I would go to the "eat all things but in small quantities" way.

You can try that, continue eating what you were eating, add more fresh food, vegetables, but limit the quantities. Eat small amounts continuously, keep your insides occupied, so you don't feel the urge to empty the whole fridge.

Quote:
..."also just started walking again. Man, I used to run marathons. I've been sedentary for two years. I used to play golf like a madman but rotator cuff surgery put the hurt on that. Haven't played in two years"....

YEP, that's it. Start walking/running again.

On the other hand...

Quote:
...."Started songwriting 3.5 years ago and I've gone to crap".....

Maybe you could just quit songriting?
:-)

Do you think you might be eating for the wrong reasons sometimes (i.e. emotional eating)? I'm really, really bad for that. I eat when I'm hungry....but many times I also eat out of habit, boredom, stress, etc. and it has nothing to do with hunger!

Carrie

The problem I have with the SBD and Atkins (having tried both), is the phsychological impact. Both of these diets call for eliminating something from your diet. Something that you are accustomed to eating.

This is now a matter of will-power. The mind must overcome the urge to eat something that is bad for you. This is always a recipe for failure for most people. Some people are very disciplined, but I contend they are not overweight to begin with since they already have will power.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, choose a diet lifestyle that is reasonable, fair, healthy, and does not force you to dramatically change your way of life through will-power. It's all common sense.

If you do have specific health issues such as high cholestrol, hypertension, or diabetes, the whole game changes because you MUST limit certain foods that contain those risk factors such as fats, sodium, high triglicerides.

I'm no doctor, but this is my common sense interpretation of the research which has been done.