Good grief, people! It's only been two weeks!

A study released from weightloss firm XLS-Medical has found that approximately 92% of those who resolved to go on a diet and lose weight in 2012 have ALREADY given up!

The majority of the people surveyed revealed they could not stick to their diet for more than 5 days and blamed hunger as the main cause, plus boredom and alcohol.

The problem is that many of these people dieted throughout the work week, but then used the weekend as an excuse to binge on servings of food that contained upwards of 1000 calories!

Dr. Matt Capehorn, Clinical Director of the National Obesity Forum, explained that just one day of unhealthy eating could waste a weeks worth of dietary work, saying:

"A healthy diet, aimed at losing 1lb per week, relies on saving 3500 calories a week by having 500 calories less each day. A day off the diet should mean that you eat the correct amount, but many dieters see it as an excuse to binge and have thousands of calories more than they need. They can easily end up having more excess calories in that one day than they have saved throughout the whole week of sticking to a diet."

This is exactly why we don't recommend dieting, but instead insist upon adopting a healthy lifestyle!

Dr. Capehorn goes on to say that the survey reveals people are "completely unaware" of how to diet and that they need to be educated. We totally agree, so we're going to hit you with some knowledge.

If this is the first time you've ever tried to limit what you eat, starving yourself is NOT going to work. Start SMALL by eliminating food and beverages in your life that you don't need.

Exchange soda (even diet) for water. Put one less slice of cheese on your sandwich. Eat an apple for a snack instead of a bag of chips. Munch on almonds or trail mix at work instead of cookies. Heck, even skipping the cream and sugar in your morning coffee can even save you over 100 calories!

It's much easier to cut out 500 calories a day than most people think, but you've gotta have a plan and look to cut calories in the right places. If you've gained weight or haven't lost any since embarking upon your New Year's resolution, it's okay because tomorrow is a new day.

Try eating normally for a few days, but keep a food journal of EVERYTHING you eat! Then take a look at what you've put in your belly, count the calories, and then decide what you don't need. That's first step — determine what you shouldn't be eating and don't buy it!

Good luck!

Tags: alcohol, boredom, calories, changes, dieting, food journal, health, january, new year-039s resolution, small, survey, weight, xls-medical