Dr Kate Barnes is a GP and a trained hypnotherapist. We asked for her professional appraisal of 46 GONE. This is what she wrote: Mike Sheppard, a professional musician and composer, has produced a wonderfully accessible programme that is straightforward for anyone to follow. It was kick-started by a need for him to focus on healthy eating and weight loss through his own fear of contracting covid-19 with personal health issues related to obesity. A silver lining to a profoundly difficult period of time, he has found a way to lose and maintain a healthy weight and simultaneously compiled a...

The British government is so worried about obesity in relation to covid-19 that they have announced a new strategy to help us resist junk food, including a 9pm 'watershed' for TV and online adverts for food high in fat, sugar, and salt; calorie content displayed on restaurant menus for food and alcoholic drinks, and an end to “buy one and get one free” deals on unhealthy food. Having a BMI of 35 to 40 may increase the risk of death from covid-19 by 40%, while a BMI of over 40 could increase the risk by 90%, says a Public Health...

As we get older we face the challenge of maintaining our ageing bodies whilst adjusting to the fact that as our bodies change, we may have to deal with certain limitations. Like it or not, in our sixties our bodies start to lose their ‘bounce’. Our metabolisms slow down just at the time when we may start to feel less inclined to exercise. On my 62nd birthday I felt like I was walking around with a big sign on my back saying, “hey, virus, come and get me!” I had coronary heart disease, for which I had been fitted with...