STAY ON TRACK

Whether you're burning fat or building muscle, sticking to a training plan will be hard. Use the latest research on motivation and psychology to keep going

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Finding it tough to eat right or pick up the dumbbells? Don't worry. Recent studies have shown willpower isn't something you have - it's something you build through practice. Here's how to get it done, and make your new good habits automatic.

Accept that habits rule your life

Don't try to resist habits: try to change them. A study published by Duke University in the US found that 40% of participants' daily actions weren't the result of conscious decisions, but ingrained behaviour. Not having to make decisions all the time will also help you to conserve your brain power to focus on other things. The takehome message: make your habits good ones and life will be better.

Work willpower like a muscle

Multiple studies have shown that, in the short term, depleting willpower with one task will make it less available for another so if you have to force yourself to train at home first thing in the morning, you'll have less reserves to turn down a pint after work. Crucially, though, exercising your willpower daily will give you more reserves of it. So while you're working on one new habit, you're building up the willpower for new ones.

The magic number

It's not quite the number of the beast, but 66 is the average number of days it takes to make a new habit automatic, according to research from University College London. The good news? Missing a day had no effect - although researchers theorised that believing it makes a difference was a key reason for falling off the metaphorical wagon.

Ignore the don'ts