This is an amazing and inspiring thread. I've been doing CAD properly since the beginning of January, after joining this forum. Before that I was successful on it for several months in early 2002. Then I went on vacation in the spring and slipped and came back home and slipped more and more. After Christmas and a good hard look at the weight I'd regained since the spring, I realized that one can't eat right when one is only doing it halfway, when one is only partly committed (there's no such thing as a partial commitment is there?!).

So, with this in mind, isn't eating right not just a commitment to a diet, to the things you eat, but a commitment to one's self? It seems to be about self-respect really. I'm still trying to fully realize this, of course. I can say it, but still find myself wanting to eat chocolate bars outside of RM, and sometimes doing it, saying to myself, "Screw it, what does it matter, I should be able to eat chocolate just like everybody else whenever I want. I should be allowed to do what I want." But what am I really saying when I say these things to myself? The rhetoric sounds like I'm in control, like I "know myself", but really, underneath those words is a fear of lack control and so-called strength, of not knowing who I am and feeling a lack of worth.

I think Karen is bang on when she talks about the issue of control. And others who have talked about control as well and about balance. I know that when I'm happy and busy with things I love doing that I don't think about what I'm going to eat, but just eat properly (CAD) without stressing out over it. But when I'm down or even simply too comfortable (as Donald pointed out), I tend to focus too much on food, even if it's on the right food. I wish I knew the answers to finding balance, but at least I know that it's possible - because I've experienced it before. How to get it back though? I'm not sure. Sometimes I wonder if it's not just something simple like focusing on my breathing, doing yoga or meditation or just smiling more!
Thanks everyone for being so candid and thought-provoking
Robyn (eek, sorry this was so long)