We all know that dieting is no picnic. But focusing on the positive details like flavor and texture can be a surefire way to prevent big-time dieting failures. Granted, your weight-loss regimen is not a paragon of exciting flavors: unadorned food—grilled fish, steamed veggies, brown rice—and none of the fats, oils, and sweets that make life tasty.

But success is not just a matter of what you eat, says Joseph P. Redden of the University of Minnesota. Attitude counts. Lavishing attention on the finer details of what you consume—thinking of "fish" more specifically as "salmon" and "sea bass," for example—can make food more appealing and keep you committed long-term to a restricted regimen.

Say you down yogurt every morning. Instead of approaching it as "yogurt," Redden suggests, concentrate on the flavor you select each day—or add a touch of something to make it different—flavoring, fruit, granola. According to a study on jelly beans conducted by Redden, focusing on the specific little things may be the answer.

Redden fed 22 fruit-flavored jelly beans to subjects and measured their enjoyment. Everyone ate the same array of jelly beans, but among those whose candy was identified as tangerine or strawberry, enjoyment declined less than among those whose candy was generically labeled "jelly beans."

What's groundbreaking, says Redden, is the demonstration that people can influence satiation levels without changing what they consume. By drawing attention to a new aspect of experience, such as the flavor of a candy—even if it is obvious—they can enjoy the experience longer and make it more satisfying.

Honing appreciation for detail can improve many aspects of life. We often fall prey to the identity fallacy whereby we mistakenly assume that big effects have big causes. We subscribe to the reverse proposition, too—that small events must be of small consequence. In fact, our tendency to neglect small matters not only undermines many of our attempts at weight loss but subverts our relationships as well.

There is a time and place for ignoring the small stuff. If you're trying to resist unhealthy food, Redden says, your best bet is to lump all of it under one umbrella term—say, "fast food"—to make it seem repetitive and thus less enticing.

If your diet endorses steamed vegetables and rice, appreciate that you're having broccoli and basmati rice one night, asparagus and Arborio rice the next.

Next time you only have ten minutes to exercise, do just that. Invest in an array of new spices for all those grilled vegetables it's wise to consume. Mind the minutiae: The recipe for large-scale success is paying attention to particulars.

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