Thanks everyone for your input. The bottom line is to do what works for your individual situation.

It's always good to hear from the "masters". I'm stealing that name from the TFL book. Although I don't have the book, I ended up buying Eating Thin for Life, which I guess is sort of the sequel to TFL with lots of recipes in it. It does have a lot of insight into the life of maintainers, or "masters" as they're called in the book and it's been a great book for me.

Thanks again!

I did initially give up a lot of foods. I gave up rice, potatoes, bread, pasta, sugar. It was my way of losing the weight. I have now added back in some whole wheat bread and occasionally a baked sweet potato. I've adjusted my way of eating to now counting my calories. Junk food is something that I just don't keep around the house. I don't go to fast food restaurants. In fact, I rarely eat outside the home. Even when we go to a restaurant I typically order the same kind of food that I would cook for myself. Nothing fried or battered, always a fresh salad and most usually turkey or chicken for my meat. For me, no veggie is off limits nor is any type of fruit.

Hmm, yes, I do most of the above. I never drank "real" soda, and diet only occasionally, so no problem there. Likewise, ice cream is a so-so food for me, so I have it maybe 2-3 times a year - but the real stuff. Things I know that I will mindlessly eat too much of - like crackers and chips - I don't buy. If I encounter them at a party or whereever, I'll have some, but in social situations my "party manners" seem to keep me from eating the whole bowl. Bread/toast is an off and on problem, so when it's on, I try to account for the calories. I found that once I allowed myself to have anything, I stopped eating most of it in quantity. Of course, no one is perfect, and you can see on the chat thread that pb on toast and I had a little run-in last week. Fast food is not ever-present in our small town, so it's easy to avoid, and sweets in general have never been a problem for me. It's salty treats that get me for the most part, so I don't buy them. I tell DH that if he has to have them, buy them and eat them somewhere else! Fortunately he's more into sweets and they're pretty safe for me. We eat real food about 90% of the time, and there are not a lot of restaurants around here, so when we make the effort to go to one (40-60 minute drive for a nice one) I order what I want and either box up half, split it with DH, or just leave it (the hardest option ). Tell me I can't ever have something again, and I'll crave it for days. ....

At Christmas time, I have a friend who makes to-die-for fudge. She knows I love it. She also knows that I'm trying to maintain weight loss. For Christmas, she made not one but two boxes of this fabulous fudge for me. Sure, I had a small (1/2") piece. I just couldn't seem to not have it, but the two boxes of fudge still sit in my home refrigerator to this day untouched beyond this first piece. Healthy and controlled really does feel better. I continue to be proud that I haven't reached for those two boxes and just wolfed them down I suppose someday I should throw them away, but I think, for now, I'm keeping them in the frig to show myself that I (!) am in control of my choices and I am choosing to not eat that dang fudge

OMG. You're a better woman than I. I'd have inhaled the lot so as to 'get them out of the house'. I can't resist sweet chocolate things. No self-control at all.

goalsuccess, you are AMAZING!!!! Fudge? - homemade? And it's still sitting there? I am in awe of you. AWE.

Like most everyone, I gave (give) up some things while losing and reincorporate them in a minimal amount when maintaining. But if I had to name one thing that I never did and never will give up it would be sour cream. I just love it too much! Fortunately a little goes a long way! Thankfully calorie counting has it's benefits inasmuch as I can eat what I want as long as it stays within my caloric range. It does lead me to really look at something and make sure it's "worth it" to eat. There are a lot of foods that I eat rarely just because of the high calories and fat--they just aren't worth it more than a couple times a year. Potatoes, chips, cookies, cake--those carb filled and often fat and calorie filled foods. It doesn't mean that I never eat them, but it is rare that I do, and when I do eat them, I don't eat a lot (usually--I had a run-in with cookies last week!).

I'm of the school of Meg and others who had to give up whole classes of unhealthy stuff in order to lose and maintain. We had a fundamental change in our lifestyles that included the blacklisting of lots of old favorites. But we developed new favorites pretty quickly and reformulated foods we couldn't do without to make them acceptable. It's what's worked for us. We've both found that if we deviate much, we get undesirable results. Friends and relatives think we're "health nuts" for being puritanical about what we eat (It's not that we're so picky, it's that they eat so badly!). We can't imagine living any other way now. It's so worth it to us!

I didn't give up any foods at all. I did give up the quantity and frequency that I ate a lot of foods though! Plus there are many foods that I used to love that are now unappetizing, like packaged baked goods (mini muffins, little debbie snack cakes), fried foods, etc. Nowadays I feel like if everything on my plate is brown I have a serious problem!

ditto to what paperclippy said

I had to give up some foods because of my particular situation (pre-diabetes). There are some things that are just too destructive to my system, no matter how good they taste or how much I loved them. It's worked better for me to view them as no longer existing on the planet and if I am confronted with them, to imagine my beta cells lying on their backs with their legs up, dead (some may squeak in pain as they expire if I'm really feeling creative that day). I had a close call when my cousin sent me a box of really nice looking cookies for Christmas. I don't think she had absorbed how serious I was about making changes in my life, so I didn't hold it against her, but...it certainly provided a challenging moment as my hand involuntarily reached for a handful. Actually tried to grab cookies before I even had time to think! So I shrieked and threw the box into the freezer, and then asked my son to eat them over his vacation, please!

Luckily this was an isolated moment...

As time has gone on I have gotten used to my restricted diet and discovered many new foods that I had not tried, did not eat, never heard of, etc. Now I am in agreement with those who say they prefer vegs, fruits, etc. to things they used to eat. (Who knew that roasted brussels sprouts are GOOD??? I'll tell my cousin and she can send me some next Christmas, right?) I know I feel better, have more energy, and my health problems have improved so much, which also motivates me. The structured nature of my diet is very helpful to me. I rarely feel deprived (if I do, I just let myself feel sorry for myself, really try to wallow in it, and it seems to go away quickly, rather than denying the feeling, which seems to make me think more and more about it...) I've made my peace with my situation and don't resent it or think about what others do or don't get to eat. I just focus on myself and what's good for me as best I can.

It also helped me to decide to stop trying to cram my old way of eating into my new life, but to start anew, learn about my requirements, and then work with that. I've been enjoying trying new recipes, etc. I hadn't realized how repetitive my cooking had become!