When I want to eat something, I EAT IT!

I hear this from people all time, "I know it so hard, but keep up the good work!" I have to be honest... it is NOT hard! It is not hard for me, because I am NOT on a "diet." I have changed the way I see food. Food is fuel for my body. My body is a high performance machine. Therefore, I only need to use the best fuel for my high performance machine. Just like in a motor vehicle, if you put junk in, it will gum up the engine and the vehicle will not perform up to standards (and will eventually die). High calorie and high sugar foods make me feel terrible. Therefore, I do not choose to eat them on a regular basis. However, I am not depriving myself of anything and I do eat what I want. So, if I am at a birthday party and I want a piece of cake, I eat a small piece of cake. If I am out with friends at a restaurant and I decide to share wings with my best friend, I eat 6-8 wings with blue cheese dressing. If I decide that I want pizza, I order pizza and I eat 1-2 pieces of pizza. The trick is portion control and making sure that you hold yourself accountable for every calorie that you consume. In other words, I record what I ate on my phone app and plan my exercise for the day to burn those added calories. Simple math... calories in need to equal calories out to not gain any weight. If calories in are less than calories out (but you ate at least the amount of calories that your body needs every day- See Week 2-Don't Give Up! ), you will lose weight! Conversely, if calories in are more than calories out,... yep, you gain weight! See, you have it! I do not eat cake, pizza, or wings on a weekly or even monthly basis. They are treats for me. I use the treats sparingly. If I have a tough day, like this past Monday for example, I may eat 2 or 3 of my Dove dark chocolate miniatures. They give me pick-me-up that I need, I am eating "chocolate" (something just about every girl wants when her day is going crazy), and it is only 210 calories for 5 candies. For everyone who is struggling on a "diet," whether it is a points counting diet, a specific meal plan diet, etc, it will not work as long as you see it as a "diet." A "diet" presupposes that there is a date when you will be "OFF of the diet." When you are finally "off of the diet," you will begin to eat the same junk food that you were eating when you got to the weight that you were at before. Before you know it, you will be back there and beyond. Trust me, I know! I was there! You have to make a lifestyle change and change the way you see food. Then stop depriving yourself! You can do this! Go!