If you expect to fail, you will.
The word “Failure”
is simply a concept meaning the Opposite of SUCCESS.

Words are the way we label concepts,
and are often very powerful.

No matter what term you use to label Failures,
it doesn't change what they are.
Failure is a label for a Concept meaning the Opposite of SUCCESS.

Many Dieters don’t like the word “failure”,
and look for different labels.
Some choose to call failures "exceptions" or "indulgences" or “cheat days”

The word “failure” is frequently used in the concept of Diets
to describe a “deviation” from the rules of that particular eating plan.
However, one might be better served to
devise rules that include an occasional “deviation”,
which would exclude that “deviation” from being a “failure”.

 Lets look at the definitions of some of these words.

Failure: to be unsuccessful.
Deviation: a noticeable departure from a rule.
Exception: a case in which a rule does not apply.
Indulge: to give free rein to, to yield to the desire of.
Cheat: to violate rules dishonestly.

Failure is the only above-listed word that conveys
the meaning of: "to be unsuccessful".
Deviation simply indicates "a departure from a rule".

However, the words “Exception”, Indulge” and “Cheat”
are not effective "replacement" labels
for the word "Failure" or for the word "Deviation".

The word Cheat means to get something by dishonesty or deception.
Cheat suggests using trickery that escapes observation.
I find the word “cheat” an especially inappropriate label to use while dieting
because it indicates an attempt to circumvent both
the need for personal ACCOUNTABILITY
as well as the need to avoid DENIAL.

In a Diet exactly WHO is one “cheating”?  
Of course, the actual answer is that one is “cheating” oneself,
and to trick or deceive oneself is to deliberately put oneself in Denial,
which is a mental method to avoid accepting responsibility for personal behavior.

The terms, "Exceptions" and "Indulgences" and “Cheat”
by definition actually give permission to noticeably depart from the rules.
Giving oneself the ability to excuse oneself from following specific rules at-will,
renders an entire Plan ineffective.

Regarding labels, there’s an old saying that one should "call a spade a spade".
It’s probably important do that.
A rule that doesn't need to be followed, is merely a suggestion.

Perhaps when dealing with the concept of Dieting,
it might be better to replace the label “rule” with the label “guideline”.

Rule: a prescribed guide for conduct or action; a regulation or law controlling conduct.
Guideline: a line by which one is guided; an indication or outline of policy or conduct.

The Bottom Line is:
You can attach many labels to the concept of Dieting.
However, no matter what label you choose to use to describe
the concept of successful BEHAVIOR within any diet or eating plan
Every minute, every day, you can choose to Succeed or to Fail.

 
This picture is my most recent recipe posted: Tofu Chocolate Brownies.

I enjoy doing recipe videos, but DietHobby is not a cooking blog or channel.
The Recipe section of DietHobby is simply to share with you
the amounts and types of foods I normally eat,
and the ways that I prepare and handle those foods.

In order to quickly share many of the recipes that I commonly use,
I've made and posted a great many cooking videos here within a very short time period,
I feel that I have now established a good base of personal Recipes here at DietHobby,
so I will soon begin posting cooking videos less frequently,
My ultimate practice will probably be to post a new cooking video once a week or so.

  I’ve found that goal setting helps me focus
on the areas in my life that are meaningful to me.
rather than be guided by what other people
want me to be, to do, or to accomplish.

First I need to clearly identify what I want.
“What is my Goal?”

The next question is
“What kind of BEHAVIOR is needed to take me there?”

The very last, and most Unimportant issue,
is the question of timing. Timing is essentially:
”When will that behavior bring me the desired RESULTS?”
or "When will I reach my Goal?"
and timing is an issue that is outside my direct control.

I’ve spent a great deal of time in my life thinking about
my various weight goals and my food-intake and my exercise goals.

Today, I’ve been thinking about my goals for this website, DietHobby.
I’m really glad to have discovered making videos.
It is such a convenient way to share the way I do things
with people who might be interested.
This whole website has become a very interesting project for me.
It is a great deal of work, but I’m having a really good time with it.
  I've just started making some very brief videos entitled "Moments of Thinspiration",
which I plan to post frequently.  These are located under RESOURCES in the Video Section.
Every video I make is designed to be part of DietHobby;
to reflect my basic philosophy and vision; and to provide encouragement and support.

While I understand the values and motivations of “marketing”
and “social networking”, I don’t really enjoy making efforts  
in those directions. “Social networking on Twitter, Facebook,
and YouTube takes away from the time that I want to use writing
quality articles about the diets and tools etc. and viewpoints that
really matter to me. And from the time that I want to spend finding
and reviewing quality articles of others.

