Which weight loss programme should I choose?

What free weight loss programmes does the NHS offer?

Anyone can start today. The NHS Weight Loss Plan app is free and gives you a 12-week plan. You set a goal, track what you eat and get a daily calorie target.

Have a medical condition or an eating disorder, now or in the past? Talk to a GP first.

Want more support? A GP can refer you to a weight management programme. These can include 1-to-1 coaching, group support, online exercise classes and healthy eating advice.

You can refer yourself to some local services without seeing a GP. Check your GP surgery website, ask at reception or search online for NHS weight management services near you.

Football clubs across the country also run free health programmes, listed by NHS Better Health.

Your next step: download the app today, or ask your GP surgery what runs near you.

Am I eligible for the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme?

You can be referred if you meet all three checks below and none of the exclusions underneath applies. It’s a free, 12-week online programme from NHS England, with recipes, activity goals and wellbeing support.

You can’t be referred if you’re pregnant or have an active eating disorder. The same goes for being moderately or severely frail (weak and slow to recover from illness).

Weight loss surgery in the last 2 years rules you out too, as does a programme that could do you more harm than good. Over 80? The person referring you must confirm it’s likely to help more than harm.

You’ll also need regular internet access on a phone or computer.

Not sure of your BMI? The NHS says it can’t tell muscle from fat. See what your waist measurement adds to BMI.

Tick all three, and none of those applies? Ask your GP surgery or a community pharmacy to refer you.

Don’t qualify? NHS England points you to NHS Better Health, or to your GP surgery, which may be able to offer another service.

What do paid programmes and weight loss clinics offer?

Paid programmes run groups, apps or coaching. NHS Better Health lists discounted offers from Slimming World, The Body Coach app and MAN v FAT Football. The last is for men with a BMI of 27.5 or above.

Before you pay, ask what it costs now and after any offer ends. NICE says people should be told about any costs to carry on once the NHS-funded part ends.

Looking at a clinic for weight loss injections? Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) is only available with a prescription, NHS or private.

Going private? The NHS says to buy from a registered pharmacy, because some websites sell fake weight loss medicines.

On the NHS, who can have these medicines depends on your BMI and other health conditions. They’re usually prescribed alongside diet and lifestyle advice. Our weight loss injections guide covers the checks.

Never stop or change a prescribed medicine without your prescriber. On Mounjaro already? See blood tests on Mounjaro.

How long should a weight loss programme last?

Longer than a 30-day challenge. In one trial, a year beat 12 weeks. That trial is WRAP.

It took 1,267 adults with a BMI of 28 or more, from 23 GP practices in England. Each was sent to brief advice, a 12-week programme or a 52-week one. Brief advice alone averaged about 3.3 kg lost at 1 year.

The 12-week programme still beat brief advice. If yours lasts 12 weeks, plan how you’ll keep going after it ends.

The programme was Weight Watchers, which part-funded the trial. About 65% of people came back to be weighed at 1 year.

The NHS says to aim for 0.5 to 1 kg a week. At that pace, 30 days is about 2 to 4 kg.

Small losses count. Losing 5 to 10% of your body weight can improve your health. For someone weighing 90 kg, that’s 4.5 to 9 kg.

Thinking of a low-calorie diet of 800 to 1,200 calories a day? NICE says to consider these only for people living with obesity, or overweight with type 2 diabetes. Even then, only with long-term specialist support, and for no more than 12 weeks.

NICE also says weight regain is likely afterwards.

Pick something you could keep up for a year. Keep strength work in your week too, to protect muscle while you lose weight.

What should I ask before I sign up?

NICE sets out what good weight services do. Turn it into questions, and get the answers before you pay.

NICE also says a programme should review your progress regularly. If you referred yourself, it should ask before it updates your GP.

While you wait for a place, NICE lists free support such as health-service-backed apps and walking groups. Pick one to start this week.

When to speak to a GP

The NHS says to see a GP if your BMI is overweight or obese and:

• You want help to lose weight.
• Your waist is more than half your height.
• You have pre-diabetes (blood sugar higher than normal, but not yet diabetes), diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, joint pain, sleep apnoea (breathing that stops and starts while you sleep) or heart and circulation disease.
• Obesity runs in your family.
• You have, or think you may have, an eating disorder such as binge eating.

Have a medical condition, a special diet for your health, or an eating disorder now or in the past? Talk to a GP first, before you change anything.

Using tirzepatide and think you might be having serious side effects? Call NHS 111.