Use your brain

• Using your mind to shape your body

• How your brain can help shift that belly

• Weigh-in

• Taking a daily toll of your weight may sound obsessive but studies from the US National Weight Control Registry found that almost half of case studies who managed to keep off the weight they’d lost for over a year did so with daily weigh-ins. Experts concluded that they used the checks as feedback and an early warning signal.
  

• Don’t watch the box

• US scientists have found that visual food cues - like seeing a steaming plate of chips on TV fires up brain activity that’ll make you hungry. So, keep a fat-free snack to hand when you’re watching Gordon Ramsey’s shows.

• Break your habits

• Research published by the American Psychotherapy Association showed that repetitive small steps help break bad habits, like always grabbing a chocolate bar when you fill up your car. “Establishing a good habit takes no more than 30 days,” says Stephen Kraus, US psychologist and president of, www.keepyourresolution.com. “It's also easier to replace a habit than to just drop it – so if you eat under stress, replace it with a better reaction, like power-walking or calling friends.” Or at the garage pick up some windscreen cleaner instead.