Dear Mary: My wife and I went on a diet but she has put the weight back on — and added some more. How can I help her?

"You should also bear in mind that genetics have a part to play in our propensity to gain weight, so it may be much more difficult for your wife than it is for you to keep the weight off." Image: Getty

Mary O'Conor

Question: My wife and I are in our late forties with a good relationship and three healthy children in their teens who are pretty well adjusted. But over the past 10 years or so, both my wife and I have gradually put on more and more weight to such an extent that six months ago our doctor had serious talks with both of us. He told us that we would have to lose weight or else we face increasing health problems as we got older.

We were both rather shocked at how forthright our doctor was — even though he spoke to each of us separately. As a result of this we looked into all the options, including Ozempic and other injections (but didn’t like the possible side effects), a tummy tuck (very expensive in Ireland — very dangerous abroad) and decided just to go on a new regime of eating: almost no potatoes, rice, bread or pasta and also cutting down on the booze — particularly the spirits and the pints of stout. I didn’t miss the booze so much (just three nights a week with no booze!) and the food was actually delicious without the carbs.