Sue,

All the various cabbage soup and other diets I've done have only ever lost me a teeny bit of weight - never for long - and have made me miserable. But since I became a veggie on 1 Jan - with no particular effort apart from limiting myself to one glass of wine a day and cutting out chocolate - I have lost 5 pounds. And that's with very little exercise - the knee stopped all cycling, swimming, and yoga for a month or so. Maybe total vegetarianism is the answer (or are you a veggie already?). i don't think I know any overweight vegetarians.

Thanks for the advice Paola, but I don't think I can become a vegetarian as I'm a part time farmer. I rather think I'm going to have to take more exercise!

Just to annoy you, Sue, I'm not a vegetarian, but with just a few minor lifestyle shanges I've lost over a stone since Christmas. All I did was eat less and exercise a little more.

Admittedly, I had it all there to lose in the first place.

Maybe you should also give yourself a little more time before weighing. I find the scales will say I've lost nothing for a few weeks (sometimes even that I've gained a bit) and then I will wigh myself and suddenly find I've lost two and a half kilos.
I think sometimes ittakes the body a while to adjust properly.

David I thought eating less would do the trick! I'm not really keen on more exercise so now I've read Sarah post I going to give it another couple of weeks and see what happens. I ask myself though, a life without chocolate and wine, is that living?

To answer your last comment Sue, probably not, but speaking as a veggie I'm inclined to agree with Paola - I don't know too many overweight veggies either!
Try weighing yourself at the same time each day (preferably first thing in the morning - before breakfast). And I've found 40 mins or so of regular exercise every day is better than lots of it infrequently.
Good luck!

If only there was a magic formula.

I've spent what seems like my whole life on and off diets, and it just seems to get more and more difficult to lose the weight. (Just give me the word ... I'm available to cheer you up at any time!)

The last time I lost weight was on the Atkins diet. But the consensus now seems to be that it isn't good for you ... and it's certainly difficult to keep to, in the long term.

I've just been half listening to someone on Woman's Hour; singing the praises of exercise. So perhaps that is the answer ... she said ... after puffing up the stairs with a cup of coffee.

Yes I think exercise is definitely the key. I've only put weight on since I became middle aged and upped my writing time which means I spend too much time in front of a computer. The good news is, my darling daughter has just heard me moaning and said that our scales, which date back twenty years, weigh everyone in as 10 stone!

Of course I may actually be 10 stone, but more likely I've no idea what I weigh either before I start my diet or after now!

I feel exercise is definitly the key, Sue. Don't despair, the first 31b of weight loss seems to take such a long time to actually disappear. After that, you will have more incentive as you will see and feel the benefits overall.

Now about those scales that weigh everyone in at 10 stone, which is actually my ideal weight - any chance of doing a swap. If I'm anything less than 10 stone I have a tendency to look like a bean pole, but I'm not yet 10 stone so I will have to lay off the red (and the white) stuff for a while longer, eat less and keep exercising.

Thanks for the heads up Marilyn. What is so horrifying is that for years I've only been 8.5 stone which is probably about right for someone who is 5' 4". I don't expect to go down to that again, but 9 stone would be about right for my height I would think.

Just got to find out what I actually weigh first!

A couple of tiny tips that might make you feel tiny if not actually become it:
Weighing yourself daily is like watching the kettle come to the boil. Do it only once a week. Far more exciting.
Make sure your scales are on a hard surface;
they're not reliable for some reason on carpet.
Dieting is pretty unreliable at the best of times, but in a family situation, a nightmare. Eat just the same as the other gannets - but less of it.
Exercise? Get a dog.

Got the dog Neil and am trying to eat less!