dieting

Sometimes, though, a diet seems successful: you follow the plan for a set period of time, you reach a goal weight, you fit back into those jeans. But then, just when you think you can relax, the diet fails. How? You put back on all that weight you lost.

Some lucky people seem blessed with an iron will; they decide to go on a diet, swear off chocolate, and not a morsel of it passes their lips until they've reached their goal weight.

The rest of us occasionally need a little help. What can you do when motivation vanished weeks ago, when you find yourself slipping back into bad habits - like buying snacks at school or work, having second helpings, drinking too much alcohol, and "forgetting" to eat fruit and veg"?

None of these work. However much they promise to be "the secret", the one effortless way to lose weight, they're all ways to distract yourself from the truth. There's only one secret to losing weight - and it's one you probably wish wasn't true.

The No-S Diet is the simplest diet I've ever come across. It has just three rules: No snacks No seconds No sweets Except (sometimes) on days that start with an S.

People who struggle with their weight are often prone to "emotional eating", consuming food as a response to mental triggers rather than physical hunger. Often, dieters fail to lose weight not because their diet plan itself is flawed, but because they are knocked off course by feeling stressed, tired, upset or bored.

The last of these is an especially common cue for many people to eat. For some, it's a habit learned in childhood ("I'm bored, mum!" - "Run down to the shop and buy yourself a candy bar, then.") For others, it's a reaction to the dull parts of adult life: munching on biscuits while rocking the baby to sleep, or getting yet another handful of chocolates because the afternoon is really dragging at work.

When we read studies about weight loss approaches and attitudes, we often tend to hear about the American perspective. But what does the rest of the world think? And what are they doing about the growing obesity problem? A recent global survey of over 9,000 people in 13 countries over five continents contained some intriguing contrasts and surprises.

For example, which country would you guess has the most "emotional eaters?"

The word "diet" is so last year... so every diet company out there is scrambling to call their diet a lifestyle change or some other nice-sounding phrase.

Weight Watchers has provoked some thoughtful(?) response with its new advertising campaign.

The new slogan is: "Stop dieting, start living. Weight Watchers works because it is not a diet."

Here are 31 in-depth tips and guides to help you eat right, and maintain (or lose) weight.

Don't forget to look in the comments area of each post - amazing amounts of useful information can be found there.

Research into the dieting habits of adolescents revealed that "dieting was a significant predictor of initiation of regular smoking among females."

The same effect was not found in males.

Yesterday marked "International No Diet Day". According to this newspaper: "one dietitian would like to see the day become an all-year theme and diets banned."

So - a dietitian would like to see diets banned...

Sometimes words become so overused they completely lose their meaning. Other words, like "diet" are so ambiguous that the meaning can change at a moments notice.

The word can be used to bludgeon the guilty: "Diets don't work - you should learn how to eat healthy instead."

The word can also be used to impart positivity and even superiority: "My children have a wonderfully nutritious and wholesome diet."

How confusing!

You: On A Diet has spent a number of weeks at the number one seller (of all books) on Amazon. This is mostly due to Oprah Winfrey's glowing endorsement of the book.

Some call it "The Top Diet and Health Book on the Market" but others are not so easily persuaded: "It's the SAME info you've heard before." says one reviewer.

The image on the right is from a 1960s TV commercial for low-calorie tinned fruit.

It's not funny, it's just plain sad. One cannot help wondering: What has decades of dieting done for us?

A wise man once said that if you want to build something, you need to first sit down and estimate the cost. That principle can be applied to building a better body or better health.

It's amazing how many people embark on a diet without sparing a single thought as to the practicality aspects. In response to a diet review on Diet-Blog, Crystal made this remark: Yeah, I tried this diet and lasted about 7 hours. Just like every other diet [...] maybe next diet.

There is currently a plethora of weight loss TV shows filling the airwaves. Like many TV themes - they tend to come along in groups - following public interest trends.

"Diets don't work" is a familiar motto used by many authors looking to spin their own weight loss program. However it's not true. Diets can work - although it depends how you define 'work'. The British Medical Journal has published the weight loss results of 4 commercial diets. The study effectively sets a baseline of what you can expect when using a popular diet program.

The last decade has seen an enormous proliferation of dietary advice. It must leave the average man in the street cold... and very confused. What is worse is the level of fanatical debate that goes on between the self-appointed nutritional evangelists.

83 per cent of female college students (aged 18-24) diet... no matter how much they weigh. The research appears in the Nutrition Journal (abstract here).

The chief researcher acknowledges that the figure is up from 70% (in previous research) - but that may be due to how they classify dieting.