While the South Beach Diet and Atkins for Life continue to dominate the best-seller lists, holistic health expert Loree Taylor Jordan, CCH, ID, warns that one diet does not fit all and suggests dieters follow a plan that fits their body chemistry.

"While many bestselling books have touted the latest, supposedly best diet for everyone," says Jordan, "they are destined to fail if they ignore the significant variables that affect weight loss for their particular situation."

Jordan, the author of Fat and Furious: Overcome Your Body's Resistance to Weight Loss Now, points out that numerous factors influence which diet is right for you, including the following:

Age Food allergy
Blood Type Metabolic Type
Body Type Genetics
Exercise Tolerance Carbohydrate Sensitivity
Stress Levels Optimal Digestion and Absorption

"Too many people are obsessed with dieting," notes Jordan, a reformed career yo-yo dieter herself. "But to jump into a diet without consulting a doctor or exploring your beliefs, goals, feelings, and reasons for eating is foolish – and dangerous."

In addition to taking into account one's biochemistry and mental attitude towards dieting, Jordan emphasizes people looking into whether they have a medical condition that may limit their ability to lose weight safely. "It may be that your body is resistant to losing weight," says Jordan.

Among the major factors Jordan urges one get tested for include:
thyroid dysfunction
hormone imbalance
insulin resistance
metabolic disorder
parasites

"You may think you can lose weight if you starve yourself and workout all the time, but you won't lose weight until you address your body's chemistry and treat it for disorders, deficiencies or malfunctions," says Jordan.

Jordan speaks from experience that came the hard way. She's been on every imaginable fad diet – from crash dieting at age 12 when she didn't have a weight problem at the time to once going 30 days with a water-only diet. She desperately tried every method to lose weight, even injecting the urine of pregnant women into her butt in the belief it would help her. She now knows the science behind successful weight control and wants to teach people to understand how the body really works.

"Some people have a better chance of winning the lottery than losing ten pounds without seeking medical help," says Jordan. "It's simply not the case of eat less, exercise more. There are real medical issues here. It won't matter what diet you're on unless you heal the body."

Jordan, in her new book, controversially, dispels the myth that people gain weight only because they eat excessively or don't work out enough. In addition to the physical impediments such as hormonal or thyroid imbalance, there may, be significant emotional reasons behind one's eating.

"It isn't necessarily a question of which diet you follow, but first about whether you're physically able and mentally prepared to diet," says Jordan.

"When you understand how you sabotage your health with overeating – and address any body chemistry issues – only then can you lose weight."