So, a few days into my diet. I think I'm doing pretty well considering we just celebrated my brothers birthday (as opposed to me getting an entire piece of cake I took a bite from my mother). This is so much harder than I expected, even with my motivation. I have such a huge sweet tooth and I sometimes find myself sneaking a cookie or two from the kitchen. I feel so bad afterwards and it makes me lose my appetite for anything else I know it's not the right way to do thing, so this morning I hit the gym and went on the elliptical for 45 minutes! 500 calories already burned!
I've been good all morning, I just had a cup of tea and a half a cup of a protein rich special porridge my mom makes
This is the best I've felt all week and I hope this keeps up!
However, how do I keep myself from eating those unnecessary foods? Any suggestions from other people who've been through this? I don't want to sabotage myself any more!

Don't stop eating them! If they are foods you love, imagining your life without them can be overwhelming and depressing, and can derail your plan altogether. Instead, plan for them in small amounts. Are you calorie counting? If so, set aside a few calories for a small cookie every week (or every day, it's up to you). As long as you're still within your desired calorie range, it won't affect your weight loss, as long as the majority of your food intake is healthy. Little treats like that are what keep me sane.

Like Forkeeps says, don't try to cut them out completely...it tends to backfire, and I know I will binge if I try to cut something out that I love to eat.

I'm not sure what diet you are using, but always leave yourself a little wiggle room for a sweet. I'm on weight watchers, and I always have the weight watchers ice cream bars in my freezer because I can easily save 3 pts for a tasty frozen treat in the afternoon (that's when it's hottest in my apartment, and having something cold makes me feel a bit better).

Also, sometimes just seeing the amount of points something is is enough to make me say no. This past weekend my dad had a yummy looking lemon torte out for dessert. After calculating, 1 slice was 10pts!! Almost a third of my daily points for a slice of pie. So instead of taking the whole slice (which I would have done without thinking before my diet...and probably got a second piece without batting an eyelash), I sliced it in half, and took the smaller half for 5 pts. I still got to taste it, and because it was a much smaller piece, I ate it a lot slower to savor it.

Hope this helps!

Don't go cold turkey right off the bat. It is EXTREMELY hard. I've tried and i feel it leads to further failure because it makes eating more tempting. what you can do is try replacing it with healthier options such as frozen yogurt, fresh fruit smoothies or even just fruit salads!

By the sounds of it, I'm not the only one who enjoys a treat from now and again. I'm kind of on a "just stay healthy and exercise" kind of plan because I've decided to spend more money on healthy foods and a gym membership rather than Weight Watchers or another kind of program (although I really wish I could do them all). The thing is, my home life can be kind of brutal and I'm on my own this time. My family has tried to get me to lose weight for three years now, and they're fed up with me, so they kind of just...make fun of me a lot. They're snide remarks really make me eat more than I should and that's when I rack on the calories. It's hard to block them out. I just don't want to be fat anymore, but they make me even more insecure than I already am. I'm trying to do this to prove to them that I can, but they certainly aren't helping. That's another big reason why I joined this community. Because all of you can understand what I'm going through. I just hope it pays off >.<

I know exactly what you mean. All my family is kind of bigger but they have a tendency to take it all out on me since I am younger than my parents are haha. another thing that does not help is the fact they love having junk food around, they tell me to lose weight yet keep feeding me crap! or at least supplying me with it and having a sweet tooth myself it is hard to say no!

I know exactly what you mean! I'm also the youngest so the focus is on me at all times! My brothers tend to be on the more fit side, but they also need to lose some weight and my dad is actually obese. My mom is also trying to lose weight. But, I always get the toughest time. Sigh. I guess we're both gonna have to get through this.

sounds like we are on the same page haha!
Do you have any plans or goals for this summer? we could definitely use each other as motivators and hopefully see our progress!

I think that's a great idea! I'm going back to college by the end of August, so I decided I want to lose 30 pounds by then end of summer. That's 10 pounds a month. I think that's manageable. And then, I know it's gonna be hard to lose weight during the semester, so I'm giving myself until the end of winter break to lose another 20 to 25 pounds. What about you?

Im wanting to lose 15 pounds a month. I saw this work out diet plan. you need to workout 6 days a week burning 1021 calories and eat 1000 calories (I am not going to be counting calories exactly, just eating healthy).

The best thing I could tell you to do would be to calorie count. That way you know if you can allow yourself a cookie, piece of candy, etc. It works for me to see if I can allow myself to indulge. Also, don't stop all together. A lot of time that leads to binging if you don't allow yourself a little treat every now and then.

I see. Hmmmm, well, let's do this! I'm excited to have someone to talk to!

same here ! I cant wait to start seeing results again

I'm following a post where you post your weight everyday for the month of june. I think it's a great way to be responsible for yourself and it's gonna motivate me to want to lose weight! I can't post the link cuz apparently you need a minimum of 25 posts to post a link, and I only have seven but the name of the thread is "Fun in the summer sun ~ June daily weigh-in "

check it out!

How do you calorie count with homemade food? That's mostly what I eat so I'm just figuring out the best way to do this.