If nothing else works, Charles Stuart Platkin, the Miami Beach-based ''Diet Detective,'' will badger you into losing weight.

There was Jennifer Cadle, 276 pounds. He bought her a huge chocolate cake -- her weakness -- and had her cut a big slice and put it in a box. ''You'd have to walk 2 ½ hours to work that off,'' he told her.

Then he made her walk the 2 ½ hours carrying the boxed slice of cake.

''At least let me eat the cake,'' she pleaded.

''You're not eating that cake,'' he barked.

At 399-pound Micah Molinari's house, Platkin purged the refrigerator of fattening foods and poured a gallon of rum down the drain.

''That hurt,'' Molinari recalls. ``I do enjoy my cocktails.''

Both interventions were public -- featured on Platkin's WE-TV cable network program I Want to Save Your Life, a reality show for the overweight that airs at 10 p.m. Saturdays.

He makes no apology.

``These people have really reached the last straw. They're looking for help.''

His diet plans seem pretty standard -- avoid red meat, eat chicken, fish and vegetables, egg whites, oatmeal, skim milk and such. His exercise plans seem unremarkable, too -- walking, core training, yoga, Pilates.

Motivation is the key for Platkin, an associate professor of public health at Florida International University and the author of five books, including The Diet Detective's Count Down and The Diet Detective's Calorie Bargain Bible, both published by Simon and Schuster. He also writes a newspaper nutrition column and dispenses advice at his website, www.dietdetective.com.

Platkin pries into his clients' lives to see what's important to them, then persuades them they're going to lose it if they don't take off pounds.

It worked on Molinari: ``I have a 5-year-old daughter, Sydney. She's my life. I need to be healthy so I'm there when she needs me.''

He lost 100 pounds in 17 weeks.

LONG QUESTIONNAIRE

In preparing for the TV show, which debuted in April, Platkin requires diet clients to fill out a 40-page questionnaire. They also must give him permission to interrogate family and friends and to show up without warning and videotape at any time.

One Saturday six months ago, Molinari was hanging with friends at his apartment when one of them said, ``I'm starving. Let's order a pizza.''

As secretly prearranged, she called Platkin, not Pizza Hut.

Molinari recalls: ``About half an hour later there's a knock on my door. There's this pizza guy with a box. But he calls me by name and cameras come flying out of everywhere. I almost had a heart attack.''

It was Platkin with a production crew and the ingredients not for Molinari's usual meat-lovers' pizza but for one with whole grain crust, low-fat mozzarella, fresh basil, tomatoes and garlic.

They made it on the spot.

''I was surprised,'' says Molinari, 31, a window-treatment designer and tour guide. ``It actually tasted pretty good.''

While Platkin might spend several days with the clients he features on his TV show, he also peppers his regular online clients with information. They can sign up for a $4-a-week subscription weight-loss program with custom menus, recipes and shopping lists. There are links to his columns that explain his motivational ideas and journals for tracking exercise, diets and weight loss.

Platkin's says dieters should rely not on willpower, which is hard to maintain, but on research and planning. If you are going to dine at a new restaurant, you should visit its website first and scan the menu for the healthiest choices. By deciding what to eat in advance, you avoid impulsive decisions made while hungry.

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