Every year my number-one New Year’s resolution is to lose weight. I never seem able to stick with it and I fail. What can I do to make it happen this time?

Set realistic daily exercise and nutrition goals that you can maintain for the rest of your life. This is what enabled me to reduce my body weight by almost half.

Rather than focus on a huge number of pounds that I had to lose, I concentrated on what I could realistically achieve on a daily basis. I made sure that I exercised at least half an hour a day and ate balanced nutritional meals that I enjoyed.

Another key success factor for me was that I adhered to current medical guidelines that limit weight loss to no more than 2 pounds per week. (I actually averaged slightly less than one pound per week over a four-year period). As I slowly lost the weight, I never felt physically exhausted or starved for food, which helped me maintain my enthusiasm to reach my goal. I also learned the art of mindful eating which involves slowly chewing my food so that I may actually taste it and enjoy it. As I became more fit, I took up fun activities such as Rollerblading and running 5K races, which motivated me to become fitter so that I could perform better.

Probably the hardest problem I had in the beginning was overcoming the inertia to not exercise. My motivation was that I would die if I did not change my ways. Perhaps your health situation is not as dramatic as mine was, making it difficult to find the motivation to begin your exercise.

Try these tips:

• set realistic goals
• meet with a Registered Dietician and a Personal Fitness Trainer to map out a plan that will work for you and your lifestyle
• identify someone you can feel accountable to, this will help you adhere to your fitness program