This is the time of year when that weight-loss resolution tends to get a little... slack. Maybe you have lost a couple pounds, but the work it takes to lose more -- and keep off the few you have lost -- gets old. You need to re-motivate yourself and decide once again what you really want.

If we come at New Year's resolutions with a teeth-gritted determination to change, we inevitably defeat ourselves. Why? Because when we assume a fighting stance, bracing ourselves against temptations, we actually limit the resources that we bring to our challenge.

Dr. James H. Berry, DO, medical director of Chestnut Ridge Inpatient Acute Dual Diagnosis Program and assistant professor at the West Virginia Health Science Center's Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, answers a few short questions for smokers.

We're all great at describing the huge gaping hole that's sinking the ship, but that won't keep the ship afloat. We need to act, not throw our hands up in despair. And to act, we need to believe there's a way out.

Is weight loss psychological? Is it something that a shrink can help you with or not? Have you tried hard to lose weight on diet programs and not been successful? Do you know why that is?

All the hype around mindfulness -- being aware of the present moment, on purpose and without judgment, has gotten many people interested in giving it a try. The big challenge for most has been how to sustain their practice past the initial excitement.

In addition to being close to preventing Type 1 diabetes, Professor Itamar Raz is working to protect the heart and kidney from diabetic complications, educating doctors how to treat patients with diabetes and changing towns across Israel to improve lifestyle behaviors.

There is clearly something to be said for a more mindful state while one is eating. Choking is almost always caused by a wandering mind during an internal dialogue.

Who is the most difficult person in your life? What are some of the ways that you deal with difficult people? What advice do you have to help others with an "irritant"?

It is only when we begin to explore the realm of statistics that "average" becomes both very interesting and very powerful.

Maybe the answer to the current health crisis lies in not just eating and exercise recommendations, but in thinking about one's thinking more intelligently.