Managing a healthy weight
Maintaining a healthy weight helps you feel your best, move more easily and reduce the risk of health problems now and in the future
Everyone’s journey to look after their weight is different – there is no one size fits all. Focusing on small, healthy habits can make a big difference to how you feel every day – inside and out.
You don’t need to do everything at once – little changes to what you eat, how you move and how you care for yourself can all support a healthy weight, whatever that looks like for you.
Making small , positive changes to how you manage a healthy weight can lead to big changes in your health, and how you feel
What does a healthy weight mean?
Managing a healthy weight is where your body is supported to move well, feel energetic and lower your risk of long-term health conditions – it’s personal, and not the same for everyone.
Your weight is influenced by your age, the way your body is built, how tall you are, your genes and ethnicity. Health professionals often use tools such as Body Mass Index (BMI) as a guide, but it is only one part of the picture.
You can use the links below to find out about your weight. It’s important to remember that a healthy weight looks different for everyone – your overall health, lifestyle and how you feel in your body matter too.
Body Mass Index (BMI) is an easy way to understand your weight category based on your height and weight
The distance around your waist, which is measured just above your hips, gives your waist circumference
To check if you have excess weight around your tummy, you measure your waist in inches then divide that by your height in inches
Benefits of maintaining a healthy weight
Having a healthy weight can give you more energy, keep your heart healthy and help you sleep better.
There are other reasons such as:-
- It might improve your mood and your self-confidence
- It can increase your energy levels and you feel less tired
- It may make it easier for you to move around and be physically active
- It will reduce your risk of developing health problems like high blood pressure, cancer and heart and circulatory diseases
- Reducing weight benefits joints because the body has less weight to carry around. While it isn’t possible to regrow worn cartilage, losing weight can prevent further damage.
Let’s take a tour around the body to see the impact of weight loss on your organs.
Heart
According to the NHS being overweight increases the risk of blood vessels becoming clogged with cholesterol and excess weight squeezing the arteries. All this results in high blood pressure and means the heart must pump harder and faster than usual. Losing weight helps to alleviate this and blood vessels can become less constricted.
Brain
Some studies show that weight gain can cause a spike in the body’s cytokines which causes systemic inflammation. If the brain becomes inflamed various cognitive and behavioural symptoms may ensue such as shortfalls in memory.
If you lose weight you will improve your memory, attention, executive functions, linguistic abilities and motor speed.
Liver
It is important to consider the amount of fat around your liver. Fatty liver disease is a condition that impedes the bodies’ ability to produce bile for digestion and store iron for proper blood oxygenation.
Lungs
Losing weight can reduce the amount of pressure placed on the chest and diaphragm, making it easier to breathe and reduces the risk of respiratory issues such as asthma and sleep apnea.
It will also improve lung capacity and mean that you get more oxygen around your body.
Kidney
High blood pressure is the leading cause of chronic liver disease which can lead to kidney failure and the need for dialysis or a transplant.
Colon
Obesity can lead to colon inflammation which may result in a polyp or tumour if left untreated.
Pancreas
Being overweight can hinder the pancreas’ ability to produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugar levels, potentially leading to type 2 diabetes. Losing weight can both prevent and reverse pancreatic damage.
Need help to manage your weight?
Find support local to you
If you wish to make a referral into the Feel Good Suffolk service, your Feel Good Suffolk Advisor can support you to access information contained on this website or community assistance local to you.
They can also advise you on the eligibility criteria for more intensive levels of support around managing a healthy weight, stopping smoking and being more active.
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