Easy, practical tips for staying on track with a diet?

[greelsvish]

Ok so I'm overweight and really need to lose a lot of weight. My problem is that I can't stay on track with any diet, and I've tried numerous ones. I've even been to a dietitian who scheduled weekly visits with me and gave me a food plan to stick to. I was actually able to lose a bit of weight.

I also tried many diets on my own, which worked at first. The problem is that as soon as I lose a few pounds, I let myself go again. I start off with a little cheating, like a candy bar here and there, then it escalates to the point where I have big meals, and lots of junky snacks all throughout the day. I also always tell myself I'd start next week, tomorrow and so on...

I know all tips out there are kind of: stick to small goals or get the foods you want but only in small portions, once a week or reward yourself with things other than food....but it's not always easy. When I feel a craving (often), I convince myself that I deserve a break, and that often leads to an unhealthy lifestyle all over again.

I've chosen I diet that worked quiet well for me the last time I tried it, but I want to know what to do in order to stick to it for good this time.

Any helpful tips are appreciated!!!

[tara]

This has always been my problem, too!

Here's how I've been beating it. I've made a "game" out of cheating. It's broken into two parts. The first is keeping a close record of my weight loss.

By keeping a weight loss diary (I use an online weight loss ticker to help with that, too), I see how much weight I've lost in a week, and then I challenge myself to either lose the same amount or more the next week. I'm competitive and can even want to beat myself, so that works for me.

The second part is that whenever I want to cheat, I challenge myself to find an alternative. So if I want a candy bar, instead, I have something else that satisfies my sweet tooth, but that isn't as diet-unfriendly. Sometimes that'll be frozen yogurt, other times it'll be a bowl of blueberries with fat-free whipped topping. I know that those alternatives aren't great for my diet either, but they're not AS bad as my first choice. My challenge is to find something better, if not ideal. That way, it works as damage control, even if the damage is still there.