Register Login

Home > Nutrition & Weight > Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight

Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight

What is my ideal weight?

Your ideal weight depends on your how tall you are, your build, and whether you are a man or a woman. One of the best ways of calculating a healthy weight is to work out your body mass index (BMI) by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in metres squared. The ideal BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. Your risk of a number of health problems rises significantly from a BMI of 27 while anything over 29.9 is a serious health concern.

Another good check for healthy weight is to measure your waist. For women, a waist circumference of over 80 cm indicates a greater risk of disease, and more than 88 cm (35 inches) puts you at substantially increased risk. For men the figures are 94 cm and 102 cm (40 inches).

What happens if I am overweight?

If you are overweight you have a greater chance of dying early, developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, joint problems, gallbladder disease, sleep and lung problems and some cancers (including prostate, bowel, gallbladder, ovarian and breast cancers). Abdominal body fat, the ‘apple shape’, is a higher health risk than the ‘pear shape’. Also, the relationship between weight and cardiovascular risk is continuous — the more you gain weight the higher your risk.

Being overweight is more of a problem the younger the person and the longer they stay overweight. Also, if you are overweight you may not feel your best and this can have an effect on your confidence and many parts of your life.

What should I do if I am overweight?

If you are overweight you should try moving more and eating less, and to build up muscle mass — because it burns more energy at rest than fat does.

Have goals and rewards

Decide what is a healthy, achievable and sustainable weight for you and give yourself a time-frame to achieve it. Take it very slowly (about a kilogram a month) as weight lost quickly comes back quickly. Set a number of short-term goals so you have a sense of achievement, and reward yourself with non-food treats when you achieve them.

Mind what you eat

• Eat a balanced diet consisting of plenty of vegetables, fruit, legumes (e.g. lentils, beans, chickpeas) and cereals (including breads, pasta, rice and noodles). Also include low-fat milk and dairy products, lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs and nuts.
• Prepare meals with little or no added fat (try to avoid saturated fat), salt and sugar.
• Drink plenty of water each day. If you drink alcohol, do so in moderation (1-2 drinks a day). However, if you're trying to lose weight you should bear in mind that alcohol is low in nutrients and high in kilojoules.
• Look at your food portions — if you are in the habit of piling up your plate, try gradually easing back. Use smaller plates and bulkier food so the ‘eye’ is full, and eat slowly so the message that the stomach is full has time to reach the brain. Bulking up with fruit and vegetables gives essential fibre and helps stave off hunger.
• Don't be hungry and don't skip meals.
• Cut the fat. Fat is higher in energy than carbohydrates or proteins and doesn't give you the ‘full’ feeling, so you eat more. Total fat should be less than about 30 per cent of energy (kilojoule or calorie) intake. Therefore, if you eat a 7,500 kilojoule diet you should be getting fewer than 2,250 kilojoules from fat, which is approximately 50-60 grams of fat a day. Choose low-fat or no-fat options where possible, cut off visible fats, eat less fried food, takeaways, prepared foods, cakes and biscuits. Swap saturated fat for unsaturated fat. Particularly avoid saturated and trans fats (commonly found in cakes, pastries, pies and biscuits). Learn how to cook tasty, balanced low-fat meals. It is not necessary to live on cottage cheese and carrot sticks.
• Watch the kilojoules. An extra 200 kilojoules a day that you don't need adds approximately 2.5 kilos a year. However, very low kilojoule diets are doomed to failure and can be unsafe. Don't be so strict that you feel deprived because the diet won't last.
• Choose foods with a low glycaemic index (GI). Low-GI foods can help you lose weight, keep you feeling fuller for longer, and prolong physical endurance. Foods that have a low GI include fruit and vegetables (except potatoes), breads made with whole seeds, milk, beans, and breakfast cereals made from oats, barley and bran.
• Think about your relationship with food; figure out if there are times when controlling food intake is hard. You may be eating for comfort, out of habit or absent-mindedness, or just because there's food around. Find other ways of controlling stress, and break old habits. Don't keep high fat or sugar treats in the house — have them when you are out, occasionally. Have the fridge fully stocked at all times with healthy options. Freeze healthy dinners, so fast is not fatty.
• Read labels, looking for fat, kilojoule and salt content. Look for the Heart Foundation's ‘tick’. Beware of so-called low-fat foods as many are kilojoule loaded. Buy water-packed tinned fish, fruit in light syrup and so on.

