How to Lose Weight

Weight loss always sounds fairly self explanatory: to lose weight you need to consume fewer calories than your body burns throughout the course of a typical day. But as anyone who has tried to lose weight will tell you, the difficulty lies in putting it into practice and making sure that you don't compromise your health in the process! The basics are as follows:

To lose weight the healthy way you need to exercise more AND consume fewer calories. If you try and lose weight through calorie restriction alone you may miss out on important dietary macronutrients (carbohydrate, protein and fat) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). 

Your Energy Requirements

If you eat exactly the number of calories your body needs for resting metabolism and exercise, your weight will remain stable. A great place to start is to find out how much energy your body needs for weight maintenance and then find out how many calories there are in your favourite foods.

How to Lose Weight

You lose weight when:

• You consume fewer calories than your body needs. You lose one kilogram of fat per week when you consume 7500 less calories per week than your body requires
• You increase the amount of exercise that you do without increasing the amount of calories you consume (see how much exercise you need to do to burn a given number of calories).

During weight loss you should eat a nutritionally balanced diet comprising of five small meals per day, and incorporate all of the five food groups into your diet (breads, cereals and grains; milk and dairy products; fruit and vegetables, meat and meat alternatives, fats and oils). And don't set yourself unrealistic goals: a sensible weight loss goal is 0.5 - 1kg per week. See our practical weight loss tips in the areas of nutrition, exercise, behaviour and medicine for more ideas.

Permanent Weight Loss Isn't Easy

Contrary to what the manufacturers of weight loss pills, shakes and 'quick fix solutions' would like you to believe, the achievement of permenent weight loss is not easy. If permanent weight loss is so easy, then why are more than half of all Australians overweight or obese?

At the Wesley Weight Management Clinic we recognise that permanent weight loss requires holistic solutions, and that's why we have adopted a holistic approach to weight loss: in our experience, successful weight loss requires looking at a person's diet, exercise regime, lifestyle and way of thinking and then helping them make positive, sustainable and permanent change. That's why we have gathered a multi-disciplinary team of Dietitians, Psychologists, Exercise Physiologists and Doctors: to help you tackle the aspects of your life that are stopping you from achieving your weight loss goals.

To find out about our weight loss program or to book your obligation-free initial assessment with a Dietitian, call us on 1800 567 348 or complete our online enquiry form.