The BBC's Diet Trials

[Demi]

For all of you in the UK, and anyone else who would like to follow it via the website, a new BBC series begins this evening called Diet Trials(click here) (http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/diettrials/trials_explained.shtml) - one of the diets on trial is Dr Atkins.

Which diet works best? Which is best for men? Do high protein diets make your body burn more fat? Which diets are easiest to stick to? Which build confidence in your ability to control your weight – for good? These are some of the questions nutritionists face most often. Until now its been difficult to give certain answers to many of them. That is, until Diet Trials.

"We decided that there was only one way to discover the truth - to put some of the most popular (and profitable) diets to the test in a way which was truly scientific and truly independent."
Gabby Koppel, Series Producer

Am looking forward to watching this, just hope that I don't end up shouting at the TV screen :rolleyes:

[jarmin88]

I watched the first episode last night. They made sure they got in a few digs about Atkins being potentially unsafe and doing monthly kidney tests to see if the diet was dangerous for the kidneys (I don't disagree with regular testing but if it scientific they need to do the same tests for everyone) as wellas regular cholesterol testing - for everyone I think.

The funny thing was that it was the GP who got allocated to the Atkins diet......

Also if you look on the website message board you'll see that quite a lot of the messages are from Atkins/low carb people.

One final thing - the first episode threw into sharp relief the meagre nature of most diets as opposed to the fullness and satiety of Atkins.

[plum]

Watching this programme has reinforced my belief in LC!!

I well remember my attempts at Conley/WW/slimfast :(

The gentleman who is doing Atkins is a GP. I was so pleased !!I see this as a great opportunity to show what low carb can do.

one poor gentleman got the Slimfast.....what can I say.........

They are checking the Atkins people s blood monthly.... at first I was a little annoyed but have realised it is a great opportunity to show what LC can do.

So hey, Doc..... if you call in and read this...... please be aware that your cholesterol can rise at first.... but then it will fall..... and remember to check the HDL as well as LDL !!Plese read all the scientific studies posted here !! My worry is that they will see a small rise in total cholesterol and take him off it.

I do hope the BBC can present Atkins properly and not as the fad diet it was veering towards last night.. we'll see....

[Demi]

An interesting programme, although I did find myself muttering at the screen a few times :rolleyes:, but feel this will be worth watching.

My only reservation is that the person they profiled last night (out of a number chosen to undertake the Atkins diet) was not at all happy to have been selected for this particular woe. I hope that this won't have an adverse effect on his experience. I found his 'imagine never being able to eat bread again' attitude annoying. But as Plum has already pointed out, this participant is a doctor, so I do hope his pre-conceived views on Atkins are soon dispelled.

The study aims to provide information on the following:

Changes in body fat
Changes in body weight
Changes in waist circumference
Changes in fasting blood lipids (eg cholesterol)
Changes in fasting insulin, glucose
Changes in dietary intake
Changes in physical activity levels and fitness
Changes in psychological parameters
Experiences of the programme

I know which 'Diet' my money is on when the results are analyzed :D and it will be interesting to see if the BBC then veers away from the 'fad' label it already seems to have given Atkins when they are.

[LittleAnne]

I was very pleased with this programme last night and did not get angry at all with it. I thought it was good scene setting. I was amused that the Dr got the Atkins plan. I think his comments about bread, etc were more for the camera and I think it is a typical reaction for many when they start.

I'm glad that they are measuring many variables throughout and I hope that the last programme summarises the end results for all 300. I also wonder how many of them will make it to the end? Six months is a long time and whilst we have been living this way of life for a long time I think that for many 2 months is about average for lasting on a diet.

Interested that they are taking blood samples on the Atkins people monthly to ensure there is no problem with their kidney function. This could be very positive and act as a reassurance for many.

Looking forward to programme 2 tonight. I aim to video all 6 together on the same tape.

[Kathy54]

Thanks everyone, keep us" over the Pond low carb'r's" informed please.
Thanks Kathy :wave:

[LittleAnne]

I'm beginning to wonder how many episodes Diet Trials is as I see it is also on every day next week. From the synopsis of those programmes it even suggests there may be more to come.

The second programme introduced more people and the plans they are following. It also covered peoples attitude towards alcohol. Very interesting and I think the people were very typical, not wanting to give up alcohol or else finding ways around the plan so they could go for broke on one evening.

