Mr Mason, 48, now weighs 49st after shedding 20st to make him eligible for gastric bypass surgery, but is still believed to be the heaviest man alive today.

The former postman has now had the band fitted, and is understood to have told staff at Chichester Hospital, West Sussex, about his book plans during his three week stay.

He wants to tell people how he achieved his dramatic weight-loss, and will write all about it in the autobiography, which he is calling ‘The Journey’.

A source told The Sun: “He has been telling people in hospital how he has been writing this book and it will reveal how he has managed to lose so much weight. He has been in good spirits.”

Prior to the treatment, Mr Mason admitted eating 20,000 calories a day, eight times the amount needed by an average man.

His care bill costs taxpayers an estimated £100,000 a year and is believed to have topped £1 million over the last 15 years.

Firefighters had to demolish the front wall of Mr Mason’s former home in Ipswich so they could drive a fork lift truck inside to lift him out and put him into an ambulance when he needed a hernia operation in 2002.

Mr Mason took the title of the world’s heaviest man after Mexican Manuel Uribe, 43, more than halved his 90st weight to get married last year.

Manuel Uribe

THE ZONE DIET
Sample Zone Diet Meals And Menus
ZONE DIET MEAL AND MENU – BREAKFAST ZONE DIET MENU -
Female

Scrambled Eggs

4 egg whites or 1/2 cup egg substitute

1 ounce non-fat cheese, shredded

1 cup grapes

1/2 piece rye toast

2/3 teaspoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon natural peanut butter

ZONE DIET MENU – LUNCH

Cheeseburger4 1/2 ounces lean ground beef (10% fat or less)

1 slice reduced fat cheese

1 slice each tomato, lettuce, onion                        

1 piece rye bread

1/2 apple

6 peanuts

ZONE DIET MENU – DINNER
Female
 BBQ Chicken

3 ounces skinless chicken breast

1 slice each lemon and onion

1/2 teaspoon barbecue sauce

1 1/2 cups steamed cauliflower

Spinach salad

The Mayo Clinic Diet

The Mayo Clinic Diet was a very popular diet in the 1970s and 80s. Now it’s back with a brand new book, The Mayo Clinic Diet: Eat Well. Enjoy Life. Lose Weight, which has been such a huge hit in the States it’s risen to the top of the New York Times bestseller list. The book kicks off with a two week plan that involves replacing five bad habits (such as mindlessly eating in front of the TV and eating sweets after meals) with five good ones (always have breakfast and walk for at least 30 minutes every day). It’s all very simple, but very sound and you can expect to lose up to 10lbs in the first two weeks.

The second stage of the book is a little easier, and you’ll see a steady loss of 2lbs a week. It involves nothing more complicated than a simple food pyramid. The largest section of the pyramid is the bottom (the base) and is made up of fruits and vegetables. The next level up involves smaller amounts of wholegrain carbs, like bread and rice. Then the next level up is lean meat and dairy, followed by good fats like avocado and nuts. The top – and smallest layer – is sweets and chocolate. Meaning nothing is off limits! But – say the authors – if you keep the Mayo Clinic pyramid in mind at all times (ie, you eat lots of fruit and veg, some good carbs and lean protein with every meal, a little fat and the occasional sugary treat) you’ll steadily drop the pounds until you hit your target, then it will be easy to maintain your new weight

For a seven day healthy slimming diet give this a try

Swap coffee
…for something else. If you want to get in shape fast, ditch your regular cup of coffee and go for a fat-burning drink instead. Studies show that green tea revs up your metabolism, so aim for several cups a day.

Take some supplement
Fish oil supplements are a great way to shed pounds. A recent study found that volunteers who took them lost, on an average, two kilos over three months without changing their diet or exercise habits. Fish oils are great for helping your body burn fat more efficiently.

Avoid salt
That’s the advice most weight-loss experts give. When people cut down the salt in their diet, they instantly look slimmer and less bloated. Too much salt makes your body retain water, which makes you puffy around your face and stomach. Go for low-salt breakfast options

Also, don’t add tablesalt to your food or cooking, avoid salty snacks such as crisps and go easy on processed sauces which are often packed with salt.

As a guide, avoid foods that contain more than 0.5g of sodium per 100gm on the label (sodium is just another way of describing the salt content). The fresher your food, the less salt it’s likely to contain. And be very careful about take-aways – Chinese food, in particular, is loaded with salt because of the sauces.

Ditch sugar
Like salt, sugar is a diet baddie. Even though sugary foods – such as boiled sweets and mousses – are often labelled ‘low-fat’, they’re incredibly high in calories. And if you don’t work off the calories by exercising, that sugar gets stored as fat – usually around your stomach and waist. Sugar also increases your hunger. So, ditch the sugar in your tea and also the colas that you gulp down every day.

Eat low-sugar snacks instead. Chopped vegetables, for example are rich in fibre, so they’ll keep you fuller for longer and will aid your digestion, which helps to reduce bloating. Alcohol is practically pure sugar, so give that a miss, too. If you drink regularly, you’ll notice the difference after giving it up for a week.

Relax
If it is day seven already, don’t worry. You can still lose weight! Stress really does make you fat. It causes hormones to be released into your body that encourage fat deposits around your waist and stomach.

Scientists have found that those with the biggest waist measurements (though not necessarily the heaviest) had the highest stress levels. The hormones secreted during times of stress are instrumental in causing more fat to be stored, particularly around the abdomen.

THE Atkins and Slim-Fast diets have been rated among the least effective in a study of British weight-obsessed women.
Those polled voted WeightWatchers’ plan the most successful way to shed pounds.

The Cabbage Soup diet was regarded as the biggest flop, while Atkins – a high protein/fat, low carbohydrate diet – was branded “useless”.

The research, carried out by Superdrug, revealed that the average female spends 88 DAYS a year dieting.

In the survey, more than half preferred diets which left them feeling full after a meal, and 43 per cent chose those which were a slight compromise on their existing eating plan.

Forty-one per cent tried to lose weight whenever their favourite clothes did not fit. Four in ten slimmed down just before a holiday and 14 per cent tried to eat more healthy after a big weekend of eating and drinking.

Superdrug’s superintendent pharmacist Martin Crisp said: “Everyone is different, but the fact that the majority of girls we polled agree on a sensible approach to weight loss was very telling.

“Women recognise that those which restrict the intake of certain food groups have a negative effect in the long run.

“Indeed, women favour diets which allow them to have a little bit of everything – still eating foods they enjoy like chocolate and bread, but eating less than usual.”

TOPS: 1 WeightWatchers; 2 Calorie Counting; 3 Slimming World; 4 Rosemary Conley. 5 Kellogg’s Special K.

FLOPS: 1 Cabbage Soup; 2 Atkins; 3 Grapefruit; 4 Slim-Fast; 5 Coconut