As Auld Lang Syne rings out amongst the cheers and clinking of wine glasses at the stroke of midnight, at the very back of our minds will be the thoughts of the diets that we have promised ourselves we would definitely stick to this year.

But sticking to one can be hard and it's not surprising really considering there are some pretty strange ones out there. Very strange ones.

The baby food diet

This diet requires the person to substitute two or three meals a day with a jar of baby food – sounds good, we think not… Obviously, you are going to lose weight on a diet that restricts your calorie intake but we can’t see how this could possibly be healthy. For babies yes, but for adults maybe not…

The raw food diet

You'll certainly be eating more fruit and veg which can only be a good thing, right? But we’d have to spend so much time juicing, blending and chopping our food to make it edible we’ll be rushing for the rasher sandwich before you can say "carrot"…

The blood type diet

The diet is as it says on the tin – you can only eat food for your specific blood type. If you're Type A you should stick with a vegetarian diet, Type O's should stick with a high-protein diet with plenty of meat, and veggies but leave the dairy out while Type B’s need to steer clear of chicken, wheat and peanuts instead opting for eggs, low-fat dairy and veggies. Finally, AB types need to avoid caffeine and alcohol and stick with seafood and dairy. Apart from the impracticality, the worst thing about this diet is having to determine your blood type first.

The five bite diet

This involves you skipping breakfast and only eating five bites of food at lunch time and five bites at dinner time and that’s it. We’re feeling pretty hungry even just thinking about this diet. There is no way you could possibly get the right amount of nutrients doing this.

At the end of the day, the most effective way to maintain a healthy weight is to eat a well-balanced diet, cut down on the alcohol and sugar, and enjoy moderate exercise. Simples.