Why don’t diets seem to work?
“Going on” a diet is not the answer to losing weight. This is because the weight is soon regained after you “go off” your diet. If diets really worked, there wouldn’t be so many of them! Instead, your usual eating and exercising patterns need to be changed so that your weight stays right for you.
How much should I weigh?
This is a tough question. Even though everyone talks about weight, it’s really how much fat you have that matters. Two people can be the same height and weigh the same, but one person may look overweight and the other may look fine. Someone who exercises regularly and has more muscle looks thinner than someone who is inactive and has more fat.
You may think you should weigh less when your weight is already a healthy one. Pictures of models in magazines pressure people into thinking that they should be very thin. This isn’t true.
Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumference are commonly used to determine whether someone is overweight or not. Talk to your family doctor about what weight range is healthy for your height.
What things contribute to being overweight?
Many things may contribute to weight problems. Overweight people often have struggled with their weight for a long time. You may believe that you don’t have enough willpower to lose weight or to keep it off. But lack of willpower may not be the problem. Many other things may be at the root of your weight problem, such as the things listed below.
Some causes of overweight
Weight problems that run in your family
Eating when lonely, sad or stressed
Drinking sugary beverages in excess
Being pressured to eat by friends or family
Using food for recreation
Taking medicine that makes you feel hungry
A low metabolism (the rate you burn calories)
Problems with hormone levels
How can I lose weight?
The best way is to work on the things that have contributed to your being overweight. A new diet plan may help you lose weight for a little while. But the weight often comes back unless you find new ways to deal with the things that have contributed to your being overweight. These may include learning new ways to deal with your stress, finding ways to feel less lonely or talking with a counsellor about how you’re feeling.
A few general tips may help you.
- A regular exercise program. Few people lose weight and keep it off without exercise. Your doctor can help you plan an exercise program that will be right for you.
- A regular eating pattern. For most people, this will be three meals a day. The three meals should be about equal in size, and the foods eaten should be low in fat.
- Support. Support from family or friends is very important for long-term success in losing weight.
Why is exercise a big deal?
Exercise has so many benefits for people who want to lose weight. Regular exercise helps you burn calories faster, even when you’re sitting still. Exercise does this by raising your metabolism. It also helps you burn fat and build muscle. So, even if you don’t lose pounds, you may lose inches.
Exercise also tends to curb your appetite. It’s a healthy alternative to eating for entertainment. It can help reduce stress. Exercise is good for the health of your heart and bones too.
What’s the best type of exercise?
The best kind of exercise is exercise that you’ll keep doing throughout your life. Aerobic exercise raises your heart rate and helps burn calories. Aerobic exercises include swimming, walking fast, jogging and bicycling. Try to exercise daily for a minimum of 30 minutes and gradually increase it to 60 minutes if possible.
Walking, even at a slow rate, can be very helpful. If you choose this as your exercise, work up to walking for one hour, five times a week.
Strength training can burn just as much, if not more, fat than cardio. Also, it will increase your metabolic rate and alternate your body composition.
The main thing to remember is that any sort of exercise is better than none at all.
How can I make exercise a habit?
To be helpful in the long run, the exercise you choose can’t be a drudge or a chore. Choose an exercise you enjoy. Exercising with a friend may help. It may be hard for you to keep at something if you do it alone all of the time.
How can I change my eating habits?
You have learned your eating habits over time. Don’t expect to change them overnight. Change them one by one.
Tips on achieving a healthy eating habits
• Eat only until you feel satisfied.
• Begin meals with clear soups, broth or something light.
• Eat vegetables, grain foods or other starchy foods and protein foods at each meal.
• Eat slowly so your body has time to know when it’s full.
• Drink 8 glasses of water a day.
• Stock your desk or home cupboards with low-fat snacks.
• Don’t keep high-fat foods in the house.
• Avoid alcohol if possible; do not consume more than 2 drinks on a given day.
• Limit sugary and other high calorie drinks to one a day.
• Let yourself indulge now and then. This helps you not feel deprived, which may cause you to eat too much later.
Won’t diet drugs help?
Drugs that control your appetite (called appetite suppressants) may make it easier for you to lose weight for a while but they don’t help you keep the weight off after you quit taking them. This is because taking drugs doesn’t help you learn to change your habits.
Appetite suppressants can also raise blood pressure and cause other side effects. Making permanent changes in your eating and exercise habits is the only way to lose weight and keep it off.
What about Bariatric Surgery?
If you have tried to lose weight using all the lifestyle changes above with no success and your health is at risk, your family physician may discuss bariatric surgery with you as a last resort. It is only considered if the measures above have not been successful, since it can lead to various complications.
* References from the patient education material of AAFP and CFPC.
