Waking up this morning and getting on the scale to find that I'm up 2kg from my low a couple weeks back was a slap in the face. I'd been getting away with intermittent exercise and keeping my calories below 1400; I even managed to lose 11kg (at that lowest weight). But I haven't exercised in two weeks, mostly due to illness but partially due to my unwillingness to work around that illness. Beyond the exercise though, I'm finally recognizing and admitting that most of the calories I eat aren't of quality or substance. I may have stayed under 1400 on a given day but my dinner was composed of string cheese, "mochipuyo" cream puff-like dessert and a convenience store sandwich on white bread.

Therefore, today I'm making a commitment to eat better calories–vegetables, fruits, lean meats, raw nuts, et cetera–and avoid bad calories as much as possible. My first goal is to avoid the convenience store for today, and I want to keep meeting that goal day after day.

It's going to be a learning curve because there's no question in my mind that I'm addicted to simple sugars and fatty, low quality fare, but I want to stop feeling crappy about the way I'm losing weight. I want to shed my dependence on the convenience store and start thinking about a health picture that's broader than just calories.

I'm right there with you! Funnily enough, I've found the quality of my food has went a bit downhill since I started calorie counting. I used to avoid sugar at all costs and focus on only whole foods. Now, I am still eating tons of whole foods but I am slipping empty sugar calories in everywhere - just because it fits in my daily calorie allotment.

So, I have to un-train myself again to not crave sugar!

Good luck!

Are you sure that's what caused you to gain, though? As far as I've read, weight loss occurs when there's a calorie deficit, regardless of how you obtain that deficit. I know this is a bit of a debate, but I just thought I would ask the question.

I can't commit to swearing off sweets and such because I believe that giving myself permission to eat those things has helped me to stay on track. However, I know what you mean about it becoming a habit, and it's an "expensive" habit calorie-wise. I find that if I eat dessert every night, it really cuts into my calorie allotment. So, what I do is have 3-4 days of stricter/lower calorie count with no dessert, and I allow myself to be looser and have dessert the other days of the week.

Good luck to you!

I've found that I've lost weight regardless of what I've been eating as long as it's been within my calorie count. Generally though I would try to eat the healthier, non-processed option.

Right now I've moved toward more of that. I've tried cutting the amount of carbs I eat and focusing on foods with more protein as I want to build a bit more muscle. I've always enjoyed strength training and now I wat to get a bit more bang for my buck.

It's made no difference in how fast I lose weight, but it has made a difference in how I feel. At the gym, I feel so energetic and during the day I feel like I can tackle anything. I just feel a lot better in general when I eat non-processed foods—it's a nice bonus to the whole weight loss thing.

I can't say that processed foods lead directly to weight gain (or slow weight loss, as it stands at the moment). I do know that eating those foods, which are often full of empty carbs, fats, oils and the like make me hungrier and I'm much likelier to go over my calorie allotment for day. I still think the lack of progress comes down to the calorie deficit, but based on a number of other posters' experiences, it seems like eating whole foods may help me kick cravings for less healthy foods that normally lead me to eat too many calories overall.

I've found that calorie counting quickly led me to improve the quality of my food, not that it was too bad to begin with. The better the quality of the food, the fewer calories it takes me to feel full and happy. It probaby helped that I'm using software which shows the macronutrients and micronutrients for everything I eat, thus making me much more aware of what each food contains.

Ah, I see. I have that experience, too. I find that when I eat sweets, it leads me to crave more sweets. Yesterday, for example, I really overdid it on carrot cake. Today I was SO craving something sweet, but I didn't have it. My lunch was just two scrambled eggs with some smoked salmon. If I stick to meals like that for a few days, my cravings will go away (for the most part).