Why Lose Weight? 

If you are overweight or obese, the risks of spine surgery are greatly increased, including wound problems, infection, risk of injury due to more difficult surgical access, hardware failure, anaesthetic complications, and poorer overall surgical outcomes.

The benefits of losing weight include:

• Less back and neck pain

• Reduced disability

• Slower degeneration in the back, neck and other joints in your body

• Lower risk of medical problems

• Safer candidate for spine surgery, if required

How do you Measure Up?

Useful measurements include weight, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference (where a soft tape-measures is used around the level of the belly button).

Assemble Your Team.

A good support team is vital to help you with your weight-loss journey:

• Family and Friends

• General practitioner

• Nutritionists / Dieticians

• Psychologists and Counsellors

• Physiotherapist / Exercise physiologist / Personal trainers

Keep it simple.

Trying to find the “best diet” can be confusing and frustrating. The latest “fad diet” may not actually be the best option. Unpleasant aggressive diet programs often don’t work long-term. Once these diets end and old habits return, you may be disappointed when your weight increases again.

The simple mantra, “Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”, comes from an informative book by Michael Pollan titled “In Defence Of Food” (there’s also a documentary by the same title)

Eat Food.

We’re talking about “real food” that is fresh and unprocessed. Processed foods often have high amounts of hidden sugar. As a general rule, if it comes out of a box, a can, a bottle, or a packet, forget it

Not too Much.

It is healthy to still feel a little hungry after your meal. Have you noticed if you eat too much too quickly, you start feeling over-stuffed about half an hour later?  This is because there is a delay between when your stomach is actually full, and when it tells you it feels full.

Try putting the amount you want to eat on your plate. Put half of what’s there in a container in the fridge. Only eat the half left on your plate.

Mostly Plants.

As a rough guide, try to “eat your colours”. Is it okay to eat meat if you want? – Yes, of course it is! But do you need meat in every meal? – No.

CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet.

The CSIRO (http://www.totalwellbeingdiet.com) have shown that balanced high protein diets can be effective in losing weight, keeping it off, and reducing risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Protein Balance Guide to Food.

• Regular Foods (include in your diet): Lean meat. Seafood. Vegetables. Salads. Nuts. Beans (no sauce)

• Foods to have in Moderation: Dairy. Berries.

• Foods to Avoid: White rice. Potato. Sweet potato. Pasta. Bread. Soft drink. Alcohol. Artificial sweeteners. Fruit. Chocolate.

5 benefits of Protein Balance.

1. Better appetite control: helps you feel satisfied and prevents feelings of hunger throughout the day.

2. Metabolic boost: Protein increases the thermic effect of food, so your body requires more energy to burn through the food.

3. Reduced food cravings: eating a high protein breakfast you can reduce cravings throughout the day and at night time.

4. Improved body composition: Protein Balance is designed specifically to limit muscle loss while increasing fat loss.

5. Reduced energy intake: increasing protein at meals means you can lower your energy intake without feeling hungry.