Finding better ways to lose weight and keep it off, while improving mood, sleep and metabolic health, is, for me, a hugely personal quest.

Some people find it easy to maintain a healthy weight when surrounded by endless temptation. But not me.

My wife Clare seems to manage it without thought.

She is now 60 years old, but is the same size and shape as when we first met at medical school 41 years ago and could probably still fit into the clothes she wore then.

Despite having had four children, she has never put on weight and has never dieted.

I am completely different, and probably more typical of most people.

I steadily gained weight through my 20s, 30s, and 40s through eating lots of calorie-laden snacks and sleeping badly.

By my mid-50s I was 13½ st, 2 st (13kg) heavier than when I first met Clare. It was only when I was told that I had type 2 diabetes that we realised I had to act.

You will probably know I have made a TV career out of using myself as a guinea pig for scientific experiments, so rather than start on medication I made a documentary called Eat, Fast, Live Longer, during the course of which I discovered the benefits of intermittent fasting, developed my now famous 5:2 diet plan, lost 1 st 6 lb (9 kg) and turned my life around.

Since then, I have kept the weight off, and my blood sugar levels are in the healthy range (without medication), but it hasn't been effortless.

My weight goes up and down and Brindes para Empresas I am well aware of the need to keep an eye on my waist.

As a writer and broadcaster, I have also maintained an obsessive interest in following the latest weight-loss research, the reasons that so many of us are gaining weight, and the most effective and effortless ways to lose those excess pounds and keep them off.

Since writing The Fast Diet in 2012, I have adapted and tweaked my advice in response to new research in multiple different ways — starting with a rapid weight-loss phase, adding in an element of 'time-restricted eating', known as TRE, which means extending your night-time fast and eating within a shortened window, to glean the health benefits of fasting and incorporating foods to feed the beneficial gut bacteria.

The Fast 800 plan has been phenomenally successful.

More than 40,000 people have completed the online programme with an average weight loss — among those who started off significantly overweight — of 1 st 5 lb (8.7 kg) after one year.

It is now seen by many, particularly among the medical profession, as an excellent way to lose weight and improve your health, including helping those at risk of type 2 diabetes improve their blood sugar levels.

Say goodbye to belly fat like I did 

There is always room for improvement, though, and over the past few years there has been fascinating research about the power of protein and the brilliant impact on hunger of cutting back on carbohydrates, so your body goes into a fat-burning state called 'ketosis'.

I used this research to modify my approach, making my Fast 800 plan even easier to stick to and more effective.