Thank you for that enlightening post - I read it with tears in my eyes and promptly registered with Blogware so that I could reply to it. I am, to use the phrase here, morbidly obese. I know it, everyone around me knows it. I'm 45 years old, male, 6'1" tall and 20st10lbs (that's 185cm and 132kg if you don't do imperial, and 290lbs for anyone who doesn't know what a stone is!). However you look at it, it's big. I'm reasonably healthy, work 37 hours a week and generally look after myself quite well. I eat brown bread, pasta, rice, vegetables, salad and the fridge is stocked with "Tesco Healthy Living" this, that and the other. OK, sometimes I blow it - I had a curry last night complete with Nan bread and a lager - but it's not the norm - the norm is I eat pretty well. I go to the gym two or three times a week, for an hour at a time, and my weekend hobby is walking. I did 12 miles last weekend and my main holiday next year will be walking the West Highland Way - all 95 milles of it. But I'm still fat, and if anything it is gently, inexorably, gradually increasing. I don't want to be this way. I would love to have boundless energy, to be able to eat what I like and not gain an ounce. I would love to go into Marks and Spencers and buy what I like - not what fits. I would love to be able to fit into those fixed plastic chairs in motorway service stations without having to force my stomach behind the table. I would love to go on roller coasters without having two of the ride staff force the shoulder harness shut by leaning on it. I've tried everything. Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Slimming Magazine - you name it, I've either been on it, or am on it. They don't work. I cut out bread - no difference. Tried nothing but fruit and enough salad to make my nose twitch - no effect. I don't eat red meat at all, very little fat, tons of vegetables and still I gain weight. Next week I'm trying hypnotherapy - wish me luck! My marriage broke up because my wife couldn't stand the sight of me. My self-confidence is shot to hell and I strongly suspect I'm actually suffering from depression because of it all. Just thought you might like to see the "other" side of the fence.