Information for patients and visitors
Personalised Weight Loss Programme
Nutrition and Dietetic Service
This leaflet has been designed to
give you important information
about your condition / procedure,
and to answer some common
queries that you may have.
Information for patients and visitors
Introduction to the Personalised
Weight Loss Programme
Welcome to the Personalised Weight Loss
Programme run by Northern Lincolnshire and
Goole NHS Foundation Trust Nutrition and
Dietetic Service. The programme is
designed to support you to develop healthier
eating habits, increase your activity levels
and to achieve and sustain weight loss.
You will be invited to attend 10 sessions
where you and a dietitian or dietetic assistant
will set goals and discuss key aspects of
healthy eating and weight loss. These
sessions are one to one but you can bring
along a supporting person if you would find
this helpful.
session and supplementary information will
be provided. You need to be committed to
attend the 10 sessions and the dates and
times will be agreed.
We understand that sometimes
appointments need to be rearranged or
cancelled but please note that you will be
discharged automatically from the
programme if you fail to attend an agreed
appointment and do not inform us in
advance.
Content of the 10 Sessions:

Session 1: Programme introduction

Session 2: Portion sizes & the balance
of nutrients at main meals
This leaflet will be used to support the
practical activities and material discussed
within the sessions. The leaflet will also
enable you to record and track weight loss
efforts and set goals.

Session 3: Reducing fat & calories

Session 4: Weigh in with dietetic
assistant only

Session 5: Activity & mindful eating
Role of the Dietitian

Session 6: Sugar and label reading
The role of the dietitian in these sessions is
to support you to make lifestyle changes and
answer any questions you may have. The
dietitian and assistant dietitian will you’re
your waist circumference, weight and height
measurements. The dietitian WILL NOT
make judgements about you or your life style
choices and all goals will be agreed with you.

Session 7: Weigh in with dietetic
assistant only

Session 8: Food swaps & meal planning

Session 9: Fluid & alcohol

Session 10: Final session summary
Dietitians are the only nutrition professionals
regulated by law and are registered under
the Health and Care Professions Council
(HCPC).
This personalised weight loss programme is
designed to help you develop healthier
eating habits, increase your activity and
promote weight loss. The information in this
pack will provide you with information to
support the 10 education sessions and help
to track your progress.
Your Role
You will be required to answer an
introductory questionnaire, set realistic goals,
and complete a food diary for the first week.
You will need to bring this leaflet to every
Session 1: Introduction
Following the personalised weight loss
programme will help you to work towards
Information for patients and visitors
losing 0.5-1kg per week (1-2lbs) and
promote steady, sustainable weight loss.
Initial assessment
Current weight:
Height:
BMI:
Waist circumference:
5-10% weight loss / goal weight:
Session 1 goals
Your dietitian will discuss with you about
setting initial goals to promote weight loss.
Use the SMART goal tips to help you choose
your goals to work on for the first week.
Ensure you set ‘SMART goals’
When setting goals to lose weight, try to be
SMART about it.
SMART stands for:

Specific: your goal should be precise: ‘I
will walk 5,000 steps 5 times a week’,
rather than ‘I will exercise more’

Measurable: ‘I will use a pedometer to
track the number of steps I am doing’

Achievable: break down your overall
goal into easy mini-goals. For example
‘today I will aim for 2,000 steps and by
the end of the month I will build this up to
5,000 steps a day’

