Quiz: what's your diet personality? :: diet quiz

Do you know your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to food? Take our quiz to find the way to a healthy weight for ever. Answer each question and keep track of whether you choose mainly A, B, C or D, then scroll down for the results

1 Which breakfast appeals to you the most?
a) A full English
b) A bowl of cereal, cereal bar, coffee and muffin, or whatever I can grab quickly
c) Toast with lots of honey or marmalade
d) It entirely depends on what mood I'm in when I wake up

2 In a burger bar, would you be more likely to...
a) Super-size it - it's hard to resist
b) Choose as healthily as possible, given the food available
c) Choose a burger in a bun rather than nuggets or some other bread-free option
d) Feel guilty about being there at all but still order a meal

3 Which is closest to your favourite food craving?
a) Something filling and hearty, like a roast dinner
b) A chunk of freshly baked bread
c) Ice cream or chocolate
d) I don't really get strong cravings for particular foods

4 When offered the bread basket in a restaurant, do you...
a) Find yourself thinking ‘This is part of the meal I've paid for, so I'm hardly going to turn it down!'
b) Tuck in if you're really hungry, but ignore it if you're not
c) Leap upon it with excitement - you just love bread!
d) Find it easy to say ‘No thanks'

5 When it comes to dieting, the thing that most concerns you is...
a) Being hungry all the time
b) The hassle factor
c) Finding healthy foods you like
d) Fear of failure

6 In which scenario are you most likely to overeat?
a) Having a barbecue, a meal out, a takeaway or a home-cooked meal with family or friends
b) Absentmindedly on the go - during a boring car journey, for example
c) When there's a full fridge to raid
d) When there are freshly baked cakes or bread to hand!

7 It's the evening of a bad diet day and you're trying to decide what to eat. Do you...
a) Just eat your normal choice without really assessing if you need to or not
b) Choose something light and perhaps go for a walk, too
c) Say ‘To hell with it!' and have a takeaway - you might as well be really bad then start again tomorrow
d) Beat yourself up so much that you end up craving comfort food as a result

8 For you, eating is mostly....
a) About being healthy and happy, and keeping your energy levels high
b) A rather erratic selection of meals, with odd eating patterns
c) A satisfying experience and a pleasure you look forward to
d) A way to reward yourself

Mostly A - the plate clearer

You always clear your plate, whether you're hungry or not. A traditional calorie-counting approach might be useful to teach you correct portion sizes - try www.nutracheck.co.uk. Weight Watchers could also suit you. Keep these portion sizes in mind: a pat of butter = a Scrabble tile; a portion of pasta = a fist; a portion of cheese = a small matchbox; a portion of meat = a deck of cards. Click here for the right-weight diet, where calories are calculated for you

Mostly B - the fast fueller

You're on the go a lot and often eat whatever is to hand. At times you may skip meals altogether, which often leads to a late-night calorie load-up. A little planning is key - try preparing a packed lunch the night< before. Invest in a cookbook of fast easy recipes, such as Ainsley Harriot's 'Low Fat Meals in Minutes' (BBC Books, £9.99), try a meal replacement plan such as SlimFast. For help here on Allaboutyou.com, click here for the busy woman's diet or here for delicious diet recipes

Mostly C - the carb queen

You find it hard to resist carbs such as pasta, bread and puddings. Mindless snacking might be a problem for you, too. Diets that incorporate slow-releasing (low GI) carbs can help break the carb-craving cycle because they even out blood sugar. Swap from refined to wholegrain versions of foods, such as bread. Try the '10-Day GI Diet' by Azmina Govindji and Nina Puddefoot (Vermilion, £6.99), or click here for a complete guide to the GI diet

Mostly D - the emotional eater

You're a comfort eater, with much of your eating driven by your emotions. It's likely that you have a tendency to yo-yo diet. Learning to recognise your feelings as separate from hunger means you won't automatically eat to appease the emotion any more. Try a weight-loss regime that helps you to think differently, such as Paul McKenna's 'I Can Make You Thin' (Bantam Press, £10.99). Click here for the snack-all-day diet