Healthy weight

Healthy weight

A healthy weight is the stable weight you achieve when you adopt healthy behaviours. These might be:

• improving the quality, variety and amount of food you eat
• eating in response to internal cues of hunger and fullness
• recognising emotional eating and doing something different
• having a social life
• drinking alcohol within recognised limits
• doing physical activity which you enjoy
• building good self worth, self care and body respect

Many people spend a lot of time, effort and money on trying to lose weight. Rather than 'dieting' think about the changes that you can make, and sustain, and notice how it makes you feel.

Improving what you eat

• plenty of fruit and vegetables
• include oily fish, nuts and seeds
• try more fibre foods - wholemeal bread, oats, peas, beans and lentils, high fibre breakfast cereals

Improving how you eat

• eating when you’re physically hungry
• stopping when you’re full
• recognising when you’re eating because of how you feel
• having options to improve how you feel emotionally

Doing regular physical activity

Becoming more active can seem a daunting task if you’ve not enjoyed it in the past. Taking small steps to find enjoyable ways of moving, stretching and relaxing your body will help build a sense of vitality.

Too often the missing ingredient in active living is fun! What activity do you feel better in yourself for doing? Do you want time alone or as part of a group? What makes activity fun for you? Could pain management techniques help? Look for something that will work for you.

Other things

Larger people are often stereotyped as not bothering about their health and given other negative characteristics. Everybody deserves respect, whatever their size, shape, fitness level, health status or eating patterns.

Learning to look after yourself and protect yourself against these stereotypes may be difficult, but is important.