A: Gaining weight when you’re ill and less active than normal is a common problem. But it’s great that you’re now feeling better and are ready to tackle the pounds you’ve put on. WLR will provide you with a daily calorie allowance to help you lose weight at your chosen rate and providing you stick to this, you shouldn’t have any problems shifting those pounds.

Getting tired and run down can increase the chance of having a recurrence so it’s really important to keep your energy levels high and to avoid overdoing it when it comes to exercise. In particular, because a virus causes Glandular Fever, it’s especially important to keep your immune system in tip top condition. This means you should eat a balanced, healthy diet that’s packed with a variety of nutrient-rich foods. In particular, fruit and veg are packed with immune-boosting vitamin C and plant compounds called phytochemicals so make sure you eat plenty of these foods. Meanwhile, foods such as chicken, fish, lean red meat and low-fat dairy products are good sources of zinc, a mineral that’s important for the healthy functioning of the immune system. Fortunately, all these foods are also low in fat and so are good choices to help you lose weight, too.

A: First things first, although your weight loss has been slow, you should still congratulate yourself on the fact you’ve lost half a stone – and while it might not sound much, at your current rate, you would lose 1½st in a year. As you’ve been doing so much exercise, you might also find you’ve lost inches as you’ve built muscle and toned up – and this is just as important as what the scales say.

Fortunately, I think WLR can help you to speed up your weight loss. To lose 1lb of fat, you need to ‘lose’ 3,500 calories. This might sound a lot, but if you want to lose 1lb a week, it’s as simple as ‘losing’ 500 calories a day. Obviously if you want to lose 2lb a week, you need to double this and ‘lose’ 1,000 calories a day. Based on your current weight loss of half a stone in four months, you’ve been lowering your calorie intake by, on average, just 200 calories a day. In other words, although you’ve been eating healthily, you’ve only cut your calorie intake slightly with the result that you’ve only lost a small amount of weight.

WLR can certainly help you lose up 2lb a week and will set you a daily calorie allowance to achieve this. Providing you stick to this recommended calorie intake, you will start to see the pounds shifting more quickly. As your diet is already healthy, cutting those extra calories will probably be as simple as cutting your portion sizes slightly. Remember, even healthy starchy foods like wholemeal bread, potatoes, brown rice, wholewheat pasta and wholegrain cereals still contain calories, as do protein-rich foods like chicken, fish, lean meat and low-fat dairy products. As a guideline, fill half your plate with veggies, a quarter with carb-rich foods and the remaining quarter with protein-rich foods.

Finally, it’s worth pointing out that your body can get used to a certain level and type of activity, so you may want to push yourself harder to get even better results. For example, you might find you can encourage your body to burn more fat by running or cycling the same distance in a shorter time, swimming an extra couple of lengths or simply trying some new activities, whether that’s dancing, gym work or aerobics classes.

A: Many health experts believe hypnosis can help you do anything from giving up smoking and beating phobias to improving your performance at work and changing your eating habits – and there’s no reason why it couldn’t help you.

Hypnosis works by turning off the conscious part of your mind and freeing up the sub-conscious so that it becomes more receptive to ideas. Hypnotherapy is often very successful in helping people to lose weight and deal with food addictions as it helps them change the way they view food and their eating habits.

Ultimately, being hypnotised could help you alter your attitude towards food so that you start to eat more healthily and lose weight as a result. The downside is that it can be quite expensive – from £40 per hour upwards – and you often need more than one session. To find a local practitioner, call The National Register of Hypnotherapists and Psychotherapists on 01282 716839 or visit their website at www.nrhp.co.uk.

A: Love handles are a common problem and one that many women suffer with. You don’t mention whether you are now at your target weight or whether you still have a little more to lose. But bear in mind that love handles are simply excess fat, so sadly, the only way you’ll get rid of them is to lose that excess fat – and this can be hard.

To start with, women are genetically programmed to store fat around their hips and bottom, which is why it’s harder to lose fat from these areas. Next, it’s impossible to selectively lose fat from just one area of your body – when you lose weight, you lose fat from all over your body and sadly you can’t dictate from where you want that fat to go. However, research shows that you tend to first lose fat from your face, then bust, stomach and lastly your hips and thighs. This may help to explain why, even though you’ve lost a considerable amount of weight, you’re still left with love handles.

Assuming you haven’t reached your target weight yet, I suggest you carry on with your reduced-calorie diet and combine it with regular aerobic exercise such as running, swimming, fast walking or cycling to help burn fat.

