I have tried to start a diet for the last two weeks, and as soon as I get to work and there's something there to eat I blow it! My intentions are to do something low carb, which I have done before and lost weight, but I always get the cravings for sweets and pasta. So a low calorie diet would allow for me to have those in moderation. I don't know where to start so I just keep eating. Any suggestions?

To be perfectly honest ... I am extraordinarily biased toward calorie counting. I can eat whatever I want ... I just have to account for it.

I've learned so much about balanced nutrition by using an online calorie counter.

I do eat sweets ... but I certainly don't indulge very often. They blow my numbers right out of the water

This is exactly what I was going to say. I count calories, and that way I can plan for whatever I want. I have given up my "slippery slope" foods, though, and they are fresh bakery bread, pasta, and ice cream. Once I start those I cannot stop, so I just do not buy them anymore.

While refined carbs can make it hard for some to reach their goals, part of cutting out carbs, or any food group is it tries to cut calories.

Counting calories and eating a healthy, balanced diet is probably your best bet. Even though some say you can eat whatever you want, I believe the results will be better eating a few small healthy meals vs. 1 big high fat, high calorie, high sodium fast food meal.

This is the hard part for me too. I hate diets!! It's just to hard with kids.

So for now I'm trying to eat healthy and get my servings of all food groups. I'm trying to eat smaller portions too. If I do have any bread/pastas, I'm making sure it's whole grain. I'm trying to walk 30 minutes everyday...on crappy days I plan on working out with weights...and do daily crunches.

Good luck, I hope you find something that works great for you!!

For me, I had to stop dieting and instead OVERHAUL MY LIFESTYLE. I had to realize that this was forever. No stopping and starting, just continuing. Not going back to my old ways. Creating a new me and a new normal. I had to make peace with and accept the fact that I could not eat whatever I wanted when I wanted. That there were certain foods I would HAVE to eliminate (at least temporarily and some forever) and greatly reduce. I wanted to be a healthy weight and be a health minded person. That means not giving into temptation - just because it's there and just because I "felt like it". I had to be mindful of every bite that I put in my mouth.

Watching myself and eating only healthy though on it's own wouldn't have worked for me. No. I needed/will always need the accountability and built in portion control that calorie counting provides. And yes I count calories and technically could have whatever I wanted in moderation, but for me, moderation just doesn't work - especially in the beginning. So I made lots of rules, lots of definite no's and banned lots and lots of foods. This is what worked for me. I had a lot of problems stopping with certain foods (the carb-y/sugar-y stuff) after just one bite - my answer - not to start. I didn't make it an option TO eat them. Period. Problem solved! The less and less I went without these foods, the less and less I wanted them. Miraculous to me.

Anyway, I count calories and focus on mainly whole, nutritious, voluminous foods. Works for me beautifully, but of course I am WILLING to make it work.

Another couple of vital pieces to the puzzle. COMMITMENT. I made a commitment to do this "no matter what". NO MATTER WHAT. Again, not making it an option to NOT do it. And then there's the planning. I'd be no where without it. Eating healthy doesn't happen on it's own. I plan IN ADVANCE. I have a well stocked home. I pack up foods and take them with me. And always, always know where my next meal & snack is coming from. Oh, and I eat frequently, never allowing myself to get hungry.

Yes, for me it was a lifestyle overhaul. And it was the greatest thing I've ever done. I recommend it highly!

That is a good question, and the answer really lies within you and only you. I crave sweets, and I can not eat them in moderation. I have tried 100's of times over the years, and I CAN NOT eat just one of anything sweet. Some people have no problem working a daily candy bar into their plan...but truly the way I see it, if a person is following a low calorie diet, and if that person is denying themselves of heathy nutritious food in lieu of sugar, (-0- nutritional value) than that seems kind of problematic as well.

Can you stop at 1?

Yes, what they said.

If you plug all your lovely healthy foods into a calculator, you'll see what a nice big bunch of food it is. And I learned this the hard way ... if you then add a handful of candy ... or a piece of pie ...

Many folks try the "food-like" item in the calculator before they eat it. Will you like the numbers you see if you have a brownie? What nutrients are you missing if you then forgo part of your healthy supper?

Another vote for calorie counting. This is a less restrictive way of dieting, more flexible. I do plan my meals and yes I am at goal but still count calories. It was when I didn't plan and didn't count calories that I found myself way overweight. I love sweets, too but have to be very careful of them. When counting calories you can allow for a few of those things as long as you stay within your calorie allowance for the day . There are all kinds of ways to diet, Weight Watchers, South Beach , Atkins, Diet Food Delivery Plans. Pick the one that you will follow. It's OK to experiment until you find what works best for you. I've tried them all and find calorie counting works best for me.

At the risk of being the nay-sayer again, I find calorie counting and portion weighing very difficult. I have so much respect for those that can do that, but it's not for me.

I do the GI diet - it's basically eating six times a day, low fat, high fibre. It's delicious, healthy and easy to do. There's no weighing, no counting, just red light, yellow light, green light, and it's all laid out in the books easily.

I started a couple of weeks ago with something else, and found that it wasn't working so I switched to GI last week (I've done it before with great success) and I lost 4lbs in my first week. And I feel great.

I think it's all in what works for you, and this works for me.

Good luck - and congrats on seeking out something that will work for you!

We are all different, and what works for me may not work for you, and vice versa. I am one of those (unlucky) few that cannot have carbs--not in moderation, really, almost not at all. All the carbs I consume are in green vegetables, almonds and eggs. I am on what you would consider an ultra-low-carb diet. Virtually any carbs trigger binges in me--I had an apple, an innocent little apple, a couple weeks ago and had to white-knuckle my way through horrendous carb cravings for over 24 hours. Ugh!

I certainly wouldn't recommend ultra-low-carb to anyone unless they needed it...some of us need it though. On a lesser scale, avoiding highly processed, sugary and starchy carbs, seems to help a lot of people out. Might be worth considering.

I agree that it has to be a complete lifestyle change instead of a diet. I've never stuck to a diet and have tried many different ones for years. As well, what works for some of us may not work for others, you have to try different methods until you find something that staying committed to is not AS hard (it's always hard, some are just harder than others)!
I tried calorie counting but could never stick to it, I'd lie to myself and say something was less calories than it actually was! I would always fail so I made a complete overhaul of my eating habits as well.

Now, I eat-clean (I posted my story on another here). I eat natural, unprocessed foods that I buy mostly fresh and some frozen at the grocery store. I don't buy anything from a box or a package that has a million ingredients I can never pronounce! I prepare a lot of my meals from The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook or the Eat-Clean Diet book or even Clean Eating magazine (the recipes help a lot to stick to clean foods, otherwise, I would have been lost as to what's considered a clean or natural food as opposed to un-clean.)

If you're not sure how to eat healthy or properly, check out the web or different books (There's a lot of smart people on this forum too that can help! But everyone is a little biased to their own weight-loss methods). That's what I did and I found the Eat-Clean Diet by Tosca Reno and fell in love with it. Research and weigh your options as to what's best for you!!

Good luck!

Personally, I am against any diet. I believe in clean eating, portion control and lots of exercise.

Yup, I 100% agree with this.

Like most here have already said you have to create a calorie deficit (to do that I had to count them); eat less move more. I have excluded nothing from my diet; however, not all calories are created equal and for me personally I feel better and lose more weight if I have a balance of about 45P/30C/25F. Do I hit those numbers everyday.... no but the closer I am the better I feel.

I've always known that I do better with higher protein and lower carbs. There are several "test" out there you can take to find you Metabolic Type but I think this one is the best.

http://www.natpro.net/metabolic-typing.html