Losing weight is an uphill battle, and one that far too many of us are fighting. Our waistlines are getting bigger and bigger, but that's not to say we're not trying to lose weight.Most of us will admit to having been on a diet at some point. The problem is, it's often a continual yo-yo diet that ends in little weight loss - especially in the long-run. I've seen it all too often in my surgery – men and women who've been on diets constantly throughout their lives and are baffled as to why they just can't lose weight. Well, I'm afraid to say there's no one-size-fits-all answer. However, there are a number of reasons why your weight loss attempts may not be working.Here, I reveal the common the pitfalls... Most women seem to continually yo-yo diet, that ends in little real weight loss. Long term lifestyle changes lead to sustained weight loss, Dr Sally Norton, a weigh loss expert, arguesPutting yourself on a quick fix diet may work in the short-term, but if you're not addressing the real reasons.

If you overeat, or eat the wrong foods, then those issues will only end up resurfacing in the long-term, and you could end up putting back on the weight you've lost – and even more.So, instead of thinking about what you eat, think about when, where and why.Do you tend to eat well at home, then lose all restraint at the vending machine in the office? Or perhaps you have a habit of reaching for a mid-afternoon sugary treat to give you an energy boost, or comfort eat when you're stressed? Figuring out where your problem lies means you can start working on these issue to create a long-term change in your eating habits. Many of us may not be addressing the real issue of why we are overeating, Dr Norton says. Looking at where and when we overeat - such as at the vending machine at work - could help identify patterns We naturally lose muscle mass as we get older. It's called sarcopenia and we may lose around eight per cent of our muscle mass per decade.This reduces our metabolism and can make it harder for us to lose weight. 

Women, in particular, simply don't realise how much ensuring a good protein intake and muscle-building exercise could help us to drop the pounds. We think of protein as something that will bulk us up, when in fact, increasing our protein and exercise levels helps to tone our muscles, leading to a more svelte frame.Best Plug In Air PurifierSleep can have a bigger effect on your weight than you might think. Auto Repair Connecticut AveIn fact, research has shown that a poor night's sleep has us eating a few hundred more calories the next day as we reach for high sugar, high fat foods in our attempts to get an energy boost. Removing Lace From Wedding DressWe just can't be bothered to make those healthier choices when we are tired, and our will-power is snoozing quietly in the corner.

So make getting a good night's sleep a priority and your weight loss could be boosted as a result. Muesli bars, fruit juices, granola cereal, salads drenched with dressing are just a few of the common culprits - they appear healthy but are, in fact, loaded with calories and sugar YOU'RE FALLING INTO THE 'HEALTH HALO' EATING TRAPWith so many of us striving to eat more healthily, food companies and marketers have picked up on this, and use it to help sell their products, by labelling them as healthy alternatives. This is all well and good if they are, but more often than not, healthy terminology or imagery will be used to make us feel like a product is super-healthy, when it may not be the case. It may be packed with sugar and calories. Muesli bars, fruit juices, granola cereal, salads drenched with dressing are just a few of the common culprits. You've got to have your wits about you when you're out shopping, to avoid being duped. And if that's not enough, studies have also shown that if we think something is healthy, we tend to eat more of it.

Not a good combination.We all admit to reaching for fatty and sugary foods when we are under stress, simply because they trigger those pleasure zones in the brain and make us feel better. What's more, cortisol (one of our stress hormones) encourages weight gain around our waist which is very bad for our health. And yet, we seem to be under more and more stress, struggling to meet deadlines, juggling roles such as parent, spouse and bread-winner, and working longer and longer hours. Of course, I know that eliminating stress from our lives entirely is near impossible, but simple steps to help minimise our stress levels could be key to helping us to lose weight. Eating protein and carrying out muscle-building exercises will promote weight loss, Dr Norton saysI've seen it time and time again. Women come into to my surgery, desperate to lose weight, after struggling for years with diet after diet. Every time they fail at yet another crash diet or quick fix weight loss plan, they end up feeling depressed and disappointed in themselves, as if it is their fault, their own willpower that has let them down again. 

I've said it before and I'll say it again... quick fix diets simply don't work. Real, long-lasting weight loss doesn't happen overnight. Instead, it takes time, hard work and a change in your habits and mentality. Remember, it's a marathon, not a sprint.Losing weight doesn't have to be all about finding a quick-fix diet to drop the pounds overnight – that simply doesn't work.Instead, it is about making small, sustainable healthy habit changes that you can enjoy, and looking after your body and mind so that you're in the best position to make these changes long-lasting. A further bit of good news is that you can train your brain to enjoy healthier foods more, so it becomes even easier to make those healthy habit changes. And remember, habits can take anything from 18 to 254 days to become entrenched so a bit of persistence may be required but will reap numerous benefits in the long-run.We might be a little paranoid but celebs seem to love flaunting their perfectly toned and trim figures for all to see in skimpy swimwear, sexy red carpet frocks or just when they’re wearing a tracksuit headed to the gym.

But fear not ladies and gentleman as we’ve compiled the top 10 tips from ten gorgeous celebrities so you can look and feel just as great as they do. From Katy Perry’s M-Plan, to Britney Spears’ yoga obsession and Boy George’s blood test diet – cast your eyes over the top celebrity summer dieting tips and get ready to feel great! 10. Gwyneth Paltrow – Exercise, exercise, exercise! Gwyneth Paltrow is the queen of keeping fit and healthy, always promoting different fitness regimes and healthy eating. She even has a how-to-eat-healthy cook book! But her latest top tip for how to get a bikini body to die for  this summer is to…exercise. We don’t mean running around your local park a few times either. We mean a gruelling two hour workout every single day. And if you’re wondering how you’d fit two hours of getting sweaty into your day, Gwyn’s answer is to wake up earlier. With a body like Gwynnie’s, there’s no point in disagreeing with her method.

