Choosing the right diet

Are you the type of person who wants a prescriptive diet - one that tells you exactly what and how much to eat at each meal?

Then you may find Calorie Counting the ideal choice - with your comprehensive list of how many calories are contained within each food, you can happily weigh and work out exactly what you can eat daily and steadily lose weight. The best way to be successful at this is to keep a food diary of everything you eat. WeightWatchers uses an easy point system, which simplifies calorie counting but works on the same principle.


A popular choice for those good at organising their meals down to the percentage of carbohydrate, fat and protein - specifically at a ratio of 40-30-30 - is the Zone diet. The diet plan is very specific and depends on your gender, activity level, and current percentage of body fat. If you don't like the idea of giving up your favourite foods for good, the Alternate day diet might suit, as you can still have your cake and eat it!

If you prefer to avoid calorie counting and concentrate on eating specific foods, then the low-carbohydrate Atkins diet, South Beach or GI diet may suit you. The popular Atkins diet is really four diet plans in one - The Induction, Ongoing Weight Loss, Pre-Maintenance and finally Maintenance stage. Carbohydrate foods are reduced and replaced with fat and protein - bacon and egg for breakfast as opposed to cereals. The diet states this will change your metabolism and enable you to lose weight easily.
Many supermarkets are now marking their food with carbo content and GI high or low scores, due to the popularity of these diets.

Exercise for life

Lack of exercise is responsible for 2 million deaths worldwide every year. Health experts recommend at least half an hour of moderate exercise five days a week to reach a satisfactory fitness level.

Exercise increases your metabolic rate and burns calories. The good news is that you will also be strengthening your immune system and building toning muscle. The extra weight of muscle will help you burn more calories and help you towards your goal of fast weight loss.