A new survey has found, Women think more about how they look than they do about men. It also found that women think more about food than they do about sex and put much more effort into dieting and their looks than their relationships.

One in four women dieters admits dieting is more important to her than her relationship and says she put more effort into attempts to lose weight than she did into her relationship with her husband or boyfriend.

More than a third - 37 per cent - say they think about food and dieting more than about their partner, and more than half - 54 per cent - confess they think more about food than sex.

One in 10 feel that straying from their strict diet is far worse than being unfaithful to a partner, according to the nationwide research by diet experts Atkins.

Almost a third of women dieters - 29 per cent - say that, given the choice, they would rather break a promise to their lover than break their diet.

"The key to sensible dieting is to let it become a part of your everyday lifestyle and not something you are constantly thinking about. Dieting should never become an obsession," the Daily Express quoted Atkins chief nutritionist Linda O'Byrne as saying.

"This is not healthy as it can be counter-productive. The last thing anybody wants is for their diet to have any kind of negative impact on their life. A sensible diet is designed to have the very opposite affect.

"Slimmers must focus on eating and drinking healthily by cutting down on sugar and refined carb intake and getting exercise.

"This, with patience, is the key to weight loss, no matter what age you are or however much you weigh," she added.