There is no real weight loss program comprising solely of cottage cheese, diets like this are unhealthy. Any plan based on just eating one food group is destined to fail even before you start. The boredom factor will also set in leading you into temptation.

Cottage cheese is a good diet food compared with some other cheese as it contains fewer calories while still providing protein. But you cannot survive on one food alone. When you are trying to lose pounds, it is very tempting to flit from one plan to another but at the end of the day this will not help you. So how can you find the best diet for you?

You should look for one containing the following elements:

1) When you look at the rules, you feel you have a good chance of sticking to them. This is perhaps the most important element of a successful program. If calorie counting and weighing foods is not your thing, then it doesn't matter if it works for thousands of people, you will fail. Some people need the support of a group so would do better joining weight loss classes and following their regime. Others prefer to go it alone.

2) The diet should promise slow and steady results. This will give you a much better chance of keeping the pounds you have lost at bay.

3) There should be no forbidden food groups. For example, some "fad diets" will not let you eat carbohydrates. The problem is that as soon as someone says you can't have it, you will want it. We need to eat as wide and varied a diet as possible to get all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals our body needs.

4) Regular exercise should be part of the program. People think you can lose excess pounds simply by dieting, and others think that going to the gym is sufficient but to be really successful you need a combination of both.

You can reduce your calorie intake without depriving yourself of your favorite foods by making different choices. For example if you love cottage cheese, you could try the version made with skimmed milk. Instead of eating the whole candy bar, have a square of very good quality chocolate once in a while as a treat. Start every meal with a fruit or vegetable juice or a salad. Reduce your portion size by 10% and you probably won't even notice.

Don't go on a crash diet. Not only do they not work but they can cause you to lose lean muscle. Muscle burns fat so you are shooting yourself in the foot. Any weight you lose will be regained and you may even end up weighing more. If you want to kick start your diet, you could try following a detox program for a week or ten days. Drinking water, eating plenty of fruit and vegetables combined with brown rice, whole meal cereals, and eating bio yogurt will help to detoxify your system.

You will lose pounds and feel better although perhaps not initially. This will help you get better results than following a cottage cheese diet alone.

If you are looking to lose excess weight, you may be tempted to try the hospital three day diet. It has become popular as it can result in the loss of ten pounds in three days. It allegedly got its name from a hospital using it on cardiac patients who needed to lose weight before they had surgery.

With this eating plan, you have to follow very specific rules and cannot swop different foods. You should also drink plenty of water. Some people have said that you can replace the water with diet soda but personally I think this defeats the object of the exercise. Diet drinks contain hidden calories and ingredients that are not good for a healthy body so are best avoided. Not only that but carbonated liquids have been linked to cellulite.

You have a set menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The idea is that you follow the plan for three days, and then eat normally and if you wish to slim down further, you start the regime again. Most of the weight you lose happens as the daily calorie intake is capped at circa 1000.

This is the first problem as the World Health Organization recommends that you eat at least 1200 but preferably between 1400 and 1500 a day unless you are under medical supervision. Ideally you shouldn't diet below your own basal metabolic rate. This is the rate at which your body burns energy when you aren't doing anything. For most people this is around the 1500 calorie level. Your body may decide that you are being starved and thus reduce your metabolism rate making it harder to shift those pounds.

The WHO also suggest that you shouldn't lose more than 1-2lbs per week. Obviously the hospital three day diet is aimed at losing 10 pounds or more so you can see why people in the medical profession are concerned about the popularity of this plan.

There are other drawbacks with this regime. For a start, you should like tuna as it is one of the main foods. You can also eat grapefruit, some cheese, crackers and eggs. Unusually bread is not forbidden as it is on similar plans.

You are very likely to feel hungry and miserable so I wouldn't start until you are away from work. Your family may want you to be away from them too if the starvation makes you miserable! To be honest, there are better ways to achieve a slimmer toned you.

Eating less food is a great start but do it gradually and your body and mind are less likely to notice. Eat regular small meals to increase your metabolism rate. Drink some green tea and grapefruit juice as both contain fat busting enzymes to help speed up the process. Taking more exercise will increase the amount of energy you consume helping the pounds to fall off.

Fad diets like the hospital three day diet are best avoided. Most of the weight you lose will be regained as you haven't retrained your body into accepting a new healthy eating regime.