How do I force myself to understand that those extra fries and chocolate cookies are not worth the weight?

This is easy. Keep the picture of yourself that you hate the most within reach. Any time you want a cookie, look at that picture and you'll lose your appetite. Works for me. :)

You have got to want to change in order for change to truly happen. If you keep going after the junk food then what you are saying is you do not care to change. And that result will only lead you to not being happy.

Punish yourself with extra work. Whether it be sit-ups, jogging an extra 1/4 mile, showering instead of getting that long awaited bubble bath. Like children, we train ourselves by being punished. Make a chart of things that you can not stand to do and close your eyes and point to the one you have to do when you slip up. This way, you will have that punishment in mind when you go to order food that you shouldn‘t. At the end of the week if you stuck to your diet for the WHOLE WEEK, you should reward yourself with something SMALL and healthy like yogurt covered raisons or some pudding. Just remember to set up a rewards system and a punishment system that you are able to stick to!

Simple: think diabetes! Then think about donating your limbs to science because, that's what happens when diabetes runs roughshod over you life. And oh yeah! You will also get kidney stones, the likes of which, you have never known. These bastards hurt like giving birth to the rock of Gibraltar -- I kid you not! Since February of this year (2009) I have managed to loose 60 lbs., and kick my type II diabetes to the curb. It's been a hard-fought battle 'cause, damn them fries and shakes are good!

Replace chocolate cookies and fries with something healthier, and keep those at hand. Either that or get cookies and fries that are low in fat, so you don't feel so bad about them. Also, try getting active. If you become active in sports or other forms of exercise, you can have both and not feel bad.

Have some pineapple or graham crackers
****'s delicious

Well for me, fries and chocolates cookies ARE worth it. But the thing is that I want to lose the flab, so in my mind and instead of trying to convince myself that they're not worth it, I just think to myself that I'll just eat them much much much later on as my reward and I try to focus on eating healthy food that tastes good during my diet. That's what works for me.

well about the fries i can't help you.

now about those chocolate cookies...the key thing is this so listen up. RAW ORGANIC CACAO. its a superfood. its healthy. its good for you. you can get this in bean, nib or powdered form. i like it in powdered form because i can make my own homemade chocolate bars, raw cakes & cookies out of them. i have a recipe in one of my stories about how to make raw chocolate that is just divine!!! also some fats are healthy for you like coconuts & avocados. if you take a coconut, mix it with some cacao, agave & maybe some ground nuts like cashews or almonds to later dehydrate at a low temp you can have some heavenly healthy energizing cookies. that will melt the fat off you. holla at ya girl for more info. i can go on forever about this lol.

Remember the saying 'Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels'.

Every time I want to reach for that extra helping, I drink an ICE cold freezing 16 ounces of water. That usually slows down my appetite and makes me not want anything else.

But remember you do need a certain amount of calories a day to maintain basic functions. DO NOT STARVE YOURSELF.