The BBC reports fairly depressing news that most diets don't work. "Just one in every 100 people who go on a diet succeed in shedding weight permanently." And this is despite the fact that people in Britain paid over £10 billion to the diet industry last year.

"Independent market analysts Datamonitor, who conducted the research, says that the diet industry is guilty of raising expectations unrealistically." Too right. They sell us quick fixes and easy answers, but do they really have an interest in us losing weight long-term? After all, if we do lose weight and keep it off, we won't need to pay for their books, magazines, clubs, diet foods, etc, etc etc any more.

As another BBC report puts it "with research suggesting 95% of slimmers regain the weight, does the diet industry rely on our failure to make its profits?"