Reducing weight is at least one New Year’s Resolution for millions around the world. Whatever weight-loss program you use, it should let you KEEP the weight off, instead of experiencing the yo-yo effect. We have some additional suggestions to not only lose weight, but to keep it off.

28. Choose high-fiber foods, like brown rice, nuts, legumes, seeds, fruits, vegetables and whole grain bread. Fiber fills you up, and has been shown to prevent or minimize heart disease as well as provide protective effects against cancer.

29. If you feel hungry a lot, your metabolic rate is slowing your body’s ability to burn calories. So each time you eat, your body things it’s in starvation mode and stores the energy you consume as fat instead of releasing it to your muscles and brain. To counteract this effect, try eating five or six small meals a day instead of one or two large ones. It will get your body to start believing it is NOT in starvation mode.

30. Have a snack, some fruit, yogurt or cottage cheese, about 90 minutes before your usual mealtime. This prevents you from overeating or putting too much on your plate during your meal.

31. Did you know one gram of alcohol has nine calories? Keep your alcohol consumption low; alcohol is an appetite stimulant.

32. How much fish, nuts, seeds and whole grains have you been eating lately? Essential fatty acids are not bad fats; they help to increase your metabolic rate so you use up more fat that you’ve stored in your body when you move about.

33. Learn to control stress now. Stress increases the amount of cortisol circulating in your system; this makes you put on weight. Chronic stress sufferers have poorer health and stronger PMS and menopause symptoms. Try yoga, meditation, even deep breathing to get focused and take stress out of your body.

34. If you’re used to stuffing yourself, controlling the portions or servings you eat can seem an impossible task. To get around this dieting hiccup, eat foods that are bursting with flavor. If you prevent monotonous eating, you prevent cravings from becoming too insistent.

35. High flavors means you have to chew and savor each mouthful slowly; you end up putting less on your plate and feel like you’ve eaten more! Great deal, huh? Try citrus juices and rinds, chilies, garlic, herbs, spices, soy sauce, wasabi, curries and other flavorings. These ‘unnecessary’ additions have been shown to promote digestion and give some anti-cancer and brain-boosting effects.

More tips for those social gatherings

36. Hold your drink in your dominant hand. If you rely on your “weak” hand to reach for eats, you’ll cut back on calories through lack of coordination.

37. Skip anything you eat with your fingers. This eliminates fatty finger food like cheese puffs, chicken wings and so on. But the exceptions to this ‘rule’ are: Baby veggies and shrimp.

38. Look at the entire buffet table instead of just what’s right beneath your nose. Browse before you start helping yourself so you only load up on the most nutritious and filling items on the buffet table.

39. Skip the chips. You can get chips any time of the year. Why not try goat cheese if you seldom buy it for your own kitchen? Make your eats special.

40. Let yourself have ONE of whatever you crave. Everyone needs a treat; it’s not all an uphill war in weight-loss. If you indulge a little now (just ONE, remember), it will prevent you from bingeing later.

41. Be last in line to the buffet table. If you hit the table after everyone else has already been to it, chances are most of the fat-laden stuff will already be gone. And so will your temptation for them.

42. Make tradeoffs. Do you want beer? Or marshmallow cake? Don’t have both treats, have one or the other. And remember to reward your discipline with a facial or a day at the spa.

43. Don’t stray too far from your usual routine of exercise and regular eating habits. You wouldn’t pig out at any other time, so why choose parties to break your discipline?

44. Sip a glass of tomato or parsley juice before heading to the party. They’re satieting and tasty. These appetite-reducers will stop you from sprinting to the buffet table when you step through the door.