A new "Diet Index" report reveals that two-thirds of people would like to lose weight.

Losing weight, a challenge for many at the beginning of the new year.

We must recognize that many of us at the beginning of each year we make small and big challenges. One of these challenges is usually to lose that weight that we have been accumulating throughout the year or to be more precise over the years.  Our general response is to repeat patterns that have not worked in previous years, but this time we convince ourselves that this year will be the year in which we will achieve the desired success.

Normally, this decision has several phases:

• We make the challenge at the end or beginning of the year.
• We decide to join the gym in January
• We stop eating or start diets that we know have not worked before.
• We download apps on our cell phone to help us count calories.
• We buy food that is healthier

If we have previously experienced failure, the approach to achieve such an end, does not seem right: we should not lose a kilo or start a diet in January, moreover, if these phrases are repeated year after year, we must change or find other solutions to lose that weight and keep it off.

New report on the "Diet Index".

This report is very interesting as it helps us to understand how people with weight-related health problems feel, and its impact on a physical or mental level.

Research carried out on 1,004 UK respondents aged 18+ conducted by Perspectus Global on behalf of The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan during December 2021, tells us that it looks like February should be the new January when it comes to weight loss. This is because a whopping seven in ten people (71%) say that the pressure to lose weight or get fit in January makes it harder to succeed and that, if they started their diet in February, they would be more successful.

The Diet Index report, created by The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan, also reveals that 60% of people feel their life would be better if they didn't have weight problems. On average, people have tried 10 diets in their lifetime and most follow them for only 21 days.

It’s clear many people would love to find a diet that actually works, as almost two thirds of people (64%) would like to lose weight and on average, to lose two-and-a-half stone. In fact, 60 per cent say being overweight has affected their mental health. A massive 86 per cent of the nation agree that people should be more supportive to those who suffer with weight problems.

Shockingly, nearly a quarter (22%) of people with weight-related health issues are scared they will die young. 14 per cent have had to give up work and 12 per cent have been hospitalised. And while a fifth say their weight-related health issues have put a strain on their relationships with loved ones, 10 per cent have even separated from their partners as a result.

The research showed that lockdown is still having a knock-on effect on people’s waistlines, with 13 per cent of people trying to lose weight ever since then, coming in second only to since they were teenagers, at 14 per cent.

Parents have a lot to answer for too, as 57 per cent of people have had someone comment on their weight in a negative way and parents came out as the top culprit for this (27%). And who needs enemies with friends like this? 26 per cent of people say a friend is the one who commented negatively on their weight, followed by a stranger at 24 per cent.

A third of people dislike their reflection and this rises to more than half (55%) for people who are overweight. Although 40 per cent of respondents say they feel happy for other people who successfully lose weight, nearly a fifth (17%) feel jealous that other people have succeeded losing weight and they haven’t.

Concerningly, 22 per cent of people suffer from Type 2 diabetes, 17 per cent suffer from heart disease or heart attacks and nearly a quarter (24%) have trouble sleeping as a result of their weight-related health problems.

Mark Gilbert, commercial nutritionist at The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan from the Uk, said: “Almost three quarters of people (73%) feel judged for being overweight; that is not a nice way to feel. Although many are sympathetic to the challenges of being overweight, there are still negative comments and discriminatory behaviour, with eight per cent of people even being bullied in the workplace due to their weight.

“Everyone has an opinion and can be very righteous on how it is best to lose weight, but there is no ‘one size fits all’ and this research proves the negative mental impact it has when people continue to struggle. That is why we would like to transmit our reassurance to people who feel disappointed by the diets of the past, and suggest that they use another type of Method, like the Plan offered by The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan, because it works, scientifically supported and backed by Consultants during the "journey of weight loss, maintenance and/or optimization of nutritional status in that journey".

* This research of 1,004 British respondents aged 18 and over was conducted by Perspectus Global on behalf of The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan during December 2021.