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MILLIONS of overweight Britons are at risk of life-threatening disease. As a last resort, many are turning to gastric band surgery -- on the NHS and, more often, privately. But do they understand what's involved? TV presenter Anne Diamond knew little about the procedure when she had a gastric band fitted three years ago -- with disastrous consequences. Here, in an extract from her new book, she reveals why she was so desperate to have the surgery, and warns anyone considering it to do their research thoroughly. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

WHEN Anne Diamond joined ITV's Celebrity Fit Club in January she hoped to conquer the weight problem that had blighted her life for years. But instead of dropping the pounds, the 51-year-old TV presenter gained unwanted column inches when she admitted undergoing an operation to aid weight loss before joining the show. Her revelation strained her relationship with other cast members, some of whom accused her of cheating. Things came to a head this week when it emerged Anne had lost only a pound in three weeks. The other contestants turned on her, forcing her to consider leaving the show. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

When French minister Rachida Dati returned to work just five days after giving birth, she sparked a furious debate among women. Here, two high-fliers who also went back within five days take very different sides in … [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

SO, FAT women always lose out in life. New medical research claims that they are more likely to lose their jobs, become a victim of crime, be a criminal themselves and even suffer the death of a loved one, than their slimmer sisters. It's enough to send most curvy women straight to the biscuit tin, but the results of this study are no surprise to me. As someone who has endured a ten-year battle with my weight, I know that being overweight has a huge impact on every area of your life. It isn't just me. Fat is a four-letter word to every woman I know. It's the ultimate insult, even if it's untrue -- because it's not just about appearance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A YEAR has passed since I walked out of ITV's Celebrity Fit Club -- shocked by the vindictiveness of my fellow contestants and the so-called experts when they found I'd had a gastric band fitted. During eight years of being overweight and a public battle with the bulge, I had grown used to society's patronising attitude to fat. But that experience 12 months ago compounded everything I had feared about what it's like to be fat in a fattist society, and the abuse an overweight person attracts. Since then, I have lost four stone and dropped five dress sizes, but more importantly I have regained my self-esteem. Just how much was brought home to me this week when I read of another miserable former fatty's experience. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

BROADCASTER and health campaigner Anne Diamond hit the headlines earlier this year when she confessed she'd had a gastric band operation to help her lose weight. Some said her move was reckless and life-threatening -- others applauded her for taking decisive action against obesity. She was ousted from TV's Celebrity Fit Club for having what some deemed an unfair advantage. Now Anne, 50, reveals what was really happening behind the scenes, how her operation was bungled and how she had to be 'rescued' by a team of British surgeons before her gastric band could work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

HAVE you spotted the latest TV craze? Making over fat people -- turning fat into thin, making large whales transform before your eyes into minnows. We sit at home, curled up on our sofas, eating popcorn and Pot Noodles, and watch fat people suffer the indignity of weigh-ins and sweating through gym sessions, while we ponder how they let themselves get into such a state -- how they 'let themselves go'. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

DEAR ANNE, MY SON, 22, has just dropped out of university and come back home to live. He has no job -- all he does is sit in his room all day, coming downstairs only to eat us out of house and home. We suspect that when he does go out he is smoking marijuana. He has become withdrawn, moody and is hostile when we even attempt to talk about his plans for the future. I am considering giving him the ultimatum to stand on his own two feet and get a job or get out, but I'm worried this will drive him away. What should I do? [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

LAST week, I felt I was tabloid fodder again. I opened my paper to find one of Britain's best writers lecturing me imperiously on the rights and wrongs of bedding married men. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

HER life has been a series of intoxicating highs and gut-wrenching lows. In a devastatingly honest autobiography, Anne Diamond reveals the truth about the savage emotional blows that wrecked her life as the golden girl of British TV. Today, in our second extract, she discloses the private struggles behind her glory days at TV-am. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ANNE DIAMOND has mixed a high-profile media career with family life, faced personal tragedy and even done a spell in the Big Brother house. She harnesses all those experiences to help you in our agony aunt column. Each week she will be joined by a team of experts in the field who will bring a different slant to a reader's query. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ANNE DIAMOND, broadcaster, journalist and mother, has mixed a high-profile career with family life, faced personal tragedy and even done a spell in the Big Brother house. Now she is going to harness all those experiences to help you in a brilliant new agony aunt column. Each week she will be joined by a team of experts in the field who will bring a different slant to a reader's query. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

HAVE you had bad news or something?' asked the woman behind the till at my local all-night garage. Well, it was midnight, and I was buying a bar of chocolate and two tubs of cookie-dough ice cream. In my slippers. She knew the look of a comfort eater, all right. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]