Welcome to the

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Background

Who has written and reviewed the content? 

Nutritional content: dietitians working in weight management. 
Behavioural toolkit: has been designed by our multidisciplinary team including the dietitians, trainee health psychologist with a specialist consulted during the development. 
Exercise content: physical exercise specialists in collaboration with our dietetics team to ensure appropriateness. 
Cultural toolkit: external dietetic professionals who work with individuals from multiple cultures in collaboration with our dietetic team to ensure the right mix of experience and programme application.

Total Diet Replacement (TDR)

Is alcohol a no-go for patients during the programme

Alcohol is not recommended while patients are on the Counterweight Plus programme for 2 main reasons: 
1. Safety: as service users are on a significant calorie deficit the adverse effects of alcohol are heightened
2. Energy contribution: Alcohol carries 7kcal/g, being more calorie dense than both protein and carbohydrates but slightly lower than fat. This will reduce the calorie deficit.

This guidance should however be considered with regards to your patient. For some patients it may be more realistic to reduce alcohol intake overtime. Therefore you may need to delay starting A Total Diet Replacement

Are the meal replacements suitable with people who have allergies and intolerances?

The Counterweight Nutritional Information and Diet Suitability document can be found here . This document outlines the nutritional information, ingredients and well as suitability for a range of allergies, intolerances and dietary practices.

Food Reintroduction (FR)

What does unlimited veg mean?

‘free veg’ is in place to support hunger management and snacking habits and that the practitioner's role is to frame it in such a way to help the patients make informed decisions on where to use ‘free veg’ in their daily eating plans. It is not to encourage unlimited eating of any one food.

Weight Loss Maintenance (WLM) and Rescue Plans

When can rescue plans start

Rescue plans are recommended once patients have entered the weight loss maintenance phase and gain 2kg or more. This may however vary according to your local policy.
If an individual gains more than 2kg in the TDR or FR stage, you should explore what barriers they have to following the plan and work with them to put solutions in place.
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