22 September 2023 , 08:34
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If you're watching your weight and want to drop the pounds, then an obvious choice to monitor your progress would be to stand on the scales each day or every week. However constantly weighing yourself can become tiring, with some developing an unhealthy obsession with the numbers.
Health guru Michael Mosley swears by wearing a tight belt to keep his weight off, as you can go about your daily routine without much thought. As soon as he feels he needs to adjust the notch on his belt to loosen it, he then knows to rein in his snacking habits, as he describes himself as a 'labrador', who can find himself devouring packets of biscuits.
Speaking at the launch of the app for his The Fast 800 programme last week, the TV doctor explained that the gaps between his belt notches are around an inch, which represents 2.5 kilos of weight. And for each kilo lost, a person loses around 1cm off the waist, he says.
"The way I keep my weight off is to wear a tight belt," he asserted. Gesturing to his belt, he commented: "This is the tightest it goes, that is about an inch, that is 2.5 kilos - for each kilo you lose, you lose 1cm around the waist. So I know when I'm on the next notch, I'm two kilos overweight."
The diet mogul, who popularised the 5:2 diet - where you eat normally for five days a week and cut your calories to around 800 for the other two days - says his wife Clare, who is a GP, also knows when he has gained a few pounds, as he starts to snore. "Clare knows because I start snoring," he added. Laughing, he continued: "She hits me at that point.
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"Once we tip over a certain point, we start snoring. The best thing for snoring is weight loss. When you put on fat, you put on your stomach and your neck. Sleep apnea is another massively undiagnosed condition. A lot of people are knackered all the time from snoring and don't realise."
The belt trick helps you keep track of your weight loss (stock photo) (Getty Images)Michael previously revealed his trick last month during a forum held on Musmet during an 'Ask Me Anything' (AMA) session. He explained how he lost 9kg more than a decade ago when he was diagnosed with stage 2 diabetes and showed early signs of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. He wrote: "Sticking to a diet and maintaining a healthy weight is much harder for some people than others.
"You only have to look at a labrador and a greyhound to see that genetics play a big part when it comes to how much you weigh and where you put on the fat. I am a labrador while my wife, Clare, seems to effortlessly maintain the same weight she was when we met at medical school, more than 40 years ago. I lost 9kg ten years ago because I'd discovered I had type 2 diabetes, but it is still a struggle for me not to lapse. We have to keep things like chocolate and biscuits out of the house, or I will eat them. I also wear a tight belt so I know when the weight is creeping up."
Dr Mosley also said he maintains his healthy weight by eating fibre-rich foods that help to "fill him up" and even cut his cravings so he resists the urge to reach for the biscuits. However, the diet guru acknowledged that keeping weight off is definitely "tough".
He added: "I eat a lot of fibre-rich food, and fermented foods, which help fill me up; there is some evidence that these foods also help cut cravings. I have written quite a few books, including the Fast 800, with the best science-based tips I could find on how, not only to lose weight but to keep it off long term. But there is no doubt that for many of us it is tough."