How do I stop serial dieting?

Thanks for your question. I'm sure you are not the only dieter facing this problem. There is no evidence that yo-yo dieting affects your ability to lose weight. And thank goodness because so many dieters end up losing weight and then regaining, that if it did many of us would be stuck at our current weight forever.

Deprivation and diet satisfaction
One aspect of your diet that sounds problematic is your sense of deprivation. When you see your friends eating what they want to eat, you feel awful. That makes me think that perhaps the type of diet you are using is not satisfying enough for you. Have you considered using a different type of diet? A low-fat, high-carb diet can certainly be an effective diet strategy, but not for everyone. It doesn't sound as if it is an effective one for you - at least not right now. I don't know if it was effective in the past and now something has changed or if it has never really got you where you want to be. Research suggests that the most important predictor of weight loss is adherence to a diet. If you are adhering to a diet and it's still not working then I suspect that perhaps there is something in your body that doesn't like this diet.

Low-fat hunger
In my own experience with dieters, I find the greatest problem with low-fat diets is hunger. You say you eat three meals a day. Often, a low-fat diet requires several small meals rather than the usual three squares per day. It is fat and protein that keep hunger at bay in the long run. If you eat a diet that is very high in carbohydrates (as a low-fat diet inevitably is) you're eating a diet that is low in protein as well as fat.

Eat smaller, more regularly
One suggestion is to try to eat five or six small meals throughout the day and see if that improves your success. Another possible tact is to add a bit more fat and protein to the meals you currently eat. If you are taking in only four per cent of your calories from fat that is an extremely low-fat diet. Try moving up to say 25 to 30 per cent of your calories from fat. You will be eating less food - because you are eating foods that are more calorie dense, but these foods may prove more satisfying at meal time and beyond.

Hunger is the death of diets
You cannot exert the kind of control over what you eat or how much you eat if you're starving when you sit down to a meal. You want to be hungry, but not starving.

Track your eating
Keep track of the foods you find yourself craving. If these are high fat foods, perhaps the diet you are on isn't the right one for you. In my book I have a questionnaire. Keep a week-long food diary and fill that out. Maybe what you need is a different type of diet. Keep up the good work. It may not be easy to find the right way to eat, but once you do, you will finally be able to achieve and maintain the weight that feels right for you.