YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - After eliminating pop, refusing snacks and opting for healthier foods, most people would expect to see the scales drop. However, that's not the case for some dieters.

"What ends up happening is they end up eating everything they missed out on on these diets and so they don't just gain the weight back, they gain the weight plus some," said registered dietitian Lauren Manusakis.

According to a study conducted by the sugar substitute company Splenda, one-third of women actually put weight on while dieting with an average weight gain of nearly 4 pounds. Manusakis says the key to keeping the weight off is allowing yourself to enjoy the foods you like.

"So, if you do like a dessert at a special restaurant every so often it is fine to have that, just make sure your meals throughout the day compensate for that," Manusakis said.

Manusakis says choosing real foods, over boxed or prepackaged foods, is a good place to start.

"So the more natural the food item, the better, because what happens is you have like those Special K bars and things of that nature that you can eat, but they really have no nutritional value. They are just giving you those 100 calories, but it is only 100 calories. Well, you eat three of those a day that's 300 calories. It is almost a meal and you got no nutritional value other than a carb," Manusakis said.

Manusakis says another key to dropping weight is eating until you're satisfied, not full. It should take 20 minutes for your stomach to relay to your brain you've had enough to eat. So she says take your time if you can.