Dr Hilary Jones regularly appears on TV
What do you think of the news that there was a combined weightloss of 55,000 stone on the LighterLife weightloss programme?
Amazing, I mean 55,000 stone that's equivalent to 233 family cars, two Angels of the North, seven stones at Stongehenge. I think it's brilliant. The great thing about the LighterLife programme is that is concentrates on keeping the weight off, because there is no point in losing the weight just because it was January and you've made a New Year's resolution, you want to keep it off this whole year and for the rest of your life. I think that's why a programme that incorporates psychological counselling, as well as dietary advice and exercise advice is great.
We're constantly being told about the obesity crisis that we are facing, yet new statistics show just how much weight was lost in 2011, do you think that more emphasis needs to be put on this?
I really do. We've got this epidemic of obesity, as you know, and more and more children are becoming obese. This means people are going to have heart disease, diabetes and arthritis, skin problems and psychological problems and we've got to address this. There are a million people that fill the criteria for invasive gastric bypass surgery we've got to stop this, we need to say, 'Let's stop kids from getting overweight whilst they're at school' because if you're overweight as a child, you're more likely to be overweight as an adult.
Let's get people to recognise that a healthy lifestyle doesn't mean deprivation and torture, it means being able to eat healthy food when you want to, being satisfied, it means enjoying exercise and not seeing it as a chore and having a healthier behaviour around food, so that we choose the right food, we choose nice food but we limit or calorie intake to what is appropriate for our energy expenditure and we address any emotional issues there that we haven't addressed before; things like relationship problems, abuse in the past or lack of self confidence which makes people overeat.
If you could advise people to make one change for a healthier lifestyle what would you suggest?
It would be to give up smoking. It's the one simple thing that is more important than anything else in terms of keeping healthy in the future.
In terms of weight, it would be to start taking moderately vigourous exercise, of a type that you really enjoy, on a regular basis.
You mentioned smoking, but a lot of people's excuses for not giving up smoking is the weight that they may gain when they give up the habit. What advice would you give to them?
You might put on a little bit of weight when you first stop smoking, but if you've got the willpower to stop smoking, then you've certainly got the willpower to lose some weight. Nicotine Replacement Therapy will probably stop you from gaining weight, as you've got no withdrawal symptoms.
What healthy lifestyle choices are you suggesting for people to make this year?
I think, first of all, make a pact to lose any excess weight. If you're overweight you need to really address that for your health and for your self-esteem. By making the right choices about food, eating food that is satisfying and varied, but eating less calories is a good start. Exercising a bit more and changing your mindset towards food, so you don't eat when you're frustrated or angry and you don't eat for comfort; make sure you're eating for fuel, when you're hungry and eat the right amount. If you do those three things, or get some help with that if you've tried in the past and haven't suceeded, then I think that you can be successful. People need to watch what they drink as well. Obviously you need to enjoy life, and there are plently of things that you can do that aren't harmful.
What's your view on superfoods?
I think that it's largely advertising hype. If there was any single food that could speed up your metabolism to any significant degree, then we'd all be eating vast quantities of it. There are no superfoods on there own that are the answer to weightloss. I think that we've learnt that there is no 'quick fix' medically in terms of a pill and there is certainly 'quick fix' herbally either, no matter what we might be told. The bottom line is, there is no quick fix and what you have to do is eat less calories, take up exercise and have a healthy attitude to food.
Do you think that detoxes are a healthy way to kick-start a diet?
Not really, because I don't understand what a detox is meant to do, the human body is a great detoxification system in its own right that's why we have a liver and a colon. Detox is an interesting philisophical thing that was derived from the East and it's not a bad thing to do. It's a discipline. If you just eat grapes for three days and drink lots of water, you might feel different but it's not something that you're going to be able to continue with.
What I would prefer people to do if they want to kickstart weightloss is to go on a very low calorie diet of no more than 800 calories, so that you're actually burning more calories in daily living than you are consuming. This will help you to lose weight quite quickly and that's very helpful provided, and this is very important, you're learning to manage your weightloss in the future. That you are changing your attitude to food, so that you eat less, you eat the right food so you're getting the right nutrition and you're exercising and not using food as some sort of emotional prop.
One of the programmes that addresses all of those things is the Lighter Life programme, and it was the Lighter Life customers who achieved that 55,000 stone weight loss, and they continue to monitor people and help people if they want that help to maintain that weight loss.
What do you think is the best form of exercise that anyone can get involved with?
Anything that makes them feel warmer, anything that makes them slightly out of breath and puts their pulse rate up. So, it can be Zumba, Salsa, skating, swimming, jogging, skipping, rock climbing. It really doesn't matter what it is. It doesn't even have to involve putting your running shoes on, it can be using the stairs instead of the lift and the escalators or not using your car so much. I think as long it's something you enjoy, that's the key.
You should be doing a minimum of 30 minutes, five times a week. It doesn't have to be in 30 minute chunks, it can be chunks of 10 minutes for example. But if you've already got a medical problem because of your weight you really need to do a bit more than that to get the weight down. So, maybe five days of 60 minutes exercise. Build up gradually, and build-up on the intensity until you've normalised your weight.
What advice would you give to people who say that they don't have time to exercise?
Rubbish. That says it all doesn't it? The fittest people I know have jobs that take up 12 hours a day, they fit it in and they're energised by exercise in order to do the 12-hour days. It's easy to say I haven't got time, but I defy anyone to really not be able to find the time and I include people with families and dual careers. If you're really determined enough, you can do it and it's important that you do because you sometimes need to stay fit and healthy for the sake of your children in the future.
Femalefirst Taryn Davies
Tagged in Heart Health Therapy Diet Dr Hilary Jones Zumba Skin Diet tips fitness tips