Finally, make sure your jeans fit you properly – wearing a size too small for you is guaranteed to put even the tiniest love handles on display!

A: First of all, congratulations on losing a stone. Although you might have struggled you should feel proud of your achievement and feel motivated to carry on.

With so much written about wheat-free diets, it’s easy to think that an intolerance to wheat affects a large number of people. But in fact, experts suggest that less than 0.1 percent of the population suffer from it – and bearing in mind that you haven’t mentioned any associated symptoms, I think it’s unlikely you’re one of them.

A wheat intolerance is hard to diagnose as the symptoms are varied and may include everything from bloating, fluid retention, headaches and tiredness to irritable bowel syndrome, constipation and diarrhoea. Support for the idea that weight gain – or at least difficulty in losing weight – is also a symptom, stems mainly from people who’ve followed a wheat-free diet and found they’ve lost weight as a result. Unsurprisingly though, most experts believe that any weight loss that occurs is due to a reduction in calories and fat thanks to cutting out not just bread, pasta and many cereals, but also biscuits, cakes, pastries, pizza, puddings and processed foods such as battered fish or breaded chicken. In other words, if you stop eating wheat, you also de-junk your diet and fill up on healthier alternatives like fruit, veg, lean meat, fish and low-fat dairy products.

If you really think you might have a wheat intolerance I suggest you keep a food and symptoms diary to see if there’s any connection with what you eat and any possible symptoms you’re suffering with and then see your GP for a proper diagnosis.

In the meantime, I suggest you carry on using WLR to help you shift anymore unwanted pounds.

A: The key to losing weight is wanting to do it badly enough and finding the motivation to carry it through – and it sounds as though you are struggling with this.

To start with, you need to ask yourself who you are losing weight for. If the answer is ‘me’ you’ll find it easier. However, if your best friend is nagging you to shape up in time for dress fittings or your partner has suggested you lose a bit of weight, you’ll constantly struggle, regardless of the diet you attempt to follow.

Furthermore, many people who struggle with motivation can’t see any benefit to losing weight so I suggest you write a list of how you would feel if you shifted that extra 2½ stone. This may include anything from looking better in your jeans, not getting out of breath on the dance floor, having more energy or feeling more confident in your love life. Most people who lose weight say they get far more out of life once they’re slim. In one study, for example, successful slimmers said they were more energetic, felt more confident, had a better mood, felt their health had improved, got more attention from people and even felt they were better at their job.

Surrounding yourself with a good support network may also help to spur you on – and WLR can certainly help you with that. By going into the chat room, you’ll meet plenty of like-minded people who all want to lose weight. The advantage of this is that you’ll always be able to find someone who has been through a difficult slimming patch and has come out the other side. And this alone can be all that it takes to keep you motivated and on track.

In the meantime, you may also find it helpful to enlist the help and support of friends and family. Do you have a friend you could exercise with? Could your partner also do with eating a more healthy diet? Or could you encourage your work colleagues to do a fruit run rather than a chocolate run every afternoon?

You’ll also find that once the weight starts to come off, the compliments will start to flood in – and this will also help to keep you motivated. Ultimately, providing you want to lose weight badly enough and have plenty of support to help you along the way, you’ll achieve your goal. Good luck!

A: Congratulations on losing weight AND deciding to give up smoking. Many people worry they’ll gain weight when they stop smoking, but this isn’t automatically the case, especially if you are forewarned of the potential pitfalls. To start with, you need to be aware that taste buds normally come back to life when you quit the weed, so food starts to taste nicer – and of course, this means you’re likely to eat more. The easiest way to prevent this, is to keep a careful watch on your portion sizes and make sure they’re not gradually increasing.

It’s also important to avoid using food as a substitute for cigarettes. Instead of putting a cigarette into their mouth, many people automatically replace this with food when they give up. Typical examples include munching a couple of packets of mints each day, swapping a mid-morning coffee and cigarette for a coffee and biscuits, finishing an evening meal with chocolate rather than a smoke and eating crisps while watching TV rather than smoking. If you’re aware of potential danger zones during the day, it will be much easier for you to avoid picking up bad habits. If you want to keep your mouth busy, sugar-free gum is a good option.

Finally, I suggest you continue to weigh yourself just once a week. That way if you do gain a pound or two, you can immediately take action rather than having to deal with a much bigger weight problem later down the line. Good luck.