Tonight we should find out how they have got on after the first month. I'll be interested to see the pounds lost on the various programmes.

[Demi]

I very much enjoyed last night's programme - especially as the Atkins woe was shown in a far better light this time - the two people profiled were happy to be following it (though one was definitely having a bit of trouble keeping off the alcohol).

I'm pleased to see that the presenters Eamon Holmes and Lyndel Costain are allowing the diets to 'speak' for themselves. It is refreshing to see a programme where Atkins is not being criticised - although Lyndel did say that she had to use the Atkins Center site to find out certain info as she felt that the book did not cover it - I think the problem is that the participants appear to be using the 'old' DANDR book :( However, I was pleased that she pointed out that there is a lot more info available through the Atkins website.

Click here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/diettrials/factfiles_atkins.shtml) to see what the BBC site has to say about the Atkins diet.

Anne, Diet trials will be shown every weekday evening for the next 3 weeks.

[plum]

yes, I was pleased to see the dietician not being pre-judgemental about LC... and pointing out the website too was encouraging.... pointing people towards extra research, hopefully.

I had thought the programme would be anti - LC at first but it is proving much more balanced. Lets hope this continues.

[Yogibear]

hmmmmm I'm missing out here in Aussie. Any idea when it will screen elsewhere? Please keep us posted as to the results...very interesting :)

[Foxy59]

I am glad that all posters seem to share my opinion that the diet trials programmes are pure class. I am speaking as someone who has previously dedicated a huge number of months of my life to three of them (Conley/WW/Slimfast) and know how soul destroying it is to be doing something to the letter and having such disappointing results. I have been doing Atkins for the past 9 weeks and have already beaten the results of the other three although I stuck to them for more than six months.

I know that the other ones work for other people because I have seen it happen but I also know they didn't work for me. It must all depend on the way that your body deals with food. If this is true then it will be difficult to come up with an answer as to which diet is best as the results will be mixed. I just hope the negative health comments of Atkins are proved to be nonsense as I get a bit of a hard time from my husband who is worried that I might make myself ill. At the moment I can shut him up by comparing how my body and joints must be suffering now compared to if I were thinner. I think that might not work for much longer though.

Anyway, all my thoughts are with the tanker driver on slim fast. My heart just sank when he opened his envelope. The poor man is going to starve! Also, don't you just love the couple who can't stop drinking? I want to spend New Year's Eve at their house!

[Oldsalty]

Don't forget that they have a message board at the BBC on this topic so that all of us experienced Atkins followers can make our views known. I have posted X2 so far.
This is a great opportunity.

[Paulie-M]

After setting the video to record Sunday's programme I got home from work to find that hubby had been messing with it and had scrubbed the timed recording :mad: . I also forgot about it being shown every night and missed Monday's edition as I was at the gym (at least it's a good excuse!). Hopefully I shall get to see tonights programme. I'm looking forward to it after seeing the comments here. I'm going to check out the Beeb site now. Back later.

[alibubble]

Hi people.
Well aren't these trials fascinating.
What immediately struck me was how quickly some people failed. This is sooo typically the norm. People try a diet and fail within days. Then start again...fail..the cycle goes on.
Others who are determined, such as the Liverpudlian lady with the dog, have really taken their chosen diet to heart and after just a month have lost a significant amount of weight.
It definitely is all about determination and whether you trully are ready to lose the weight.
I also found it interesting that they chose the individuals diets for them. Later, after the 6 month trial is finished, they will ask other individuals to be part of the trial but they can choose for themselves which diet to follow, based on the evidence of the other section of dieters. Won't it be interesting to see which they choose. I suspect WW and Rosemary Conley will come out on top.
I have tried all 4 diets. Slimfast when I was a teenager, I failed day one. I lived on coffee and cigarettes in those days and wasn't fat at all...the start of my slide into fatdom.
Both WW and RC (which I still go to but only for the exercise class) I was very successful at but I was always hungry.

Atkins I've been doing since last October and now it's just a WOL for me. I'm now back at that teenage weight, maintaining it and I'm never hungry.

Atkins is being concentrated on tomorrow night, so eyes peeled.

