Whole Earth Sweetner Co.

Maintaining a Healthy Weight

People come in many sizes – a healthy weight for one person may not be a healthy weight for you. A healthy diet and regular physical activity will help you maintain a healthy weight for your age and body type.

Stay balanced: imagine your body weight as set of scales with calories on one end, and the energy you burn on the other. To maintain a healthy weight you must keep the scales balanced—with the energy (calories) you put into your body balanced on the other side by the amount of energy you burn through physical activity. Staying balanced will help maintain your weight.

Maintaining a healthy weight for your age, height and body type can help you fight a number of health problems:

• coronary heart disease
• diabetes
• high blood pressure
• high blood cholesterol
• gall bladder disease
• joint problems e.g. gout, arthritis and joint pain
• sleep problems e.g. sleep apnoea
• certain types of cancer.

Of course, a lot of the time we tend to think we are overweight when we are not, alternatively some people do not realize they are overweight. The best way to check if you are overweight is to ask your doctor.

If you are overweight, it is important to try and stop gaining more weight. This will reduce your level of risk.

Tips for healthy weight maintenance:

• If you are trying to lose weight for health reasons, be patient—healthy weight loss takes time; make sure you are realistic about what is attainable.
• Plan and commit to regular exercise—whether it's a brisk walk after work or a class at the gym.
• Changes need to be for the long term—make changes to your eating patterns and physical activity levels that you can live with for the rest of your life.
• Plan your meals while you are grocery shopping. Check labels for information on fats and calories and skip foods which are not part of your healthy eating plan.
• Avoid fad/crash diets—these may give short term results but are unsustainable in the long term; some may even be harmful to your health. Commit to losing weight the healthy way with a healthy eating plan and physical activity tailored to suit your style of life.
• Seek advice and guidance—speak with your doctor, Accredited Practising Dietitian or a physical activity health professional about your weight.