Sustainable Weight Loss

What is healthy sustainable weight loss?

We define healthy sustainable weight loss as losing weight at a reasonable rate eg. 0.5 – 1 kg per week whilst making sure you don’t lose too much functional lean body mass (muscles and bone density). It’s important to ensure your nutrient intake is adequate so that you don’t develop vitamin/mineral deficiencies along the way and that the weight loss you achieve is able to be maintained in the long term as the reality is that most diets fail. We use evidence based methods and support from a health professional to ensure you are able to achieve the results you’d like in a way that is healthy and long lasting. There is typically an approximate time frame given for the weight loss phases (the time you can expect to achieve your weight loss goal by – we are pretty good at this, it’s a pretty precise science!) and maintenance phases which can be adjusted along the way depending on things that happen during the process. .

What causes weight gain?

There are a number of reasons why you might gain weight. Most of our clients are already “eating healthy” but whatever they seem to do, they just can’t shift their weight.

Emotional and stressful times in your life can be huge triggers for weight gain due to comfort eating behaviours that can be tricky to break.
Suffering an injury and being off work for a significant period of time is also a common one.
Any reasons such as a change in career or life circumstance that may reduce your normal physical activity levels.
Being diagnosed with a medical condition that affects your appetite and/or hormonal functions such as thyroid issues.
Use of steroids and other medications to manage health conditions can also be a trigger for weight gain.
Repetitive diet cycling/following fad diets is another reason people’s weight can increase.

How can Bites Dietitians help?

At Bites Health Clinic we can help you achieve your weight loss goals in a healthy and sustainable way! Weight loss is achieved through listening and assessing your current situation, lifestyle and dietary habits, listening to your weight loss goal and calculating your specific energy and nutrient requirements that match this. For people who like more routine and structure, Bites dietitians will then create a tailored meal plan with you. For our clients that prefer to be more flexible in their approach, you might prefer our Dietitians to give you small achievable goals to work on each visit. Again, depending on which approach suits you, our Dietitians may spend consults answering your questions and educating you on things like your specific energy requirements; calorie content of foods you commonly consume; low calorie recipes, meals and snack options; portion control; mindful eating techniques and how to read and understand nutrition labels. They will most importantly, help you unpack the behaviours that are keeping you stuck and ensure you are able to build a healthier relationship with food for good! We make sure that we’re always including your favourite foods and new things that you might like to try along the way so that you look forward to eating our plans!

We help you achieve weight loss results that you can maintain by:

Including your favourite foods into a meal plan OR A non-diet approach with
NO meal plans or numbers involved at all!
Using science and appropriate calculations to give you energy goals to work towards
Monitoring your dietary intake between sessions if you would like this
Employing evidence-based behaviour change strategies and counselling techniques.
Incorporating activities that boost your self efficacy and confidence in maintaining your weight loss for good
Provide you with ongoing support to reach your goals.

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An interesting fact about diet and sustainable weight loss

Myth – you can’t eat ‘unhealthy’ foods if you want to lose weight. This is false, you can still lose weight and enjoy ‘sometimes’ foods such as snack foods and desserts. Bites Dietitians can include your favourite foods into your diet, and you will still achieve the same (if not better) weight loss results as if you were to avoid these foods. If we deprive ourselves of the foods we love this can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food and can often lead to overconsumption which will then hinder the results and effectiveness of your weight loss journey!

How can Bites Exercise Physiologists help?

Being physically active is a very important part of your weight loss journey. For weight loss to be healthy, it’s important to maintain your muscle mass and bone density along the way so that you don’t lose functional weight (weight that contributes to your strength/fitness!). An important part of the considerations for exercise are keeping as much muscle mass as possible during the weight loss phase because essentially the amount of muscle mass you have is directly proportional to your metabolism (ie the more muscles you have, the faster your metabolism is!). If you lose muscle mass along with body fat during the weight loss phase, weight regain following can be higher and it can be more difficult to shift the weight next time.

Knowing where to start can be difficult especially if you haven’t exercised before/for a long time or have other health conditions that might be limiting your ability to participate in exercise. Our Exercise Physiologists are here to help and make the process easier. We can create an exercise plan that is specific to your current level of physical activity, health conditions, your ability and the availability of equipment e.g. home or gym-based workouts. An exercise plan designed specifically with your weight loss goals in mind will benefit your weight loss journey immensely, whilst improving overall physical and mental wellbeing.

An interesting fact about exercise and sustainable weight loss

Exercise alone isn’t as effective as combining diet and exercise strategies simultaneously because exercising can increase your appetite drive and your body may compensate for the extra activity by urging you to eat more. It’s also really frustrating to be spending lots of time and effort exercising if your nutrition is the component letting you down! Finding something that works and that you can adapt over time is key. Weight loss without exercise can also increase your risk of weight regain and make it harder to lose weight the next time you try.

What improvements can you expect from a tailored exercise program?

By following a diet and exercise plan, you will be able to see improvement within 1-2 weeks in your waist circumference, body fat levels and weight measurements. Unlike most other diets, you can expect these changes to be ongoing at a fairly regular rate throughout your weight loss journey as we adapt your meal and exercise plans along the way.

How will you know it’s working/you’re improving?

It will be evident that your diet and exercise plan is working based on measurement differences from the first appointment throughout subsequent appointments as we continue to track your progress. These measurements could include decreased waist circumference, hip circumference, decrease in weight and decrease in skinfolds or body fat levels.

Helpful things to bring/remember before your first appointment

Any pathology results or investigations that might be helpful for our
Dietitians/Exercise Physiologists to consider when designing your program
Referral if you have one

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Contact Details

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305/29–31 Lexington Drive, Bella Vista NSW 2153

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0452 458 146

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