One of the top new year’s resolutions is to lose weight. But how successful are we? And how successful are the latest diet crazes?

Low carb diets such as the Atkins Diet do work for some people but for others it can be disastrous. The important thing is to find one that suits your body type. Cutting carbs is in effect,must another way of restricting calories. If you take bread,beans and ketchup out of a breakfast it actually becomes a reasonably healthy meal.

Food needs to be enjoyable. Greens need to be spiced up with a drizzle of olive oil or a dab of butter. Salt and fat have been unfairly criticised.Salt can contribute to high blood pressure, but again used in moderation it seems to pose no threat but does help to bring out the flavour of many veg.

Fill your plate with green veg, others colours are good too but the green ones are the most beneficial in terms of weight loss. They contain relatively few calories and it is virtually impossible to gain weight by just eating vegetables.

Protein fills you up and makes you feel satisfied and it’s tasty too! So steak,pork chops or a piece of salmon are the ideal protein accompaniments to your plate of veg.

To diet successfully you need to identify your weaknesses and try to cut down or avoid them. Do you eat late at night, or eat cakes or biscuits? Or is it your metabolism? It does slow down with age.

Try to combine good food with more exercise and less snacking and you should be able to identify a new way of eating which you can maintain in the long term which in turn will benefit your health.