Getting to and staying at a healthy weight is an important health goal. Being overweight can increase your risk for many health conditions.

A health care professional can help you determine a medically recommended weight. They can also help you make diet changes that are safe and healthy. This includes reducing the amount of sugar you eat, and replacing foods with added sugar with whole grains and vegetables.

Reduce Screen Time

Screen time keeps us engrossed in entertainment and social media, but it can also take away from other activities, including exercise and face-to-face interactions. This can contribute to weight gain, poor sleep habits and a lack of focus, which may negatively affect work or school performance.

Excessive screen time is linked with obesity due to sedentary behavior, and it can cause eye strain, back problems and mental health issues like depression. In addition, watching TV or using a computer at bedtime can suppress production of the hormone melatonin, which regulates sleep.

Make a goal to limit your screen time. To keep you motivated, try installing a time-measuring app that shows how much you spend on your devices. Use your device’s settings to turn off notifications during screen-free times, such as when you’re eating or exercising. During commercial breaks, challenge family members to push-ups or jumping jacks. Try playing board games or doing chores that don’t involve a screen.

Watch Portion Sizes

The size of your meals can have a significant impact on calorie intake and weight. Even eating healthy foods can cause weight gain if you consume too much of them. It’s not about saying no to food groups, it’s all about balance and moderation.

Using accurate measurements is essential to successfully control portion sizes. There are many tools available to help you do this from simple measuring cups and spoons to digital food scales.

Increasing your awareness of how different foods make you feel can also give you insight into the amount of food that is appropriate for you to eat at any given time. For example, if you are consistently feeling full after meals but not hungry, this could be an indicator that your meal size is too small. You can find a number of food and beverage serving recommendations online that compare recommended portions to objects you may be familiar with, like the size of your fist or a ping-pong ball.