There’s no two ways about it, this time of year, dieting is top of the agenda. Every newspaper and woman’s magazine offers you their way to shed the Christmas kilos quicker than any other diet.

However, it is important to understand that you need to find the diet that is right for you. You’ve probably heard this before and it’s worth repeating; what works for someone else may not work you.

Forgetting my clinical experience, I know this to be true from a personal perspective.

When I was in my twenties if I had a hot date looming at the end of the week, a few days of apples and tea (this was before I studied nutrition!) usually resulted in the desired but temporary weight loss. Whilst this worked a treat, if I had continued with this nutritional madness longer than 4 or 5 days, I would have felt ill. By my thirties, using the same diet, I couldn’t lose much weight and stay functional enough to look after my two young boys.

The point was, for me in my twenties with my lifestyle then, this crazy diet worked.

However in the decades since, it’s takes more dedication to shift those kilos, even with a little expert knowledge. My ability to lose weight is very much reduced and in fact feels like it is a skill I have lost along the way. Probably due in part to the erratic eating patterns of my youth!

So when you see a diet that promises weight loss miracles, make sure you at least understand which demographic it is aimed at. If you are a sixty year old reading Cosmo (in the hairdressers), about an’amazing’ new diet which guarantees a loss of 10 pounds in 10 days, remember this; you are not their target audience. Plus, bear in mind your dietary requirement to maintain good health is very different from that of a lusty 25 year old.

So how do you find the diet which is the right for you?

Firstly, be realistic about YOUR lifestyle and who YOU are. Do you work full time snatching food where and when you can? Are you a working Mum, mostly eating on the run? Do you cook? Do you have interest in food which means you can make different choices? Or is your food selection very limited? Do you have allergies, are you a vegetarian? How old or young are you? Are you trying to have a baby? Do you have any health issues? Are you on medication?

All these questions are relevant to losing weight because they will guide you to the diet that is right for you. Whilst we all get drawn into the hype one reads (me included) with the promise of diet nirvana, losing weight is a very personal process. If it wasn’t, the lucrative diet industry wouldn’t exist.

There is another side to dieting or more particularly reaching and maintaining your healthy weight but I’ll save that for the next blog. Meanwhile if you would like to discuss your diet please feel free to contact me for more details.