Miss Big Booty on Diet Blog is worried about her all-or-nothing approach to dieting. She eats well, makes a mistake, then blows the whole thing, and binges on what she knows is all the bad foods.

She is eating in a very restrained manner on the good days, with almost fat free dinners, steamed vegetables etc. This kind of abnormal food and restrained eating requires a high degree of motivation and self-control. Most of us would prefer to eat a more varied diet and in the long-term that is essential. I can't imagine life without spaghetti bolognese, roast chicken or puddings. Dieting doesn't work. But being a bit more vigilant about what you eat does.

If you go on a diet, with a tight regime of foods regarded as bad and foods regarded as good, then you are setting yourself up for a guilt trip. When you break one of the diet rules, you feel bad, worthless, miserable etc etc and say to yourself "I'm a failure. I can't do this" etc etc. Why not get off your case and be a bit nicer to yourself, following some simple, sustainable guidelines.

Eating food is one of the pleasures of life. Enjoy it. If you are restricting yourself to salads and lean meat when that is not enjoyable for you, you just won't last the course. Instead, enjoy your 3 meals a day. Each normal meal is probably 600 calories. Maybe a bit more. That is equivalent to 2 chockie bars. Giving up the chockie bars is easier than giving up a meal. The meal will fill you up and satisfy you. The chockie bar wants you to eat his friend too.