But potatoes aren't unhealthy. Even white potatoes. They are full of vitamins. Potatoes get a really bad rap and I hate to see it continued here. A potato cannot possibly be classed in the same category as refined flour.

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I agree with those saying real food - no FF or artificial stuff for me either. Portion control of whole foods is way easier than a lot of FF "stuff". I truly think that eating low cal, FF, HFC and chemically-laden foods contributed to my gaining the weight in the first place.

Cabot extra sharp cheddar cheese - ahhh - with a bit of feta and romano - goes great on almost anything (although - I agree about LC cheeses - love those little wedges).

LOL...you love spuds too? Potatoes are good for you IMO. They are also fat free, and a pretty good bang for your caloric buck, but not allowed on various low carb/healthy carb diet plans until maintenance because they effect blood sugar levels the way refined sugars/carbs do. They also get a bad rap because of the way they get wrapped...

I loooove baked potatoes. I have one for lunch at least once a week.

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I could never give up my coffee! But I drink it black, so no calories!

I love cheese and don't like the LF versions. I can't imagine giving up real cheese.

I used to tease my MIL-to-be about using lo-fat mayo last year when she was on WW. I said she'd never catch me dead with that stuff. Now I'm on WW with her, and guess what, I ate my words (with lo-fat mayo on them!) In fact, I've found a few goodies I'll keep using during maintenance: Fat-free fudgicles, lo-fat cream cheese, etc. I CANNOT give up my flavored creamer in the mornings. I plan it into my WW points, and have cut down my coffee intake quite a bit, but there's no replacement for flavored creamer. YUM!!

In thinking about my foods and what I haven't been able to give up, the one thing that comes to mind is jade pork dumplings from chinese buffet. I have read that they are only about 50-75 calories/dumpling, but, I highly doubt that. There is no way something so good has that few calories.

Oh, and taco bell, but I haven't been in over three weeks, so maybe I have. When I'm leaving work at 8pm and its been one of those 12 hour days and I have an hour drive to get home... and I have 1000 or so calories free, it is SO tempting to stop at one of the THREE Taco Bells along the way. The food is filling for how few calories (crunchwrap & soft taco =700 calories... I could get away with it in my food budget, I'd just have to move a few things around) but the fat content is way above my limit of 45 grams/day.

FH hasn't been able to give up real milk. I did that long ago and made the transition to lite soymilk. It is so yummy!

A few things .... I have a similar approach as PhotoChick - I am not a fan of the oil-substitute spray, I prefer to use olive oil. I use whole eggs. Once every 2 months or so I and a couple of coworkers go to a restaurant for a schnitzel. (Although now I try to split it into two portions). Every once in a while we go for Thai food - I love coconut based tom yam soup or sweet and sour coconut soup. Basically, when I eat out (which is not very often) I don't want to order a salad - that's something I have every day at home. I want to enjoy something that have only rarely, even if it is not that good for me.
Every Saturday morning I have a slice of pizza at the local farmers' market, there are bits of bacon on it - that is pretty much the only bacon that I have.
I won't say chocolate, because I always eat only a square a day (not nearly every day though) and it is good quality chocolate with 85% cocoa, so I really don't consider it indulgence (although if I had to, I could give it up easily).

there are to many things I'm NOT willing to give up so better question would be what I AM willing to LOL....

I would say as of so far.. soda... I am soley on water/milk and the occasional Ice tea mix...... but I STILL have a soda once a week one the weekends I just use a diet coke plus instead of a regular coke...


right now I've given up ALOT of things but only because I haven't been able to get tot he store to get the healthier version... I don't plan on getting rid of them jsut trying to find the healthier option.. if I don't do that soon I will wind up eating them ..

I have also given up HALF the "amount" of food I usually eat .. I've cut my portion size and appetite in half which I'm very proud of ..

oh and also my american chop suey and garlic bread...n o way no how I have to eat it or I will DIE

Hey half and half isn't so bad, 2 tablespoons equal 35 calories, that is enough for a cup of coffee.

Ooh this is a good thread.

1. My ONE diet coke for the day- this is a switch from having about 4 regular cokes a day. I have tried to cut out diet coke also but just cannot do it for some reason and I get caffeine withdrawal and migraines.

2. Meat- I am TRYING to cut back on red meat- we eat waayy too much of it I think and am about to try to do more fish twice a week for dinner mostly since I'm so sick of chicken lol.

3. I really like white potatoes and white rice. Working on switching to more brown stuff.

4. Fat Free products-I'm really picky about what FF products I do eat. They have to taste good.

I'd give up any food if I felt that it was interfering with my weight loss. I would definitely do almost anything to get my weight down. Within reason of course. If I think a food is a trigger food, I won't buy it. Even if it's fairly low calorie. I don't want to get in to the binging behavior at all. But if there is something I have a little of, and it is not a trigger food, then it probably won't affect my weight loss adversely. I hope that when I am trying to lose the last few pounds, that I can use extra exercise to keep the scale moving down. Same goes with maintenance. But if it comes to the point that I have to cut out those couple of bites of something to lose or maintain, I'd do it.

Two things I must have on a semi-regular basis:

1) Fresh buffalo mozzarella
2) Ice cream

I used to have ice cream almost every night. In the past two weeks I've had two small portions. I'm very proud of that!

All other foods are negotiable.

I can't give up two things. One is chocolate. However I turned from someone who used to it two every day to one once a week. The other thing I cannot give up is the traditional full-fat yogurt in Cyprus. I love it to pieces, but to be honest I don't eat it in every meal but only when I really crave for it.