It takes a lot of self-discipline to lose weight, especially making the necessary changes to your lifestyle, while juggling life and work commitments.  If you are looking to lose weight, improve your health due to an existing illness or condition; or simply improve your existing diet a consultation with an accredited dietitian or nutritionist may be just the ticket.   

Dietitians can provide the support, motivation and a tangible way of tracking your success.   The Natural Therapy Pages caught up with Liz Beavis and Ines Astudillo from Newtown Nutrition, a practice of experienced Accredited Practising Dietitians.  They use one-on-one consultations to help you make dietary and lifestyle changes for a wide range of conditions including weight management.  Between them they have interests as diverse as obesity surgery, food allergies and gut problems; amongst others – which makes them perfectly placed to share their top ten tips for maintaining a healthy weight with us, the ideal blueprint for your weight loss journey.

Top 10 Tips for a Healthy Weight

1. Understand your body’s energy needs: Find out your energy requirements are and what that means in food terms, so that you know how much food you need. Balance your energy intake and energy expenditure!
   
   
2. Don’t skip meals! Eating smaller regular meals can help to balance your calorie intake throughout the day and also keeps your blood sugar level balanced. This will help to improve satiety, metabolism, energy levels, and prevent you getting over-hungry, which will help you achieve a more manageable weight.
   
   
3. Watch out for portion sizes: We tend to be overly generous with the amount of food on our plate both at home and when eating out. You do not need clean off the plate every time. Try simply asking to take home the leftovers. Eating large meals over-stretches your stomach so you can fit more food in there.
   
   
4. Enjoy food from all 5 food groups in adequate proportion: The 5 food groups were developed to help Australians ensure they are getting adequate nutrition. By including recommended variety in your diet, you are giving your body the nutrition it needs to do its everyday work and help prevent disease. 
   
   
5. Enjoy 5 serves of vegetable and 2 serves of fruit every day: Fruits and vegetables are generally lower in energy but full of good nutrition, such as fibre, vitamins and minerals. You can really complement every meal and maintain a more satisfying way of eating.
   
   
6. Be physically active! Incorporate at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise most days. You continue to burn energy after exercise allowing your body to tolerate the energy you eat from food. You will see excess weight come off you over time and most importantly you may prevent it from continuing to rise!
   
   
7. Avoid energy dense high fat/sugar foods e.g. cakes, biscuits, chocolates & chips: These foods are really energy dense. You can learn to eat these in moderation and include then as part of a healthy diet. Remember such foods tend to have higher amounts of saturated fat and trans-fat which are linked to heart disease!
   
   
8. Be realistic, sensible & patient: The media has given us an unrealistic expectation of how fast we can lose weight. However to lose weight AND KEEP IT OFF is better achieved with slower, sustainable changes.
   
   
9. Understand food labels & claims: Some claims can be misleading. A product labelled with a fat-free claim does not mean that it is low in calories. Or an oil product that is labelled ‘lite’, does not mean it is low in fat, sugar or calories; it is referring to the flavour of the oil.
   
   
10. Get support from a health professional: It has been scientifically demonstrated that people are more like to lose weight and keep it off with the regular support and guidance of an experienced Accredited Practising Dietitian. Furthermore, it has been shown that those people who see a Dietitian for regular follow up over a longer period of time are more successful at losing weight and keeping it off!