A: Choosing all things green alone is unlikely to shift unwanted pounds. The term ‘organic’ refers only to the farming methods used to produce a food and has nothing to do with its calorie, fat, salt or sugar content. In fact, the Food Standards Agency says organic food doesn’t significantly differ in terms of its nutrition content to food produced conventionally. Sadly, this means organic chocolate, cakes and biscuits contain just as many calories as their non-organic counterparts, making them equally bad for waistlines!

However, if you’re thinking about eating more organic foods, it’s likely you’re also thinking about improving the quality of your diet – and this usually goes hand in hand with eating less processed, fatty and sugary foods and more fresh foods, perhaps explaining why your friend has lost weight.

As is always the case, the key to losing weight is to take in fewer calories than your body needs with the result that it has to use its fat reserves to meet energy requirements. This means if you want to eat organically and lose weight, you still need to stick to the daily calorie allowance set for you by WLR. And this means low-fat dairy products, lean meat, poultry, wholegrain breads and cereals, fruit and veg should be at the top of your shopping list while crisps, chocolate and biscuits should remain off limits – regardless of whether or not they’re produced organically.

Q: I’ve managed to lose a few pounds thanks to WLR but have realised I’m drinking too much alcohol. I usually have half a bottle of wine a night and always go to the pub on Friday although I’ve swapped my usual cider for gin. A big slice of my pie chart is always alcohol which means I’m not getting a clear picture of how my diet’s shaping up. Can you give me any advice?

Q: My friend has told me that if I want to lose weight quickly I should take laxatives as well as following a diet. But isn’t this bad for your digestive system?

Q: I get terrible cheese cravings around my time of the month and if I’m not careful can eat far too much without noticing. What can I do during the rest of the month to help balance this out, so it doesn’t wreck my diet?

Q: Last year I was diagnosed with a number of medical complaints including an underactive thyroid, liver disease and an early menopause. My doctor has told me not to worry about my weight but to eat healthily and not take too much exercise. Nevertheless, my size still depresses me. Is there anything else I can do?

Q: I eat out a lot, mainly in connection with work. However, most of the meals in the restaurants I go to seem to be laden with fat. What do you suggest?

Q: I’ve recently joined WLR and find I generally eat more protein and less fat than is recommended on my profile. Is this OK or should I really be sticking to my profile?

Q: I’ve never been tempted to try the Atkin’s diet but I recently watched a TV programme that said a high-protein diet could help to suppress appetite. Would a high protein, low-fat diet, with reduced rather than eliminated carbs, be a good idea?

Q: I have quite thin arms and legs and am not a big eater. However, I feel constantly bloated and have a rounded stomach. I’m enjoying using WLR but don’t feel it’s helping with the bloating. What do you recommend?

Q: After gaining weight and having no energy to exercise, I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid gland. Now having been on thyroxine I have more energy and am back at the gym twice a week. But instead of losing weight as my doctor promised, I’m continuing to put on weight. Does this mean that even when treated, an underactive thryroid will make it impossible for me shift those excess pounds?

Q: I’ve lost just over a stone in 11 weeks but am soon going to have a hysterectomy, which will severely restrict my activity levels and leave me off work for three months. How can I best protect the progress I’ve already made and maintain my weight loss in these circumstances?

Q: I’ve been having the Depo Provera contraceptive injection for the last nine years. Over this time, and despite several diets, I’ve gained 41/2 stone. My family planning nurse has told me the weight gain has nothing to do with the injection and I should simply eat less. However, I find it difficult to stick to a diet in the long term as there are times when I feel constantly hungry and I’ve even considered coming off the injection. Should I be trying harder or is the injection a factor?

Q: I weigh less than I have for a long time but my body fat has been lower in the past. Surely if I’m at my lowest weight, I should expect to have the least amount of body fat. Can you explain why this isn’t the case?

Q: I only ever drink diet cola and wonder what your views are on including it as part of a healthy diet?

Q: I don’t like water and as a result, usually struggle to drink enough each day. Is it OK to use squash to make it taste more interesting and should I include this as part of my daily calorie intake?

Q: I’ve recently been diagnosed with iron deficiency anaemia and am taking iron tablets three times a day. My doctor has suggested I eat liver and eggs but I don’t like either of these. What other iron-rich foods can I eat without ruining my diet?