Relevant: choose a behaviour that will
help you meet your goal

Time-specific: set yourself a time scale
for achieving your goal
For more information setting SMART goals
see the British Heart Foundation booklet:
‘Eating Well’, pages 22-31.
Information for patients and visitors
Food and activity diary to be completed during your first week. For activity try and record the
amount of time that you are active during the day; for example: doing housework for 1 hour,
walking the dog for 30 minutes, swimming for 40 minutes etc
Meal
Breakfast
Mid
morning
Lunch
Mid
afternoon
Evening
meal
Supper
Physical
activity
Drinks
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Information for patients and visitors
Meals
Breakfast
Mid
morning
Lunch
Mid
afternoon
Evening
meal
Supper
Physical
activity
Drinks
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Information for patients and visitors
Session 2: Portion Sizes and the
Balance of Nutrients at Main Meals
Controlling portion sizes is important to help
with weight loss and work toward achieving a
healthy balanced diet. Try portioning your
main meal in the kitchen to avoid second
helpings and using a smaller plate to help
reduce total calorie intake. The dietitian will
show you how to portion food out into the
recommended food portion sizes.
Below are examples of main meals in the
suggested quantities to give you an idea of
what this looks like.
Another method of controlling your portion
sizes is to follow the portion size guide in the
‘Eating Well’ British Heart Foundation booklet
provided, pages 60-63.
Appropriate portions of food groups:
A meat / fish serving = size of a deck of
cards
Vegetables,
salad or fruit
Pasta / rice / noodles = size of a tennis ball
Baked potato / mashed = size of a computer
mouse
Carbohydrate:
bread, rice, pasta,
noodles, potatoes
& cereals.
Protein: lean
meat, fish, beans,
Quorn, soya, tofu
& pulses.
Balance of Nutrients at Main Meals
To the right is an example of a balanced
plate for a main meal showing different food
groups. The plate shows the proportions of
different food groups to promote weight loss
and provide a healthy balanced diet.
Aim for vegetables to make up half of your
main meal as these are low in calories, high
in fibre, vitamins and minerals. The
remainder of the plate can be made up of
quarter lean protein and quarter starchy
carbohydrates.
Current weight:______________________
Weight change:______________________
Session 2 goals:
1)
2)
3)
Information for patients and visitors
Session 3: Reducing Fat & Calories
Fat is an important part of the diet. The body
needs it to help absorb fat-soluble vitamins
A, D, E and K. Essential fats are needed in
the diet to help the body reduce inflammation
and improve heart health.
Why Reduce Your Fat Intake?
Benefits of Weight Loss
There are different types of fats, including
saturated and unsaturated fats. It is
important to maintain a healthy balance of
these fats to help reduce the risk of
developing heart disease, by opting for plantbased unsaturated fats over animal-based
saturated and trans fats.
Making food swaps and reducing calorie and
fat intake in your diet can help promote
steady weight loss e.g. 0.5-1kg (1-2lbs) per
week.
Fat is very energy dense and contains more
than twice as many calories per gram,
compared to carbohydrates and protein. For
this reason, it is important to control the
amount of fat in the diet to avoid taking in too
many calories and thus prevent weight gain.
How do I reduce my fat and calorie
intake?
To help reduce total calorie intake, try
making food swaps, for example: choosing
tomato based sauces instead of creamy or
cheese pasta sauces and swapping full fat
dairy products for low or reduced fat products
e.g. whole milk to semi-skimmed milk.
It is beneficial to reduce your intake of highfat snacks such as biscuits, cakes and crisps
and swapping for healthier snacks such as
diet yoghurts and fruit.
Try changing your cooking methods from
frying to grilling, boiling, and steaming as this
can also help to control the amount of fat in
your diet.
There are a number of benefits to losing
weight. For example, if somebody who
weighs 100kg loses 10kg, (10% of their body
weight) this could result in: period pain.

It can help improve your mood and selfesteem

A 10% drop in cholesterol levels, which
will reduce the risk of heart disease and
stroke

