Resolutions get real

Put yourself in it

In other words, know thyself. If you're a dedicated chocoholic, you should probably rethink banning the cocoa bean altogether. And if contact sports leave you cold, taking up hockey shouldn't be your way of getting active.

If your resolution goes against the grain, failure is imminent – no matter how keen you are. Motivation in spades won't make up for the fact that whatever you're trying to do just doesn't feel right.

You know your strengths, so use them to overcome a weakness. For example, personalize your workout at the gym to include activities you prefer: if you love the stationary bicycle but not the weights, devise your program accordingly. If you have more energy and stamina in the summer, then break away from the rest of the herd making New Year's resolutions and implement your own changes in July.

Wolkoff purposefully didn't wait until the end of the year when he resolved to lose weight more than a year ago. In addition to maintaining a psychiatric practice in Toronto, he had started making regular television appearances in the United States, and the pressures and travel involved in his extra work had led him to overeat.

While he was willing to work hard to achieve his weight-loss goals and take it slow, he wasn't willing to wait for Dec. 31 to roll around. Instead, he grabbed the bull by the horns and changed his eating habits. "Why should New Year's resolutions be easier to keep than Oct. 23 resolutions?" he says. "I just said, ‘Time's up. I need to bite the bullet.'"

He lost 20 pounds before the end of the year and was able to avoid the "magical thinking" pitfall that so many of his colleagues and patients fall into. "Magical solutions don't exist," he says flatly. "Following concrete and manageable resolutions may not be as sexy, but it works."