Continued from Exercise Is Key to Successful Weight Loss.

“When you fail [to lose weight], you feel frustrated and ashamed and ready to throw up your hands in defeat,” says Charles Stuart Platkin, author of Breaking the Fat Pattern. But take heart: Losing weight is like quitting smoking.

“The more you try to lose weight and fail,” Platkin says, “the greater the chance of succeeding the next time.” Of course, it’s not that simple, otherwise every yo-yo dieter would be slender by now.

The key is to learn from previous disappointments and with each new attempt, take new steps to break your old patterns.

Skeptical that you can do it? Consider this little-known fact: 90 percent of “successful losers” — people who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for five years — previously failed before finally breaking the cycle. They’ve proven that even life-long yo-yo dieters can leave that behavior behind for good.