Do I have the true secret of weight loss? Yes and no. I have but you probably won't want to hear it because it's not what you're hoping for.

I'm going to ask you to stop seeking the big secret and ask you to pay attention to a smaller secret that you actually already know - that if you make little changes every day, you will reach your goal weight quicker than if you wait for that big idea.

It is not some quickie solution - do it now and all that weight will be gone overnight. But I promise you will save a lot of money and anguish along the way.

What little changes can you make every day?

Choose one each day (or week) in each of the following three areas: Improving your nutrition, improving your eating habits and getting yourself moving.

For example, in the area of nutrition, one day you could decide to add a new vegetable to your diet - and remove chips on that day.

So far as eating habits go, you may make a firm decision not to eat in the car any more.

And in the area of getting moving, you resolve to park your car at the furthest end of the shopping mall.

Promise yourself to keep up your three choices for a week then, the following week, take on board another group of three improvements while maintaining the first three.

Write your decisions down. It will help you make a firmer commitment to yourself.

Even better, tell an understanding friend what you decide each week.

Agreed? An improvement a day (or even a week) will get you there quicker than a trip to a health farm one week followed by a binge and a cabbage diet the next.

I must tell you about a silly thing that happened to me. It was a totally new experience and the sort of thing you can look forward to if you accept this step-by-step route to weight loss.

Last week I met up with a friend for coffee. As we were settling in at our table, I sat down and, whoops, the chair collapsed in pieces under me.

I wasn't hurt at all and managed to stop myself landing on the floor. All we could do was laugh - it was funny.

Once finally settled with our now-cold coffee, I had time to think about the implications of what had just happened.

In a previous era, in my overweight days, I would have felt absolutely mortified if I had broken a chair in public.

I would have felt utterly embarrassed and ashamed.

I would have felt all eyes on me, with everyone thinking to themselves: "Well, of course she would break the chair - she's overweight."

It was a pleasure to know and gave me a wonderfully comfortable feeling that no one around me could say such a thing of me now.

Like me, they would conclude the chair was faulty.

It sounds like a silly story but it has deep implications for self esteem.

If you keep in mind the pleasures in store for you when you reach permanent weight loss, you'll get there quicker.

I promise you it's worth it just for all those times you fall off a chair.

You can get support from Dr Judy Citron and her team of DietCoaches by joining her telephone weight-loss classes, right from your own home. "You lose weight and you're not on a diet. It's amazing."

Phone free for more information on 0800 074 0260 or visit the web site at www.thedietcoach.com