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If you're like many people who vow to break bad habits and establish healthier ones every 365 days, losing weight might top your 2008 resolution list.

Yet too often shedding excess pounds is a short-term endeavour followed by a steady regaining of lost weight. According to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, only one in four people who start a diet - be it low-carb, low-fat, even Weight Watchers - are able to stick to the plan closely for a full year.

Any weight-loss plan that is unbalanced makes you feel hungry, sets up unrealistic expectations, doesn't fit into real life or neglects to teach you how to maintain your new weight over the long term.

The good news: Research has revealed many invaluable strategies that increase your odds of successful (i.e. permanent) weight loss. It's the cumulative effect of all the small things you do that will help you achieve your New Year's resolution.

This year, instead of concentrating on temporary "dieting," focus on making small, sustainable changes that will help you lose weight permanently:

Set small goals: Rather than keeping your eye on long-term goals, such as losing 25 pounds, set your sights on small goals to help you stay motivated and maintain momentum. Breaking your weight-loss goal into five- to 10-pound blocks also allows you to experience success along the way.

Your goals don't have to be centred on weight loss. They can be daily, weekly or monthly goals that challenge you to exercise more, eat more vegetables or drink more water.

Learn about calories: In order to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you consume: Women should consume 1,200 to 1,600 calories a day depending on activity level, men 1,800 to 2,200.

Learn the calorie counts of your meals, snacks and beverages. Read the nutrition-facts box on food packages to find out how many calories are in one serving of your favourite foods. If you dine at chain restaurants, visit the company's website to learn the calorie content of menu items. You might be surprised to discover that many entrees deliver nearly a day's worth of calories.

Eat breakfast, even if you're not hungry: Studies show that people who eat the morning meal do a better job of keeping their weight in check compared to those who go without.

Eating breakfast kick-starts your metabolism and helps you consume fewer calories over the course of the day. People who eat breakfast are less likely to overeat at lunch and dinner.

If you don't feel hungry in the morning, eat something small - a yogurt, a smoothie or even an apple. In a short time you'll wake up with an appetite for breakfast.

Plan meals in advance: If you come home from work tired and hungry without a plan for dinner, chances are you'll order in or graze your way through the evening.

On the weekend, plan a weekly menu of healthy meals and snacks. To ensure you stick to your plan, make time for grocery shopping and batch-cook on the weekend.

Eat a 4 o'clock snack: Eating every three to four hours keeps your blood sugar stable and your appetite in check, helping you pare down your portion size. (Note: no snacking after dinner.)

Depending on your schedule, include a mid-morning and/or mid-afternoon snack. Healthy choices include fruit and nuts, a smoothie made with low-fat milk and fruit, raw vegetables and hummus, or a small energy bar.

Use smaller dinnerware: Studies show we eat 92 per cent of what we serve ourselves, regardless of the size of plate. The larger the glass or dinner plate, the more calories we'll consume.

One serving of milk is one cup (250 millilitres); one serving of juice is half a cup (125 millilitres). If you don't know much your glasses hold, measure to find out.

If you're trying to reduce your portions at meals, use luncheon-size plates - seven to nine inches in diameter. The plate will look full and you'll end up eating less.

Reach for water: The calories consumed in sugary drinks and alcoholic beverages don't fill you up. As a result, we don't compensate for liquid calories by eating less food; instead, they're added to your meal.

Consider that 12 ounces (355 millilitres) of cola or fruit juice has about 150 calories. That may not sound like much, but those calories add up. If you drink a can of regular pop or a bottle of juice with lunch each day - or a glass of wine with dinner - you'll consume an extra 54,750 calories a year. Translation: an extra 15 pounds on the scale if you don't burn them off.

Water, which also aids digestion, delivers zero calories.

Indulge once a week: Putting a food on the forbidden list makes it more desirable and can make you feel deprived. When you're stressed, angry or bored, you're more likely to crave what you can't have, a feeling that can lead to bingeing.

Rather than eliminate the foods you love, plan a once-weekly splurge so you won't feel deprived. (I mean a single treat - a dessert, a chocolate bar, an order of French fries - not one day full of indulgences.)

Banish trigger foods: Yes, a weekly treat does help you stick to your weight-loss resolution. But don't keep those treats in the house. According to the National Weight Control Registry, a U.S. database of more than 5,000 people who have lost a significant amount of weight and kept if off, successful dieters say they stay on track by stocking their kitchens with healthy foods.

It's a strategy that makes sense. If you have to leave the house to buy the cookies you crave, you're less likely to do it. But if you know there's a bag of them in the cupboard - or a tub of ice cream in the freezer - chances are you'll give in to your craving instead of letting it pass.

Slow your pace: If you eat too quickly, you're more likely to overeat. After every bite, put down your knife and fork and chew your food thoroughly. To help you slow down, avoid distractions while eating, such as watching television or reading.

Keep a food journal: I've recommended this strategy in many of my columns because it works. Studies show that people who keep food diaries lose more weight and keep more of it off in the long run. In one study of 685 dieters, the best predictor of weight loss throughout the first year was the number of food records kept a week.

For the next four weeks - weekends included - write down what you eat and how much you eat. Tracking daily food intake forces you to see what you're really eating. Once you decide what needs adjusting in your diet, monitoring your intake helps keep you focused on your goals.

Weigh in weekly, or daily: According to the National Weight Control Registry, 75 per cent of participants say their success comes from weighing themselves at least once a week.

Weighing in helps you measure your progress. Seeing your efforts reflected on the bathroom scale motivates you to stick to your plan. On the flip side, if the scale doesn't budge, or if the needle creeps up after the weekend, you'll be more likely to follow your plan more closely.

Get off the couch: Successful dieters also report getting one hour of scheduled exercise each day, often brisk walking. And most say they add activity into their daily routine such as stair climbing and walking.

Exercise makes you feel good about yourself, and makes you want to eat healthy. And working out regularly allows you to enjoy more food while losing weight.

Get enough sleep: Your weight loss success may depend, in part, on how much sleep you get each night. According to a study published in The Lancet, sleep deprivation affects hormones that increase hunger and affect the body's metabolism, making it more difficult to take the pounds off.

Most experts recommend adults get seven to eight hours of sleep a night for good health.

Leslie Beck , a Toronto-based dietitian at the Medcan Clinic, is on CTV's Canada AM every Wednesday. Visit her website at lesliebeck.com .