Maximise Your Health Weight Loss

Weight Loss


If being slim was easy – everyone (well, most people) would be. Weight Loss

At last check more than 60% of adults and a quarter of kids were overweight or obese. This reminds us that unfortunately, losing weight is hard work, both in terms of watching what we eat and getting enough exercise. 

There are plenty of diet products and programs out there vying for our attention, including:

    • Meal replacements, such as bars and shakes
    • Meal delivery services
    • Detox programs
    • Weight loss pills with unproven ingredients like green tea extracts
    • Hormone regimes like Human chorionic gonadotropin or HCG – a pregnancy hormone often given by injection

There's evidence that some of these work, like meal replacements, the medication Orlistat, and bariatric surgery, for example. But most of the weight loss products on your pharmacy shelves don't work and are a waste of money. The bottom line – is always about calories in and calories out. It's physics and no amount of mumbo jumbo can get you round it. Check out our story on diet products here



WEIGHT MAINTENANCE

THE FIVE HABITS OF A SUCCESSFUL WEIGHT LOSER

Weight MaintenanceAlmost every diet that's been invented - no matter how crazy - will make you lose weight. The hard bit is keeping the weight off. Diets that focus on particular foods or food groups (e.g. grapes, grapefruit, high protein, high fat etc.) are often hard to maintain and in some cases, dangerous. 

Appetite is a powerful survival mechanism and it takes a while for the body's metabolism and our hunger mechanisms to adjust. Some people – especially the very obese – are addicted to food in the same way a heroin addict is addicted to heroin or an alcoholic is addicted to alcohol. 



So, weight loss maintenance is something you have to work at as hard as losing the kilos in the first place. The diet which research suggests is quite good for this is the low glycaemic index (GI) diet. The body digests low GI foods slowly, leaving you feeling full for longer and allowing you to eat fewer calories without feeling hungry. Examples are foods like rolled oats or natural muesli; breads made from heavy mixed grains; vegetables like carrots, eggplant and broccoli; and fruits like cherries, plums and grapefruit. Hummus, brown rice, milk and lentils are all low GI as well. The CSIRO Total Wellbeing diet isn't far behind in terms of weight loss maintenance, it's based on a higher intake of protein and like the low GI diet is low in fat. 



Then it's the behavior that needs attention. To give you an idea of the long term change that's needed here are the five habits of a successful weight loser:

    1. They eat a portion controlled, calorie controlled diet SLOWLY. Eating slowly allows the brain to register you're full before you've already eaten more than you need
    2. They do 45 minutes to an hour of moderate exercise on most days of the week including muscle strengthening. Moderate exercise is when you're just beginning to find it hard to have a conversation during the activity
    3. They weigh themselves daily at the same time of day with no clothes on or the same clothes (e.g. their pyjamas)
    4. Whenever they see a change in their weight they start a food diary which records what they've eaten and drunk and the portion size EVERY TIME something passes their lips
    5. They don't change their diet at the weekend


See the NPS' MedicinesTalk article: Shed those kilos for your health