There are plenty of effective weight loss programs but individuals vary so much that what is effective for one person may well not be particularly effective for another. There are many variables such as amount of weight to be lost, and other special dietary needs such as vegetarianism or diabetic and lifestyle.

If you are seriously overweight and somewhat inactive but want to find an effective weight loss program or have a heart complaint, diabetes or other chronic illness, you must start by visiting your doctor or other competent health care professional and start with the following questions.

• Am I overweight for any other reason than overeating such as an underactive thyroid or due to a drug that I am taking? If the answer to either of these is yes, then your doctor will discuss treatment with you, which in itself may result in you losing weight.

• How much weight do I need to lose?

• Approximately how long should it take me?

In return, your doctor will probably ask you about your eating habits, how much alcohol you drink, whether you smoke and how much exercise you take. Tell the truth. After all you asked to see the doctor not the other way round and he can't help you if you don't tell him accurately about your lifestyle.

Apart from enabling you to lose weight, your weight loss program must be safe for someone in your particular state of health. For example if you have heart disease, you definitely need advice on safe exercise before you start racing around a tennis court or trying to run five miles.

Ask your doctor to recommend a weight loss program or to refer you to a dietician. Either way you should be given a healthy eating plan which provides a balance of the right sort of foods. Certain foods will be restricted but I'm sure you know that. The plan should enable slow but steady weight loss. Slow because it is safer and the weight will stay off and steady to keep you motivated to continue. The plan should also include an exercise regime which is suitable for you. If you are very overweight, this may vary as you lose more weight and are able to be more active.

Finally, you will need a maintenance diet to enable you to keep the weight off, once you have lost it. Hopefully, by this time, you will have retrained your appetite and will no longer crave biscuits, sweets, cakes and all those other things that make you fat but offer very little nutritional value, raising your blood sugar quickly but causing it to fall just as fast, leaving you hungry and craving for food which isn't good for you.