Manage your weight

Resources & Guidance

Managing your weight

There are lots of things that can contribute to changes in your weight, including some things that you did not choose and others that are linked to your everyday habits.

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What is a healthy weight for one person might not be ideal for another. However, it can be helpful to use a guide to assess whether our weight is within or close to a healthy range. To do this, we can use the Body Mass Index (BMI) as rough guide. There is a BMI calculator available here.

For further guidance on BMI ranges, please read the following information from NHS Inform.

If we are already eating healthily and lead an active lifestyle, it might be better to maintain that lifestyle rather than trying to lose a lot of weight that we cannot maintain. However, if we know that we are not eating in a healthy, balanced way, or that it is possible for us to build in more physical activity into our days, we might benefit from some guidance on how to do this. For guidance on making healthy lifestyle changes, select the “manage” tab above.

For information on further resources and accessing local services, select the “support” tab above.

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Resources for Better Sleep

A list of resources to help you get better sleep: apps, websites, blogs, worksheets and books

Lifestyle changes

Whilst there’s often a focus on weight, it’s also important to think about your overall health and to try to make small, realistic lifestyle changes you can keep up in the long term. For example, focusing on gradually increasing your physical activity, eating regularly, or increasing how many vegetables you eat can be good for your health, even if your weight doesn’t change

Tips on managing change in our lives

We all have to cope and manage with change in our lives for lots of reasons. Here are some tips and thoughts on navigating through a period of change.

Computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a psychological therapy based on the relationships between what we think, what we do and how we feel. CBT teaches you how to recognise and tackle problems in the here and now, rather than in the past.

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Healthy eating and weight management:

NHS Inform provides a range of information about food and nutrition.

Diabetes relevant websites also have helpful lifestyle management information for those with a diabetes diagnosis and for people who are interested in prevention of type 2 diabetes:

Diabetes UK

My Diabetes My Way

There is some guidance in the Lifestyle Changes resource on this website. If you want to focus on weight management and don’t feel able to work through the resources recommended on this website, you might want to ask your GP for a referral to your local weight management service. You can learn more about the NHS Lothian weight management service here, including an option to self-refer. Depending on your circumstances, you might be offered support in the community or added to a list for assessment by a specialist dietitian.

The relationship people have with food can be complicated. Everyone’s personal circumstances are different, and whilst focusing on a healthier lifestyle might be easy for some people, there are some situations where people may need more support first. If you’re finding that significant stressors, such as the care needs of loved ones, financial pressures, or your mental health are affecting your eating habits and lifestyle, getting support to problem solve those difficulties first is likely to be helpful for you so that any dietary changes are more likely to be realistic. You may wish to look through the other sections of this website, contact your GP, local social care service, or Citizens Advice Bureau.

In addition to our longer term relationship with food, family history and food environment, common factors that can lead to overeating as an understandable coping strategy include:

Overeating as a coping strategy for these and many other human challenges is not bad or wrong but may lead to complications with our health and wellbeing in the long term if it is our main or only coping strategy. And taking away our main coping strategy without finding helpful alternatives first is not a compassionate response to human suffering or a sustainable solution. This is why difficulties managing our weight are not just about healthy eating, exercise and willpower. Working through the resources that are relevant for you may equip you with more options for coping with the challenges you face in life and helping you to meet your needs more skillfully.

NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde has lots of helpful information about weight management, disordered eating and video based Psychology Education Talks for managing stress, overeating and self-criticism on their website here.

Some useful books include:

The Compassionate Mind Approach to Beating Overeating: Ken Goss

Overcoming Weight Problems: Grace and Gauntlett-Gilbert

Understanding Your Eating: How to Eat and Not Worry About It: Julia Buckroyd

50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food: Susan Albers

Overcoming Binge Eating: Dr. Christopher G. Fairburn

The Weight Escape: Ann Bailey, Joseph Ciarrochi & Russ Harris

Living With Your Body & Other Things You Hate: Emily K. Sandoz & Troy DuFrene

End Emotional Eating: Jennifer Taitz

Eating disorders:

Eating disorders do not only affect people who are underweight. If you think you may have an eating disorder, it is important to treat that before focusing on weight loss. If you’d like to follow a self-help approach, some of the books listed above might be helpful or this online free resource:

Centre of Clinical Interventions disordered eating materials

You might also want to consider whether support from the eating disorder charity, Beat, may be helpful to you. They can provide guided self help sessions.

There is some additional information in the eating problems section of this website.

If you are unable to work through self-help materials or need further support from trained professionals, please request a referral to the local eating disorders service from your GP.

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