Obsessive calorie counting = stress?

I just wanted to share something personal that I'm wondering might help other people - I've been really strict the last few months with my calorie counting to get past a plateau (which seems to happen to me every 20lbs or so). I started at 224lbs in 2008 and managed to get down to 205 in 2010, through 2011 I got down to 195, and since January I've managed to get down to 180-ish. I noticed that I was getting really stressed out about my calorie counting and excising EVERYTHING off, and finally I had to stop. I didn't log on to this site for a good month or so to let myself decompress from a lot of the stress I had put myself through, and just generally did my best to eat lighter with the goal of having a few average days and then somewhat restricted days here and there. Today when I weighed in I was down to 176! I'm feeling relaxed again and I feel like I can tackle my last 30lbs to my goal weight!

So my advice: if you feel that you're getting stressed out or frustrated or hopeless, DON'T be afraid to take a break. Don't go binge eat or anything, but break away from the obsession a bit to keep your sanity.