Weight loss guide

Why do you want to lose weight?

Losing weight can help:

• Knee and back pain
• Stop you feeling out of breath 
• Keep your heart healthy
• Mean you can walk further
• Make you feel better about yourself.

If you are overweight:

• Walking can be difficult
• You may feel out of breath
• You can get high blood pressure
• You might get pain in your hips, back or knees.

If you are overweight, you are at risk of developing:

• Heart disease
• Some cancers
• High cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Stroke.

What should we do to stay healthy?

• Eat the right food
• Stay active and exercise

Exercise

Aim to have at least 30 minutes of activity each day. Exercise does not have to mean going to the gym, lots of activities count including:

• Walking
• Cycling
• Gardening
• Hiking
• Swimming
• Dancing.

Regular meals

We need to eat regular meals such as breakfast, lunch and an evening meal.

We should eat a balanced diet with food from each food group.

Use the Eatwell Guide below to help you get a balance of healthier and more sustainable food. It shows how much of what you eat overall should come from each food group.

Starchy carbohydrates

Aim for one quarter of your plate at main meals to be bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, or other starchy carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates

At each mealtime, we should have a serving of carbohydrates, or: bowl of cereal, two slices of bread or toast, four egg sized potatoes, six tablespoons of rice or pasta.

We should not have two servings of carbohydrates at meal times, for example, extra bread with our meal.

Wholegrains

We should try to have wholegrain carbohydrates. They contain fibre that help us:

• Feel full for longer
• Keep our bowels moving.

Fruit and vegetables

At main meals aim for half of your plate to be vegetables.

• Have fruit as snacks
• 150mls of fruit juice or smoothie can only count as one of your five a day

How many portions of fruit and vegetables should we have every day?

At least five per day.

What is a portion?

• Three tablespoons of vegetables  Small tin of beans or lentils but only once per day
• Handful of grapes or berries
• One medium apple or banana
• Two small kiwi fruit, plums or tangerines
• One cereal bowl of salad
• Once daily 150ml fruit juice or smoothie.

Protein

• We should eat these foods every day
• We should choose lean meats and cut any visible fat off
• We should try to eat two portions of fish per week (one oily fish)
• We should eat more vegetable protein like pulses or lentils.

Dairy and alternatives

• Aim to have two or three portions of dairy or dairy alternatives each day
• Try to choose low fat or diet products
• Choose fortified dairy alternatives to ensure there is calcium added.

Fats, oils, and spreads

• Fats, oils, and spreads are high in energy eating and should be eaten in small amounts
• Unsaturated fats are healthier fats and include vegetable, rapeseed, olive and sunflower oils
• We should try not to eat bad fats as these can cause heart disease and strokes.

Foods which are high in fat

Takeaways are often high in fat.

Foods high in fat and sugars

Oils and spreads

Try to use only small amounts of oils and spreads. Choose unsaturated fats where available, for example, olive oil, rapeseed oil and vegetable oil.

Food high in sugar

We should try to eat less of these foods

• Chocolate
• Cakes
• Pudding
• Biscuits
• Sweets.

Other foods that are high in sugar

• Jams
• Syrups
• Honey
• Yoghurts.

Sugar swaps

Sugary cereals to wheat based cereals

Add fresh fruit instead of sugar to cereals

Sweetener in drinks in place of sugar.

Sugary drinks

• Fizzy drinks
• Milkshakes
• Hot chocolate
• Tea and coffee with sugar
• Energy drinks
• Sports drinks and fruit juices.

Sugar swaps for drinks

• Water
• No added sugar squash
• Diet pop
• Sparkling water.

Fluids

• Drink plenty of fluids
• Choose sugar free or diet drinks
• Limit fruit juice to one glass per day.

Alcohol

Don’t forget, alcohol contains calories too! No more than 14 units per week and spread evenly over four to five days. Try to have two free days per week.

  One glass of wine has 150 to 200kcal

  One unit of spirits has 50kcal

  One pint of beer (two to three units) has 170 to 210kcal

  One pint of cider (three to four units) has 200 to 240kcal

Sensible snack guide

Limiting snacks to two per day keeps snacks to 120kcal or less.

• Small plain scone
• Two small pancakes
• One slice of toast
• Two plain biscuits
• Packet low fat crisps
• Crackers and low fat cheese spread.

What about your diet?

• How healthy is your diet?
• Can you think of any small changes you can make to your lifestyle?

Remember

• Eat three regular meals per day
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Eat healthy food
• Keep active.

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust V7
Building Kings Business
Park Prescot
L34 1PJ