No shortcuts
In 2011, the BHP rolled out a healthy weight-management program aimed at aiding Taiwanese to lose weight in a healthy manner.
The BHP’s clarion call attracted the participation of some 720,000 people at businesses, schools, and hospitals, and involved the collective loss of 1,104 metric tons of excess bodyweight. Some 51,000 of these participants also succeeded in lowering their BMIs into the normal range. In 2012, the number of participants increased to 780,000 who lost a total of 1,137 tons, or an average of 1.5 kilograms per person.
“Groups are powerful,” says the BHP’s Chiou. She adds that the bureau used the idea of losing a kilogram per person as a hook, and says that people using the right approach will usually lose more than just one.
That said, “The number of kilograms isn’t important.” Chiou says the real highlight of the event was that tens of thousands of people got their BMIs back into the normal range, reducing their risk of disease and their need for medication.
But simply encouraging the public to eat less and be more active is unlikely to lead to long-term weight loss.
“Changing the environment is crucial,” says Chiou, explaining that weight gain is in many respects brought on by the environment. Taiwanese advertisers have agreed to a self-regulatory arrangement under which they avoid targeting children with advertisements for fried or fatty foods by not running them before 9 p.m., but the rest of our environment still needs improving.
The fact is that weight management is a lifelong project.
Pan says that healthy weight loss requires finding a new life balance, one involving different eating habits, and possibly cycling or walking to work instead of driving. The key is adjusting your way of life such that you take in fewer calories and burn more.
There are no shortcuts to weight loss: you have to eat a balanced diet and learn to count the calories you consume every day.
“The decision to lose weight is one of the most important you’ll make in your life,” says Harold Tseu, who is keenly aware of the benefits of doing so. “Don’t hesitate: do it now!”
While it seems that most of us are dieting these days, we still need to learn how to lose weight in a healthy fashion.