Ali

[Demi]

Tonight featured the first scientific weigh-in for the participants after a month on their various regimes. Those on the Atkins diet had lost the most amount of weight. However, the expert did try to dismiss this as 'water weight' :rolleyes: I wonder how they'll describe the weight loss at the end of the 6 months :eek:

[Jec]

I really felt for the poor girl bingeing and having it filmed. Carb addict if ever there was one- if only she'd got Atkins. And ditto the bon viveurs from Bath- they are class though her cottage cheese loaf looked like poo IMHO and I think hubby thought so too. Washed down with just the one bottle of wine LOL

[LittleAnne]

Great to see Atkins coming out tops for weight loss of the 4 by some way. I expect that the difference between the other 3 and Atkins was water weight, but to try and say that for those losing a stone in weight, it was all water, was laughable.

Do like seeing things, warts and all. The people are so typical of many dieters who are looking for an instant fix and are not fully committed.

Surprised not to have seen more of the Rosemary C plan. No mention at all tonight.

I think tomorrows programme on Atkins will have good and bad bits to it. Some of the complaints I heard at the end of the programme are nothing new, seen most of them here, but wonder how they will be afterwards.

Its great that there is no real judgemental approach. I think that they want things to speak for themselves. Would you want to do Slimfast after trying Atkins!

[Demi]

Diet Trials tonight focused mainly on Atkins - one participant, Andy, has given up on it totally, the GP just whinged and moaned (glad he's not my doctor:lol:), complaining about smelly breath, expensive groceries etc :rolleyes: don't think his wife is very supportive either, the both seem to me to want it to be a failure :mad: :confused: The fireman was having trouble until he was given a few recipe ideas (see website), and Jeni, the South African cafe owner, is doing brilliantly - this was commented on by nutrition consultant Lyndel Costain who put it down to the fact that she has done well with varying her diet and has a good support system - noticed she was also exercising as well.

Dr Helen Truby (lead scientist) is still putting down the Atkins weight losses as mainly water :rolleyes: and feels that the diet is nutritionally inadequate. However, after two months on the diet, all participants are to undergo a full bodyscan by a DEXA (sp) scanner, which can detect both fat loss and lean body mass loss - looking forward to seeing those results.

Looks like tomorrow's programme will be concentrating more on the weight watchers. Looking forward to seeing Jec's bon viveur couple, the Barratts, on vacation in Italy:lol:

[Paulie-M]

Like Demi I am also looking forward to seeing the results of the Dexa scanner after the 8 weeks stage. I dont think any of the plans would have appealed much to Andy, the guy who has already dropped out. The Doc from Edinburgh is doing a lot of moaning about it, but at least he's sticking in there (so far). I must admit, I wonder if they deliberately chose a Doctor to do Atkins ;) . Jeni (also from Edinburgh I notice) is doing really well; lets hope she has better luck on the man front than she did tonight:) . Paul Rankin's recipe for blackened monkfish looked delicious - I might try that at the weekend :yum:.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's programme already.

[LittleAnne]

Echo much of the above, but I have another take on the doctor. I wonder if some of what he was saying was tongue in cheek. He did raise a couple of good issues though including the keto breath side and taking supplements. Whilst he might complain about the cost of the food it is good to see that he now does the shopping rather than his wife and this is probably part of the cause of the increase in cost! Not looking for a bargin.

I agree, Andy the beer drinker would have dropped out whatever diet he was on. No commitment there.

Anyway, good to see how the bad bits - and we all know that there are some - are counterbalanced by the positive ones as portrayed by out Scottish South African.

Still think the programme is being reasonably even handed and non judgemental. The people are very typical and we all know how many drop of any diet regime very quickly. All diets are restrictive in some way, it just depends on how determined you are to suceed.

[Demi]

Some very interesting comments on the chatboard for this programme:

Diet Trials Message Board (http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/h2/h2.cgi?state=threads&board=health.05ffff&)

Presenter and nutrionist Lyndel Costain also took part in an online chat after last night's programme. Unfortunately, the transcript is not yet available, but I will try and remember to post it later in the week when it has been archived.

[Jec]

Originally posted by Paulie-M
Paul Rankin's recipe for blackened monkfish looked delicious - I might try that at the weekend :yum:.


Didn't it just!! ANYTHING with aubergines is alright by me though. It made me laugh when the fireman (Hector is it??) came back in in his uniform- I dread to think what smoke damage I'd cause if I tried it :eek:

[Paulie-M]

I watched Thursday's programme with interest seeing how the couple on WW (The Barratts?) got on on holiday in Italy. Was it just me, or did anyone else find her so irritating? Let's just say they didn't do too well. ;) .

