With so many diets screaming out from headlines of the tabloids and the health magazines, it's easy to get confused over which diet to follow.
When you try so many different diets in quick succession, you're more likely to fall into an unhealthy cyclical pattern of losing weight and then piling on the pounds again.
Such restricted diets insist you must cut out many food groups and the body goes into shock mode thinking it is not getting the food it needs.
So when you re-introduce the foods you would 'normally' eat, the weight piles back on again.
There are five general rules you need to follow to get weight loss success.
Build Exercise into Your Daily Routine We are very similar to lions and tigers and their ways of survival.
Watch a wildlife programme about them, and you'll observe they have a fight or flight approach to living.
You don't see a lion or tiger running constantly for miles.
When they go for their prey, they run fast to catch it putting all their energy into a short space of time.
Applied to humans, we are not designed to exercise constantly, nor are we designed to sit constantly at desks.
High intensity exercise in short bursts, called anaerobic training is the most effective way to burn fat and lose weight.
Carb Free Dinners Most people get up in the morning with some energy ready to start their day.
By the end of a working day, going home and having a TV dinner might be the most attractive thing to do especially if you have had a stressful day.
But heavy lasagnes, pizza or pastas are not the ideal meals to eat when you're trying to lose weight.
Eat a large chicken salad or a tuna salad instead and a soup to keep you full.
Vary Your Exercise to Lose Weight We are naturally creatures of habit but our bodies crave different types of exercise and by giving ourselves the same boring exercise you may lose weight up to a point but once your body has become accustomed to that exercise.
Try and vary your exercise routine every six to eight weeks.
You don't need to do the same 20 minutes pounding the treadmill, four times a week for the rest of your life.
Skipping Meals This is the most important rule of all.
If you're going out for a rich, calorie laden dinner, you may be tempted to not eat all day, especially if it's a celebratory dinner for a friend's birthday or an engagement party.
But always stick to eating something at least; even if it's small.
Breakfast is the main meal and most people have a tendency to skip the first meal of the day because they are rushing around getting the children ready for school, rushing to get to work on time.
Time management is crucial.
Prepare your suit for work or your clothing the night before.
Get up 15 minutes early to eat something before you get the kids ready for school.
Even if you have a few slices of chicken or turkey, or a handful of nuts you will have had some breakfast and good sustenance to keep you going till lunch.
Permanent weight loss is only achievable if you eat regularly.
If you're not a three meals a day person, you may be one of those who eats about five or six times a day to keep yourself feeling full.
Keep Active With High and Low Intensity Exercise There will be days you don't feel like exercising at all.
But keep your body active with low intensity exercise like yoga.
If you're really feeling energetic you can go for a high intensity, aerobically challenging yoga class like ashtanga or Bikram yoga.
The key is to keeping your body active.
Your body craves being active but usually the mind gets in the way by saying you're very tired.
If you follow these general rules, it's a sure fire way to lose weight because you are making all the right lifestyle changes.