A lot of people think that they can’t lose weight because they don’t have a strong enough willpower.  The reality is that the reason most people don’t lose weight is that they choose diets that are way too difficult to maintain.  And just about no one has that kind of willpower.  Most diets turn food into an obsession.

Instead, practice, flexible restraint.  Put a moderate level of control on your eating.  Studies have shown that when people get obsessed with counting every single calorie, eating certain foods at specific times of the day, etc..  They tend to be less successful than people who take a more balanced approach to losing weight.  The main theme here is to make sensible choices every day, and avoid the obsessive-compulsive all or nothing thinking.

Ripppe, James. Associate Professor Tufts University School of Medicine