When I first started losing weight I went all in. I bought lots of healthy food, packed my lunch every day and counted calories, fat, carbs, and protein. I was eating small meals every 3 hours like I was told, etc. I was feeling great and I lost 26 pounds doing it (and working out).
I got burnt out though, and fell off the wagon completely. I hate counting the nutritional values of my food because I stop thinking about how delicious my healthy food choices are, and start thinking "does this have enough protein?" "how many more calories do I have left for the day?" etc.
So this time around I want to enjoy it more.

Has anyone else had this issue? And more importantly, what did you do to make it enjoyable? If you pack lunches, what are some yummy, cheap, healthy things I can bring to snack on throughout the day? (I work in an office environment, so I can be a little flexible with my food types.)

Thanks!

I don't really have any answers to your second question, but I can relate to the first part of your post. I got burned out about five years ago. I had been assiduous about my diet for 2 years!! Then, I got a new job and my father died, and I just couldn't seem to keep my diet up because I had devoted too much energy to it prior to those events. Lesson learned: My diet (as in, "way of eating") must become just part of my daily routine, like brushing m teeth, walking my dogs, etc. Long story short, I regained ALL the weight I lost. It's just the been last month or so that I've had the heart to really get restarted.

This time, though, I am following the KISS method. You know "Keep it simple, stupid." I have a tendancy to become overzealous about most things in the beginning, and then I think about them so much that I eventually burn out from them. So, I'm not going to worry about anything other than calories and generally making good choices.

Also, I just read this article . . .

http://health.usnews.com/health-news...ght-loss-study

. . . and it sort of confirms for me that micro-managing weight loss by tracking all the nutritional factors isn't really necessary.

I understand the getting burned out thing but I try to reenergize myself with a new outfit that you will be able to fit into in 10lbs. I only count calories and I think this is very manageable.

Lin, I can totally relate to being overzealous about things! I am hoping that just watching how many calories I eat and making better choices works. I want this to be a lifestyle and not just a "diet" that takes up a lot of thinking time.
Sunshine, That sounds like an awesome motivator! Maybe I'll try it!