An inability to reduce her weight of almost 16st without immediately putting the pounds back on led Anne Diamond to seek bariatric surgery “as a last resort”.

The former television presenter, now patron of the National Obesity Forum, said she realised that the health risks she faced while morbidly obese were too great to continue a losing battle with yo-yo dieting.

Instead, following medical advice, she opted for a gastric band to be put round her stomach, just under two years ago. She has also had some behavioural therapy, and her weight has dropped dramatically, to about 10st.

Describing the procedure as extremely nerve-racking, Ms Diamond told The Times that it had been worth it to bring consistency to her weight loss, but it should be considered the last option. “Left to my own devices I was going to lose weight, and then put on even more weight,” she said.

“I had lost the same 4st four times over. I had high blood pressure, and I knew that my weight was risking problems such as diabetes, so I decided to act.

“But you have to be at the end of your tether, because the idea that you can just go into this lightly is not realistic. It isn’t a magic potion. It requires a lot of hard work and for some people it still doesn’t work.”

For Ms Diamond, who has written a book, Winning the Fat War, about her experiences and those of others, the hard work paid off, but slowly.

“It brought results eventually, and I am very pleased to be back down to a normal weight.

As an operation, it is a pretty terrifying prospect but the fact is, it’s more terrifying to be staying obese.”

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