[Daimere]

2.) Do not restrict, instead replace with a healthy substitute.

I agree so much. I switched from cheddar cheese to swiss. For ice cream, I got the fruit chillers in strawberry or soy ice cream(way decadent..I couldn't eat more than a few bites!) or graham crackers with cool whip frozen to make a ice cream sandwich. I replaced iceberg lettuce with spinach leaves.

I have a friend who will not eat 3 hours before bedtime. If you wake up, drink some water and turn around. Eating during teh day will help this problem dramatically. I sometimes don't want to eat breakfast but I know I need to. I eat something small. I always have snacks near.

Put it in perspective. It took me 25 weeks to lose 55 pounds and I hardly ever got off plan. I got off plan for most of a year and gained 40 of it back(I had lost 25 previously by just walking more).

[Nixie]

Originally Posted by Scarlet

one of the things that will help you succeed is to take on the persona of a person that IS succeeding...inject positive into your conversations with yourself whenever you can..

Scarlet- I agree wholeheartedly with you on this!

[Heather]

If you think you can't do it, you won't.
If you think you CAN do it, you have a shot!

I also turned some my negative feelings into positives. I used to think I had no willpower because I ate a lot of unhealthy foods -- it seemed I couldn't say "No" to them. I realized that if I said "no" to a brownie, I was really saying "Yes" to me. Somehow that helped.