I have had the most success following a diet when...

[InclineDBPresss]

...Pre-packing every meal in a distinct tupperware and having it on-hand at meal time. May seem excessive to most people but for me, when I get hungry and have chicken and broc on hand that becomes the easiest thing to eat. Whereas even if I have pre-steamed broc and pre-grilled chicken separate in the fridge, I will end up facing a "psychological cost" in not adding more calories to it. For example I put the chicken on a plate, then put the broccoli on the plate, well while my hands are already at work might as well grab a granola bar. I'd rather not have to go through that draining process for multiple meals a day.

...Pre-packing meals for 3-4 days at a time. See above. I can pre-pack my meals when I'm MOST MOTIVATED. Then that motivation can physically carry over to the next few days. Whereas motivated "thoughts" tend to be fleeting and easily replaced with a desire to break the diet.

...Keeping just enough junk in the diet. If I can fit a cookie instead of 1/4 cup of oats and have the other 3/4 cup of oats I will. This is a double edged sword - in the short term it creates cravings for more. But in the long term even if you cut these things out you KNOW they will come back. So may as well keep the urge at bay. Then again is the immediate urge to "have another" an okay trade-off? Guess it depends on the person.

...I am generally busier in real life with purposeful, fulfilling activity, with bland, stressful work leading to either increased caffeine or food intake. Food or caffeine give a sense of fulfillment, but so does activity. So if the activity is literally so fulfilling that it keeps my mind off food, the dieting is going to seem a lot easier. We all have that sense of psychological "cost" to any percieved "use of will power" that eventually runs low. So the goal being to preserve that "resource" as much as possible.

...Losing little chunks at a time, knowing what I will do after losing the weight. For example if it is for a PL meet I know I'm going to carb up pre-meet, then return to normal eating habits. If its for physique I need to tell myself that afterwards, I will need to go through the grueling process of maintaining weight. Otherwise my urges after a bout of weight loss catch me off-guard!

[lee__d]

thanks

[sunngodd]

I was wondering about this

[NaLLa8705]

Cool story bro.

But seriously, what 90% of your post describes is what 100% of this board could benefit from. To listen to your body, know what works for you, and do what you need to do.