Psychological tricks to keep you on your new year diet

As the calendar clicked over into 2011 last weekend, millions will have made new year's resolutions.

But research shows whatever the goal - only around 10% of us stick with it.

Psychologist Richard Wiseman, external from the University of Hertfordshire has studied the differences between the winners and losers in the resolution race and found those who fail, are more likely to fall by the wayside within the first week.

And his research shows that relying on willpower alone is not enough to see you through. Those that stayed the distance used a series of practical strategies:

They broke their goal into a series of steps and rewarded themselves when they achieved each step.

They told their friends and family what they were trying to achieve, so they got support and the fear of failure kept them on track.

And they regularly reminded themselves about the benefits of achieving their goal.

Losing weight and eating more healthily is an annual favourite New Year's pledge; here Professor Wiseman demonstrates some psychological tricks to fool your mind into believing that less is more.