From skwigg's journal:
I got up early and had stuff to do this morning. Scrape the ice off the cars, walk the dog, workout, take a shower, straighten up the house, then a leisurely breakfast. In the past, I would have done all that morning stuff hungry and waited for the meal - because of the miracles of fasting, or my current scheme didn't involve snacking, or the scale, or getting good and hungry felt virtuous.
I don't do that anymore. If I'm hungry, I eat.
So first breakfast was a piece of toast with peanut butter, banana, blueberries, honey, and ground flaxseeds, plus a glass of actual full fat cow's milk. That was tasty and satisfying. It gave me plenty of energy for a great workout. I'm already starting to get hungry again (as planned), so I will eat again. It's such a simple and crazy concept. Get hungry. Eat.
Every flipping thing on the internet tells you that weight loss is uncomfortable, that being lean is uncomfortable, that sacrifice is required. If it's uncomfortable, you're doing it wrong. That's my conclusion. Every time I did it that way, pushing through, ignoring hunger and fatigue, experiencing bitchy/foggy states, I struggled. Cravings and obsessive food thoughts got worse. My social life went away. Even if I did lose 5-10 pounds that way, then what? I couldn't live like that, and if I increased my food intake at all, I gained. Then, instead of saying, "Well, that sucked. That didn't work." I'd assume I had a willpower problem, or didn't want it badly enough, and I'd DO IT AGAIN.
My approach over these last few years has been to eat, move, and live to feel good. Which, duh, is what I thought dieting would give me, but it did not feel good at all.