I rarely agree with others have to say on the subject of dieting but Diet Blog has a very right-thinking piece on the subject.

There are numerous reasons that people fail when trying to lose weight, but there is a single certainty that brings about failure and weight gain. If someone seeking to lose weight does not fundamentally change the way they look at food and relate to eating the weight will return as soon as the diet is over.

Life after being overweight is always a life of reasonable calorie consumption. Period. There’s no cookies before bedtime again because that’s the way overweight people eat. There’s no Roberto’s Taco Stand burrito for breakfast every day because that’s the way overweight people eat. A couple of tacos here and there are fine and frankly, not a bad way to consume metered amounts of food, but the greater than a pound burritos are right out.

Dinner out becomes a different experience. Really enjoying the food you eat becomes key. It becomes about the mmmmmm, not about the quantity. No more This Brownie Might Kill You or Chocozuma’s Revenge for desert. Reasonable, tasteful deserts are not just OK but better round out a meal of reasonable tasty things. Just as an observation in this regard, Gordon Biersch is featuring in Las Vegas shot glass sized deserts including carrot cake. Again, it’s about reasonable size. A shot glass of carrot cake or cheese cake is reasonable, a whole cake or even most restaurant sizes slices are not.

I eat out regularly. My family loves to go out to eat, but we don’t eat at Chili’s or Flinger’s. Even the meals we eat at chain restaurants are different than they would be if we weren’t living a post overweight existence. No 3-way split of calamari and wings followed by an over-large burger and fries. Rationality rules the day. Split the burger with another diner? Just order 3 appetizers for the table and call it a meal? There are lots of ways to shave the quantities down when eating out without doing without the foods that you love.

One of the projects I hope to embark on soon is restaurant reviews of places you might want to eat in Las Vegas and include menu suggestions for controling the portion sizes or overall calorie content of a meal. Get out in the world. Enjoy your food, but don’t overdo it.