[Alex]

I'm not sure what diet/lifestyle change you're doing, but I'm personally doing Weight Watchers and it makes stuff so easy. When you do the Points system, you've basically no choice but to closely track everything you eat. It might be easier for some to do that than others - I have a work-at-home internet job - but anywhere you've got a computer and a pen and paper handy, you can write down whatever you eat.

That way, you're aware of what you eat. The thing that's working for me with WW is that, really, nothing is forbidden. Basically, they teach you portion control and moderation, which is key to ANY lifestyle change. You can't just be "on a diet", because if you're ever ON a diet, that means you're looking forward to one day being OFF the diet. And you can't be. Whatever you do, you have to be willing to do it for the rest of your life.

I personally use Daily Plate dot com to track my food. When you sign up, you input your age, weight, height, whether you want to lose a pound a week, two pounds a week, gain weight or maintain, and your activity level. It gives you an estimate of how many calories you should be able to take in and still lose.

But exercise, controlling your fat intake, and getting proper nutrients is also important. No other diet ever worked for me, but WW is slowly but surely showing progress. You might give that a look. There are ways to do it for free (without attending meetings); that's pretty much how I'm doing it.