I think one of the funniest scenes from this weeks programmes was when Scott and Jeni were At St Margarets, Edinburgh for their weigh-in. Poor Scott, there he was clutching his can of Slim Fast just about drooling as Jeni cooker her bacon and tomatoes. I do hope Jeni isn't starting to stray though - they did show a clip from the next programme where she's having some bread :eek: .

[Paulie-M]

I have just watched last night's Diet Trials. Hector, the fireman from Northern Ireland who is doing Atkins had his DEXA scan which showed that he was evenly losing FAT from his trunk and both arms and legs but was not losing lean muscle mass. He was still missing his sweets and biscuits and was shown with his colleagues around the brazier outside the fire station on a strike day. They were tucking into jacket potatoes, but Hector stuck to his guns and didn't partake. He did give in to a Quality Street fudge whilst doing his hospital radio show, but just the one!:devil:.

Also on Atkins was Jeni, the S African cafe owner now living in Edinburgh. She was missing bread and ordered some products from the States. She wasn't impressed with the Keto bar but was looking forward to making her Keto bread from the mix. The programme pointed out that a standard loaf of bread would have cost about 65p, but that her tub of Keto Bread mix cost 7 GBP. I really felt for her when she bit in to her much-awaited slice of bread to find that it tasted like "unsweetened cake". I know the feeling :) . Aside from that, she seems to be doing well.

The other 2 people featured in this week's programme were both doing Rosemary Conley. They were both losing weight, but seemed to be having a bit of a struggle with it.

Tonights programme judging by the trailer, aopears to be concentrating on men losing weight more quickly than women. I see the Barratts are back on :eek:.

[Demi]

The following article appeared in yesterday's edition of the Daily Mail (I will also post this as a separate thread, so that more people will be able to see and comment on it as well).

Why Men Make Better Dieters Than Women

Richard Price, Daily Mail, 24 March, 2003

For the despairing female weight-watcher, the news may bring on severe indigestion. Scientists have proved that men are much better at dieting than women. Not only do they find it easier, they lose more weight.

In the largest comparative dieting study ever conducted, male volunteers lost twice as much as their female counterparts.

The 6-month study, conducted by Surrey University, monitored 300 men and women using Britain's four most popular diets – Weight Watchers, Slim Fast, Rosemary Conley and Dr Atkins.

At the end of the trial, 13 out of the top 20 dieters were male, even though men made up only 30% of the participants.

The study is being carried out for Diet Trials, a BBC1 series which will conclude on April 2 with the final results, including a verdict on which of the four diets is the most successful.

But the unexpected outcome was that men appeared to lose weight more easily, no matter which diet they followed.

Lyndel Costain, an independent dietician who monitored the experiment, said: "What was especially interesting was the success of the men on all four of the programmes. We found that the Atkins Diet, however, seemed to be the most effective for men, because you can eat a lot of meat, and you don't need to think about portion size."

The Atkins plan advocates a diet rich in protein and low in carbohydrates, so eggs, bacon, steak and cheese are allowed, but bread, pasta and starchy vegetables are restricted.

Miss Costain said men also had natural advantages because of their higher metabolic rates and inherent competitiveness. "Once men put their mind to something, they are generally determined to make it work," she said. "Men are also bigger than women. They have more muscle and their metabolism and calorie need is higher. They tend automatically to be a bit more active. Also, their self esteem isn't generally linked to their body image. Men tend not to comfort eat as much, while a lot of women are still more involved in shopping and cooking than men, and so have more exposure to food."

The volunteers were aged between 21 and 60 and were all classed as either overweight or obese, according to their body mass index.

The 14-part series will ultimately find which diet works best for which sort of person. Dr Helen Truby, a lecturer in nutrition at Surrey University, and one of the study's co-ordinators, said that while some of the male weight loss could be explained by the fact that men weighed more to start with, this did not account for all of the difference.

She said: "It was clear that men have fewer emotional issues around food and are often helped by very supportive partners, so find it easier to lose weight."

Diet Trials does offer some consolation for women. The dieter who lost the most weight during the six-month test was female.

[LittleAnne]

Thanks for that article Demi. I wonder who the women was? I don't think we have met her yet as to lose most would mean at least 50 or 60 pounds.

Tomorrow's programme on SlimFast should be interesting. I'm sure there will be a very mixed reaction.