If she says two hours a day is needed, two hours a day is needed. 9. Kimberley Walsh – Dance the summer nights away The curvaceous Girls Aloud star made all of our heads shoot up when she paraded her sexy curves in front of our eyes every weekend during her stint on Strictly Come Dancing. And it’s those sassy dance moves she swears by. ‘The best piece of advice I could give anyone who wanted to lose weight and tone up would be… go on Strictly!’ She also advised against the Atkins diet – because as soon as you come off it, you put it all back on. Always the slightly heavier member of the group, Kimberley’s new sexy, slimline frame complete with a washboard stomach is proof that dancing really must work. Plus, with the summer fast approaching, who’s going to complain to throwing on a pair of dance shoes? 8. Boy George – The blood test diet During a recent chat with Metro, Boy George gushed about a new bespoke diet. It involves blood tests which can then determine a diet that is right for you.

Admitting it’s revolutionised his health regime, he said: ‘Every single plan is unique. My mum’s done it, my brother’s doing it at the moment and I have a few friends doing it and everyone has a completely different diet. We might want to tone up for our bikinis but we don’t really fancy having needles stuck in us all in the name of dieting. It also sounds like it might come with a celebrity-friendly price tag. 7. Phillip Schofield – The 5:2 diet It’s the diet that has taken 2013 by storm. You eat normally – within reason – for five days of the week and then reduce your calorie intake to 500 or 600 for two days of the week. And then you lose a shed lose of weight. Phillip has never exactly been on the heavy side in our eyes but when we saw his before and after pictures, it was clear the 5:2 diet had worked on him. However, we’re not sure how we feel about starving ourselves for 48 hours every week. 6. Caroline Flack – The 30-day squat challenge

Caroline Flack’s keep-fit method is something we’ve never heard of. You start by squatting 50 times on day one of the challenge and eventually increase it to 250 squats on day 30. It sounds tough but on the bright side, you’re allowed a rest every three days. This plan might sound like a lot of fun and relatively easy on first-listen, but thinking about doing 20 squats is making us feel a little wobbly – let alone 250! And we’re not quite sure what parts of the body it helps – other than the legs. 5. Britney Spears – Yoga, cardio, yoga, cardio She’s going to need all the energy she can muster when she begins her Las Vegas residency later this year. But Britney isn’t afraid as she’s hooked on yoga and cardio. She recently revealed she does 90 minutes of the stretchy celebrity fitness craze twice a week. But she also fits in three hour-long sessions of cardio with her personal trainer. And it’s perfect if you’re not a fan of dieting as she says: ‘Dieting is tough because my specialties are spaghetti, brownies and chocolate chip cookies.’

Britney has never looked so hot so if she says yoga and cardio are the way forward, we’ll happily book up some sessions. 4. Stacy Keibler – The Gwyneth Paltrow diet George Clooney’s ultra-hot girlfriend Stacy Keibler credits Gwyneth Paltrow for inspiring her new interest in healthy eating. In a recent chat with Metro, she said: ‘I bought her cook book – it’s amazing. I work with the same doctor she’s working with Dr Junger. That sort of started my health journey. Her cookbook was about the elimination diet, an extremely healthy way to eat, so I really admire what she’s doing.’ Stacy isn’t the first celebrity to gush about Gwyneth’s cook book and she won’t be the last. We’d try it if it meant Clooney would take notice of us. 3. Katy Perry – The M-Plan diet If you like mushrooms, you’ll love this diet. Katy Perry is one of the latest celebrities to sign up to the ‘M-Plan’ – after the likes of Kelly Osbourne and Roxanne Pallett.

This latest single-ingredient diet involves replacing either a lunch or dinner with a mushroom filled dishes instead. And lasting just 14 days, the best thing about it is that it promises to help lose weight from the usual problem areas of tums, bums, thighs and upper arms – but ladies are promised they won’t lose a single inch from their busts. It sounds too good to be true but as it promises results in 14-days, we may as well give it a go! 2. Khloe Kardashian – Eat what you want, but in moderation Khloe Kardashian has battled with her weight issues for years but she recently revealed she’s a new devout follower of US self-help author Bethenny Frankel – and she swears by her. Bethenny’s mantra is not to deprive yourself of the foods you love, but to eat them in a more controlled way, Khloe explains: ‘Well I can’t stop drinking. I love to drink. I need that for my sanity. For eating, honestly, I love food and I feel like that’s family time, it revolves around food.

I’m just more aware of what I’m eating. But I won’t deprive myself because I used to be on diets and I’d never last and so I just try to be more aware of what I’m eating and just in moderation.’ Khloe has never, ever, ever looked so hot. When she took to the turquoise carpet this week at the Mr. C Hotel in Beverly Hills, she took us all by surprise. Eating what you want in moderation sounds like a good plan to us! 1. Rob Kardashian – The ‘fat boy’ diet He cries about his weight nearly all the time but it seems Rob Kardashian is finally on the road to losing some pounds. He revealed last year he had gained 40lbs after his split from Rita Ora and at the start of this year, vowed to lose 50lbs on a ‘fat boy diet’. He’s tweeted snaps of his new diet, including fruit, oatmeal, fish and greens, and seems keen to get fit again. Rob’s got a long way to go but he’s definitely lost some of his podginess. We think he should take a leaf out of his sister Khloe’s book though – she has hit the nail on the head where dieting is concerned.