Have less food for permanent weight control (Reissue)

London, A Scottish Government advisor has called for ditching the WeightWatchers programme and eating less food for permanent weight control.

Despite its claim that its fast weight loss methods have attracted celebrity endorsements from Jennifer Hudson to Sarah Ferguson, Dr Kirsty Kiezebrink, of the state-funded Health Services Research Unit, has opined that the the programme could be painful and pointless.

She has conceded that people who stick to the firm''s dietary plans lose weight but claimed the majority then pile it back on again.

You are not realistically going to live on those products forever. It doesn''t educate you how to change your lifestyle, Scotsman.com quoted the Aberdeen University-based research fellow as saying.

Unless you want to carry on giving WeightWatchers money you have got to come back to a normal, non-supported diet and you are likely to regain the weight that you lost, she said.

She believed that points-based dieting could leave people in a vicious circle of weight fluctuation and claimed that the popularity of fast fix diet schemes were actually contributing to the nation''s growing obesity problems.

The only diet that I have found to be particularly effective is portion control. People get hung up on portion sizes, but my advice is, whatever you usually eat, have a bit less. Only do what is achievable, don''t set yourself up to fail, she added.