Remember that most healthy, highly nutritious foods are high in calories so watch your portion sizes of foods such as nuts, seeds, oils, dried fruit and avocados.

Although these foods offer a good source of nutrients, they also add calories and are of no additional benefit to you if you're diet is already packed with other healthy nutritious foods.

Reducing your carbohydrate intake can help with weight loss but if cutting them out completely is not how you prefer to eat, then try cutting down by adding a handful of cooked quinoa, brown rice, sweet potato, spelt or pulses to stir-fries, soups, salads and stews.

Snacking is great to avoid hunger pangs but if you're not hungry then leave them out as it’s just another opportunity to overeat. If you need to include snacks then keep something healthy to hand.

Healthy snack ideas include:

Boiled eggs

Tomato or miso-based soups

Small handful of nuts, seeds or dried fruits

Low fat natural yoghurt topped with berries

Canned tuna with a handful of pulses or salad

Weigh yourself weekly or set yourself a goal such as getting back into a favourite pair of jeans or dress. Try not to get disheartened if it takes a little longer than you hoped and don't beat yourself up over the odd relapse.

Fat doesn't necessarily make you fat and although higher in calories than protein or carbohydrates, eating too much of any food will promote weight gain. Choose small servings of healthy fats such as oily fish, nuts, seeds, avocadost.

Some people prefer to embark on a diet that has a structure and rules to follow. If this is your thing then pick one you can stick to. There are lots of opinions about dieting such as low carbohydrate, low fat or simply reducing your portion sizes. The bottom line is you need to reduce your overall calorie intake and partner this with an increase in activity.

The last thing you want is to feel hungry so aim for 1200 – 1500 calories per day and set a realistic weight loss goal of 1-2 pounds per week. If the gym isn't for you, then even simple changes in your daily routine can help burn calories such as walking to work or using the stairs.

It can be tough losing weight, especially without a little support and encouragement. Try getting friends or family members involved. You could also get work colleagues involved in a weight loss challenge or sign up for a charity sport event so you have something to aim for.

When dieting some people rely on calorie-controlled diet meals or 'healthy products'. But these can be a false friend - containing a lot of sugar and salt that leaves us hungry afterwards.Try cooking from scratch, as this is the easiest way to control what goes into the food you eat. You don't need to be the best cook, keep it simple and try cooking a little extra for the following day to save time.

Examples could be:

Never turn up hungry at a buffet event and eat something before you go out.

Seek out raw foods such as crudités (small serving).

Make socialising the focus of your event, not the food.

And don't forget the booze. A glass of wine (175ml) contains 130 calories and a pint of beer adds 215 calories to your daily intake.

You can make your glass of wine last longer by adding soda water. Avoid binge drinking as it adds a huge amount of calories to your diet as well as encouraging you to eat unhealthy foods.