Just joined

[tryagain]

I'm 49 and my gp has just told me I've raised cholesterol. I know I've slipped into some bad eating habits, so the 12 NHS plan, seems like a sensible place to start.

I'm not very good at sticking to diets, so I'm trying to view this a more a healthy way of eating.

The exercise side of things sounds a bit daunting, so any tips would be greatly appreciated

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Hi tryagain,

If you're not very good at diets, I'd suggest you don't do any then!

The 12 week plan is really a re-education / re-training programme to help you leave behind the "bad" eating and exercise/activity habits that have made you overweight and swop them for ones that are better for you.

And that is really the key to it all. Understanding what it was in food choices, activity choices, portion sizes, etc that made you overweight is the key to losing and keeping off the excess weight.

Carry on doing the things that made you overweight and you carry on being overweight. Actually it's worse than that, you'll most probably carry on getting even weightier.

Lots of support and good advice around on these blogs as well as on the NHS live well lose weight pages and other NHS Choices pages (about nutrition, the eatwell plate, etc., etc.)

And activity/exercise doesn't necessarily have to be all that 'sporty' - if you're not into that sort of thing. Walking the dog, hoovering the house, washing and polishing the car and many day to day activities all help to a degree to burn off a few calories.

But also there are just soooooo many different sports like swimming, horse-riding, bowling, golf, etc., etc. - it doesn't have to mean going down to the gym.

Good luck with your weight loss journey.

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Exercise! Its a word of many meanings. Some people on this blog talk of gyms, weights, running, etc. and then there are people like me (with painful arthritis and sciatica) who simply 'move more'. I walk to the local shop instead of taking the car. When I go to the supermarket, I park as far from the entrance as possible (a bit of a pain when its raining but I dont melt!). I have an exercise bike sat in the corner of the lounge which I trundle away on when the adverts come on the tv in the evening. When I am cooking, I do squats. I enjoy wii-fit and have just discovered yoga on it. Little things but they all add up.

But most importantly, you need to enjoy the exercise you do or you wont keep it up.

Good luck.