'I love food. Even worse, I love junk food. If lard could be double deep-friend I would eat it. If I could deep-fry headache pills I would. So it's no wonder I'm now the size of a small yet economically viable continent...'

When A.J. Rochester is selected to feature in a television series on obesity, she is at first appalled and then resolved. At 100 kilos (17 stone), she knows she needs to lose weight - not because she yearns to become a twiglet but so she can keep up with her little boy and turn her life around at last. But after years of fighting a losing battle with the flab, A.J. knows she needs a miracle. So she decides to ditch the 'quick-fix' diets and try a new approach - one that involves discovering her own inner strength.

Confessions of a Reformed Dieter charts the highs, lows and plateaus of A.J.'s incredible journey, from overcoming an early setback - waking up in hospital with a broken leg after a drunken binge - to the triumph of shedding the first, and last, kilo.

The result is a funny, insightful and inspiring account of a woman who lost 40 kilos without losing her sense of humour - and discovered a whole new life.