Medicines That Can Affect Weight: Worth Reviewing
Several widely prescribed medicine categories can contribute to weight gain, including some antidepressants, antipsychotics, corticosteroids, certain diabetes treatments, some blood pressure medicines and hormonal treatments. Never stop a prescribed medicine on your own. Alternatives within the same category sometimes have a different weight profile. Why this is worth reviewing Weight gain attributable to a medicine […]
Keeping Weight Off: What Long Term Maintainers Actually Do
Research following people who have maintained substantial weight loss for years identifies consistent behaviours: regular self monitoring, high physical activity, eating breakfast, consistent patterns across weekdays and weekends, and catching small regains early rather than allowing them to accumulate. Maintenance is a different task Losing weight and keeping it off require different things. Loss is […]
What Does a Medically Supervised Weight Programme Involve?
A medically supervised weight programme differs from a commercial diet by assessing the clinical factors affecting your weight, ordering and interpreting relevant pathology, monitoring markers over time, and adjusting the plan based on results rather than applying a fixed template. What the initial assessment covers The purpose is to understand what is driving weight in […]
How Much Weight Do You Actually Need to Lose?
Most measurable health benefits appear at five to ten percent of body weight, far below what most people set as a goal. At five percent, blood pressure, blood glucose and lipids improve measurably. Setting unrealistic targets predicts abandoning the effort before those benefits are recognised. What each threshold delivers Benefits accrue progressively, and the early […]
Weight Stigma in Healthcare: Why People Avoid Appointments
Weight stigma in healthcare leads many people to delay or avoid appointments, and contributes to missed diagnoses when unrelated symptoms are attributed to weight. Evidence indicates that experiencing stigma is associated with worse health outcomes independently of body weight itself. What the evidence shows Research has consistently found that many people at higher weights report […]
Sleep Apnoea and Weight: A Cycle Worth Breaking
Obstructive sleep apnoea and higher body weight reinforce each other. Excess tissue around the airway raises the risk of collapse during sleep, while the resulting fragmented sleep raises appetite hormones and reduces insulin sensitivity, making weight management harder. What happens during an apnoea In obstructive sleep apnoea the upper airway narrows or closes during sleep, […]
Weight and Joint Pain: More Than Mechanical Load
Each kilogram of body weight produces roughly four kilograms of force through the knee when walking, so modest weight loss meaningfully reduces joint load. Fat tissue also produces inflammatory signals affecting joints throughout the body, including non weight bearing joints such as the hands. The mechanical side Walking on level ground generates joint reaction forces […]
Ultra Processed Food: Does It Really Make a Difference?
In a tightly controlled trial where diets were matched for calories, sugar, fat, fibre and salt, participants ate around 500 more calories per day on the ultra processed diet and gained weight, while losing weight on the unprocessed diet. Processing itself appears to affect intake independently of nutrients. What ultra processed actually means The NOVA […]
Fibre, Gut Health and Weight: The Underrated Connection
Most Australians eat around twenty grams of fibre daily against a recommended 25 to 30 grams. Fibre slows gastric emptying, blunts blood glucose response, feeds gut bacteria that produce appetite regulating compounds, and reduces the energy absorbed from food. How much is actually recommended Australian guidance suggests 25 grams daily for adult women and 30 […]
Is Weight Loss Just Calories In Versus Calories Out?
Energy balance governs weight change, but treating it as a simple equation is misleading. Both sides are variable and interdependent. Calories out falls as you lose weight, appetite rises in response to a deficit, and food type affects absorption, satiety and the energy spent digesting it. The model is true but incomplete Energy cannot be […]