I have read a number of diet books over the years, OK make that dozens of diet books over the years. What I have found is that the basic premise is the same in all of them. Cut out "junk" food, drink more water and exercise if you want to move weight more quickly. What do they all mean by "junk" food? Well in almost every book, junk includes:

Biscuits
Cake
Chips
Crisps
Soda (Fizzy drink)
Alcohol
Mixers
Sweets and Lollies
Chocolate
Fast food
White flour
Sugar
Margarine
White rice
White pasta

Which lets face it has become the norm for a lot of people in so called civilised society. Yes there are variations, the mediterranean diet - red wine and olive oil, the eskimo's traditional diet of whale meat, the japanese and chinese diets of rice based dishes. BUt it has also been interesting to know that as western diets have inflitrated the traditional diets, so have the waist lines of consumers. Along with all the same medical conditions and ailments. (lots of scientific facts - too many to list in this forum, but read the small print of any of the nutrition books out there and you will see for yourself what I mean).

I know that personally as I have modified my diet over the years, I have removed some or all of the above components from my diet and have noticed a dramatic improvement, but as I have allowed myself to become "bored" with fresh fruit and veggies, lean protein and healthy fibre based food stuffs, that the weight creeps back up and then some.

Now I know that I should not eat bread, rice, pasta and potatoes - my body simply cannot process them properly, but do you think I remember when I am eating fresh bread dripping with butter? Of course not, I am only human, and a female at that. But - and here is the thing. If I want to lose weight and keep it off - forever, I am going to have to remove these items from my diet, almost completely.

4 days back into the altered way of eating - and the bloating I had experienced over the last goodness knows how long has all but disappeared. And there has been weight loss on the scale for the first time in months. Yes I might exercise for hours each week, but without the removal of those things I know I shouldn't eat (and please see a medical practitioner before embarking on any kind of health plan) because my body can't process them, I've shrunk but not lost weight.

Do you constantly do things you know you shouldn't and then hope you get a different outcome? Me too. But not any more. I have what i think are all the facts i need to move forwards, i don't need to do any more research. Now i just need to keep repeating the positive behaviours and eliminate one by one those things that I know have held me back.

MMM1