Christina Kubisch - Azur

In Interval Weight Loss Dr Fuller explained we all have a set weight at which our bodies feel most comfortable, and those who go on fad diets often end up regaining the kilos theyve lost hence the expression battle of the bulge.

In this companion book Dr Fuller takes you, stage by stage, through the process of convincing your body its at a new optimal weight so that you become slimmer and stay that way. And he answers all the questions readers have asked him, such as:

How should I kick-start the process?

What should I do if I find my weight plateauing?

Do I need to avoid certain foods?

What should I do now that Im at my goal weight?

Filled with new nutritious recipes, and helpful, no-nonsense advice, Interval Weight Loss for Life provides you with the essential information that has enabled thousands of people to lose weight and keep it off. So, if youre feeling battle-weary and are about to give up, then put down the latest celebrity diet youre reading and arm yourself with this book. The battle of the bulge is almost over.

If youre exhausted by your battle with your weight, youre not alone. I am a leading weight-loss researcher at the University of Sydney, and after 15 years working in this field I have helped countless patients from different cultures, backgrounds and age groups who have had only one thing in common: their failure to lose weight.

Although the media loves to portray those who struggle with their weight as lazy and uneducated the implication being that its all their fault this simply isnt true. Many of my patients have been highly educated and, far from being lazy, the vast majority have been so committed to losing weight that they had tried numerous diets before they met me. How could it be, then, that they had still been gaining weight, I wondered? And why were my group of patients simply a microcosm of what was going on at a much larger scale in Australia and across the globe? Could the very act of dieting have something to do with their weight gain?

Determined to help, I made it my mission to find out. My team and I managed to make some crucial findings that really can make a difference. Certainly the vast majority of my patients went on to lose weight and keep it off long term under my guidance, using what I call the Interval Weight Loss approach.

My first book, Interval Weight Loss , outlined this technique, which is based on the concept of the set point. Everybody has a set point the weight your body is most comfortable being at and tries to defend when you gain or lose weight. Its the weight that you remain at for a long period of time and that youll bounce back to after every bout of dieting you attempt. The Interval Weight Loss approach helps your body to work differently so it feels comfortable at its new weight and doesnt work to defend its set point.

After Interval Weight Loss was published, the response from readers was overwhelming and I received a flood of letters from people thanking me for writing the book and saying they could relate to the stories of yo-yo dieting I was sharing. Many people also requested consultations. As much as Id like to take on lots of new private patients, it isnt feasible, but fortunately for many people its also not necessary to be in a hospital clinic to lose weight (and nor do you require the team of specialist chefs and personal trainers that celebrities have). With the new information contained in this book, you will be empowered to succeed.

Some of you may be turning to this book because youve read Interval Weight Loss and are either on your way to achieving, or have achieved, your ideal body weight and want to maintain it. Some of you may have plateaued and need further tips. And some may not have read my first book and wonder what Interval Weight Loss is all about. Whatever your reason for picking up Interval Weight Loss for Life , I hope you find it a practical guide to sustainable weight loss that you can turn to whenever youre struggling. Its intended to be a step-by-step guide that gives further information on Interval Weight Loss and how to apply it to your own life long term . Ill get into the nitty gritty of the Interval Weight Loss plan so that no challenge will bring you unstuck. And since Im glad to say many of you were kind enough to write in saying you found the recipes in my first book helpful, I have included some new meals that are nutritious, tasty and designed to be easy enough for the whole family to enjoy.

Two out of every three people now struggle with excess weight. We are getting fatter as a society and this is consistent across the globe. More and more people who were previously overweight (clinically diagnosed by a Body Mass Index of 2530 kg/m2) have now developed obesity (a Body Mass Index of more than 30 kg/m2) a more concerning condition still.

The obesity rate for North American adults is currently at a whopping 38 per cent, and the United States is the heaviest nation in the world. Running a close second is its bordering neighbour, Mexico, with an obesity rate of 32 per cent, followed by New Zealand, Hungary, Australia and the United Kingdom. At an enormous obesity rate of 28 per cent, we are the worlds fifth fattest people. And things are only going to get worse. Its predicted that by 2030, these numbers will hit 47 per cent for the United States, 39 per cent for Mexico and 35 per cent for Australia and the United Kingdom. Its my mission to reverse this upward trend in Australia.

Unlike Australia, countries such as the United States consider obesity a disease. In fact, the World Health Organization published a report in 2000 stating that obesity was a chronic disease that had become so common that it is replacing the more traditional public health concerns, including under-nutrition and infectious disease, as one of the most significant contributors to ill health.

Why? Because its extremely hard to return to a healthy weight from being overweight. The body is smart and will tend to work back to its starting point, or what I refer to as the set point (more on this later). Yes, its easy to lose those first few kilos, but very difficult to keep them off long term. Your body will make it difficult not to regain the weight you lose every single time. And, sadly, with this excess body weight you are more likely to develop other diseases down the track such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease, to name just a couple. Your body stops working as efficiently when it carries excess fat, because fat is a stress on the body, preventing vital organs such as the liver from doing their job properly.

Your weight can creep up without you noticing and, as my client Jasmine discovered, there are key points in your life when youre susceptible to gaining weight.