The only calories I will drink are dessert calories, meaning I set aside 'food calories' for a treat and thus will have a homemade 'frosty' (189 calories a serving) or a homemade coffee drink (150 calories a serving). I find I am happier having these with real sugar than artificial, but they are still severely limited and budgeted in.

As for my 'rules', I don't have a lot beyond generally not drinking my calories and not letting something I don't want to binge on intl the house. If we have pizza (we do, once weekly), I am agreeing to eat it. If I shouldn't eat it, it never enters the door.

A few rules I have had to create while losing the weight so far:

No potato chips - cannot do the "low" calorie, "low fat" potato chips. I will eat the entire bag. Therefore, I do not start to eat them. I don't allow them. (Maybe one day I will be able to eat a small portion without going out of control, but for now I cannot.)

No fried foods - I think they are empty calories and unhealthy.

No French fries - I am a BIG potato lover, so I cannot eat just a few french fries. There are some "natural" ones I have seen with less calories, but I cannot stop myself from eating more then a serving.

No soda - I would rather eat more of something, instead of drinking away my calories for the day.

No breakfast bars etc. - I tried special k bars, and I liked them so much they did not last very long.

I am sure my list will continue to grow. I keep learning new things about myself, and my behavior every day.

You know, it's really funny, because I was EXACTLY this kind of person for years, until all of a sudden, I wasn't. I was always defying someone, even if only myself!

And then somehow, I switched ownership around and I no longer saw it that way. Now my "rules" are devices that break the compulsion cycle....

I'm very fascinated by this topic. Some of us seem to have an almost obsessive-compulsive component to eating, and the rules help us break the mindset that makes us feel as if we can't stop ourselves. But by the same token, I spent 25+ years entirely unable to follow any rules that I set for myself...

No insight to offer, just odd how the mind works.

My "rules":

- veggies every day
- no soda
- no trigger foods in the house
- limit booze to 2x's a week
- exercise 4 times a week minimum

Thank you for this, I tried the I can't have this that or the other thing and I just rebelled against it.I ended up wanting the banned stuff more. I have a bunch of guidelines that I follow, same as what most people have here. I think my only real rule is to never stop even if I mess up. Pick myself up, get back on the wagon and keep going.

I'm with xty and Trazey, I have decided I can't really do rules. If I say non of this or non of that then I break that rule to the extreme. But then, I'm like that with other aspects of my life as well.

My only "rule" I guess you could call it is know my trigger foods and be aware of how hard it will be to stop if I put just one in my mouth, and be prepared for the battle if I still choose to eat it.

Like so many things about weight loss, there are vast differences between people and what works for them. I need some structure in dealing with things that I know are problem areas for me and making things totally off limits provides that structure (but it is just for the things that are problem items).

I've realized throughout this journey that the longer I argue with myself about something the more likely I am to cave in and talk myself into it. I then will regret it. I've had the same thing happen for other things in my life that were once a problem (ie., drinking in bars).

The only food I completely say NO to is Fast Food. Mostly because the ingredients are HORRENDUS...and it's not even that it's high in fat...it's that it reigns terror on your body.

I try to limit Soda to 1x per day. I used to drink it ALL the time...and I knew I had to cut it down quite a bit...but it's never full calorie soda.


Other than that...I track everything...and once my WW points are gone...they're gone.