Good to see that Atkins is still out in front at the half way stage, but that Women seem to be doing better on WW because of the weekly group meeting.

Our night binger needs a reality check. She seems to delude herself about temptation. However, I'm glad to see her going to the gym with good results.

Whilst some negative comments are made about Atkins I think things are fairly evenly portrayed and they paint it warts and all.

[LittleAnne]

Sat down ready to watch diet trials this evening only to find that the Iraq crisis replaced it. They did say they will show tonights episode on the Slimfast plan tomorrow, so that will move the end date one day further down the line.

[Demi]

Those following Diet Trials will be proably be interested to read the following article, which appeared this week in the UK newspaper, the Daily Mail:

Battle of the Super Diets (http://www.femail.co.uk/pages/standard/article.html?in_article_id=174646&in_page_id=172)

Unfortunately, they have not included any Atkins dieters :mad:


The final result, showing which diet proved most effective, will be shown tonight.

[Groggy60]

The third one, Maria Mansfield on Weight Watchers, sounds like she went a low carb diet. Maybe that's why Weight Watchers works better for some than others.

If you read this would you guess Weight Watchers or maybe low-carb

My daily food intake changed dramatically. Instead of Danish pastries for breakfast, I'd eat a high-fibre cereal. Instead of calorie-laden deep-fill sandwiches for lunch, I'd eat a healthy salad. For my evening meals, which had always been quite healthy, I put even more emphasis on fresh fish and lots of vegetables.

[love2glide]

I wasn't impressed with the conclusion to diet trials on BBC.
Instead of concluding with something scientific they said here are the 4 people that lost the most weight. Meaningless.
It would have been great if they had said - in the weightwatchers groups we see a total goal weight loss of X and the dieters reached 70% of their goal. They could have done this for each group.
Ahh well - it was nice to see that Atkins was the healthiest with the lowest Triglyceride count of all 4 diets :)
My Dad of 73 has been doing low carb for 12 months - he threw his high blood pressure med away 3 months ago and today was told he was text book. Love it.

[acohn]

I hope this telly concept makes it to the States. It would be more entertaining than "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" for my money.

[jarmin88]

I am a bit disapointed in the conclusion ie the lack of numbers and analysis. No figures for drop out rates though I think ww was the highest. No figures representing the weight loss or other blood findings

Their general finding was that Atkins was safe and effective over 6 months and that adding exercise made a significant efffect on success or otherwise.

I think they need to do a 1 yr follow up as I think some of these diets are going to have very high relapse rates. There's no point losing it in 6 months and putting it all back on again with interest.

I do hope the figures will be forthcoming sometime and they do a follow up

[Demi]

I was also very disappointed with the final programme, as I was expecting much more in the way of scientific data - results of blood tests, DEXA scanning etc.

However, the BBC has published the following, where a little more information is forthcoming:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/diettrials/trials_results.shtml

The general conclusion seems to be

" The differences revealed by this study are more helpful in identifying which diet works best for each individual, as no one diet can be identified as 'best' overall."

[LittleAnne]

Diet Trials – Final Programme and overall summary

The 4 diets being compared over the 6-month scientific trial were Atkins, Weight Watchers, Rosemary Conley and SlimFast.
At the beginning Dr A let the way in terms of weight loss. Dr Chris Mair lost 1.5 stone (21 pounds) in the first 4 weeks. The study showed that it is important to exercise as well as Chris Mair, who lost 4 stone overall lost 1 stone (14 pounds) of muscle as he did not additional exercise. Thus the more exercise you take the higher loss of body fat. Those on Rosemary C, where exercise is part of the plan, lost more fat and less muscle than everyone else. As the trial continued those on WW and Rosemary C caught up on the weight loss front. The results on SlimFast were very varied with weight loss of between 4 pounds and 4 stone. It depends if it suits you.

Blood was taken throughout. The study proved that there is no evidence for harm of following Atkins. Cholesterol levels did not increase as some would have thought, but they did not go down significantly. Rosemary C and WW saw a definite lowering of blood cholesterol. SlimFast showed no lowering of cholesterol and it was the same as the non-dieting group.
Triglycerides in the blood fell most for those on Atkins, particularly women. There was no lowering of triglycerides on SlimFast. Those that exercised and got fitter had lower blood pressure and lower insulin levels. There was concern about the nutritional basis of Atkins and having to take nutritional supplements. But this was a personal opinion rather than evidence based.

