Sometimes, when we say this it sounds like people have just signed up for a lifetime of deprivation, especially when they're just starting and can't imagine what it's like to live without their favorite foods for a few months. Certainly not forever!

But the changes are like any other diet: If you adopt a low-cal, low-fat diet and lose a bunch of weight, then you go back to eating all the things that made you gain weight in the amounts you ate them before, then you'll gain weight again. If you go from very low carb back to over-eating on high carb, you'll gain weight again.

Once you get to your goals, you make adjustments for maintenance. Many people (it's hard to tell how many, since we don't have good statistics for maintainers on LC), increase their carbs slowly and end up eating something like Paleo which is a low to moderate carb diet.

During the time that you are losing weight, your tastes change, you learn new recipes and your perspective on how "do-able" this is for you long-term will change.

Today, starting out, commit yourself to getting through the next two weeks. Then the next two weeks. Then the next month.