First of all, well done for signing up! This is a really positive step forward for your overall health and wellbeing.
Maintaining a healthy weight can help to lower the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and even high blood pressure.
My Weight Matters is all about promoting weight loss in a safe, steady and sustained way.
Now, let’s give you an overview of the key topic areas across this 12-week programme. We’ve also included links to each week’s workout videos, recipes, sleep audios and meditation audios.
Week 1 - The Eatwell Plate
During your first week, you’ll be learning about how much of what you should be eating from each food group to achieve a healthy, balanced diet.
Week 2 - Portion sizes
Portion size relates to the amount of food that you eat at one time or the amount you put on your plate for a meal. And it’s crucial to understand if you want to effectively manage your weight.
Week 3 - Physical activity
Physical activity will be a vital asset to your journey. When combined with reducing the number of calories you eat, it helps to create a ‘calorie deficit’ - and voila, you’ve got weight loss! Week 3’s booklet will really help you to capitalise on this partnership.
Week 4 - Food Labels
When you are trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, reading food labels properly is an essential skill.
Reading a food label not only tells you how many calories you are consuming when you eat a particular food, but it can also provide you with useful information about the food's nutritional value. Week 4 of the course guides you to do exactly that.
Week 5 - Gaining Control
Having the right mindset is key to achieving your desired goal, losing weight. This is why Week 5 is all about gaining control, which will help your mind to become a useful tool instead of an enemy.
Week 6 - Taking Stock
You’re halfway there, congratulations, you’re doing amazing! But there’s still more work to be done. Week 6 encourages you to look at your lifestyle choices and assess whether they are posing challenges to your weight loss efforts.
Week 7 - Sleep
Keeping a regular sleep schedule is vital for losing weight - if your sleep is interrupted or you have inadequate sleep, it interferes with the body's ability to metabolize carbohydrates and causes high blood levels of glucose, which leads to higher insulin levels and greater body-fat storage.
Understanding more about sleep is a very necessary component of your journey - which is why we’ve dedicated a whole week to it!
Week 8 - Stress
Stress can play a large role in managing your weight—and how easily you can lose it. If you are stressed, your body will have high levels of cortisol, which makes you hungrier and crave high-fat and sugary foods.
Reducing your stress levels, through exercise and meditation can help combat this - just click the link above and you can access exactly that!
Week 9 - Helpful Support
During your weight loss journey, support from your family, friends and professionals is an underrated asset to helping you succeed. But not by us!
Week 9 explores the importance of having people cheering you on, and offering encouragement and support when you need it the most.
Week 10 - Overcoming Challenges
During your weight loss journey, you will hit barriers - such as perceived or concrete ones, which can be broken down into 3 main categories, physical, environmental, and emotional. Week 10 explores these barriers and how you can effectively overcome them.
Week 11 - Weight Loss Plateau
A weight loss plateau is when your weight stops changing - don’t worry, this is more common than you think which is why it’s Week 11’s focus!
Week 12 - Keeping Going!
Terrific work, you’ve reached the final week of the course! Remember everything you’ve learnt from the past 11 weeks, continue to put them into practice and absorb Week 12’s top tips for keeping going!
Over to you!
We wish you the best of luck with starting and maintaining your journey - whatever your goal may be.
If you’re looking for more help and motivation to lose weight, please join our #LoseWeightHappily Facebook Group.
This group is packed with useful information, links, recipes and resources and a chance to discuss weight loss tips and tricks with other like-minded people.
