I would offer up that time is well spent on learning about sugar - the different forms, what they're typically found in, and what sort of reactions that refined and artificial sugars provoke in the body.
There's no one diet plan that works for everybody, but from Atkins to South Beach, to Sonoma, to Medifast, to Zone, to Beck ... the common theme seems to be defeating the sweet tooth. It seems too that the cutting-edge nutritional research is very close to pinning a lot of age-related disease onto sugars and the glycation byproducts. So there's absolutely no downside to busting the sugar habits.
Not saying it's easy ... not at all ... but between sugar and water ... the payback is huge.