Dietician

Healthy Living and Eating Clinic

Overweight people who come to our Healthy Living and Eating Clinic are first examined by a doctor and tests are conducted to determine the cause of their excess weight. Then, the doctor and a dietician work together to create a tailored programme that will encourage weight-loss.

A tailored and varied eating plan that will not bore you is prepared taking your age, sex, professional and social lives into consideration.

A tailored ‘preventative programme’ is prepared in accordance with your lifestyle to ensure that weight-loss is permanent.

Provision of measuring cups, step-counters, a nutritional change booklet, special recipes and a tailored exercise programme to support your weight-loss programme and make portioning easier.

Weight-loss programmes are created for 1-2, 2.5 and 3.5 month periods taking the person’s extra weight and health into account.

Nutritional Education Centre

There is a strong relationship between how healthy you are, and will be, and the food you eat. You should talk with our experts at our nutritional advice centre if you answer ‘yes’ to one or more of the problems outlined below:

• If your diet isn’t good for you or you suspect that is the case.
• Lack of success in trying to change your lifestyle and diet despite many attempts.
• If you have to lower your blood lipid and cholesterol levels but don’t know how to.
• If you don’t know how to eat well while avoiding many kinds of foods.
• If you are pregnant, going through the menopause or similar periods.

Your expert will create your tailored diet programme with you taking your current health, eating habits and lifestyle into account.

Special Circumstances, Preventative and Therapeutic Foods

Changing your diet and lifestyle can help you to protect yourself from illness, lessen the causes and symptoms of existing ones or even heal you. Tailored eating plans and education are provided for the circumstances listed below and many others:

• Types 1 and 2 diabetes.
• Glucose metabolism disorders (insulin resistance, reactive hypoglycaemia etc.).
• Heart diseases.
• High blood lipid and cholesterol levels.
• Hypertension.
• Obesity.
• Kidney diseases.
• Liver diseases.
• Metabolic illnesses.
• Digestive system illnesses.
• Nutrition during pregnancy.
• Nutrition during menopause.
• Sportsperson nutrition.
• Childhood nutrition.
• Old-age nutrition.

Weight-loss Tips

• Reduce your daily calorie intake while increasing the number of calories you burn to lose weight healthily. Reducing the amount of food you eat is not enough because this slows the metabolism down, causing weight-loss too to slow down.
• If you regularly gain weight, first try to keep your weight stable for 2-3 months before dieting.
• You will lose weight faster in the first week of your diet as your body removes excess water. Once this excess water has been removed, your rate of weight-loss will begin to slow down. This is absolutely normal and no cause for alarm or panic.
• Never skip meals during or after your diet as your body’s metabolism will slow down. Never start the day without breakfast, and eat lunch and dinner to have three square meals a day. Other effects of skipping meals are lower blood sugar levels, causing tiredness and sleepiness.
• Don’t overly fill your plates and don’t leave pots of food on the table while eating, keep them in a hard to reach place.
• Don’t read or watch TV while eating as you will not realise how much you’re eating and the meal won’t satisfy you. Concentrate on your meal and try to taste every mouthful of food. Eat slowly, chewing well before swallowing. Don’t forget you will only feel full 20 minutes after eating. Place your utensils on the table after each bite to eat even slower.
• Seek help from a doctor or dietician before deciding to going on a diet.
• Your diet should be unique to you. What works for a friend may not work for you.
• Drink a glass of warm water as soon as you wake up.
• Drink a glass of water before each meal. Fibrous foods absorb this water, increasing their volume in the stomach and means you will feel fuller eating less.
• Don’t go to many meals and eat a low-calorie snack (fruit, vegetables, milk, muesli, wholemeal bread, etc.) and drink 2 glasses of water beforehand to lower your appetite.
• Don’t go shopping on a hungry stomach. Prepare your shopping list before leaving home and take just enough money for what you plan to buy. Leave your debit/credit cards at home.
• Excess weight / obesity is a chronic illness and give extra care to its life-long treatments, careful dieting and exercise.