Do you live in the Glasgow area and do you want or need to lose a few pounds?
With 65% of Scots currently overweight, the unfortunately reality is that you probably do, even if like me, you consider yourself fit and fat.
Obesity is a major contributing factor to many diseases and conditions that can limit and even shorten our lives. It is linked to cancer, coronary heart disease, diabetes, osteoarthritis and even depression.
So why then do so many of us allow ourselves to become overweight and increasingly obese? One could argue that we live in an obesentric environment, where we don’t need to be as active and are encouraged to eat fast foods, or that we lack personal responsibility (a favourite of fat-shamers everywhere).
Whatever the reasons (check out my Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine post on Salutogenesis ), one thing is true.
Losing weight is rarely easy and keeping it off can be harder still.
I consider myself lucky in that I have only regained 56 of the 170lbs that I originally lost in 2012, when I was 354lbs, for according to the University of Pennsylvania, 65% of those who experience rapid weight loss regain their weight within three years.
However, the truth is that I am once again obese, even if I am back heading in the right direction and I need help!
Apart from discipline, determination and dedication,we also need accountability, compassion and encouragement. This ACE approach does not take away the need for smarter choices and more self serving behaviours, but instead provides a platform for sustainable fat loss.
Help Me Do It
When we have the support of others, we are more likely to succeed and that is why Glasgow University and the National Institute for Health Research have launched the Help Me Do It study.
It is a two year study into the benefits of using a dedicated website and mobile phone application (app) to help affect behaviour change. Help Me Do It will provide users and a buddy (it can be a partner, relative or friend) with access to an especially designed website that provides information and motivation on how to eat better, move more and feel better about yourself.
If you have a BMI of 30 and over, are aged between 18 and 70 years old and have access to the internet and a smartphone (Android or IOS) you can get the chance to test run the app and see if it can help you to lose weight
For more information, please contact the Study Manager, Lynsay Matthews, on lynsay.matthews@glasgow.ac.uk or call her 0141 353 7633.
I didn’t lose my weight without others to Help Me Do It and neither should you.
