Maintain a Healthy Weight

Being overweight (20 percent over normal weight guidelines for your frame and height) can increase your risk for developing diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and other medical problems. Being obese (more than 30 percent above healthy body weight) doubles the risk for heart disease. For more information, visit the Web site of the National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at http://www.niddk.nih.gov.

You can achieve a healthy weight

If you're overweight, develop a weight-reduction plan with your physician. Studies show that "fad diets" don't work consistently; controlling what you eat is only part of the challenge. To take the weight off (and keep it off), you need to make permanent lifestyle changes.

By exercising daily and eating healthy foods, you can maintain long-term weight loss. The key to daily exercise for weight management is increasing the total time you spend being active during the day to at least 30 minutes and making this a permanent part of your life.

A woman's attitude is the most important factor. To achieve long-term weight loss, you must be willing to make permanent behavioral changes.

Medical nutrition therapy

Your physician may recommend that you consult with a registered dietician (RD), who can help you develop a weight loss plan. The RD can help you follow a sensible diet and exercise regimen to achieve a healthy weight. The RD understands that these changes take time, so he or she can develop a gradual plan for changing food-intake patterns.

The goals of medical nutrition therapy are:
· to help you separate food and weight-related behaviors from psychological issues
· to develop an action plan for changing food-intake patterns
· to create a lifelong sensible diet and exercise program for maintaining a healthy weight
· to help you use support and referral sources to stay on track
· to provide information on specific nutritional recommendations for associated medical conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol.

Getting the support you need

To keep your weight-management plan on track, support is crucial. Here's a list of support groups, Web sites, and other referral sources:

Overeaters Anonymous, a national self-help group based on the Alcoholics Anonymous 12-Step Program, offers local support groups. For more information, visit http://www.overeatersanonymous.org.

For healthy meal planning, menus, and other tips, visit the American Heart Association at http://www.americanheart.org

Inquire at your local hospital. Many offer weight-management support groups.

References:
1. "Aim for a Healthy Weight," NHLBI, 2002.
2. "Medical Nutrition Therapy: A Solution that Saves Time and Money," American Dietetic Association, 2002.