dieting

It seems personality tests are being used for everything these days.

From dating services to employment, people are using these tests to determine if their personality type is a good fit with their potential partner or job.

Now it appears these types of tests are being used to evaluate not only what motivates people to loose weight according to their personality type, but also what things could help determine one's success on a particular diet.

Serial dieters will know that the first week, or even month, of a new diet or exercise regimen is often a time of super-high willpower, intense focus, and a sense of deep determination.

That initial enthusiasm doesn't last long though, and many people give up in despair at the thought of the months ahead - often regaining the weight they've managed to lose (and then some).

So, how can you keep up your motivation when you know you've got a long way to go before you reach your goal?

Are you putting off getting started on a healthy diet? Are you forever waiting until Monday, until all the stars are aligned, or until there are five weekends in the month?

It's always easy to come up with reasons to avoid getting going with a healthy eating or weight-loss plan. But all too often, these reasons are really just excuses. Take these five, for example...

A successful diet is for life - not just for January, or for a couple of starvation-level weeks before a big day. Following a very strict, unrealistic or highly restrictive plan just sets you up for failure.

The Stress Eater Diet written by Robert Posner, M.D. and Linda Hlivka targets women who tend to eat a lot and unhealthily when stressed.

They believe that 78% of overeating is caused by an emotional response to some type of stressor such as relationship problems or financial difficulties. Along with the help of stress hormones being produced these added calories cause women to gain weight fast.

Here's why...

Intermittent fasting (IF), a dietary strategy that involves repeated intervals of feeding and fasting has gained popularity in the past couple of years, with proponents claiming a wide range of health benefits from insulin control to fat loss to defense against a host of diseases. The question is; is it a fad or is there sound research to back up the hype. Let's explore!

Needless to say, this one caught my attention. As an incurable snacker, I just had to see what this one was all about. Does the creator of this diet think this is practical? How big are the "snacks"? what kinds of food are you allowed? Let's delve deeper in to the world of relentless snacking.

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.