Let me start with an embarrassing confession: for years, patients with a weight problem were among my least favourite cases to deal with as a doctor. Back then they filled me with despair, because despite giving them the suggestions set out in official guidelines, they rarely — if ever — lost weight, and the health of those with type 2 diabetes so often just got worse. When I look back, I see now that it was my fault: I gave poor advice, then blamed my patients when it didn't work. But now I've found a proven way to help them. And these days I actually enjoy helping people lose weight because we're seeing such great results with this in my GP practice.