Weight Loss Strategies

Sustainable weight loss is not a quick fix. And no single food plan is magical, nor a specific food is included or avoided in a weight-management program. You must be open to small changes, moderate losses, and reasonable goals. Adopting a radical fad diet that involves one or two food groups restriction is not sustainable but consistently choosing a nutrient-dense food and engaging in regular physical activity that enables you to lose 1 to 3 kg per month or a 10% reduction in six months are much more likely to maintain the loss and reap health benefits.

A modest weight loss involves a slow, steady reduction in calorie intake while maintaining an adequate nutrient intake and increasing physical activity. A modest weight loss not only makes you keep that extra kg off but also can reduce the risks of heart disease by lowering blood pressure and blood cholesterol and improving your control of diabetes.

In designing your plan, consider foods that you like or can learn to like, that are available, and that are within their means. The major characteristic of a weight-loss diet is that it provides less energy than your need to maintain your present body weight. If food energy is severely restricted, sufficient nutrients may not be received which leads to losing lean tissue and fluid, and which effect is rapid weight gain afterwards.

Behaviour and attitude play important roles in supporting efforts to achieve and maintain appropriate body weight and composition. Focus on how to change your behaviours to increase energy expenditure and decrease your energy intake. To this effect, you must first identify all the behaviours that created the problem. Identify stressors that trigger the urge to overeat this will help you begin to respond appropriately to internal cues of hunger rather than inappropriately to external cues of stress. Keeping a record will help to identify eating and exercise behaviours that may need changing.

Tips to a slow and steady eating plan

• Eat small portions: pay less attention to external cues of using large or big plates to eat and more attention to internal cues of hunger and satiety. Eating with larger plates subconsciously makes you consume larger quantities than you should. Go for smaller plates and try to chew your food slowly before swallowing. This would leave you feeling satisfied—not stuffed to feed your hunger cues.  A sweet treat of  1 to 2 pieces of low-fat cookie or 2  to 3 slices can be included in a weight-loss plan.

• Aim for nutritional adequacy: following a restrictive diet plan of 1200kcal or less per day does not provide an adequate intake that supports a healthier and more successful weight loss but rather,  creates feelings of starvation and deprivation, which can lead to an irresistible urge to binge. A careful nutrient-dense food selection that emphasizes vegetables,  fruits,  whole grains, lean meats or meat alternates, and low-fat milk products diet plan of 1300 to 1700kcal depending on your age and gender would allow you to lose weight and still meet your nutrient needs.

• Go for low-energy-dense foods: weight loss depends on a low energy intake—not the proportion of energy nutrients. Foods rich in fibre, low in fat and high-water content increase fullness, reduce hunger and consequently reduce energy intake. Pay close attention also to sugar and alcohol as they provide additional calories which can sabotage weight-loss efforts.

• Take water liberally: water is the only thing consumed without calories and drinking water fills the stomach between meals and satisfies thirst without adding calories. Replacing nutrient-poor, energy-dense beverages with water could save you several kgs in a year. Water also helps the GI tract adapt to a high-fibre diet.

• Regular physical activity: to support your weight loss journey, a moderately intense physical activity of 60 minutes per day is recommended in addition to activities of daily life. Regular physical activity not only increases the loss of more body fat and retain more muscle, but it also reduces abdominal obesity and improves blood pressure, insulin resistance, and cardiorespiratory fitness.

 

Adopt a lifelong “eating plan for good health” rather than a “diet for weight loss” to permanently keep the lost weight off.

Consult our dietitian or any dietitian for an adequate weight loss diet plan.