Lifestyle - weight loss and wellbeing article

Understanding Weight Gain: Weight gain is a complex issue influenced by various factors, including genetics, lifestyle choices, environment, and hormonal changes. Consuming more calories than your body needs leads to weight gain, as excess calories are stored as fat. Sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy eating habits, emotional eating, and stress can contribute to weight gain. 

Impact on Health and Mental Health: Excess weight has detrimental effects on both physical and mental health. Obesity increases the risk of chronic conditions like heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and certain types of cancer. It also puts strain on joints and can lead to mobility issues. Furthermore, weight gain can impact mental health, leading to decreased self-esteem, body image issues, and even depression and anxiety. 

Challenges of Losing Weight: Losing weight can be challenging due to various factors. Firstly, the body tends to defend its set weight, making it harder to shed pounds. Additionally, emotional eating, food cravings, and unhealthy coping mechanisms can impede progress. Illness, trauma, and hormonal imbalances can also influence weight and make it harder to lose. Lastly, unrealistic expectations and the allure of fad diets often lead to short-term success but long-term failure. 

Managing Weight Following Illness or Trauma: Weight management following illness or trauma requires a compassionate and patient approach. Working with healthcare professionals, such as registered dieticians or nutritionists, can help develop a personalised plan. Incorporating gentle exercises, such as walking or yoga, and adopting stress-reducing techniques, such as meditation or therapy, can aid in the healing process as well as better sleep. It's important to focus on overall well-being rather than solely weight loss. 

Options for Safe Weight Loss: We are all quite familiar on the education that emphasises the importance of a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats. Portion control, mindful eating, and regular physical activity should be integral parts of the journey. There are a great variety of UK-based reputable organisations that offer weight loss programs with professional guidance and support, such as weight watchers, Cambridge 1:1 diet, and slimming world to name but a few. There are also a wide range of weight loss apps to support intermittent fasting and calorie counting. It is worth exploring options as different options work better for different people depending on your working pattern, family life & cooking habits, social eating, works based events and energy levels. 

Common Pitfalls in Weight Loss: Failed diets are usually a result of overly strict or restrictive diets that cannot be adhered to. Take a gentle approach to weight loss. Regularly taking the stairs at work or coming off the bus one stop early will likely have a greater impact than time at the gym. Reducing calories gradually by missing one snack or one dessert is an easier way to starting than avoiding all sugar for example. 

Shall I join the gym? Joining the gym is great if you enjoy exercise classes or swimming for example. If not, you can usually source small weights and resistance bands online to support weight training, which is a more efficient and effective way to ‘work out’ than cardio on a machine