Maintaining a Healthy BMI
Trying to keep your BMI (body mass index) between 20 and 25 is important for staying healthy. If you’re overweight, losing just a little bit of weight can make a big difference to your health. It can help lower your chances of getting health problems like high blood pressure, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.
To calculate your BMI, please use the calculator below.
Making small, realistic changes to what you eat and drink can really help you lose extra weight.
People used to think eating low-fat foods was the best way to lose weight, but we now know that many low-fat products have added sugars to make them taste better, and that can actually make you gain weight. Instead, try eating healthy fats, like the ones in avocados, nuts, seeds, and oily fish. These healthy fats can help you feel full for longer and support your weight and health.
Diets
We don’t recommend following fad diets to lose weight. They might work for a little while, but most people end up gaining the weight back once they stop the diet. Instead, try focusing on eating a healthy, balanced diet that you can stick to every day. This helps you stay healthy and, if you need to, lose weight and keep a healthy BMI over time.
Be Mindful of Healthy Portion Sizes
It’s important to pay attention to how much you’re eating, especially with foods like bread, potatoes, rice, and pasta. If your body doesn’t use the energy from these foods, it turns them into sugar, which can lead to weight gain and other health problems.
To help you see how much sugar is in common foods, below is a guide that shows the sugar content of different everyday items. Knowing this can help you make better choices about what you eat.
The link above shows how much hdden sugar there is in common foods
Don’t Count Calories
When it comes to losing weight, many people count calories to keep track of what they eat. But calorie counting isn’t always the best way to go about it. The number of calories in food doesn’t tell the whole story — how our bodies use and process those calories depends on the type of food we eat.
Calorie counting doesn’t consider how different foods are digested. Whole foods, like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins, actually take more energy for our bodies to break down. These foods are also packed with important nutrients like vitamins, minerals, fiber, and protein, which help us feel full longer.
On the other hand, ultra-processed foods — like packaged snacks, sugary drinks, and ready-made meals — may be low in calories, but they’re often filled with added sugars, unhealthy fats, and other processed ingredients. These foods can leave us feeling hungry faster and may lead to overeating.
Instead of focusing on calories, it’s better to eat whole, minimally processed foods. These foods naturally fill you up and give you energy, helping to control your hunger and prevent overeating. The mix of protein, healthy fats, and fiber in whole foods helps fuel your body better than foods with empty calories.
At the Mayfield Surgery, we suggest focusing on the quality of the food you eat rather than just counting calories. By choosing whole foods, you’ll be giving your body the nutrients it needs while feeling satisfied and energized, which is a better way to manage weight in the long run.
NHS weight loss programmes available in our area:
- A free NHS weight loss plan to help adults start healthier eating habits, be more active and start losing weight. No referral is needed, please visit the website
- Lose weight – Better Health – NHS
- NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (NHS DPP) – A programme for patients who are known to have pre-diabetes. If you would like a referral to this programme, please contact the surgery
- NHS England » NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (NHS DPP)
- Digital Weight Management Service – An online course available for adults who are aged > 18 years and whom have a BMI of >30 and whom also have a diagnosis of hypertension or diabetes mellitus. If you are eligible and would like a referral please contact us.
- Diabetes Path to remission programme – An extremely low calorie (soups and shakes) programme. To be eligible you must be have been diagnosed with diabetes within the last 6 years, be aged 16-65yrs, have a BMI =/>27, attend regular diabetic checks, and have a HbA1c 43-87 (not on diabetic medication) or 48-87 (on diabetic medication), and not meet any exclusion criteria.
Weight Loss injections
Weight loss injections like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro have been shown to help people lose weight. These medications are approved for people with a BMI over 35, or for those with a BMI over 30 who also have other health problems related to obesity.
Right now, these treatments aren’t funded by the NHS for weight loss in our area, so we can’t prescribe them to our patients, even though we’d like to. We’re hopeful that this might change in the future.
Some people might decide to pay for these medications privately. If you choose to do this, it’s up to the prescriber to decide if the treatment is safe for you. If you have any problems or side effects while using the medication, you’ll need to contact the person who prescribed it to you for help.
Weight loss surgery
Weight loss surgery can help treat severe obesity, but not everyone can have it. There are certain rules to decide who can have the surgery. To be eligible, people need to meet these conditions:
- BMI Requirements:
- Adults with a BMI of 40 kg/m² or more.
- Adults with a BMI between 35 and 40, but also have serious health problems caused by obesity.
- To calculate your BMI please use Calculate your body mass index (BMI) for adults – NHS
- Obesity Duration:
- The person must have been severely obese for at least 5 years.
- Weight Loss Program Compliance:
- The individual must have participated in and adhered to a local specialist obesity service (Tier 3/4) for 12-24 months.
- This program should be made up of a team that includes a doctor, dietician, nurse, psychologist, and exercise expert.
- For people with a BMI over 50, the time might include a special period to check their health before surgery (to further assess things)
- Non-Surgical Weight Loss Trials:
- Before being considered for weight loss surgery, the person must have tried and not succeeded with other weight loss methods, like diet and exercise.
If the person meets these requirements, they may be referred for weight loss surgery. The final decision will be made by a team of doctors and specialists who will make sure all health and mental health factors are considered.
It’s important to remember that weight loss surgery is a big decision. After surgery, you’ll need regular check-ups, blood tests, and take vitamins and minerals for life to stay healthy.
Bariatric services | University Hospitals of North Midlands
Follow up post NHS Bariatric surgery:
For the first two years after your surgery, the bariatric surgical team at the hospital will check on you regularly. These follow-ups are really important to make sure everything is going well after your surgery.
After the first two years, Mayfield surgery will offer you a yearly check-up with a doctor, including blood tests. This is part of the Universal Offer scheme. Just keep in mind, this is based on an agreement between us and the Staffordshire ICB, so it depends on that funding.
Follow up following private bariatric surgery or following surgery performed abroad:
We understand that getting the right care after bariatric surgery is really important for a safe and successful recovery.
However, the NHS doesn’t pay for follow-up care for surgery done privately, either in the UK or abroad, so your GP practice isn’t responsible for providing this follow-up. GP practices don’t have the funding or the special knowledge needed for this kind of care.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society (BOMSS) say that follow-up care after bariatric surgery should be done by a specialist bariatric team for the first two years. The General Medical Council (GMC) also says that GPs should only do what they are trained to do.
If you’ve had surgery done privately or abroad, we recommend finding a UK private bariatric service that can take over your follow-up care for the first two years. After that, our surgery might be able to help, if we’re able to provide this service at that time.
If you have any symptoms that you think might be related to complications from your private surgery, please contact us, go to A&E, or call 111 if it’s appropriate. We’ll help you manage your symptoms and refer you to NHS bariatric services if needed.