[Paul Victorey]

I used to be the same way (still get temptations, too). I lost 75 pounds on the diet that troy recommended.

I recognize that I won't be able to naturally maintain weight, so I use the artificial method of prescribing myself a fixed number of calories, and eating exactly that many. I still eat exactly what I want, I just adjust how MUCH of it I eat. For a dessert, I will eat one cinnamon roll, or one small piece of cake, instead of three cinammon rolls or two big pieces of cake.

I highly recommend the same diet that troy recommends. It's also not NEARLY as hard as you might think. People think diets are hard because, for the first 2-5 days, they ARE; most people who quit, quit very early, before the easier part of the diet begins. It gets easier when you truly start burning fat. Fat burning is a response to long-term calorie deficit. Metabolism slowing is the short-term response, and it makes you feel terribly hungry (your blood sugar levels remain low) and makes you feel pretty crummy. Once you pass from the short-term to the long-term response to calorie deficit, your body will burn fat, and your blood sugar levels will reach, not quite normal, but they'll be lots higher than before, so you won't feel nearly as hungry, or nearly as bad.

In the middle of a diet, you will never feel famished (in fact, you will probably feel LESS hungry than normal before meals, because you'll have a pretty constant source of calories from fat, instead of sudden bursts of sugar followed by long times without). You will probably be a little hungry most of the time, but it's hardly awful.

If you get hungry, drink Pepsi One -- it's got one calorie, caffeine supresses appetite, and it fills your stomach, further reducing hunger. And compared to other diet colas, it tastes pretty good.

It's no mystery, just science, engineering, and management.