A Nutritionist’s 7-Tip Guide to Maintain Healthy Body Weight

It’s easy nowadays to forget to mind your diet, especially when you’re staying most of the time at home. So the million dollar question is: how can you maintain an ideal body weight while still keeping a positive relationship with food?

September is Obesity Awareness Month and now is the time to hit your goal of maintaining an ideal body weight.

If you’re looking for suggestions on how to get started, check out the tips on how to achieve healthy body weight from the Nutrition Services of the Hospital at Maayo.

1. Know your Body Mass Index (BMI)

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BMI stands for Body Mass Index. It’s one of the most utilized metrics in health to determine if a person is underweight, has a healthy body weight, or is obese. High BMI may generally provide you an overview of possible related health conditions such as diabetes, health problems, and stroke.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) suggests using this formula to get your BMI:

weight (kg) / [height (m)]2

You can also use the CDC’s BMI Calculator to cross-check if your computation is right.

Generally, a BMI of less than 18.5 means that you’re underweight, a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 means it’s normal, a BMI of 25 to 29.9 means you’re overweight, and a BMI of 30 or greater indicates obesity.

2. Consult expert nutritionists regarding your BMI

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If you’re unhappy about your BMI, now is the time to reach out to expert nutrition services. Your dietician should be able to help you achieve a healthy body weight so you can avoid further complications in your health.

The assistance of a health expert is recommended because doing something drastic such as suddenly cutting your calorie intake could result in more negative effects to your body. Remember that health is wealth and investing in it is a must.

3. Eat meals on time

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Filipinos love to eat, especially for merienda. Who doesn’t want to eat a hearty meal during breaks while working at home? It’s easy to forget that you already ate half the tub of cookies sitting on your desk while focused on a project.

One good technique to control your body weight is to be consistent with your daily food intake. Scheduling and planning your meal throughout the day keeps you from having unnecessary snacks that you don’t notice have a large impact on your body weight.

Monitoring the frequency of your meals and creating a meal plan to control your food intake will get you better results on your weight loss journey.

4. Ensure the you hit all essential food groups

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Be sure to track the kinds of food that you’re eating to maintain a healthy body weight.

A balanced healthy plate has proportions of different sources of carbohydrates, protein, and fats will take you a long way.

Carbohydrates provide energy to your body so you can function properly throughout the day. Carbohydrates have a bad reputation because people think that it is the main culprit to being overweight. However, it is an important nutrient that your body needs in order for your metabolism to work efficiently.

Another source of energy are fats that help different building blocks in your body. Finally, protein is a must if you incorporate exercise because it helps muscle repair that eventually results in it becoming stronger.

5. Lessen sweets and alcohol

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Self-care is indeed important. People find refuge in food due to isolation. For most people, sweets and alcohol become their comfort food.

There are researches that reveal that sugar dependence is possible because sweet food releases opioids and dopamine that causes cravings. The same thing can be said with alcohol. This means that the more you eat sweets, the more difficult it is to give it up, thereby keeping you from getting your ideal body weight.

If sweets are important to you, consider replacing that chocolate bar with fruits such as mangoes and apples. These are healthier options that positively affect your body. Meanwhile, totally giving up alcohol might be difficult for some so find a way to control or monitor your intake.

Too much of everything is detrimental to your health. Again, if you’re finding it difficult to control your diet, there are always medical services that you can call who will help you take baby steps towards becoming a healthy individual.

6. Always drink water to hydrate

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Water is essential to keep your body hydrated especially in draining work-at-home setups.

If you tend to forget to get yourself some water, it’s a good idea to purchase a pitcher that you can bring to your workstation at home so you always have ready access to water. Some people don’t drink enough water simply because they are too lazy to get up and make the trip to the fridge.

Another good tip is to install a water reminder app on your phone. These apps will notify you throughout the day when it’s time to drink water again. You can also check and configure the frequency of the alarm that will best suit your needs.

7. Do some simple exercises

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Performing simple exercises at home will speed up your weight loss goals. Several gyms are closed throughout the country but it’s not a problem since there are quick exercise routines you can do at home that will help you alleviate body pain while burning calories.

It’s a good idea to set at least half an hour every day to do some stretches to keep your joints and limbs activated especially when you are slumped on your office chair all day. These atomic habits have a large impact on your overall health so don’t underestimate the power of jumping jacks or jogging in place.

Following these seven health suggestions will get you started in your weight loss journey. Achieving a healthy body weight takes time and investment so trust the process and always remember that consistency is key.

To step up your weight loss journey, consult and set an appointment today with your nutritionist so you can have access to an effective meal plan.