How to be a healthy weight

If you have any concerns about your weight, contact your GP or a dietitian. If you think you just need to lose a little weight, here are some practical tips.

Whenever we eat more than our body needs, we put on weight. This is because the energy we don't use up is stored in our body, usually as fat. Even small amounts of surplus energy each day can lead to weight gain.

So if you want to lose some weight, you might want to look at ways of:

• making sure you only eat as much food as you need
• improving the balance of your diet
• getting more active

Getting the balance right

It's not a good idea to go on a crash diet and it's important to make sure you continue to eat a balanced diet. Otherwise you might not be getting all the nutrients you need to keep your body healthy.

When you're trying to make a healthy choice, for most people, the aim should be to:

• cut down on fat – especially saturates
• eat more fruit and vegetables
• eat more starchy foods such as bread, pasta and rice
• cut down on salt and sugar

Fruit and veg should make up a third of the food you eat. Aim to eat at least five portions of fruit and veg every day. These can be fresh, frozen, tinned, dried or cooked, and a glass of fruit juice can also make up one of your portions each day.

As a guide, a portion means:

• one apple or banana
• two smaller fruit such as plums
• two to three tablespoonfuls of vegetables

It's best to vary the types of fruit and veg you eat so that you increase the range and proportion of the different nutrients in your diet.

Starchy foods should also make up about a third of your diet. These include:

• bread
• breakfast cereals
• pasta
• rice
• potatoes
• beans and lentils

Try to eat a variety of these foods and choose wholegrain, wholemeal or 'high fibre' varieties whenever possible.

You might think that starchy foods are particularly fattening. This isn't true, although they can become fattening if they're cooked or served with added fat. It's the margarine or butter we spread on bread, the cream or cheese sauce we add to pasta, or the oil we use for frying, that makes them fattening.

A healthy diet means eating and drinking less fat and sugar. You'll probably eat some foods containing fat every day, such as margarine or butter, cooking oils, oil-based salad dressings and mayonnaise, but keep these to small amounts and choose low fat varieties where possible.

And there's no escaping the fact that you should keep cakes, biscuits, crisps, pastries and ice cream to a minimum. And remember to choose low-fat alternatives when you can.

If you make changes to the types of foods you eat and the way you cook them, this might help you to adopt long-term healthy eating patterns for the future. For example, you could try to:

• fill up on bread, cereals, potatoes and fruit and veg
• choose lean cuts of meat and always trim off any fat
• choose lower-fat varieties of dairy foods such as semi-skimmed, 1% or skimmed milk, reduced-fat cheese, lower-fat yoghurts
• boil, steam, grill, poach or microwave food rather than frying or roasting

Getting physical

Physical activity is a good way of using up extra calories, and helps us to maintain our body weight. It's a good idea to get active each day, but you don't need to join a gym to do this.

Here are some suggestions of activities that will help you to burn off excess energy. You could:

• go for a walk after lunch
• choose the stairs instead of taking the lift
• walk (or even jog) some of your shorter journeys
• get off the bus one or two stops earlier

More information

There are lots of websites that have useful information on being a healthy weight. Why don't you check out some of the links below to find out more?