Think Thin

Obviously, the dieting options are endless. But no matter which one you choose, Bell has advice on the best way to get started. She instructs clients begin with the end of the diet before diving into a new regimen.

"They go on these crash diets and they don't have a clue what goes on after the first two weeks -- if they make it the first two weeks," she says.

The first two weeks of a diet are usually the most difficult, she says. These are the ones where you starve yourself and lose all the water weight. Instead of starting the massive curb-your-appetite hard part of the diet, she instructs dieters to first try the maintenance part of the diet to see if they like it. That eases them in more gradually.

"It's like someone training for the marathon. You don't go off and run the marathon and then train," Bell says. "The first two weeks is almost a sprint. And then they die off in the sprint because they didn't practice before they sprinted."

Of course, diving in works better for some people. Houston dieter Sonia Quinonez is a fan of the South Beach Diet. After eating the six different types of buttery cookies her roommate baked for Christmas, Quinonez plans to go on Phase II of the South Beach Diet (which is less rigorous than Phase I) in the New Year.

"It has quick results, but not unhealthy-quick results," she says. "It's not a drastic diet, but it really works."

Quinonez also tries to exercise five or six days a week. Almost every day she does yoga or Pilates or takes a walk around Rice University.

"You can see results within a couple of days. You feel better and you look better," she says. And best of all, your favorite jeans fit.