Our weight significantly impacts our overall wellbeing influencing both physical and mental health. As a child I liked eating chocolate and cakes but would refuse anything that was accompanied by vegetables. The approach of, 'You'll sit there until you eat it', wasn't successful as my stubbornness far surpassed anyone's patience.

In contrast, my older brother was a less discerning diner consuming everything put in front of him. This gave my mum cause for concern, and I was dragged to the doctor.

The doctor reassured my mum; 'He is healthy, whatever he is eating isn't doing him any harm.' Mum was reassured that I wasn't malnourished and, as far as I was concerned, I'd received a prescription for chocolate and cakes!

She tried something similar at the dentist, telling tales about how I'd eat a whole pack of biscuits at once. The dentist explained my teeth were in good condition and that it was healthier to eat sweet stuff in one sitting rather than grazing as it limited the time my teeth were under 'acid attack'. You would think my mum would be pleased. Not only were the clinicians fully supportive of my approach, but I was likely to be a child genius with innate clinical knowledge which had taken the professionals years to acquire. But seemingly reminding her of this essential clinical advice when refusing disgusting things like cabbage, wasn't appreciated.

We have a huge responsibility as healthcare professionals - what we say, or don't say, has consequences. As nursing staff, we need to approach any conversation about weight and diet sensitively, with consent and without judgement. But when we are approached for general advice about healthy eating, we should be overjoyed and happy to provide information to help people live healthy lives.

My pre-adolescent diet improved when I got Hannibal the hamster. He quite liked carrots, so I did too. But only raw ones, I would still turn my nose up at cooked carrots, and I'm still awaiting the promised night vision. Melon was another one of our favourites due to our exotic tastes. I did go off bread for a while when I discovered the crusts were responsible for my curly hair. 

When I started my nursing career, shift work provided an environment for a poor diet. I would usually get through the shift fuelled by chocolate and would rarely be organised enough to bring lunch and wouldn't always take a break. Not taking breaks signalled what a hard and dedicated worker I was and allowed me to do everything I needed to do and hopefully finish on time. Is being tired and hungry good for us, and does it put us in the best place to make decisions that impact on other people's health and care? 

When I finished work, my energy would be depleted, and I would reach for something convenient to eat which wouldn’t take much effort to prepare and was generally nutritionally poor. I was a stranger to exercise, apart from walking Dexter dog. My weight crept up influenced by my increasing age and a more sedentary office-based role. My response, a temporary restrictive diet to lose the weight followed by me piling it all back on again months later. A cycle I would repeat for years. 

I've not needed to access general practice for over a decade, but suddenly they were interested in my blood pressure. I had no idea what my number was and wasn't sufficiently motivated to find out. But at an event there was a stand offering blood pressure checks. I was horrified with the result, not quite requiring me to be airlifted to hospital, but it wasn't pleasing. Accompanied by my clothes feeling tight to the degree they were causing me abdominal pain and the scales displaying a figure that filled me with self-disgust. I needed to do something. 

But it was overwhelming, my cooking skills were near non-existent, exercise filled me with dread, and I didn't really want another temporary fix of a restrictive diet which always made me less than pleasant company. So last year I tried something else, and like the celebrities before me, it worked. Laden with judgement from others about 'cheating' seemingly the attitude was that my greed and decisions got me into this position so I must suffer greatly to get myself out of it. I take personal responsibility for my health and weight and don't seek to blame anyone else. But there are lots of external factors that influence weight and unsolicited comments about weight or selected approach to weight loss isn't helpful. 

My weight loss has been the catalyst for lots of other positive lifestyle changes. I went on a cooking course and am now cooking some of the nicest, tastiest, and nutritious food I've ever prepared in my life, but I suppose that wouldn't be difficult given my previous diet. Helped by colleagues who share recipes, a cookbook, and a new set of kitchen knives! I've also discovered a fitness app on my phone and have bought a rack of free weights and now am lifting like a bodybuilder four times a week which I am surprisingly enjoying. My blood pressure would now delight any clinician. This feels sustainable. 

A healthy lifestyle is not rocket science. But it’s not always simple to achieve in practice and can feel overwhelming. It’s useful to focus on improvements in health and wellbeing rather than simply talking about weight. Even small, gradual improvements to physical activity and dietary intake are likely to be helpful. Taking breaks at work and having a healthy lunch are a good start!