Book excerpt: DIETS & DIETING. Large print edition. The reason why diets don't work for so many people is that they are actually binge eaters. This means that they can diet reasonably successfully until they get a taste of one of their trigger foods, whereupon they lose all self-control and eat as much food as they can physically cram in. The result is that a binger will be on a permanent see-saw of weight loss and weight gain, accompanied by varying degrees of guilt, anger, depression and frustration. This is not a diet book but a "get real" book, an antidote to all the quick-fix weight-loss books stuffed with unrealistic, restrictive and silly eating plans' The Times.