weight management and maintenance when
consumed with a high fat meal.
However,
not all Chitosan products are the same. Whilst older Chitosan products
appear to work well in laboratory tests, their ability to encapsulate
fats contained in foods in the stomach is dependent on the Chitosan's
solubility and the time needed for the Chitosan to dissolve. This in turn
is dependent on the size and density (concentration) of the Chitosan particles
in the supplement, and the pH value of the stomach contents. Older formulations
of Chitosan with low levels of solubility and long dissolution times need
to be taken at least one hour before eating fatty foods, along with plenty
of water. Because the time taken for gastric emptying is frequently less
than this, the Chitosan solution may pass from the stomach before it can
mix with ingested foods and trap fats: this means that little fat will
be encapsulated and little benefit will be gained by the person taking
it.
If you feel that a
Chitosan product will help support you during a weight loss or maintenance
programme, it is worth checking to see that it contains a high density
and rapidly soluble form of Chitosan. When taking any Chitosan product,
it is also advisable to take a multivitamin in the mornings to ensure
that you avoid potential vitamin deficiencies - Chitosan can trap
all types of dietary fats and may interfere with vitamin absorption,
as many are fat soluble. For the same reason, medications should not be
taken within 1 hour of taking any Chitosan product.
Conjugated
linoleic acid (CLAs) (supplement
top)
CLAs and Gamma Linoleic Acid are found in the diet primarily in beef and
dairy products, which are food components which are frequently restricted
whilst dieting. Supplementation with a source of CLA can therefore be
beneficial as CLAs help the body to mobilise stored fats ready for conversion
to energy, and are involved in building lean muscle.
Chromium
(supplement top)
Chromium supplements have been shown to be effective
in helping manage appetite in some people, and chromium is known to be
involved in Insulin metabolism and control of blood sugar levels. Food
cravings are often the result of fluctuations in blood sugar levels -
maintaining steady levels of blood sugars helps to reduce the desire to
eat.
Chromium piccolinate
is often found in Supplements to support weight management, and this form
of chromium salt has been subject to several health warnings and has been
recommended for removal from the market in the EU as it may have serious
adverse health effects. However many other forms of Chromium salts are
safely available such as Chromium Aspartate. Check the
labelling carefully of any supplement you may be considering purchasing
to ensure that a form of chromium other than the piccolinate has been
included.
Fibre
(supplement top)
Dietary fibre supplements
act as bulking agents and can help you to achieve a sensation of feeling
full, as well as helping to regulate cholesterol absorption from the gut.
Dietary fibre can also be beneficial in helping to maintain a healthy
digestive system and maintain normal bowel function.
Green
Tea (supplement
top)
Green Tea is high in antioxidants and caffeine. Its natural stimulant
properties help people on a diet to maintain their energy levels, maintain
a feeling of alertness. Caffeine also acts as a natural appetite suppressant.
Ginseng
(supplement top)
Ginseng has long been used as a tonic and balancing agent to fight fatigue
and stress, common problems whilst dieting.
Glucosol
(supplement top)
Glucosol is the term used for banaba leaf, a plant commonly used throughout
India and Asia and brewed as a tea. Its effects are believed to include
the balancing of blood sugar levels, and thereby reducing food and sugar
cravings.
Guarana
(supplement top)
Guarana is a South American herb with high levels of caffeine, producing
mild stimulant effects and helping maintain the feeling of energy and
reduce tiredness.
Hydroxy
Citric Acid (HCA)
(supplement top)
Small studies have shown that HCA may
be involved in weight maintenance by regulation of the enzymes responsible
for converting carbohydrates into fat, thereby helping to maintain blood
sugar levels and reduce food cravings. Supplements containing HCA are
available.
Kelp
(supplement top)
Kelp supplements are made from seaweed and are a rich natural source of
Iodine. Iodine is used by the body in the production of thyroid hormones,
which are produced as part of the body's process in controlling metabolism
and metabolic rate.
Phaseolamin
(supplement top)
As early as the
1940s, scientists identified that some food stables, notably wheat and
beans contained specific inhibitors of alpha amylases, the enzyme that
turns starch into sugar. Early preparations of extracts containing Phaseolamin
failed to deliver the weight loss expected in people that should result
from blocking of digestion of starch, and its use as a weight management
aid was largely discounted.
However,
recent commercial preparations of
Phaseolamin extracted from the white kidney bean has greatly
increased the concentration of the alpha amylase inhibitors, and a more
recent pilot study in volunteers have found that these commercial preparations
produce 95% inhibition of amylase activity and reduced digestion of dietary
starch and uptake from the small intestine. Further larger controlled
in vivo studies have been carried out by one manufacturer on their commercially
produced product 'Phase 2' with promising results, and
at the time of writing they are awaiting publication. Based on the results
obtained, the manufacturers claim that 1g of their Phaseolamin will 'neutralise'
2,250 calories from starch.
Reduction
in the uptake of carbohydrate from the diet will help maintain steady
blood sugar levels, with consequent reductions in food cravings.
Yerba
Mate (supplement
top)
Yerba
Mate is a plant that is widespread throughout South America, and is
consumed both as a tea for its tonic properties and as a food staple,
because of its high vitamin and mineral content.
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