If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different outcome, then for many of us, we're completely mad when it comes to our diet!

But, it's no wonder we're all a little cuckoo, with contradictory claims about how to eat well while staying slim and healthy saturating every media outlet that we're exposed to each day.

One day a news story will claim that the latest research shows by eating two squares of dark chocolate a day you will lower your cholesterol, but then the very same newspaper will the very next day state that chocolate should only be consumed once a week. Who do you believe?

Weight loss, ongoing wellness and staying slim cannot be achieved by:

• Low-calorie diets – they don't work. You're basically starving yourself if you restrict your diet too much. Depending on your size, age and sex determines how many calories a day your body needs to function. For example, a 65kg women in her 20s needs around 1,800 calories per day.

• Depriving yourself of carbs – your brain needs good-quality carbohydrates to keep you functioning and alert. Ever gone a few days without any type of carb and you'll be able to relate to the zombie-like trance that you seem to walk around in. Carbs, when eaten in the recommended quantity (4-6 serves per day), are good. Full stop.

• Skipping meals. Your body will go into its genetic survival mode and slow down its metabolism to try and preserve your fat stores. It doesn’t know when it'll be fed again so it's trying to preserve the fuel in your body as long as possible. Smart huh? The great wellness irony is that you actually need to eat more to lose weight. You just need to be eating the right types of foods and in the right quantities.

• Seeing food as the enemy. Food is a wonderful part of life that gives you the fuel and energy to function at your peak. Your body is your temple and you need to treat it accordingly. Constantly filling it with crap or effectively starving it will only lead to yo-yoing up and down the scales and much unhappiness.

Grab a calendar and note the date in 11 days' time. It's not far away, right? Now imagine if you were 4.4lbs (2kg) or 6.6lbs (3kg) or 8.8lbs (4kg) lighter. What difference would it make to your life? Is there a favourite dress or pair of shorts that you could now wear given your weight loss? Imagine wearing that dress or those shorts in just 11 days.

With simple calorie shifting you'll be well on your way to a more streamlined version of yourself. You will increase your number of meals but re-distribute your calories during different times of the day so your metabolism works at its peak and your body responds by losing weight.

You need to work with your body and feed it the way nature intended. You'll be happy, your body will be happy and everyone around you will notice the health and happiness you're radiating.