A reduction in risk of developing diabetes

Improvements in mobility, mood and selfesteem.
Please see your BDA Food Fact Sheet on
’Fats’ for more information, as well as pages
44-51 of your British Heart Foundation
‘Eating Well’ booklet.
Current weight:______________________
Weight change:______________________
Session 3 goals:
1)
2)
3)
Information for patients and visitors
Session 4: Weight Measurement
Current weight:___________________
Weight change:___________________
Session 5: Activity & Mindful Eating
Calories Burned Through Exercise:
Benefits of Increasing Physical
Activity:
Any type of exercise that uses your
cardiovascular system (your heart and blood
vessels) to provide energy for an activity will
help to promote weight loss through burning
calories. Other benefits of regular exercise
include: a reduction in heart disease risk,
50% reduction in risk of developing colon
cancer, a 50% reduction in risk of type 2
diabetes and improvements in mental health.
Examples of moderate intensity
cardiovascular exercise include: brisk
walking, cycling and swimming. To reach the
peak fat burning stage during exercise you
should feel slightly out of breath, but still be
able to hold a conversation. Evidence
suggests that you should build up
gradually and aim to reach 150 minutes (2
and a ½ hours) a week of moderate
intensity exercise. The 150 minutes can
be split into a minimum of 10 minutes at a
time.
Keep a physical activity log, or you could try
using an activity tracker App to monitor your
progress. If you are unable to undertake
cardiovascular activity try to increase your
activity through everyday activities such as
house work or gardening.
Using the British Heart Foundation exercise
calculator online, a 100kg 40 year old man
doing 30 minutes of the following activities
would burn:
Fast walking = 415 calories
Playing golf = 240 calories
Cycling = 400 calories
Dog walking = 150 calories
Mowing the lawn = 275 calories
Vacuuming = 175 calories
Use the online calculator to see what you
could burn! Try writing down potential
barriers to physical activity on a piece of
paper and think of solutions to help plan and
overcome them.
Current weight:______________________
Weight change:______________________
Session 5 goals:
1)
2)
3)
Information for patients and visitors
Session 6: Sugar & Label Reading
Although sugar is not the only cause of
weight gain, high sugar intakes are
associated with being overweight and
obesity. The added sugars contained in
many manufactured food products are not
needed in a healthy balanced diet, and
provide excess calories which can contribute
to weight gain.
Added sugars include; table sugar (sucrose),
honey, glucose, fructose, syrups and fruit
juices. Added sugars should not make up
more than 5% of your daily calorie intake
(around 30g daily). If you have type 2
diabetes it is important to remember that
added sugars can affect your blood glucose
levels and contribute towards weight gain.
Although whole fruits and milk / milk products
contain natural sugars, these are not counted
as added sugars; however is it still important
to watch our portion sizes of these foods.
Please refer to your BDA Food Fact sheet on
‘Sugar’ for further details.
Tips to Reduce Added Sugar and
Calorie Intake:

Try to make pasta sauces from chopped
tomatoes and herbs, as many bought
sauces are high in sugar

Swap chocolate bars for snack sized
portions to reduce sugar and calories

Swap chocolate biscuits for plain biscuits
Your dietitian will show you how to
successfully read food labels using the
British Heart Foundation Food Label
Decoder along with examples of everyday
food packaging. This will help you make
healthier food choices when deciding
between products.
Current weight:______________________
Weight change:______________________

If you add sugar to food and drink, try
swapping this for sweeteners

Swap to diet or light versions of yoghurts
as low fat yoghurts are generally high in
sugar
1)

Look at food labels of products to
compare sugar content per 100g: if the
item’s sugar content is over 22.5g this is
high and if it is under 5g it is low
3)

Many breakfast cereals are high in
sugar. By swapping to plain porridge or
whole wheat cereals this could
dramatically reduce added sugar intake
Session 6 goals:
2)
Information for patients and visitors
Session 7: Weight Measurement
Current weight:___________________
Weight change:___________________
Session 8: Food Swaps & Meal
Planning
Making food swaps is a good way to reduce
your total calorie intake for the day and helps
promote weight loss. If you can make just 5
food swaps (each about 100kcal) daily to
your diet you would lose about 0.5kg (1lb) of
fat in a week and in 1 year 23.5kg (52lbs)!
Here are a few ideas on how to save 100kcal
by making swaps and small changes to your
diet:
Instead of this
Tips for Meal Planning:

Plan meals ahead. Write a shopping list
and stick to it to avoid impulse purchases

Eat before you go food shopping

Use the Change For Life website and
look at the meal mixer section for ideas
on cooking healthy meals

Stock up on tinned and frozen fruit and
vegetables as these will last longer than
fresh products and count towards your 5
a day

Planning meals before you get to the
supermarket can help save you money
and choose healthier foods to promote
weight loss

