You've come a long way in the last month of mindful eating and regular exercise, but the year has just begun. Continue practicing the healthy habits you learned throughout the Whole Body Action Plan, and use these simple weight-loss methods to keep you on track toward reaching or maintaining a healthy weight.

Instead of serving food "family style" -- which can encourage multiple helpings, just because the food is on the table -- portion out servings directly from the stove onto your plate.

Since we tend to load up on calorie-rich starches, changing the landscape of your plate can help you rein in portions. Aim to fill half your dish with vegetables, a quarter with whole grains, and a quarter with healthy lean protein.

To keep your metabolism humming, try the following strategies:

• Eat four to five small meals a day, rather than three large ones.
• Sip two or three cups of green tea per day.
• Keep up with strength-training: muscles burn more calories than fat.

Almonds, avocado, and olive oil are high in fat, but about 70 percent of that fat is monounsaturated, the heart-healthy kind. This kind of fat can make our cells more insulin-sensitive and can encourage weight loss. For best results, combine these foods with high-fiber complex carbs, like multigrain bread.

Grapefruit has a compound called naringenin, which studies have shown can make our insulin more effective.

Find strength in numbers: Recruit a friend who has similar goals to start up a workout routine and healthy eating plan with you. Exercising with a partner will help pass the time and keep you accountable for your progress -- and you can keep each other motivated with emails and text messages when you're not face to face.

If your exercise routine is flagging, try adding some new, fast-tempo songs to your music playlist. Research has shown that upbeat music can increase exercisers' endurance, boost their mood, and create positive feelings about working out.

If you start the day with starchy or sugary refined foods, you'll crave those types of foods all day. At breakfast, avoid sweetened foods, juices, and products made from flour (such as cereal and bread); instead, power up on protein-rich picks such as eggs, some dairy (if tolerated), nuts and seeds, and whole grains such as steel-cut oats. This helps moderate your appetite for the hours ahead.

At an ice-cream social thrown at Cornell University, those given a large bowl served themselves 31 percent more ice cream than those given a small bowl. To regulate the amount you eat, use a bowl that fits inside your two cupped hands and sip water before deciding if you want an additional helping.

You may want to try eating with chopsticks, too, or holding your fork in your non-dominant hand: Anything that slows down your eating and makes you think consciously about each bite can help you avoid overeating.