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Hi Ed,
Thanks for starting this topic. I have great respect for your challenges as a food writer determined to trim down a bit.

I also experience the same issues. Irrational eating for me = depressed eating or celebratory eating. Aside from loving to savor tasty food, I really need to look at food as fuel. It makes my body function to the best of its ability. If fresh, naturally colorful foods go in, it works all that much better. If not, I'm sluggish and don't perform at my best.

It's all about the calories. And fat. My doctor says "Fat makes you fat." That and not exercising. So, if I want to "spend" some extra calories, I'd better plan to exercise harder that night.

You can definitely eat in moderation, but I strongly suggest exercising an hour daily, with some weight training to keep your metabolism burning those calories, even at rest.
Good luck and keep up the good work!

Today's weigh in:

176.5 / 23%

W00T!!1! I lost a pound but more importantly my bf% went down one whole point. I did eat much more cleanly this week despite my visit to Hartford, my dinner party, and then working at the restaurant on Sunday. I credit this to working out consistently over the week, NOT DRINKING BEER, and definitely eating a little less and a little "better." The trade off is having insane food related dreams and waking up hungry.

Ed, don't lose heart. One pound over the course of a week shouldnt get you down. Just keep your head up and persevere. I could just be water weight (yes, us guys have water weight changes too.)

I'm a WW believer. I'm down 33 lbs. You really can't appreciate what moderation truly means until you keep track of everything that goes into your mouth. And the meetings are a great motivator.

Come join us - 7:00 tuesdays right in the ansonia! You have to use the 73rd st. entrance so you won't be tempted by Patisserie Margot on your walk!

You can do it, Ed! I think you might need to prioritize before making your food choices though-- is it more important for you to be at a healthy weight, or to do your food research, really, reeeaaallllly thoroughly?

Given that eating rich foods is vital to your profession, a plan like WW would naturally be more challenging for you. But if you choose the "points" plan (which I recommend) you can swap out exercise for more food, so long as you're keeping amounts under control and being honest about your workouts. So it might mean that you would have to work out more than the average person, but trust me, if you can get yourself into a workout groove, you will never remember what it was like to not work out. I really like the Park's Dept. rec centers, $75 a year membership including pool access, devoid of the scary fitness people and sketchy singles scene.

More than moderation, a healthy diet is about balance -- ate a super-rich lunch? Then it's egg whites or salad for dinner, with some exercise in between. Drink more water. And don't get frustrated if the pounds don't melt away in the first few weeks -- if you really stick to a plan, it will happen eventually!

I went to WW 35 years ago and lost 70 lbs, kept all of it off for 25 years, then started gaining some back. It has probably changed, but I was shocked at all I HAD to eat. I was never hungry and it must have been chemically balanced to burn calories. It truly taught me to be conscious of what I was putting in my mouth and to eat healthy foods. I've considered going back. I hope it's as effective today - it should be more so? You might want to check it out.

Argh. You could've mailed me your See's Candies rejects. I would even eat after you - if for no other reason than I can't stand the thought of them being thrown away. Thrown away! Dang. That's bad.

I have ordered a 1 lb. box of their dark chocolate assortment for V-Day. It arrived yesterday and I keep glancing over at the box as I munch on celery stalks. Because, you see, you can eat as much celery as you want.

I have lost 10 lbs in the last month and simply by counting calories. My body needs a certain amount of calories to live. It doesn't matter how many calories I eat, if I burn more calories than that during the day, I am going to lose weight. It's as simple as that.

I am, of course, trying to be healthy and get the right mix of fat, protein, and carbs in my diet too but the real lesson here? Portion control. Calorie counting over the last month has taught me portion control. I was sometimes eating three times what would be considered a serving.

I didn't pay money to join a program, I'm not eating shakes for lunch, I'm not hungry all the time, and my food doesn't have points.

I feel like I have discovered the secret that generations of people have been searching for: Calories in

(I do it on caloriecount.about.com but there are lots of sites out there that tell you how many cals you should be eating and lets you track them)

Down a pound and a half this week. Super Bowl was tough.

I have to agree with HeartofGlass. The only time I have success losing weight is when I log what I eat and stick to my counts. I've done it with calories, and I'm trying WW points this time. Doesn't seem to make any difference.

I eat whatever I want, but control portions. The key is the consistent feedback. I rarely eat too much when I know where I stand, calorie-wise for the week. It's annoying, but it works for me.

Ed, losing weight, as you know is a pretty basic math equation. Calories in minus the calories burned.

You seem, understandably, to have trouble controlling the total number of calories in. Again, considering your line of work, totally understandable.

So why not tackle the other side of the equation -- burn more calories. How? More exercise. If you could truly dedicate an hour a day to some hard-core fitness I bet you'd see a dramatic change. (Just be sure not to splurge on the calories after the workout!)

Peter

How about just exercising more?

man, I feel your pain. I really do. I love fat, pork fat, beef fat, butter fat, duck fat...I gotta go, I'm making myself hungry.