Losing weight mentality?

Okay, so I have been trying to lose weight. Last year I lost from 10-15 pounds because I went really extreme with it, but once summer came and the new school year started I gained it all back. I am eighteen and a senior in high school. I am trying to lose weight, but in a smarter way this time. Little by little so the habits actually stick. For me, I have learned it is better to do it at my own pace than in an extreme way because then I go to the opposite extreme- eating horribly! Sooo, I have been doing good this last month. My question is, however, is it a good idea to keep yourself busy when trying to lose weight? Because I was thinking... And you know the whole "When you stop wanting something, you get it." belief? So, if I ate healthy and worked out, but also had other priorities, would it be better on me and my mind? Like keeping myself busy with other things so that I don't make this my only priority. Also, what are some things that have helped you get to your goal weight/body?

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Recommanded Answer:
Yes! That's an excellent thing to do! Don't make eating right and workout out the only things that run through your mind, or you'll go absolutely nuts! I used to be so obsessed with what I was eating and how much I exercised, and I noticed I was always cranky and irritable. The best way to lose weight is slowly and consistently, that way, when you get to your ideal body that you want, you'll appreciate it more because you worked so hard and long to get where you are, so you'll be less likely to blow it. Don't be too caught up in your diet and exercise routine. If you're out with friends and you really want a piece of pizza, have it! Just eat it in moderation. Or, if you miss and exercise day, that's fine. You're not going to gain every pound you've lost by not workout out for one day. I think that's a great idea, so do it! That way, losing weight will be easier and you'll sort of do it without knowing :)

• A diet should never consume your life. I struggled with losing weight during high school and I would obsess over it. You have to take this a day at a time and just try to make better and healthier choices. You really can eat what you want if you just control the portions. Don't be too hard on yourself!! You can achieve this if you really want it but you have to change your lifestyle not just cut out everything bad for you, it's a process to lose weight and from personal experience the slower you lose the weight the better chance it will stay off!! You got this!
• I'm glad you're asking about 'mentality' and not just 'what should I eat?' You realize that losing weight depends more on 'mindset' than some prescribed list of foods and quantities, which is good.
  
  Well first of all you have to see 'diet' not as a temporary regimen to reach a target weight and then to be abandoned. That's how we tend to see it here in the US, and it's partly why most people fail. As soon as you go off your diet you gain the weight back, and it would be healthier to just carry around a few extra pounds than to go up and down over and over.
  
  So you want to see diet as making new habits, lifelong habits, a permanent change in your life. So you want to make changes slowly, only as you are comfortable with them. Fad diets where you eat nothing but sauerkraut and celery for three weeks do more damage than good. But drifting towards lower-carb foods, smaller portions of sweets and carbs, being more careful with snacks, etc. is a good way to go for the long run.
  
  Secondly, diet and exercise are like two sides of the same coin. They work together much better than either one works by itself. Exercise helps by burning calories, but it also speeds up your metabolism, and builds muscle, which burns up more blood sugar. Exercise is another habit. If you just walk for an hour three or four times a week, or ride a bicycle, after a while it becomes a habit and you find yourself craving it!
  
  Finally, weight is not the criterion. If you change your habits, get into diet and exercise, you will feel healthier and just generally more capable. Losing weight is related but not the primary goal, it's almost more like a 'side effect', a by-product. If you weigh yourself every day, you can really get discouraged, because you will go long periods without seeing a change. Exercise creates muscle, which weights more than fat!