Get moving

Most weight loss is from eating less, but exercise is what keeps it off. Most people seem to find it easier to reduce their kilojoule intake than to burn off kilojoules through exercise. But reducing your kilojoule intake slows the body's metabolism and it starts to burn off fewer kilojoules than before. Then your weight loss will slow or stop, or, if you resume eating at previous levels, you'll even put on weight.

The trick is to find ways to put a bit more physical effort in every day to offset the slowing in metabolic rate caused by the reduced kilojoules.

Start slowly, perhaps with a gentle walk for 15 minutes 3 days a week. Work up to 30 minutes to an hour of moderate (where you can still hold a conversation) exercise most days of the week.

If you can't fit in an hour of exercise at once, try shorter bursts of activity, such as walking around the block at lunch time, after dinner, from a car park further away from the office or up the stairs, several times a day. Exercise is cumulative. Find something you enjoy and that is easy to get to or organise, otherwise you won't do it. Do it with a friend or the family.

Tone up

Strength training increases your metabolism. Muscle burns more fuel (kilojoules or calories) at rest than does fat. Each day, a pound of muscle burns over 10 times as much energy as a pound of fat just to maintain itself. So a couple of extra pounds or kilos of muscle will automatically mean you burn off more food. Also, the stronger you are, the more likely you are to exercise, and you'll look trimmer because you are toned.

Use a diary

Record your daily food intake and exercise. Studies have shown that this is the best way to ensure your weight-loss programme will succeed.

Ask the professionals

Before you start, check with your doctor if you have any health problems, are currently taking any medicine, or plan on taking any medicine, or plan to lose more than 6 to 8 kilograms. There are many dietitians, weight-loss programmes, personal trainers, gym programmes and self-help books available. Choose a programme that teaches you how to make permanent changes in eating habits and levels of physical activity so you take weight off AND keep it off. If it offers a quick fix, forget it.

Ask yourself these questions when assessing where to seek help.

• Is the person/staff qualified to offer advice?
• Does the programme include lifestyle changes in food intake AND exercise?
• Is there a maintenance plan included and does it teach you how to get through difficult times?
• Are the food choices flexible, suitable and affordable?
• Are there hidden costs (special foods/supplements)?

Keep the weight off

Weight will be regained unless the change in diet and the increase in activity are ongoing. Beware of the ‘made it’ syndrome, where, having reached a target weight, you return to old habits.

What doesn't help weight loss?

Quick-loss, low-kilojoule diet methods, most pills, potions and herbs, passive machines and rub-on creams do not help you lose weight. Prescription weight loss medications are usually used by people with a high BMI, or a moderately high BMI plus other health risks, who have not been able to lose weight with diet and exercise alone. They must always be taken under medical supervision and together with lifestyle changes.

 

Last Reviewed: 30 June 2008

myDr, 2000. Adapted from original material sourced from MediMedia.
©Copyright: myDr, MIMS Australia, 2000-2013. All rights reserved.

           

This web site is intended for Australian residents and is not a sbstitute for independent professional advice. Information and interactions contained in ths Web site are for infomation purposes only and are not intended ot be used to diagnose,treat , cure or prevent any disease.Further , the accuracy, currency and completeness of the information available on this web site cannot be guaranteed. MIMS Australia Pty Ltd, its affiliates and their respective servants and agents do not accept any liability for any injury, loss or damage incured by use of or relance on the information made available via or throught myDr whether arising from negligence or otherwise.
See Privacy Policy and Disclaimer.