You have decided to go on a diet to lose weight and look your best! What are the odds that your diet will succeed or fail? Don't forget that there is a $36 billion weight and diet product industry waiting to increase their bottom line at all cost. Your duty is to keep your eyes open and your wallet well guarded, lest you succumb to anything new, neatly packaged with a top of the line pretty fitness model with a body that can be a combination of surgical enhancement and a good fitness and nutrition regimen.

Now that you have and idea on what to expect, you have to go for a diet plan that is realistic and 90% - 100% sure to work for you. A reminder that a good health program has to show features such as initial health screening, lots of information on the treatment plan and psychological support. Anything else is not acceptable.

Whether you choose to go with the Atkins program, the Zone, South Beach or the low-carbohydrate diet, you'll actively be busy with stuff like counting, weighing, measuring and calculating a variety of numbers from calories and carbohydrates in the amount of points and grams and find a way to distribute the correct amount of the approved food into separate menus that you'll be eating over the course of the entire day. Are you sure you still want to go on a diet?

Another thing one has to consider is the fact that you can go for what is called "frozen entree diet". However, these ready to go meals can be a bit expensive, so, it may be best if you can cook your own food. The joy of knowing that you have cooked your food also reinforce the fact that you know what you are eating and can have a powerful psychological effect on your weight as well.

If you are a very active person who doesn't have time to prepare your food, there maybe another option for you. There is the Scan-Diet which is a clinically proven protein weight loss program with the soy bean as the focal point. It provides things like protein bars, ready-to-drink shakes that comes in a low-calorie snack or a meal replacement. It claims to be nutritionally complete with protein, fiber, essential vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and fat.

You can take comfort that there still a lot of fat people around. An estimated 129 million adults in the USA are overweight and as many as 61 million adults suffer from obesity. So by taking your new year resolution seriously enough to lose that extra 20 to 30 pounds may encourage your neighbours to do the same.

Crash diets have and will never work! At least not in the long run. Plan your diet carefully and if possible talk with your doctor about it and he/she may have some possible good advices for you. The simplest diet is always the best. It should include protein and fiber, essential vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and a bit of fat. That can translate to eggs, fish, chicken, good wholesome 2% milk, lots of fruits and vegetables, high fiber cereals, whole wheat bread and some red meat if you have to from time to time, etc.

You don't have to go on the calorie restriction diet to lose all the weight that you want. According to government funded studies, traditional weight-loss programs with moderate fat such as the one offered by Weight Watchers and the American Heart Association are the healthiest for someone on a diet and proven to keep the extra weight off. A bit of good planning and consistency may be all that you need to stick with. Results may be not as fast as the fitness model that you see on TV but it will be here to stay, if you carry on with the plan and program.