Diet meals. What are available?

Experts, well, some self-styled experts, it has to be admitted, pontificate long and hard on how easy it is to lose weight.

One person I know said: "There's no need for people to be fat! All they need do is to consume less calories than they expend in a day and they will lose weight! It's easy!"

Well, no. It isn't that easy. Interestingly the person who made that statement is very slender, yet during the day she will eat two Cornish pasties, two sausage rolls, several packets of crisps, some nuts, a noodle pot and a bewildering range of confectionery, including several chocolate bars and a bag or three of hard sweets.

Everyone who works with her is fascinated -and perhaps a little envious- of her ability to consume so many calories and yet not put any weight on. She is in her mid-30s and has given birth to two children and is, to be fair, known for her consumption of alcohol.

For the rest of us, those of us who have slower metabolisms, who would put weight on just by looking at what my acquaintance eats during the day, it seems that it is a good deal harder than just expending more calories than we consume.

Yes, exercise is a key part of losing weight or, at the very least, keeping our weight stable (the suggested 10,000 steps a day is a good starting point) and we need to ensure that we have a well-balanced diet but sometimes we do need the help of expert nutritionists and dieticians.

But! Just ask for an appointment locally with a nutritionist or a dietician and you may, unfortunately, discover that such appointments are either rare or non-existent in your area.

When I was much younger I severely injured my knee in a motorbike accident. As a result of this I found walking difficult so, inevitably, I began to put on some weight.

I visited my doctor, who referred me to the elderly and somewhat customer-surly practice nurse who merely handed me a "diet" sheet that advised me to consume a certain breakfast cereal as the so-called diet sheet was a barely disguised advert for a well-known breakfast cereal. Which I found to be of absolutely no help whatsoever.

And speaking to health care professionals locally, the situation is no better, even though there is, or so we are told, a greater understanding of the part an understanding of the importance of the science of nutrition is in modern life. It's a pity, but this increased understanding has, in many areas, failed to result in actual positive steps to help people with their diet, even though there are government programmes that are supposed to help you and your family to be more healthy.

However, we can tap into the expert help of nutritionists who can help us look after our calorific intake and the amount of minerals and vitamins that we consume.

They can do this for us as they work for companies who produce diet systems which consist of diet meals, diet shakes and diet meal. bars.

Over the next while That's Health and sister publication That's Food and Drink will be publishing a series of articles featuring a range of diet systems specifically designed to help you taker control of your life and what you consume.