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I can see why that would be such a motivation for losing weight. But for a poor college student like me, I can only think of subtracting food (to save money). :P

I like it! I'm one of those "must cut out" sorta people, not a "must add" sorta person. Perhaps a new perspective would help. But I can't go overboard on the adding

Edited: sorry to post in this forum, I just saw the topic on the front page and clicked. Hope no one minds

That is a cool idea, and a good point. I never would have ever eaten ground turkey, tofu, natural peanut butter, soy milk, or a bunch of other things if I hadn't been "adding" foods to my diet.

Yes, that's a good concept. I also believe that we should look at it as not what we are giving up by doing without the high quantity/highly caloric foods. But what we are gaining by doing without them. A thinner, fitter, healthier life, one with less worries and more joy and happiness.

Yes - that is exactly the mentality that got me started. I concentrated on what TO eat and what NOT to eat, it made a big difference for me (feeling like I was doing something positive for myself, not something restrictive and negative). I didn't even count calories at the very beginning, just concentrated on eating 1 item from 10 different super food groups every day. Super foods tend to be very filling, so there just wasn't room to eat a lot of other stuff if I was meeting my goal very day. It was a little like a game/challenge every day which I found motivating.

You know something I've recently added to my diet. Corn. Very strange is that I avoided it a long time because of the carbs. Long after I added fruit and whole grain bread back into my diet, I still avoided corn. I bought a big bag of it at Costco and almost had heart palpatations. I guess my problem is that I wouldn't want to use corn to replace other veggies but I think it is a good addition to other veggies.

I would agree that I don't feel deprived by cutting out a lot of the high calorie foods out of my diet. I eat good sized meals that are fairly healthy. The foods I eat also make me feel better rather than the stomach problems that plagued me for years with unhealthy eating. I wouldn't change a thing.

This is definitely key concept for those changing to a healthy lifestyle! It seems that old concept of "what I have to give up" is the main mindset of the "dieting world." However, as has already been stated, not only are you adding new and healthy foods you are getting back your health. To me, there isn't a price tag big enough to put on that!