Transmitted in August 2004

Many of us feel we need to get a grip on our lives and our weight, so start out on a diet. But which one? Should we exercise as well? And, if so, what sort of exercise?

Programme one
In the first programme the journalist and actress Maria McErlane goes in search of inner cleanliness when she says goodbye to wheat and dairy products, coffee, tea and alcohol for a month. Her body is scoured for toxins and intolerances, a month-long detox plan is devised and tri-weekly electronic massage sessions are planned. The promise is to break down fat cells and achieve a minimum of 10 pounds in weight loss after four weeks. But can she stick to the diet and give up her passion for chocolates?

Diet Another Day looks at the lengths that many detox dieters will go to: organic and raw food diets, colonic irrigation – anything, it seems, with the ‘alternative’ stamp of approval. Alternative dieting is big business, but will it last?

Programme two
The gym business is booming, the more we spend on exercise machines and gym membership the less guilty we feel. Millions of us sign up for gyms, but end up only going a couple of times before letting our membership lapse. We all suffer from gym guilt - but should we? Is gym culture really little more than a modern-day social club; a new bar to hang out in and catch up with friends?

Mariella Frostrup and Nell McAndrew are among those who believe we shouldn't be working ourselves up about not working up a sweat. Meanwhile presenter Kaye Adams, like every new mum, will try anything to get rid of her belly and lose a few post-birth pounds. Fitness expert Julie Hanson has worked out a regime that mixes yoga and pilates to help her achieve it. As Kaye admits, she can quite guiltlessly walk past her abdominal cruncher every day of the week, so how easy will it be to fit exercise into her everyday life - and is a month enough to change your body shape?

Programme three
There are thousands of diet books available and they all promise a magic formula for losing weight. They are seductive with their claims and glamorous celebrities endorse them. We all love and buy the books and magazines to devour them. Each January we swear this year will be the one where we shed our excess fat and take control of our eating habits.

Journalist and broadcaster Eve Pollard chooses one of the newest diets on the market to test. She's excited and starts with the best of intentions but will it work with her hectic and glamorous lifestyle? Diets go in and out of fashion and we chop and change in order to get those pounds off as quickly as possible. If you find them hard to stick to, rest assured, you are not alone but there may always be another one just around the corner that is the right one for you...

Programme four
The final episode in the series looks at the dieters who just can't do it by themselves. Chubby chums need a little help from their friends - so it's off to the nearest slimming club for a shared experience and the advice of former fatties.

Such clubs offer a social way to shed pounds and you get lots of support in your quest for the new you. But your failure is their success - so what are the chances of them providing you with a dream figure? Kate Spicer is a restaurant critic and has to eat for a living. Is it possible to belong to a slimming club and do her job at the same time? As Kate signs up for a month, we see her attempts to follow the plan and make new pals as she goes through the ritual of the weekly weigh-in. If she follows the rules, she should shed pounds by the end of the month. Food is her life - how will she cope?

Find out more about weight and dieting in our series of articles:

Complementary medicine - overweight - how complementary therapies can help along with a diet and exercise programme.
Food matters - detox today or diet tomorrow? - the low-down on detoxing.
Realistic goals - breaking the obesity spiral - the health risk associated with obesity and how to set realistic goals for losing body fat.
Fat blokes - can lose weight too - slimming clubs for men and surgery as a last resort.
Body image - how we can learn to love our bodies - body dissatisfaction is now common amongst girls and women of all ages.
Could fat be catching? - is a fat virus responsible for the obesity epidemic sweeping the Western world.