Losing weight is one of the top resolutions made each year, yet only 20 percent of people are able to achieve successful weight-loss and maintenance.

Now, Jessica Bartfield, MD, internal medicine who specializes in nutrition and weight management at the Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care, has revealed the top four reasons why many dieters fail to lose weight.

Firstly, she said, that most people underestimated the amount of calories that they consumed per day. Food eaten outside their home tended to be much larger portion sizes and much higher in calories.

Next, she said, that typically people needed to cut 500 calories per day to lose 1 pound per week, which was very difficult to achieve through exercise alone, so it required about 60 minutes or more of vigorous activity every day.

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Fitness expert, Namita Jain answers readers’ questions on fitness. Get your doubts cleared and see them featured on our FAQ page every Thursday.

This week’s answers:

1. Dear Namita, I read your posts in sify.health.com and felt that you are the right person and probably would understand my pain better. Please help me!!!

I am a 23 year old and working in an IT company. I am 5ft 2″ and my weight is around 66-68 kgs ( keeps varying).

I have lot of belly fat, uneven thigh muscles and huge bottocks.
I have tried lot of exercise regimes but unable to stick to one since my work policy doesnt allow me to.( I leave by around 7 in the morning and come back by 8. later studies)
This has considerably lowered my self-confidence and is affecting my work as well. I cannot walk too fast since i start breathing heavily and feel exhausted very quickly with
any kind of physical work. It takes a while(almost half an hour) to pull myself back up

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A new range of cake bars has been created which, it is claimed, are not only tasty but will also burn calories.

The bars, inspired by the type of delicacies found in Italian patisseries, have been made by Klever Kalories, a start-up business founded by a former accountant.

The company said that a blend of natural ingredients already used in some energy bars and shakes is used to make its Skinny Slice products.

The ingredients include L-carnitine, guarana and green tea, which are said to boost the metabolic rate by slightly raising the body temperature.

According to trade magazine ‘The Grocer’ the slices each contain between 110 and 150 calories, including coconut, vanilla cream, honey and apricot and tiramisu varieties.

Other flavours include chocolate sandwich, crime brulee and vanilla sandwich. The slices each are priced at 1.39 pounds.

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Eggs are the best way to start the day for those who want to lose weight

A major UK review of studies into the effects of eating eggs has found that egg contains a powerful ingredient that can help to cut the amount of calories people go on to eat at lunch and dinner.

Scientists say boiled, fried, poached or scrambled eggs keep people fuller for longer compared with other common breakfast foods.

Click here for some delicious egg recipes

This appears to help people who are desperately trying to resist tempting but naughty afternoon snacks such as biscuits, cake or chocolate.

The review, published in the journal Network Health Dietitian, also revealed that the specific proteins found in eggs are far superior to other types when it comes to keeping hunger at bay.

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How to not lose weight!

If you’ve been adhering to a strict healthy eating and fitness plan for a while but are failing to see the results, it may be time take a look at what is sabotaging your success. From dieting blunders to physical factors, check out the top 10 reasons why you’re not losing weight.

You overcompensate for exercise

Many of us are familiar with the temptation to reward our workouts with an edible treat (well, you’ve just burned off all those calories, right?), however, it may be that by increasing your calorie intake to fuel or reward your sessions you are actually undoing all the hard work of your workout. In fact, as we often overestimate the calories we burn through exercise, you may even be taking in more than you have actually worked off, leading to weight gain rather than loss.

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Five unexpected things that can help you lose weight

Think cake and beer are off the menu when you’re dieting? The good news is this may not be the case. Check out these 5 surprising things that can keep you slim.

Chocolate

It may not be the first food choice that springs to mind when embarking on a diet, but research findings suggest that eating chocolate in moderation could actually make you slim. The study conducted by the University of California tested the theory that, as chocolate is believed to increase your metabolism, these benefits may cancel out the calories consumed. The results suggested that chocolate may not only be calorie neutral; it can also help you lose weight. The researchers discovered that adults who consumed chocolate frequently had a lower BMI than those who didn’t, despite them often eating more calories and not exercising more.

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10-point plan quick weight loss

Follow our 10-point diet plan and a five-meal-a-day menu, and you’ll be sliding rather than squeezing into your clothes for that big event. Here’s our best quick fix diet plan…

Whether it’s a wedding, holiday or big event on the horizon shedding a few pounds is generally the top of most women’s ‘to-do’ list along with all the other pampering and prep. To get you toward the shape you want to we lift the lid on the best meal plan, tips, tricks and slimming strategies to help shed pounds.

The good news is, it’s not just case of scrimping and skipping meals, if you stick to the tips and follow the menu, you’ll definitely feel the benefit even if your big date is just days away.

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Weight loss hints and tips

Fad diets do not work. Whether it is for the New Year, pre-Christmas, pre-holiday or in fact at almost any time of year, the focus on weight loss and dieting has become such a global obsession that almost every week a celebrity-endorsed ‘amazing new diet’ hits the media.

Fad diets promise a svelte figure virtually overnight; the merry-go-round of weight loss strategies continues unabated and the diet industry grows fatter by selling dreams of thinness but delivering only failure.

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Losing weight is twice as hard as you may think as reducing your calorie intake slows down your metabolism, say scientists.

They said that dieters` expectations have been too high, and official guidance that cutting 500 calories a day will result in a pound of weight being lost a week is plain wrong, the Daily Mail reported.

But dieters need not worry, as the same experts have created an online calculator that allows would-be slimmers to adjust their expectations and gain a more realistic picture of what they can expect to achieve.

Eat sweets at breakfast to lose weight

The Body Weight Simulator website – at bwsimulator.niddk.nih.gov – estimates how much less that person will have to eat, or how much more exercise they`ll have to do reach their goal.

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Contrary to what many believe, people can frequently go out to eat and still shed those extra kilos, researchers say

Investigators from The University of Texas at Austin enrolled 35 healthy, perimenopausal women aged 40 to 59 years who eat out frequently.

Participants took part in a 6-week program called Mindful Restaurant Eating, a weight-gain prevention intervention that helps develop the skills needed to reduce caloric and fat intake when eating out.

The focus of the programme was on preventing weight gain in this population, not weight loss. It is important to prevent weight gain in this population as increasing abdominal waist circumference from weight gain is greater during the perimenopausal years, which in turn increases the risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

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