I totally agree with Lisa (not that any else is wrong, but this approach should *work*)

When DH and I found we had gotten depressed and packed on more weight than we thought (never get depressed in a house with no scale and no full length mirror!); we started small....change one habit, get it to stick, move on to another. Our start was carrot sticks for a morning snack. Eventually I realized the glycemic index was all wrong, but it was still a good start. Little bits at a time, get used to what you are doing, get comfortable with it, then add something new to your routine.

When we get a chance to cook, we cook a big batch of something, then freeze individual sized containers. Over the years the containers have gotten smaller for both DH and me. We aren't exactly counting calories, but we are trying to reduce our portion sizes which will definitely mean less calories.

Remember the 80/20 rule. Be absolutely as healthy as possible 80% of the time, and 20% of the time eat what you like. Eventually, as Lisa and KSH both said, you'll so enjoy your healthy food and be used to not being overfull, that even the fun foods you usually avoid will be a nice little enjoyable snack and you won't even want to overdo it!

Of course, for me, now suddenly I have to figure out what I *can* and *can't* eat. I was loving sugar snap peas every morning, but I suspect it aggravates my Crohn's, so I gave them up. A friend just recommended a naturopath who really helped him with changing his diet for a similar condition, so I'm hoping that will help figure out which foods are triggers. Once I know what I have to avoid and what I can eat, I will be all over it!!

And exercising while the veggies cooked - that is true multi-tasking! Way to go! Tonight I rode the bike on trainer for 33 minutes while I helped DH study for his test tomorrow. A perfect combination.

Keep going, man, you can do it!

~T~