If you normally snack in between meals,
plan to buy lower calorie healthier snacks
such as diet yoghurt, sugar free jelly, fruit
and fruit ice lollies
Swap to save 100kcal
1 medium bowl
of cornflakes
with whole milk
2 wheat biscuits with
semi-skimmed milk
1 handful of
peanuts (25g)
1 snack bag of sweet
popcorn (25g)
50g hard
cheese on 2
slices toast
50g light soft cheese on
2 slices of toast
2 chocolate
biscuits
2 plain biscuits
1 glass of cola
1 glass of diet cola
Current weight:______________________
Weight change:______________________
Session 8 goals:
1)
2)
3)
Information for patients and visitors
Session 9: Fluid and Alcohol
of lager a week adds up to 44,200 calories
extra a year!
Why is fluid important?
A glass of wine (175ml) = 126 calories
An adequate intake of fluid is essential for
our health and for many body functions. The
human body is made up of around 70%
water. Therefore, drinking enough is vital to
help keep you healthy, maintain healthy
bowel function, help prevent kidney stones
and reduce the risk of any urine infections.
A pint of beer = 215 calories
A pint of lager = 233 calories
A single measure of vodka and diet cola = 55
calories
The recommended daily intake of fluid is 810 200ml glasses per day (1.6-2 litres) but
this can vary depending on temperature and
activity levels. Please see your BDA Food
Fact Sheet on Fluid for more information.
What counts towards my fluid
intake?
Suitable drinks to help meet this fluid
requirement include water, juice, squash, tea
and coffee. Milk can be included; however, it
is important to opt for lower fat milks such as
skimmed / semi-skimmed milk to help reduce
calorie intake.
High calorie drinks, such as: sweetened fizzy
drinks and syrup-laden coffees are becoming
increasingly available these days. These
high calorie fluids don’t make us feel as full
as if we have eaten the same amount of
calories from solid food.
Alcohol
It is important to remember that alcohol has
no role in a healthy diet. The recommended
daily amount of alcohol is no more than 14
units per day for men and women and
ensure you have alcohol free days. Please
see your BDA Food Fact Sheet on Alcohol.
Bear in mind that alcoholic drinks can be
high in calories and therefore can contribute
to weight gain. For example drinking 5 pints
Current weight:______________________
Weight change:______________________
Session 9 goals:
1)
2)
3)
Session 10: Final Session and
Summary
Well done for completing the 10 weight
management sessions. Hopefully you will
now have the knowledge and skills needed
for you to lead a healthier and fitter lifestyle.
Your dietary and lifestyle changes don’t stop
here; the weight management programme
has given you the tools in order for you to
make, and sustain, lifestyle changes to
improve your health. Look at how far you
have come in the last 10 sessions and reflect
on the changes you have already made.
Information for patients and visitors
Tips to Keep Motivated:

Make use of the knowledge you have
learnt and refer back to this leaflet

Set SMART goals for yourself and make
sure you reward your efforts with nonfood treats

Monitor your weight regularly (no more
than once a week)

Keep your activity levels up and, if it
helps, track your progress and use an
activity diary or a smart-phone App

If you go off track don’t worry about the
slip-ups as these are normal. Try to start
afresh with the changes you previously
made. To boost your confidence, reflect
on all the positive changes you have
already made to your diet and focus on
the positives, not the negatives!

