Weight issues Wednesday

Hello my readers! Welcome to Weight issues Wednesday! Yep, just made that up right off the top of the old noggin.
But seriously. Has anyone else noticed how HARD it is to lose weight? Yes, I know the facts: Eat less than you burn and you will lose weight, but is this magic formula as simple as that? It does not consider any emotional issues you have with food. It assumes that you have the willpower to forgo any sweet treat that passes under your nose. It is a daily struggle for me. Seems like I'll eat normal to well on most days, lose about 2 - 5 pounds (in maybe a week to ten days), have a weekend of eating everything in sight and gain it all back. How frustrating! So I am looking for some simple changes I can start applying to my everyday life to make my lifestyle healthier and happier. For example, one thing I've already changed is eating breakfast every morning. I used to skip this meal since I wasn't hungry, but to maintain your metabolism it is important to kick start your day with breakfast. There are also several things I'd like to change including (but not limited to):

1. Reducing my sugar intake but replacing with natural sweeteners like honey and stevia (right now I use splenda but will not repurchase if I can find a stevia alternative I can bake with)
   
2. Starting to eat cleaner - and I need help with this. If you have any info on this, please please please share! TIA! If you are unfamiliar with this term as far as I understand it it means replacing all the processed crap I eat with healthy stuff. Again, if you know more about this please share!
   
3. Eating vegetables. Or maybe I should say finding waysd to incorporate veggies into my life that aren't in a boring old salad - or finding some way to make a salad exciting.
4. Generally being more aware of food. You know, the emotional and behavioral side of eating. What am I feeling when I sit down and eat an entire pint of Ben and Jerry's and then feel like crap afterward? Did I really need 2 servings of that dinner I made? Knowing the difference between what I need and what I want. That kind of stuff.

I hope that you all have a little insight on this. It is crazy hard to do this alone. My hope is that there is at least one other person struggling like me and that we can help each other. I don't want to eat perfect all the time. I want to ditch the all-or-nothing mentality. I want to feel like I am strong enough to take control of my health and get the most out of this life.

I'm READY!

As some of you know, I posted a couple weeks ago about wanting to get healthy. Tonight I will make this even more of a reality. I, like many other people (and bloggers) out there, have decided to join Weight Watchers. I used the online program a few years ago to lose 20 pounds and then lost an additional 20 with my mom just this past year or so. Well, I gained 10 of those back (by my scale)! And knowing what I know about WW, I know it will work if I can just "work" it.
I hope that by admitting my current weight struggle, I will be held accountable by you, my readers. Trust me, I need support here. I am married to a meat and potatoes man who loves to eat as much as I do. I have family members who are food pushers. I have a weakness for sweets and I prefer sitting on my rear to working it off in the gym. This will be a struggle at times, but I am hoping for your support and encouragement to make it through. Since all scales are a little different, I will be posting tomorrow about my current weight and my goals. My first big goal is to lose 10% of my weight, but I plan to set little goals as well.
My doctor also had a lot to do with why I need to lose some of this weight. I have acid reflux and am taking medication to help heal my shredded esophagus. By decreasing my weight, changing my lifestyle, and learning to eat better, in a few months I will *hopefully* no longer need to take this medication. I am 27. There is no excuse for having to rely on medications for something which could potentially be avoided by getting healthy.
So are any of you trying to lose weight, maintain a healthy weight, exercise more, or generally being healthier? I'd love to hear any tips you might have!