Q: Most diets recommend including at least half a pint of skimmed milk each day but dairy products don’t agree with me and cause unpleasant side effects. Is it really so essential to include milk and if so, are there any suitable alternatives?

Q: I have an intolerance to cows milk and so avoid all dairy products. As a substitute, I use goat’s milk, cheese, butter and yoghurt. For my food diary, I’ve been adding goat’s milk as cow’s milk, goat’s cheese as Cheddar, goat’s yoghurt as cow’s yoghurt and goat’s butter as butter. But really I have no idea how they compare calorie wise. Can you shed any light?

Q: I reached my goal weight two years ago and have kept it steady ever since. However, I feel fat if I have more than 1,500 calories. Is this bad?

Q: I gave up smoking 3 months ago but am now at my heaviest weight ever and have recently been diagnosed with high blood pressure. Having yo-yo dieted for at least 18 years, I think my metabolism is rather slow. Can you give me any advice to kick start it once and for all?

Q: As a fat child I starved myself to be thin and went from a size 16 to a size 8. I loved my new life but put on some weight to see if it would make my boobs grow. Unfortunately, it got out of control and I gained 2 stone. Now, at the age of 19, I’m fat again and this time the weight won’t come off. I run 30 miles a week, do loads of toning exercises, go to the gym four times a week and have tried eating less, but nothing works. I don’t like leaving the house anymore and haven’t been out since Christmas. Has starving myself in the past made it impossible for me to lose weight now?

Q: I’m 52 year’s old, 12st 6lb and 5ft 3in and over the years have been on many diets. I’ve lost weight each time but then put it back on and more. Now I’m finding it difficult to lose weight at all – the calorie allowance on most diets allows me more than I eat to maintain my weight, let alone lose any. Have I damaged my metabolic rate by frequently dieting so that now I need to eat less and less in order to avoid putting on weight, and if so, what’s the solution?

Q: I have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), which makes losing weight really difficult. My doctor has advised me to limit carbs. Do you have any other tips on how I can boost my weight loss healthily?

Q: I have my evening meal at around 6pm and then go for a run at 8pm. I usually feel hungry when I get back in but just drink water and go to bed. Am I leaving enough time between eating and exercising?

Q: I broke my shoulder in January and so haven’t been able to do any exercise. I’ve gained so much weight and now weigh around 15 stone. What diet should I follow, bearing in mind I’ve still got a long way to go before I’m fully mobile?

Q: I’m a sales advisor and can either sit behind my desk all day or spend six hours showing people around houses. On the days I’m out of the office I walk for around 30 minutes and climb stairs for 20 minutes. The problem is I don’t have much energy. What foods do you suggest I eat?

Q: I go to the gym a lot and in the past instructors and nutritionists have recommended I try supplements aimed at mobilising fat to help me lose weight faster. I don’t want to do anything harmful to my body though or use them, only to regain all the weight when I stop taking them. What are your thoughts?

Q: I’m worried about all the additives in ready-made ‘healthy’ and ‘diet’ foods, but eating fresh, natural foods seems to tip me over my calorie allowance. Is it safe to eat foods with so many additives?

Q: I’ve noticed the warning ‘Contains a source of phenylalanine’ on many low-calorie drinks and yoghurts. I’ve heard this chemical can be dangerous. Is it better to consume drinks with sugar rather than those with these substitutes?

Q: A friend of mine is on a diet called Herbal Life, which consists of a green tea drink, some powders that are mixed with milk, a few vitamin tablets (I think) and a ‘no carbs but lots of salad and meat’ diet. It says you’ll lose 1lb a day or 20-30lb a month and costs £85 a month. My friend is very overweight and says she’s fed up trying to lose weight slowly by calorie counting or joining a club. But surely it’s not healthy to lose this much weight so quickly?

Q: I recently had a baby boy and have started a low-fat, high-fibre healthy eating plan given to me by my GP. I’ve also started to exercise twice a week. The problem is I’m not seeing any results. I’ve never dieted or exercised before. How long before I’ll see any difference?

Q: I have difficulty in processing fats and as a result, my doctor has advised me to follow a low-fat diet. Does this mean I should have fewer calories from fat than is suggested on my WLR profile?

Q: Even though I’m now at my target weight, I rarely eat above 25g fat each day apart from on special occasions. Is it harmful to not eat enough fat?

Q My GP has told me I have a high cholesterol level. Before putting me on drugs, he wants to see if losing weight and changing my diet will help lower it. What dietary changes should I make?

