'The Fat Man of Europe' (The Guardian, 18 Feb 13)

A shocking but all too familiar headline in our national press, says Tim Bird, personal trainer based in Cirencester.  There are no easy answers or short cuts to losing and maintaining weight loss, but there is no doubt that a combination of sensible eating and increased physical activity levels can help.

Sadly, for some very overweight people, the thought of exercising in public at a local leisure centre or gym can be daunting and so may not happen, which is where personal training at a private studio could help. At Falcon Personal Training, Cirencester you train with just you and your trainer, unless you'd rather train with a partner or in a small group of like-minded individuals.

Tim, the owner of Falcon Health & Fitness, is a personal trainer specially qualified to provide nutritional advice for weight management and common clinical conditions, and he would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to chat about how working with him could help you to improve your health.

Reduce Risk of Falling

There's a strong link between psychotropic medications (stimulants, depressants and hallucinogens) and increased risk for frequent falls in older adults. Researchers concluded that it is probably useful for GPs to try to lower the use of psychotropic medications in elderly patients where possible. However, they acknowledged that withdrawing these medications could be challenging, owing to patients' propensities for dependence and rebound insomnia. (Study conducted at University of Utrecht in Netherlands, published online 31 Jan in Maturitas.)

Falcon Health and Fitness can provide specific training in falls prevention for older adults

Action on Obesity

Extracts from Royal College of Physicians working party report: 'Action on obesity: Comprehensive care for all.' (Jan 2013).
- Obesity increases risk of diabetes 5 times, colon cancer 3 times and heart disease two and a half times.
- An energy deficiency of only 100kcal (eg a small glass of wine, a slice of white bread, a chocolate biscuit) per day predicts a 0.5kg weight loss in a month.
- Prevention (of obesity) and long term weight loss maintenance require sustained changes in diet and physical activity habits.

Personal training with Falcon Health and Fitness can help you to achieve your weight loss goals.