Help Yourself to Lose Weight

Help Yourself to
    Lose Weight
This booklet is designed to help you think about how,
why and when you eat, which people often find helpful
when trying to lose weight. It is best used in conjunction
with ‘Help Yourself to Eat Healthily’

 This booklet was given to you by:

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Introduction

People trying to lose weight often just focus on the food
choices that they make, but people who successfully lose
weight and keep it off for good find that thinking about
how, why and when they eat is also very helpful.

This booklet covers:

      Planning Ahead
      Mealtimes
      How to Control how much you Eat
      Why Do You Eat?
      Food as a Treat
      Physical Activity

Have a look at each section and see if there is anything
you can change.

Try to be realistic about the changes that you make and
remember that small changes can make a difference in
the long term.

Aim for a gradual, realistic, regular weight loss: 0.5-1kg
(1-2lbs) per week.

Healthy eating messages are still very important, and
information about the type of food to eat can be found in
“Help Yourself to Eat Healthily”.

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Planning Ahead

Eating well-planned meals gives you the best chance of
eating well and healthily.

   Plan your meals in advance. Sit down and write a
   plan for the main meals that you will eat in the week
   ahead.

   Use this plan to make a shopping list. This can help
   you shop for the things you need, rather than buy
   foods that then don‟t go well together for meals.

  Don‟t shop when you are hungry!

 Mealtimes

Try not to rush mealtimes.

Take time to chew your food, taste it and swallow it
before you take the next mouthful. You may find it helpful
to put your knife and fork down between each mouthful.

Try to make your meals look and smell attractive.
Combine foods of different colours and textures

Always sit down to eat and try to relax and sit upright.
This can help prevent indigestion or discomfort after a
meal.

Avoid watching the TV, reading or doing anything else
whilst you are eating. This means you can give your full
attention to your food!

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How to Control how much you Eat

People often think that „Diet Plans‟ are the only way to
control the amount of food that they eat – but many
people find that the simple techniques below work very
well indeed!

  Use a smaller plate to reduce the size of your meal
  and yet trick your eyes and mind that you are still
  eating from a full plate.

  Don‟t keep plates or bowls of food on the table – if you
  do you will be more likely to “pick” at them or have a
  second serving without even realising.

  Leave leftovers – refrigerate or freeze any extra food
  and use it at another meal on another day.

  If you cook food in large batches, freeze food in single
  meal containers – rather than eating lots of it to “finish
  it up” or “prevent it going off”.

  At the end of a meal, clear away your plate and start
  doing something else. Wait at least 30 minutes before
  you eat anything else. This will allow time for your
  stomach to communicate with your brain and tell you if
  you have eaten enough or not.

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Why Do You Eat?

Trying to answer this rather tricky question can be very
helpful.

Keeping a Food Diary can help you see exactly what you
are eating and drinking. It can help you discover what
situations, circumstances or feelings lead to you eating or
drinking more than you had planned or when you are not
really hungry.

If you find that you are eating or drinking in response to
anger, upset, boredom or feeling stressed, then it may be
helpful to think of coping strategies that don‟t involve
food. These could include relaxation techniques; talking
to someone; going for a walk or simply doing something
that helps you deal with the emotion or feeling.

 Food as a Treat

Food is often used as a „treat‟ or a „reward‟ for
overcoming a difficult situation or surviving a tough day at
work, but it is a good idea to think of and use non-food
treats too, for example phoning or visiting a friend;
listening to music; making time to read a book or
magazine; going for a swim; going to the cinema etc.

If you do use food a „treat‟, then try to eat a small serving
at one time - eat it slowly; and pay attention to the smell,
taste, texture and sound of the food – but most of all -
ENJOY it!
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Physical Activity

Physical activity can help with weight loss. The national
recommendations of 30 minutes of moderate physical
activity at least 5 times per week can seem very daunting
if you do very little day-to-day activity. So a good first
step is to try to build more regular activity into your life.

At home you could try to:

       Get off the sofa to change TV channels

       Walk around during TV adverts

       Stand up when talking on the telephone

       Be more energetic with housework and gardening

When away from home you could try to:

       Invent opportunities to walk more often – e.g. use
       stairs instead of a lift or escalator; park further
       away from shops; get off the bus at a stop earlier;
       take a small walk during a work lunch break

Keep changes small and manageable, but over time keep
looking for more daily opportunities to be more active.
You could buy a pedometer to keep track of your daily
number of steps – and gradually build up towards national
recommendations of 10,000 steps per day.

Once you have established daily increases to your
activity, you could then build in some structured exercise.

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Structured Exercise in Swindon
or call 01793 465401

In Swindon there are plenty of opportunities for structured
exercise. Swindon Borough Council run a range of
activities for all abilities. You could try:

Exercise Classes - from Seated Exercises to Circuits
Dancing
A new Sport
Swimming and Aquafit
Walking in Groups
Cycling Training

For more information on local swimming pools, gyms,
fitness classes and recreation centres in Swindon visit
http://www.challengeswindon.org.uk/

If you buy a Swindon Card (available to Swindon and
non-Swindon residents) you will get a discount off leisure
prices.

If you have any heart or bone problems or suffer from
high blood pressure, please consult your GP before
taking up regular exercise.

Further Information

Plenty of other support is available. This includes:

NHS Swindon Adult weight management services
This is free for some people who meet certain criteria.
Contact Debbie Mitchell by phone 01793 864934 or email

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DMitchell2@swindon.gov.uk to find out more about the
DietBusters and Weight Watchers programmes.

Weight Management Courses run by Avon and
Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. These
courses are very helpful if you need support in putting
lifestyle changes into practice. Phone Primary Care
Psychology on 01793 836836 or get more details from
http://www.awp.nhs.uk

An increasing number of organisations offer free online
internet support that follows NICE guidelines. These
include:

The British Dietetic Association Weightwise site
http://www.bdaweightwise.com/
NHS online- BMI calculator and tailored advice-
http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweightcalculator.a
spx
British Heart Foundation leaflets on healthy eating and
physical activity. Tel: 0870 600 6566, www.bhf.org.uk.
On-line support for which you will have to pay includes
Weight Watchers, Rosemary Conley, Slimming World and
Tesco‟s.

                  Created by Registered Dietitians
  Nutrition & Dietetics Department, The Great Western Hospital,
         Marlborough Road, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN3 6BB
         Tel.: 01793 605149              www.gwh.nhs.uk

  Date Created: May 2012                   Review Date: May 2014

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