Over a quarter of UK adults (27 per cent) are currently on a diet, survey results suggest.

That's a staggering 12.8 million Britons - more than twice the population of Scotland. In addition to this, one in five dieters (22 per cent) reported dieting more than ten times in the last decade - over 3.5 million UK adults. Yet we are getting fatter as a nation.

Once you are overweight, losing it can be difficult. We all want a quick fix, even though it probably took months if not years to build up. Boredom and monotony were the top reasons for breaking diets.

When asked why they quit their weight-loss plans, one in five (19 per cent) said they 'became bored' whereas a further 16 per cent felt they 'didn't have enough willpower'. And once we lose weight, the news is even worse - only 56 per cent succeeded in keeping their weight down for a year or more, while 19 per cent couldn't keep the weight off for more than six months.

Over 2,000 men and women were interviewed during early February - just when our diets post Christmas have all started to fail.

There are many famous diets to choose from, celebrity-led diets, the Grapefruit diet, the cabbage soup diet, the protein diet and yet 49 per cent of dieters interviewed had never followed a specific diet. Although designed to be simple to follow, these diets aren't about healthy eating for the long term.

A diet tied to only one element - even if it's our favourite food - is doomed to failure and leads to the see-saw of weight loss and gain.

Reducing fat is central to weight loss. But often it is fat that provides flavour. Bland and boring food contributes to the monotony of a diet and even the most committed dieter will give up.

A balanced diet with tasty food works better and gram for gram carbohydrate has about half the calories of fat. It is good to know that people who cat a lot of carbohydrate as a proportion of their diet are slimmer.

Low-fat high carbohydrate snacks or drinks top up energy levels, send 'full' signals to the brain, are enjoyable and boost the motivation of the dieter as they approach their target weight.

Sugar is a carbohydrate, has half the calories of fat, improves the taste of low-fat food and makes diets more enjoyable,

The simple truth is a reduction in fat and an increase in physical exercise will reduce weight. It will be a slow process. To reach and maintain our target weight, not to mention our health and sanity, we need to increase carbohydrate levels. Using sugary low-fat snacks and drinks may be just the helping hand you need for a successful weight loss plan and help us to slim as a nation.