This is a five-part series from health and fitness expert Jason Hodge. Check back weekly for a new part.

It's a New Year and you are ready to get in shape. Have you been through this before? If you haven't learned from your previous failures, you are destined to repeat them. So with only a 12 percent chance of accomplishing your New Year's Resolution, it's important that you try something different this year. If you are tired of struggling with the same weight loss problems, do these things to win the Battle of the Bulge.

1. Think Long Term and Short Term - To increase your chance of losing weight, you need to create two goals. One is reasonable short term goal that you can accomplish within 4 weeks. An example might be losing between 4 and 8 pounds. This will keep you motivated and encouraged along the way. You should also have a long term goal. Know where you want to ultimately end up. This can be a larger weight loss goal, but it really should be more than that. If one of your goals is to get in shape so you won't have to workout anymore, you can expect to gain your weight back eventually. You will achieve success is when you realize there really is not a final endpoint. Your health will always be improving or regressing, but you will be the one that determines that.

2. Devise a Plan - So you've set goals for yourself, but you have to have a plan if you want to accomplish your goal. You need to make sure you strive to lose a certain amount of weight, fit into a clothing size, and/or accomplish a specific physical goal by a particular date. You should know what you are going to eat, what types of workout you are going to do, and how often you are going to do it. If you aren't sure how to devise a plan, take the time to talk to a fitness professional.

3. Proper Nutrition - I know you know how to "eat right", but knowing the difference between bad and good food probably won't work for 70-80% of those trying to lose weight. It's interesting that the rate of obesity has increased as more and more diets come out. As much as we know about healthy and unhealthy food, we can't seem to lose our belly fat. When you devise a nutrition plan, you need to have a sensible eating plan, that won't leave you starving, or that doesn't include or exclude one particular food group. Find a professional to help you with your nutrition plan. It will be worth it.

4. Get Your Heart Rate Up - You need to include some cardiovascular activity to increase your heart rate. I see many people confused by this, and it's important to understand how your body works. Walking or running in general can be good to help you condition your heart, but if you want to lose body fat, you have to do interval training. Your heart rate should vary throughout your cardiovascular routine. Your body fat will decrease and your body's insulin levels will improve with this one simple change.

5. Get Stronger - By adding strength training into your fitness routine you can increase your metabolism, tone your body, and help you burn more calories. Start by working your individual muscle groups with machines, but make sure your routine evolves over the next few months. As soon as possible move to exercises that are standing and incorporate multiple muscle groups. These types of movements translate the best to activities outside the gym.

Over the next few weeks I will go into even more detail about each of these points.

Jason Hodge
Health and Fitness Expert
http://www.MedicalFitnessPros.com