Weight management tips

The way we think can have a big impact on how we feel, and on our behaviour. Unhelpful thoughts can turn into behaviours that support an unhappy or negative lifestyle, like those shown in the picture below:

Image credit: Te Whatu Ora, Te Tuka Tumai, Nutrition & Dietetics department

Listen to your self-talk. Are your thoughts helping you live a happy and fulfilling life or are they making you feel down?

It's natural to be hard on ourselves. We think being hard on ourselves will make us do better. However, research shows that if we are kind to ourselves, we experience better health and wellbeing.

Perhaps you could think about what you need to hear? What you would say to a close friend or loved one?  Start with an activity to help challenge your unhelpful thinking(external link).

Image credit: Te Whatu Ora, Te Tuka Tumai, Nutrition & Dietetics department

If we look at the Te Whare Tapa Whā model of health, it represents a whare/house with four equal sides representing our spiritual, physical, family and mental health. If one of the sides isn’t well, the whole whare will be shaky, so while it’s easy to focus on one aspect of your health, eg, your diet, it’s actually important to look after yourself in all areas.

Download this worksheet(external link) to identify where you might need extra support. Once you’ve identified what you want to reinforce, the first place to start is to develop one small goal for a skill you'd like to work on, eg, you might want to learn how to garden or meditate, you may want to go to a therapist to work on your self-talk, or you might want to start walking. 

Image credit: Te Whatu Ora, Te Tuka Tumai, Nutrition & Dietetics department

Why do you want to make a change? Let’s start with what living a healthy lifestyle means to you – having a body that functions the way you need it to, having a well mind and soul with good mental health – think about what’s motivating you?

Fill out your reasons to make change(external link) form. Some examples might be:

• To have more energy and to sleep better.
• To feel comfortable in my body – enjoy and appreciate what my body can do.
• To help control blood pressure, cholesterol levels or blood glucose.
• To feel more fit and strong.
• To reduce pain.
• To increase emotional health and mood.

Image credit: Canva

We're born with body cues that tell us when we're hungry and full, but some of us lose this over time – due to our upbringing (ever been forced to finish a meal?) and other situations such as feeling guilty about leftovers or wasting money.

It can be difficult to change a lifetime of habit, but one of the ways to get back in touch with your body’s cues of hunger and fullness is to identify when you are ‘non-hungry eating’. Non-hungry eating can happen:

• when we're bored, sad, happy or stressed
• out of habit, such as late night snacking
• at social events or because its available
• as a reward, eg after having a productive day at work or going to the gym
• confusing hunger with thirst.

Think about what can help with that? What is it you actually need? Is it to talk to someone, to rest, take a bath, go for a walk or find a different activity? If it’s a habit replace it with a new habit, like having a hot drink, doing some gardening, something you enjoy. You can even keep an eating awareness diary(external link) to help you notice things a bit more.

Since some of us have lost the ability to follow our hunger and fullness cues, a tool to help when dishing up your meals, is the balanced plate. If you fill 1/2 your plate with veggies, 1/4 with grainy food, and 1/4 with protein or dairy food, this will provide the right balance to give our body what it needs.

To see the balanced plate model in action, watch this video(external link).

Image credit: Te Whatu Ora, Te Tuka Tumai, Nutrition & Dietetics department

When we eat, we are often not really present or truly appreciating the food and how it makes us feel physically. We may be in a hurry, distracted or stressed. The idea behind mindful eating is to slow down the eating process and create awareness of what it's like to use all of your senses when you eat. Try this mindful eating and satisfaction activity.(external link)

• Before the meal:
  • Be aware and notice your feeling, are you hungry or thirsty?
  • How hungry are you?
    
    
• During the meal:
  • Be present, sit down, turn off all distractions,
  • Savour the taste, smell and texture,
  • Be non-judgemental, let go of food rules and guilt.
    
    

• After the meal:
  • Did the meal make you feel worse? Bloated, uncomfortable, indigestion, tired/grumpy or a headache?
  • Did the meal make you feel neutral/better? Energised, happy, lower cravings, comfortable, better sleep?

Instead of linking exercise with weight loss, pain or punishment, it can be helpful to think of a new reason to move your body… It’s a great time to connect with nature, to look at your beautiful surroundings and breathe in fresh air.

Image credit: Te Whatu Ora, Te Tuka Tumai, Nutrition & Dietetics department

Have a go at something new, or something you used to enjoy, or include a little more activity in your general day by parking further from your destination and walking the rest or taking the stairs instead of the elevator. Swim in the ocean or walk on a new walking track and reconnect with nature/te taio.

There's also the option of a green prescription, which gives you access to their free health and wellness programme. You can refer yourself to them, just visit the Green Prescriptions website(external link). 

In order to get health benefits from moving our bodies, it's recommended to get at least 30 minutes of activity each day. Doing some is better than none.

Eating well looks different for everybody, and with our busy, stressful lives it can be challenging. You know your whānau best, and any small efforts you can make should be celebrated! Eating for health is connecting with our environment and what it naturally provides for us.   

Image credit: Te Whatu Ora, Te Tuka Tumai, Nutrition & Dietetics department

You may ask about foods that don’t fit into these categories like chips, fizzy and takeaways. Research shows the most important thing for health, is to eat a variety of foods from nature. What you eat on top of this doesn’t make a big impact to your health. So, as long as you're mindfully eating (and don’t have a medical condition affected by food), you can enjoy these foods.

If you're wanting to keep your blood pressure down, reduce cholesterol, look after your teeth or reduce your risk of developing diabetes, you want to look out for the 3 Ss – salt, saturated fat and sugar.

Salt

Too much salt raises our blood pressure, and this damages our heart and kidneys. Some tips to help reduce salt include: 

Image credit: Te Whatu Ora, Te Tuka Tumai, Nutrition & Dietetics department

Saturated fat

Swap saturated fats to unsaturated fats for better heart health and to reduce cholesterol.

Image credit: Te Whatu Ora, Te Tuka Tumai, Nutrition & Dietetics department

Sugar

‘Free sugar’ such as table sugar, honey or glucose gives us energy, but no nutrients. It's easy to eat too much as it doesn’t make us feel full. To keep your teeth strong and reduce the risk of diabetes, try to reduce excess sugar in your diet.

Here are some ideas for reducing sugar:

• Choose foods close to nature.
• Use fruit for sweetness instead of adding sugar.
• Check the sugar content on food labels and choose options with less sugar in them.
• Look at what you drink – water is the best drink and it's free. Your taste buds might need a bit of re-educating if you're used to only drinking sweet drinks, but they do get used to the change.

What about fruit – is that bad for me?

Sugars in fruit are inside a plant cell wall – this has to be broken down first so it takes longer to digest it. Fruits have the added benefits of vitamins, minerals and fibre, so don't worry about restricting how much fruit you eat.

Knowing what’s in your food can help you to compare products and chose the right one for you. Here's a helpful guide:

Image credit: Te Whatu Ora, Te Tuka Tumai, Nutrition & Dietetics department

Read more about using food labels.

With our busy schedules, we tend to go for convenience, but the healthy choice isn’t always the easy choice. Think about how you can make a small change to include a few healthier choices in your week.

• Planning meals
• Engaging your whānau with shopping and cooking
• Stocking the freezer and cupboards with nourishing kai such as frozen veg, beans and eggs.
  
  

Image credit: Health Navigator Charitable Trust