Tips on how to maintain a healthy weight

Having a healthy weight plays a key role in promoting overall health and wellness.

Maintaining a healthy weight can improve your quality of life and reduce the risk of developing various health conditions. However, achieving and sustaining a healthy weight can often be easier said than done.

If you’re trying to lose weight

There are various ways to try to lose weight but no single approach works for everyone.

It starts with consuming fewer calories than you need. Calories (kcal) are a unit of energy from food and drink, which fuels your body for all activities.

To maintain a healthy weight, men typically need around 2,500 kcal daily, and women around 2,000 kcal, but individual needs vary based on activity level and personal goals.

Research indicates that the most effective strategy is the one you can maintain long-term. The secret is to discover a plan that you enjoy and works with your lifestyle.

The British Dietetic Association (BDA) have more on to How to Achieve a Healthier Weight

Fad diets

A fad diet is a plan that claims it will help you lose weight quickly without good evidence to support that claim.

Fad diets can be very restrictive, and lack nutritional balance. This makes them difficult to maintain over time. Instead, you should focus on adopting a healthy, balanced approach.

More information on fad diets from the British Dietetic Association

Try to:

set small and realistic goals to help you lose weight safely and make you more likely to maintain your weight loss
eat 3 regular, balanced meals a day
try to have meals at planned times
only include snacks if you’re physically hungry

More about eating a healthy balanced diet

Try some healthy substitutes

Substitute high-calorie food for healthier alternatives if you’re trying to lose weight. You could swap:

crisps and dips for crunchy peppers and carrots and dip them in some low-fat hummus
a chocolate bar for a handful of unsalted nuts
high-calorie coffee, like a latte or mocha, for a lower calorie Americano

Looking for healthy snack inspiration?

Portion control

Losing weight is about eating a healthy and balanced diet, but a big part of being successful in your weight loss attempts is learning how to control your portion sizes.

Portion sizes vary depending on a number of factors – such as age, gender and activity levels – but as a rough guide, the following table outlines the portion sizes of some common foods:

Food item	Portion size
Pasta and rice	2 to 3 tablespoons
Bread	1 medium slice
Cooked meat	Size of a deck of cards
Milk	200ml
Hard cheese	Size of a matchbox
Beans or pulses	4 tablespoons

Picking a smaller plate can help to reduce your portion sizes and in turn, the number of calories consumed.

More from the BDA about portion control.

Turn off technology

Eating in front of the TV can influence our food choices but can also contribute to us eating more than we need. Concentrating on the TV instead of the meal or snack you’re eating can lead to mindless eating where we eat more than we need and will be less likely to notice feeling full.

Planning your meals

Planning ahead is important to help ensure you have the right foods to hand, at the right times.

Try to:

use a meal planner for the week ahead
make a shopping list
bulk cook meals and freeze portions
try using an air fryer or slow cooker

Try to avoid:

shopping when you’re hungry
buying larger pack sizes and in-store promotions that are often foods high in fat, salt or sugar – like crisps and fizzy drinks

Keeping active

Keeping active has many benefits to your health and wellbeing and when part of a healthy diet, can be an effective way to lose weight.

It’s recommended that all adults should try to be active every day and should complete at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise per week. This could include many different activities such as cycling, walking or even heavy housework where your breathing is increased but you are still able to talk.

Alternatively, you could complete 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise, which could include activities such as running or a game of football where your breathing is fast and you are finding it difficult to talk during. You could split this up into manageable workouts such as 30 minutes over 5 days of the week.

It’s is also recommended that adults include strength and balance exercises twice a week that keep muscle, bones and joints strong and reduce our risk of frailty and falls in later life. You could try some useful strength and balance exercises.

It’s important to remember that some movement is good, but more is better. It’s never too late to start and there are many different activities, so try to find something you enjoy doing.

More about keeping active.