What women do to stay size 10 (they eat, they don't eat, they exercise, they go under the knife...)

Today The Sun is running an article on 'What women will do to stay size 10'. It features a serial gym-goer who exercises twice daily, a woman who never consumes over 1500 calories in a day, and one lucky lady who can work her way through cheesy pasta, two chocolate bars, a pastry and a packet of biscuits a day and still stay slim. In short, it's a frightening look at what we do (and don't do) to be thin...

Those ladies aside, it was the story of 36-year-old Michelle - who's had both gastric band and gastric bypass surgery to lose weight - that shocked me the most. In the wake of Fern Britton's completely un-shocking announcement that she'd lost weight after having a gastric band fitted, everyone's jumping on the weight-loss surgery bandwagon. Including Michelle.

Freely admitting she was obese because she ate too much, and even confessing that after her first op she 'cheated' by eating foods that would melt in her stomach, she now say "for me having surgery is the only way to guarantee staying a perfect 10. I'm now living my dream."

What gets to me about Michelle's story is that there's no mention at all of any exercise or healthy eating that she's been doing throughout this struggle. I know how hard it is to lose weight and I don't have an issue with women who've let things get so bad that they feel surgery is the only way then can get their life back. At least they're doing something. But it should always be accompanied by effort and willpower. People are quick to point the finger at Fern for 'lying', but at least she was exercising as she dropped the weight (This Morning fans will know she's done charity bike rides and so on over the last few years).

For all I know, Michelle may have been running 10k every day...but it's not mentioned anywhere. What is mentioned is the fact she gorged on chocolate between her two surgeries, let 'being contented' result in weight gain equivalent to an Olsen Twin, and thinks that "10 is the perfect dress size - you are very slim."

And they ask whether the media is to blame for eating disorders...