Pharmacist Chris Campbell answers questions on body weight and tells why losing a little can deliver big health benefits for diabetics

Ask Your Pharmacist: a little effort delivering big results

What’s the best way to work out whether I might need to lose some weight? Should I jump on the scales, calculate my BMI or take my waist measurement?

There are a lot of helpful tools available, and it can be confusing knowing what they all mean and how they’re different.

Your Body Mass Index, or BMI, is a calculation based on your weight and your height, and is one way to determine whether you’re at a healthy weight and, by extension, if you’re at a higher risk of certain diseases. But it doesn’t take age, ethnicity, gender or body composition into account, so on its own, doesn’t necessarily provide a complete picture of how your weight may be affecting your health.

Waist circumference is a simple check you can use to gauge whether you’re carrying excess body fat around your middle, a location that poses more of a health risk than fat stored on your hips or thighs. A waist measurement of 80cm or more for women and 94cm or more for men, indicates an increased risk of chronic disease.

Carrying weight around your middle is more of a health risk than weight on your hips or thighs

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Measuring and monitoring your weight can also be a useful benchmark, particularly so you can see how it shifts as a result of any lifestyle changes you make. It’s good to know all three of these numbers, and to consider them alongside other risk factors, such as your cholesterol levels and blood pressure, when assessing your health. At TerryWhite Chemmart, our Health Check covers all of these measures to help you understand your risk factors and support you in deciding which lifestyle changes you may want to make towards better health.

I’ve just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, what advice do you have?

When you’re living with type 2 diabetes, reaching and maintaining a healthy body weight is important to slow the progression and improve control of your diabetes. In fact, research published in the last couple of years shows substantial weight loss can actually alter some processes underlying type 2 diabetes.

Additionally, don’t forget that being overweight is considered a risk factor for experiencing a wide range of other health problems, including: stroke, heart disease and heart attack; musculoskeletal and digestive problems; and 11 different types of cancer, including breast, bowel and liver cancer.

It can also significantly impact your quality of life, self-esteem and mental health and wellbeing. So, there are many great reasons, on top of helping to ensure your type 2 diabetes is well managed, to keep your weight within the healthy range.

When living with type 2, a healthy weight is important

Losing weight can significantly impact the quality of your life

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Losing weight feels daunting. Where should I start?

Your local TerryWhite Chemmart pharmacy is a great place to begin your healthy weight journey.

Using our Health Check as a starting point, a range of options are available from there, including the Tony Ferguson range of scientifically formulated meal replacements, many of which come with exclusive access to a 12-week program. This provides access to meal plans, recipes and motivational tips, and covers things such as portion control and the importance of reducing stress.

The Tony Ferguson range also has a variety of snack options to help keep your weight loss on track, including Beef Bone Broth, and Smoothie Bowls in two flavours, for a weight-loss friendly sweet treat.