The Australian-made diet that promises to help you lose weight

By Team Coach|

Just about every nutrition and health expert will tell you that diets don't work.

That's because they're restrictive, often cutting out whole food groups and the foods you enjoy eating most; they're unscientific, based on cherry-picked data and celebrity endorsements; and they're unsustainable, focused on quick fixes rather than long-term change.

But while dieting isn't the answer to weight loss, Australians nevertheless need to change the way we eat — two-thirds of adults and a quarter of children are now overweight or obese.

The CSIRO's answer to this complex problem is its Total Wellbeing Diet, which the science agency launched in 2015 and has since recruited more than 50,000 Australians.

Unlike doomed-to-failure fad diets, the CSIRO alternative is rooted in the principles of good nutrition combined with physical activity.

"The Total Wellbeing Diet is about taking it back to real foods, increasing your vegetables, getting lean proteins and lean meats and low-GI carbohydrates," says Pennie McCoy, an accredited practising dietitian with the CSIRO.

"Something like this is a well-balanced approach to healthy eating."

Everyday Australian woman Brenda, 59, has lost 30kg and kept it off on the Total Wellbeing Diet.

"I couldn't believe how much food there was [when I started]. There was lots of choice," she told A Current Affair, praising the diet's moderate allowances of chocolate and red wine.

"That's important because you shouldn't feel like you're depriving yourself,"

The Total Wellbeing Diet costs $199 for 12 weeks but the CSIRO offers a full refund if it doesn't deliver results — if you track your progress throughout the full 12 weeks.

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