I do understand that I need to take steps to let people know that DietHobby exists
and to make it easy for interested people to find it,
and I am willing to make some small efforts in that direction.
However, I'm hoping that somehow, through my normal activities and connections,
without extensive "marketing" efforts,
DietHobby will become known to the people who need it.
It certainly helps that I’ve no interest in becoming a YouTube or blogging “star”.
I just want a simple and friendly place where I can post my own viewpoints and
share with other people who are interested in the same things as I am.
I don’t need to make money. I don’t want to “convert” the world.
I don’t need to change anyone’s mind,
and I don’t feel a need to make thousands of strangers like me. 
As my goals for DietHobby's "Success" are simple, 
I think it is reasonable to believe that I can achieve them.

 I recently heard someone say:

"I  plan on making the most out of tomorrow’s holiday.
Even if that means I'll be shoveling plain sugar into my mouth
and eating until I vomit."  

The above-quote is a good description of binge behavior.

Some people are only joking when they say that they are going to eat sugar until they vomit or feel like it. This may only mean they will actually have a few pieces of candy and/or cookies which will seem like a lot to them. 

But, some literally do Binge on a regular basis, and this means they  actually do eat a large amount, such as one or more family size bags of candy/and or cookies and these people...despite a great deal and time and effort.... are not able to overcome this "addiction-like behavior".

People are mentally and physically different. One-size-does-not-fit-all.

I think there can be no doubt that Taubes, author of  Why We Get Fat is correct when he says that sugar is a special kind of food,  because it seems to "hijack" the brain.

Sugar seems to be an issue with almost everyone, however the definition of "bingeing" seems to differ between individuals.
For some, "bingeing" means "giving in" to a piece or two of cake
and for others it means eating the entire cake."
Most people equate "bingeing" with "Emotional Eating",  but perhaps Taubes is correct when he says that this isn't merely a mental or behavioral issue. 

Maybe there's actually a large physiological issue ... maybe our respective bodies are different in more ways than size.

Some of us seem to be more sensitive to carbohydrates than others. There are some people for whom even "healthy" complex carbohydrates ... such as baked potatoes and whole kernal corn... can trigger binge behavior. 

 Here’s a question I received about Calorie Counting.

"One thing I always wonder about calorie counting:
how do you account for cooked foods or whole meals?
For example, an apple is easy: it's so & so calories.

However if... (like we did today for dinner)... your meal consists of
a) potato salad b) cucumber salad and c) cheese pie

How would you go about counting all that?
Would you have to input all recipes & divide by helpings
to know what you've eaten?"

And Here’s my Answer to that Question.

DietPower, the software food journal I use,
has a simple function that allows me
to input label info from new foods into its food dictionary.
It also has a simple function that allows me to input new recipes,
using foods that are in its food dictionary.

I would use the search function in its food dictionary,
and find potato salad,
then input how much I ate (1/2 cup?)
Same thing with cucmber salad and cheese pie.
Each of the 3 specialized foods could be as easy for me to input as an apple.

During the past six and a half years,
the DietPower program has been extremely helpful to me.
After I've input a food or a recipe once,
it becomes part of the program and is forever in my software dictionary.

As part of the process of entering a recipe the first time,
I have to determine how many servings are in it.
The program then immediately responds
with correct nutritional values, including calories.

When I first started using the program,
I'd put in one of my favorite recipes
and divide it so that one serving was the amount I usually ate.

SURPRISE... sometimes I found my chosen serving
was TWO or THREE times more than the calories I thought I was eating....
so then... (during the initial input process)... I adjusted the recipe
to a more reasonable number of servings
such as 12 servings, not 6 servings.
This taught me how much I should be eating,
and served as a Forever reminder as to just what size
my serving of that particular food should be.

When I log my food for each day, I just use DietPower's search function
Up comes my food or recipe,

I put the amount I ate...1 serving, or 1/2 serving or whatever,
and instantly I have all the nutritional values of what I ate...
or what I PLAN to eat... because sometimes,
when I see the total calories in advance, I alter my plan.

I've now been using DietPower a very long time
so most of my standard recipes are now in its Dictionary.
When I cook a new recipe, I just add it in.
I also enter as a Recipe,
frequent combinations of foods I eat,
such as a particular Sandwich or even a complete standard meal.
That way I am able to log an entire meal as easily as I could log an apple.

If I am going to eat in a restaurant,
I plan approximately what I will eat in advance.
I Look online and find that item or a similiar item,
and put the restaurant nutritional info for that food item into DietPower.
Then, after my meal, I make minor changes to reflect what I actually ate.

Anytime I eat something I haven't prepared, I can always find
something similiar in the DietPower food dictionary, 
or find the nutritional values of a similiar food somewhere online.
Once I put that food into the DietPower dictionary, it is there for future use.

Most people eat about the same foods month after month,
so once the initial work is done, tracking food is very easy,
and takes only a few minutes each day.

I find doing this a very enjoyable and extremely valuable HABIT.
Any Skill or Habit takes work to estabish in the beginning,
but the payoff can be remarkable.