Wagga Community Health Centre dietitian Jackie Priestly said the Living Lighter program has a strong focus on helping people identify positive changes they can sustain for a healthier future.

“The program helps people to understand the links between their emotions and their eating and exercise habits,” Jackie said. Senior community health psychologist Angela Farrell said many people often have a reasonable knowledge about healthy food choices and recommended daily exercise levels, but find it difficult to put this knowledge into action.

The Living Lighter program will increase participant’s awareness of some of the factors that make this difficult to do and will provide them with practical strategies to help identify and address some of these factors.

“This will increase the likelihood of participants making and maintaining healthier lifestyle choices around food and exercise,” Angela said.

The free group program is run by a dietitian and psychologist who cover topics including:

Tips to managing good portions.

Physical activity.

Understanding emotional eating.

Managing cravings.

Distraction techniques.

Increasing motivation.

Tips for achieving goals.

It includes two two-hour group sessions held a fortnight apart with an option of attending a monthly drop-in support group. The sessions are conducted on Tuesdays from 11am to 1pm and are open to anybody over the age of 18 years.

Anyone interested in attending is asked to contact Community Health on 6938 6411.