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Your body won't adjust to fewer calories

The human body is an impressive piece of equipment. During times of famine, it will become extra-efficient at using every last calorie, maintaining weight on less food than before. And as soon as food is plentiful again - so, when you stop dieting - your body will pack on as much fat as possible to prepare for the next famine...

By having one day a week when you eat more, you'll keep your body guessing: it won't adjust to your lower calorie intake.

You won't set yourself up for a binge

Constantly restricting what you eat and depriving yourself is a sure way to end up binging on all the forbidden foods. All it takes is one unusually stressful day at work, one argument with your spouse or one unthinking comment from a so-called friend - and you'll find yourself munching through a whole jar of cookies.

If you let yourself eat whatever you like once a week, you won't end up feeling deprived. It's much easier to resist that slab of cake when you know you can have one in a couple of days' time.

You'll stick to your diet for longer

Most of us are enthusiastic about a new diet for the first couple of weeks ... and then the reality sets in. Counting calories, opting for low-fat versions of favourite foods and trying to "be good"gets frustrating after a while. Taking a mini-break from your diet every week will actually help you stick to it long-term.

Even if your day off means you only lose weight on six days out of seven, you'll still do better over the course of six months than if you give up completely after a couple of weeks.

You can still enjoy a social life

There's nothing worse than sitting in a restaurant picking at a salad when everyone else is tucking into steaks, burgers and bowls of fries. So make your "day off" a day when you're out with friends or family - Saturday works well for lots of people. That means you can relax and enjoy yourself without a second thought about calories!

Lots of popular diet plans use the "day off" principle (e.g. the No-S Diet which gives you weekends off), or follow a zig-zag approach. Popular programs like Weight Watchers and Slimming World allow a certain number of "syns" or "extra points" each week, which members often save up for a treat at the weekends.

If you're sticking rigidly to a strict diet regime and not seeing the results you'd like, why not have a day off this week? It might actually boost your weight loss - and it'll certainly help you feel more enthusiastic about your diet when you restart it the next day.