Are you ready to lose weight but don’t know where to start?
We've bought together everything you need to know to help you achieve a healthy weight. There are many reasons to want to lose weight, such as health reasons, to get back into your jeans or to look and feel good for a special event.
Updated 31 October 2024.
Why not try the One You quiz? It's a series of quick and easy questions about your wellbeing, diet, drinking, exercise and smoking to see how you are doing and offer some simple advice.
Once you've got your results, there are plenty of ways to maintain a healthy weight.
Contents
Adult weight management programme
Maintaining a healthy weight has lots of benefits and is important for your overall health and wellbeing. It helps to lower your risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain cancers.
One You Surrey have a range of free services available to help you change bad habits and show you how to lose weight for good, including:
- 12 week digital weight loss app, with remote one-to-one support available
- 12 week group programme, available both digitally and in-person
- Male weight loss football league
- Slimming World
Based on the latest behaviour change research, you'll be in good hands with a supportive team of Health Practitioners, all of whom have the specialist knowledge and experience to guide you each step of the way, changing bad habits and showing you how to lose weight for good.
There is a range of options to support your journey - just choose the best option for you. Get started today by filling in a referral form and a friendly advisor will call you to talk through the options available.
Start your journey to be a healthier you
Eligibility
To be eligible for this service you must live or be registered with a GP in Surrey, have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more or 27.5 or more if you are from a Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) community
Simple tips
Know your body mass index (BMI) and measure you waist.
A vital first step is making sure your goal is a good one.
Monitoring what you eat can help you keep track of your daily calorie intake.
Better Health
Better Health, is a campaign from Public Health England aimed towards kickstarting your health - after all, healthy changes start with small steps.
Gaining weight is often a gradual process that takes place over several years and modern life doesn't always make it easy to lose that weight. But this extra weight causes pressure to build up around vital organs, making it harder for the body to fight against diseases like cancer, heart disease and now COVID-19. By changing your eating and activity habits, you will become healthier and have more energy.
The Better Health campaign provides various tools and apps to help you make healthier food choices, become more active and prevent future weight gain. You can choose from these apps to make maintaining a healthy weight fun:
- NHS Weight loss plan - A 12-week plan that helps you lose weight
- Active 10 app - Just 10 minutes a day can make a difference
- One You Easy Meals app - Healthy yet tasty meal ideas and cooking tips
- Couch to 5k app - Run a 5k in just nine weeks
- Drink Free Days app - For days you do not want to drink alcohol
- Food scanner app - Find out what's really in your food and drink.
Eat Well
Eating well can help you improve your wellbeing, manage your weight and reduce your risk of developing diseases such as diabetes and coronary heart disease. Eating well is different for different people. Find the right information for you from the information below.
Adults
Eat well Guide
The Eat well guide shows how much of what we eat overall and what should come from each food group to achieve a healthy, balanced diet. Most people are still not eating the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables. They should make up over a third of the food you eat each day, aiming for 5 at least portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables each day.
Base your meals on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, these foods should make up just over a third of the food you eat. Where possible, you should choose high fibre wholegrain varieties, like brown rice. Starchy foods are a source of energy.
Include dairy in your diet, or dairy alternatives. Milk, cheese, yoghurt are all dairy products which are good sources of protein and contain some vitamins. They are also a very important source of calcium which help keep your bones strong. Where possible, you should try and go for the lower fat and lower sugar options.
Beans, pulses, fish, eggs and meat should also be included in your diet. These products contain protein, vitamins and minerals. Pulses, like beans, peas and lentils are a great replacement for meat as they contain less fat and they are higher in fibre and protein.
Pregnant women and those with children under 4
- Start4Life - for pregnant women, dads to be, new parents and their babies.
- Healthy Start - for those on benefits who are pregnant or have children under the age of 4.
Children
- Change4Life - provides lower sugar ideas for kids and easy sugar swaps!
Young adults and teenagers
- Eat Well guidance - as a teenager, your body makes many changes, physically, that you should support with a healthy balanced diet.
Learning disability - adults and children
- NHS guidance for managing weight with a learning disability - if you care or support someone with learning disabilities, you may need to support them with to maintain a healthy weight.
Weight loss or poor appetite?
If you, a member of your family or a friend are experiencing unexplained weight loss and a loss/poor appetite, this can affect your health. The The British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (BAPEN) self screening tool for malnutrition can help you to assess your appetite and provide you with advice on what to do if you are at risk of malnutrition.
Useful links
- One You - Eat better
Public Health England information, advice and resources on healthy eating. - One You - Easy meals app
Recipe app to help plan and eat healthier meals.