Googled the word "diet" recently? If so, you're in good company: trend data show that the popularity of this search term rises and falls every year with almost comic predictability—hitting its low point every December, then soaring to its annual peak in January. 'Tis the season when guilt meets good intentions! Alas, almost half the resolutions made to lose weight on January 1 fizzle within the first six months of the year. We're not going to let that happen this year! Here are 10 weight-loss tips that
really work.
Take Baby Steps to Lose Weight
Those New Year's Champagne bubbles may have convinced you that you can overhaul your diet and start exercising every single day, but that's kind of like hopping on a plane to Antarctica with no itinerary. "You need a plan," says John Norcross, Ph.D., a psychologist at the University of Scranton, who has studied New Year's resolutions. "What, specifically, are you going to do differently?"
Experts recommend doing a brain dump of all the changes you want to make, then starting with one tiny, doable tweak—packing a healthy lunch or walking 20 minutes a day. Once that's a comfortable part of your routine, put a bold checkmark on your list, then add another small change. Sure, baby steps take longer, but they work: a recent study in the
American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that people who made one small change a week lost nearly twice as much weight as those who followed broader "eat less, move more" guidelines. And imagine how gratifying it will feel to see those checkmarks add up as the pounds fall off.
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