Charles Stuart Platkin is known as the Diet Detective. Starting with a need to battle his own weight issues, he researched what worked and what didn’t.  His success led to a 30lb weight loss and healthy lifestyle going 10 years strong.  Now he is bringing those principals to a new show on WEtv in a series called “I Want to Save Your Life” of one on one psychology, diet, and exercise consultations with individuals dealing with obesity.  I had the opportunity to speak to Charles and to preview the first episode which airs this Saturday 10pm/9c on WEtv and his passion came across as strongly in his interview as it does in the show.

In the week he spends with the individuals, in their lives, he starts by finding the reason why they want to be healthy. He stresses that change won’t come if you don’t have a clear reason…you have to know why you want to be healthy. Do you want to see your grandchildren grow up?    He also warns against being a diet hero.   Keeping the tempting foods around for everyone else will just cause you to fail in the end. “Willpower is temporary and power is eternal.”

“Don’t make drastic changes in your life”, he says,”you might have a harder time than the next person, but there are things that you can do to lose weight and change the behavior. You just have to do the research and make an individual life plan.”

The show takes you through his struggle to get each of them to realize their desire to truly change, their plan and the ways each person must implement them, and a 4 month post visit to chart their progress.  Charles offers unique challenges and comparisons to motivate the people to change their lives for good.

He offered a few tips on healthy living too.  Look for foods with clean labels. This has made the biggest difference in his own life.  Organic is best if you can afford it, but if cost is an issue, try to buy organic in those foods that are the worst for pesticide residue such as – peaches, apples, bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, and for meats – poultry.

This is an inspirational show with great healthy lifestyle lessons for even those who don’t have weight challenges.  Have any challenges of your own or just want a more tips for a healthy lifestyle?  Catch the Diet Detective this Saturday!