There is no one diet that suits all. You need to find one that you can use long term and change your life accordingly. Exercise is very important. You need to chose a diet that fits into your lifestyle and that you can come to enjoy, for success.

Overall, in the 6 months, the 300 dieters lost 211 stone (2,954 pounds).

Looking at the diets individually –
Dr Atkins – showed what you could and could not eat, some disadvantages like headaches, diahorrea, bad breath. Early effects are very dramatic, but by 3 months the others had caught up. As on any of the diets, alcohol was a problem and slowed you down. Seems to suit men best and those who want a quick weight loss.
Jeni, South African in Scotland, lost 2 st 3 pounds to reach her goal
Hector, the Irish fireman, lost just under 1 stone, his sweet tooth let him down
Richard Owen, the biker, lost almost 4 stone as did Dr Chris Mair.

SlimFast – You either love it or hate it, replacing 2 meals with SlimFast soups or shakes. One problem is wind. In general the fruit and veg intake of dieters seems to have gone down, even though it is recommended that these should be what you snack on. Many people started to regularly cheat after 8 weeks.
Stephanie Holland lost just under 2 stone
Scott, the lorry driver, lost over 1 stone
However, Lesley White just lost 4 pounds in the 6 months
Sean Lennon lost 4 stone of which he lost 2.75 stone in 3 months.

Weight Watchers – You can eat a little of everything, all of which have a points value. It is the diet that most people would have selected by choice and very few dropped out during the study. However by the end only a third of men and a half of women were still going to the classes. This suits those who like going to group meetings, is good for families. It was found that generally men did not improve their fitness on WW.
Maria lost 1 st 9 pounds in total, she had lost 2 stone, so the death of buster set her back, but she aims to get back on track shortly.
Barretts lost 4.5 stone between them, so their expensive wine taste must have been tempered to enable this.
John Berry, who lost 2 stone and enquired about becoming a WW leader has now heard that he has been accepted, so watch this space, particularly as I understand he lives near me.
Gillian, the binge girl, had lost a stone, but her appearance had improved considerably because of the exercise she did.

Rosemary Conley – On this diet you take regular exercise, count calories and eat nothing with a fat content higher than 4%. This diet lost the most body fat and least lean tissue. This is not an attractive option for men because of the exercise classes. Apparently for the 40,000 on the Rosemary C plan only 100 are men.
Lisa Osbourne, the maternity nurse, lost 1.5 stone and met Rosemary C.
Pete lost just 8 pounds and found it very difficult to go to exercise classes
Kerry, the Irish bus driver, just lost a few pounds in the end after she gave up after she broke her arm.
Mary Watson, see below, lost 4 st 6 pounds.

So from the 300 dieters the top three for weight loss were
3rd – Richard Owen, 3 st 10 lb on Atkins
2nd – Chris Mair, 4 st on Atkins
2nd – Sean Lennon, 4 st on SlimFast
1st – Mary Watson, 4 st 6 lb on Rosemary C

Apparently 14 years ago Mary lost her son to cancer and then sat and comfort ate to pass the time. She went from 10 st 10 lb to 16 st. At 58 she decided to change her life and became determined to be slimmer by the time she was 60. She did a lot of hill walking with her husband and the before and after photos are truly amazing.

A good programme all round. It proves that Atkins is safe and that as we all know, different diets suit different people and its how it suits your lifestyle that is important.

[Groggy60]

Its interesting that the review did not mention how many calories the different dieters had. Its always nice to hear the low-carbers loosing weight eating more calories.

The other missing item is, which dieters plan on continuing their diet and for how long.

[fluffyscat]

I just wanted to add that I have found the diet trials program an inspiration… I had heard of the Atkins program before it started but had mainly taken on board that it was a FAD diet with severe health risks. I had no plans to watch the program and switched it over by accident and became hooked.

Both me and my partner are similar weights, and realise that we have a lot to loose, but enjoy good food. So have been in denial and avoided diets, as my previous experience of calorie counting and Slimfast were horrendous, I was hungry all the time and got bored so just gave up.

So we bought the books, and started 4 days ago and so far we are loving it. Today we weighed ourselves for the first time since starting and have both lost 4.5 Lbs.

Good on the BBC for producing a program that gave an honest and real view on each of the diets, using real people..

Lucy (A new Low-Carb recruit)