People believe they are fat just because they eat too much, don’t exercise enough or have inherited the wrong genes from their parents. This is a far too simplistic and limited attitude. Indeed these people are very surprised and often relieved to learn that they have several medical problems that may be making them fat.

Only after all the above factors are taken into account can a tailor made strategy for their own individual weight problem be developed and fine tuned over time. I think this makes a lot of sense, don’t you? I am sure you know people who seem to overeat, but manage to stay slim, and others who seem to eat very little, but remain overweight. This is because body weight and body shape are greatly affected by genetic, metabolic, hormonal and psychological factors, and not just by how much a person eats every day. What we eat is often more important than how much we eat. This is because the molecules in different foods will affect our genes, liver and gut function, and our brain chemistry, and this will impact on metabolism and hormonal balance.

Do not worry – this book takes into account ALL the factors that could be keeping you overweight, it must therefore be complicated; it is not; indeed it will bring you clarity and direction.

It can be so confusing

Thirty years ago when I started writing there was a lack of information regarding nutritional medicine and natural therapies. People were starving for information especially about natural therapies, diet and hormones. Today the opposite has happened and people suffer with information overload. Yes there are too many diets, so many supplements and so many philosophies, and in one lifetime you cannot possibly do them all! Furthermore, you cannot try all these things successfully without some form of long term support and direction.

You need to know is what is right for you as an individual

You need to know in your particular case, if there are specific medical problems that are keeping you fat. That is why I have developed The Weight Loss Detective Program where all these factors can be addressed. My team of Weight Loss Detectives are dedicated to your success. Several years ago I read with amusement, an article published in a medical journal titled Cardiologist’s Fat Fight. It described the extreme clashing of expert opinions at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology. Supporters of the official low fat approach argued with opponents who believed it was excess carbohydrates and not fat that caused weight excess. The main opponents were the late cardiologist Dr Robert Atkins, and cardiologist Dr Dean Ornish who had totally opposite views on the best diet to prevent obesity caused by Syndrome X. Dr Atkins promoted his low-carbohydrate, high-fat, high-protein diet, while Dr Ornish promoted a rigorous vegetarian diet low in fat and high in complex carbohydrates. If the experts have totally different approaches and cannot agree, then who can?
I believe that the types of food we eat on a regular basis are crucial to our health and weight control success, and in most of my patients I need to make dietary changes. I find that it is extremely rare to find someone who has a perfect diet, especially bearing in mind that this means different things to different people, including the experts! It is true that when we look around, people are generally eating less fat and more carbohydrates, and yet they are getting fatter! Indeed some experts believe that a high carbohydrate, low-fat diet can be dangerous to your health and lead to obesity and diabetes. But I have also found that it is not the diet alone that needs to be considered, but the individual problems that may be sabotaging your best efforts at following a healthy diet, no matter whose diet you follow. Yes we need to look a little deeper into our health in much the same way as a detective would solve a mysterious case. Let us find the missing pieces of the jig saw puzzle so that we can see the overall picture and begin the holistic approach that leaves no stone unturned. Only then are our chances of success very high.