Make a note of all the things you want to
achieve and set realistic timescales.
Remind yourself of the positive reasons
for change
Useful contacts for further
information:
For further support losing weight look up the
NHS Weight loss pack and the
Change4Life website.
Walking your way to Health for local short
walks around Lincolnshire, call Christine
Johnson on 01724 297631.
For advice on getting more active look up the
NHS Couch to 5k.
For more support on getting active, making
behaviour changes and advice on cooking
contact the Health Trainers on: 01724
292170 for Scunthorpe and 01405 766861
for Goole.
If you are interested in walking and meeting
new people contact the Scunthorpe
Ramblers on 01652 633666 or Goole
Ramblers on 01430 431766.
Reference Section
British Dietetic Association (2015) Food Fact
Sheets home
www.bda.uk.com/foodfacts/home
British Heart Foundation (2015) ‘Calories
calculator’ www.bhf.org.uk/hearthealth/preventing-heart-disease/stayingactive/exercise-calorie-calculator
British Heart Foundation (2015) ‘Eating well
booklet’ www.bhf.org.uk/publications/healthyeating-and-drinking/eating-well
British Heart Foundation (2015) ‘Food
labelling booklet’ www.bhf.org.uk/hearthealth/preventing-heart-disease/healthyeating/food-labelling
Harvard School of Public Health ‘Healthy
Eating Plate’
www.health.harvard.edu/healthy-eating-plate
National Health Service (NHS) (2015)
‘Calories in alcohol’
www.nhs.uk/Livewell/alcohol/Pages/caloriesin-alcohol.aspx
National Health Service (NHS) (2015)
Change4Life ‘Cooking & meal ideas’
www.nhs.uk/change4life/pages/mealplanner-recipe-finder.aspx
National Health Service (NHS) (2015)
‘Losing weight, getting started- week 1’
www.nhs.uk/Tools/Documents/WEIGHTLOSS-PACK/all-weeks.pdf
National Health Service (NHS) ‘Photo
Library’ www.photolibrary.nhs.uk/
National Institute for Health and Care
Excellence (NICE) (2014) ‘Weight
Information for patients and visitors
management: lifestyle services for
overweight or obese adults’
National Institute for Health and Clinical
Excellence (NICE) (2015) ‘Preventing excess
weight gain’
Concerns and Queries
Please be assured however that anyone who
receives information from us is also under a
legal duty to keep it confidential.
Zero Tolerance - Violent,
Threatening and Abusive Behaviour
If you have any concerns / queries about any
of the services offered by the Trust, in the
first instance, please speak to the person
providing your care.
The Trust and its staff are committed to
providing high quality care to patients within
the department. However, we wish to advise
all patients / visitors that the following
inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated:
For Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital

Swearing

Threatening / abusive behaviour

Verbal / physical abuse
Alternatively you can contact the Patient
Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) on
(01472) 875403 or at the PALS office which
is situated near the main entrance.
For Scunthorpe General Hospital
Alternatively you can contact the Patient
Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) on
(01724) 290132 or at the PALS office which
situated on C Floor.
Alternatively you can email:
[email protected]
Confidentiality
Information on NHS patients is collected in a
variety of ways and for a variety of reasons
(e.g. providing care and treatment, managing
and planning the NHS, training and
educating staff, research etc.).
Everyone working for the NHS has a legal
duty to keep information about you
confidential. Information will only ever be
shared with people who have a genuine
need for it (e.g. your GP or other
professionals from whom you have been
receiving care) or if the law requires it, for
example, to notify a birth.
The Trust reserves the right to withdraw from
treating patients whom are threatening /
abusive / violent and ensuring the removal of
those persons from the premises.
All acts of criminal violence and aggression
will be notified to the Police immediately.
Risk Management Strategy
The Trust welcomes comments and
suggestions from patients and visitors that
could help to reduce risk.
Perhaps you have experienced something
whilst in hospital, whilst attending as an
outpatient or as a visitor and you felt at risk.
Please tell a member of staff on the ward or
in the department you are attending / visiting.
Moving & Handling
The Trust operates a Minimal Lifting Policy,
which in essence means patients are only
ever lifted by nursing staff in an emergency
situation.
Patients are always encouraged to help
themselves as much as possible when
Information for patients and visitors
mobilising, and if unable to do so, equipment
may be used to assist in their safe transfer.
If you have any questions regarding moving
and handling of patients within the Trust,
please speak to a member of staff in the
ward or department you are visiting.
Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS
Foundation Trust
Diana Princess of Wales Hospital
Scartho Road
Grimsby
01472 874111
Scunthorpe General Hospital
Cliff Gardens
Scunthorpe
01724 282282
Goole & District Hospital
Woodland Avenue
Goole
01405 720720
www.nlg.nhs.uk
Date of issue: February, 2016
Review Period: February, 2019
Author: Dietitian
IFP-899
© NLGFT 2016