Q I recently heard a friend talking about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ cholesterol. I thought there was just one type of cholesterol. Can you explain more?

Q My doctor has told me to eat a low-fat diet but I’m not really sure what this means. How much fat should I eat and is this total fat or saturated fat?

Q I’ve noticed a lot of foods contain hydrogenated fat. Is this bad for my diet?

Q I rarely get home from work before 8.30pm and so don’t normally eat my dinner until gone 9pm. After I’ve eaten I don’t do much, except watch TV or read and then go to bed. Will eating so late at night stop me from losing weight?

Q I’ve read you shouldn’t eat after 6pm if you want to lose weight. Is this true?

Q Eight years ago I lost 8 stone through sensible eating and exercise. Since going through the menopause, I’ve gained 3 stone in 18 months despite eating the same way and going to the gym 3-4 times a week. Now, I can’t seem to shift it. What do you recommend?

Q: I stick to 1,000 calories a day but do very little exercise as I have sciatica and arthritis. I’ve lost just over a stone since joining WLR and am enjoying the diet. But I’m worried I’ll soon stop losing weight because I’m not very active. My GP thinks it’s highly unlikely that I’ll carry on losing weight. Should I be referred to the hospital dietitian?

Q: When you get to your target weight, what’s the best way to maintain it? Should you increase your calorie intake all at once or by so many calories each day?

Q My friend and I are the same height but I’m 2 stone heavier. We’ve both joined Weight Loss Resources and chosen to lose 2lb a week. Can you explain why I’m allowed more calories a day than my friend? Surely the heavier you are, the fewer calories you need to lose weight

Q I’ve opted to lose 1½lb a week with WLR but am finding it hard to stick to the same calorie allowance every day. During the week I tend to have less calories than I’m allowed, but at weekends I find I’m usually over my calorie allowance. Is it OK to bank any calories that are left at the end of the week and have them at the weekend when I’m more likely to go out for a drink?

Q My WLR profile is set to allow me to lose 2lb a week. But despite sometimes having calories left at the end of the week, I find I’ve only lost 1lb or worst still, nothing. I write down everything I eat in my diary. Where am I going wrong?

Q: I’ve done well so far but can’t get past 17 stone. I’m sticking to the recommended 1,950 calories and am exercising every other day at the gym, burning 800-1,000 calories according to the machines. Should I change my exercise programme or alter my diet to start losing weight again?

Q I’ve lost a couple of stone with WLR and am just half a stone from my target. Now, all of a sudden I’ve stopped losing weight, and nothing I do seems to work. What can I do to get off this weight loss plateau?

Q: A friend has told me that as a vegetarian, I’m in danger of missing out on essential vitamins and minerals, particularly zinc and the B vitamins. Is this true, and if so, what foods should I eat that provide these nutrients but aren’t that high in calories?

Q: I’m a vegan but have also been told not to eat wheat due to an intolerance. However, I’m finding it very hard to get the right nutrients and find foods that I can eat that don’t contain wheat or dairy. What do you recommend?

Q I follow a vegetarian diet and am having trouble getting enough protein. What foods can I eat more of without blowing my calorie allowance?

Q I need to lose about 1 stone but find it difficult as I have an intolerance to raw fruit and most raw vegetables, except for lettuce, red onion and cucumber. I can however, eat cooked fruit and veg. Can you recommend any substitutes that will give me the same nutrients as those provided by raw fruit and veg?

Q I know I’m supposed to eat five servings of fruit and veg each day, but what exactly counts as a portion?

Q I have type 2 diabetes and need to lose about 9lb. Would it be safe to follow the GI diet?

Q I’ve lost 4 stone and have another 8 stone to go. I’m new to WLR and think it’s fantastic, but it’s made me realise I might be having too many carbohydrates. Normally my fat intake provides about 20 percent of my calories and my carbs around 60-65 percent. Is this OK?

Q I know I should eat a high-fibre diet if I want to lose weight but it seems to upset my digestive system. What should I do?

Q Everyone in my family is overweight, including me. Does this mean I’ve inherited the condition and no matter how hard I try to lose weight, I’ll never do it?

Q I need to lose 7 stone and have finally decided to do something about it. However, I’m concerned that once I’ve lost weight I’ll be left with lots of sagging skin, especially around my stomach. I know exercise will help but at the moment I get tired just carrying my bulk around and anything that exerts me causes soreness and rubbing. What do you suggest?