I have been on a diet my entire life. Whether its calorie counting, point counting, carb counting, or just making a generally attempt to not eat junk... I have been there, done that. Quite frankly, I am sick of it.
I HATE counting calories. Usually it starts off new and healthy but then before you know it I am living off of sugar free jello and coolwhip with massive binges about every week. That being said, I would like to reattempt it... but in a more healthy way. I am wondering if anyone else has this issue, and how you are able to overcome the binges and to not be tempted to just live off of calorie free/very low calorie foods.

...calorie counting, but, have you tried WW flex program. I am in love with the fact that I have found a diet that works for me. I tried Atkins before and ended up doing exactly what you just described, lots of SF jello and whipped cream. I was very strict on WW flex and kept a journal and kept track of my points perfectly for about two months. I am slacking a little, but the weight is still coming off. I think it is just instilled in my brain now.

As far as binges, have a delite pizza once every couple of weeks solves that. It usually takes about three days to go through one, just to incorporate all my other foods as well.

Hitting a farmer's market always helps me stay on track. Pretty much everything that is fresh is okay, so I don't feel limited in choosing. I also love health food stores. I love to try new chips, drinks, and get fresh stuff from the deli.

i love the taste of fat. Doesn't everyone; right? Well, there are some things that I don't replace with low fat or no fat. I love real whole fat cheese. I eat it with turkey, turkey sandwiches, with fruit, on crackers, whatever. I do however replace whole fat milk -- which, I grew up on a dairy and despise skim milk. But getting that full fat cheese in somewhere is a lot more important to me than whole milk. So I do a lot of trades. If I eat bread with dinner, I make sure dinner is a salad. I just try to round it out.

I noticed that when I started dieting, I would eat a higher volume of foods, like salads, soups, and fruits and vegis. My food diary for those days had a lot more variety for every day. Now I eat less, but a higher fat content, because it helps me feel full faster and I feel a LOT more energetic.

I guess what I am saying is eat what you love in order to avoid binging. And don't feel guilty about it. Just make those trades. Maybe eat a really small dinner and breakfast so that you can splurge a little at lunch. I say lunch because if I splurge at dinner, I always feel like I have done more damage. Then I feel like, well, the damage is already done, might as well. Also, lunches are almost always smaller in portion size. It is a little harder to overdo it.

I hope I helped a little. I know how you feel and totally feel your frustration. Good luck!

I think what it really comes down to is not how you lose weight but your mentality when you regard food. Until you truly understand WHY you eat and what you try to replace in life by eating, you can't really learn to overcome it. Good luck!

I know that I need to count calories in order to lose weight. Even when I eat a healthy diet, I still need to count or I tend to gain weight.

That said, it sounds like you could use a healthy eating goal to avoid the mind trap of fewer calories = better. You know starvation diets backfire which is why you are looking for a way to go healthy. You've taken a huge step! If you focus on your goal to be healthy rather than to lose weight as quickly as possible, you are much more likely to succeed -- both at being healthy *and* losing weight.

I think you might want to look into an approach that encourages healthy eating such as SuperFoods. If part of my goal is to incorporate more super foods into my diet, it helps offset the temptation to try to shave off calories in the attempt to lose weight faster. There is a SuperFoods Daily Accounting thread on 3fc in case you are interested.

A whole foods focus is another way to go. The goal is to get proper nutrition from healthy foods rather than to cut calories below life-sustaining levels. This is the approach I generally follow, but I also make some effort to incorporate super foods.

Another possibility is to look into more structured food plans that provide (healthy) preplanned menus. I haven't followed any so I can't recommend any in particular.

It sounds like you are headed in the right direction. Good luck!

I know the feeling of being on a diet your whole life. I started my first one when I was 11 - 40 years ago - and have gone through a whole bunch of plans since then.

I find that if I eat "real" relatively unprocessed foods, but a lot smaller amounts, that seems to keep the binges at bay. I do "pig" out now and again but that's when I use the "diet" foods. I will have 4 skinny cow things instead of a package of cookies. The eating less of "real" foods also makes maintenance easier.

I do use much lower fat dairy since I've become used to it. Skim milk sucks though - no one can get me to drink blue milk. The lower fat cheese isn't great either but if I eat only that it helps me forget how good full fat tastes.

The suger free stuff on a regular basis tends to make me crave sugar/sweets so I try not to use it. I'm just trying to cut back now on my last bad habit - diet Pepsi - and it's really hard.

I also eat a lot of fruit for dessert, snacks, etc. and that helps as well. I'm now substituting protein/veggies for my afternoon snacks (hard to do when in a car all day but I've figured out a system).

Just try a bunch of different things and find what works for you. It might even be a combination of plans. Getting bored or into a rut is usually what sets off a binge for a lot of folks.

Dagmar

Thank-you everyone for the great suggestions! I like the idea of eating the foods I crave but in smaller amounts more frequently. I am going to try that this week and see if it helps with the binges