Once the fireworks go off on New Year's Eve, I'll be saying the same thing I do every year... and it's not what you think! 'I need to lose weight,' I say to myself as I trawl the internet for new ideas and a miracle solution that will work. But this year I've set myself a few resolutions. I'd like to lose weight, make more time for myself and focus on being a 'less stressed' person. The last two are pretty straight forwards, but losing weight needed a little more research. So this is what I've found:

Keto Diet

The Keto diet works by limiting your body of carbs, there are many great diets around this and programmes like Exante have great Keto friendly meal replacements if you're not sure how to get started. There are also many great guides out there like this one on how to make bulletproof coffee!

If you know you're likely to over indulge on carbs, then limiting them all together might be the best option for you.

Calorie Counting

This method seems to work best for me, calorie counting is simple in and out and doesn't take much effort at all. I can still eat what I want and lose weight, which after the delicious treats of Christmas just makes life easier. I usually stick to an app like my FItness Pal for tracking Calories and I always use the James Smith Academy calculator to find the macros that will work best for me.

I have to say I really do find losing weight this way to be pretty easy, last time I signed up to the NHS free 12 week weight loss plan and I lost 3.5 stone in 5 months and I felt so much healthier.

Official Programme

If you are not good at staying on track without accountability then there are plenty of programmes out there to suit your needs. Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Noom and Second Nature are all programmes that I've tried out. The rules for each programme are different but when you dive into it, it's just the same, they're limiting your calories but in an easier way for you to understand.

If you get on better with red and green foods or want to look into the 'science' behind weight loss then one of these programmes could be for you.

Exercise

Go back to basics and add exercise into your life. This can be a great way to not only lose weight, but to improve your mental health too. There are plenty of different types of exercise so you're sure to find the right one for you. Best of all, this option doesn't have to cost either (though it can if you want equipment).

The NHS offers a free couch to 5k app which will get you running for 30 minutes in around 10 weeks, I didn't believe this myself until I gave it a go. On day 1 of the programme I couldn't run a minute but within weeks I was proudly running 25 minutes!

Another option is to get a fitness game like Ring Fit Adventure for the Nintendo Switch or pick up a FitBit in the sales and start to track the steps you do daily. Set up reminders to get you to walk for 5 minutes every hour.

Have you made any new year's resolutions this year? Let me know what you'll be doing.

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