Carb Free, or Everything in small Portions???

Eat at a calorie deficit.

That's it. No gimmicks, no long term meal plans where you eat the same thing constantly, etc. Fad diets don't work, calorie counting does.

The rest is about nutrition; and as an adult, you likely know how that works. Aim to hit your hardest to hit macro first (for most of us that's protein).

Also, it's impossible to go carb free and eat a nutritious diet. Fruits and veggies? They're carbs too.

Just balance your diet and eat in moderate portions that fit your calorie goal. I use 40% carbs, 30% protein and 30% fat with great success. Figure out your current BMR and use that as your goal as you lose. It's just that simple. Your brain needs those carbs to function!! If it doesn't get them and has to struggle to create energy, it can affect your metabolism. (I have a friend who is a respected scientist currently researching this and it has been proven that the brain will reallocate resources to itself when needed) ... don't skrimp on nutrition. Eat whole foods first, get your nutrition (protein!) and then have a few treats with whatever calories are left over. ... GOOD LUCK!

Atkin's can be good if you have a metabolic reason for eating low carb (such as hypoglycemia, any blood sugar issues, PCOS, etc). Other then that though, it's just a way to restrict. When you cut out sugar/carbs, you kind of naturally remove about 99.9% of junk food from your diet. If you find you enjoy eating mostly meat and vegetables, then go for it, but some people feel fatigued, and it just isn't worth it for them.

Small portions. Atkins only works if you stick with it forever. If you ever start eating carbs again, your weight will go back up. It DOES work well and quickly, but it doesn't teach you portion control or maintaining after the fact. Plus, depriving yourself of an entire food group is really difficult and a lot of people feel very sick on Atkins. It's difficult to stay with, especially for forever!

On the other hand, you can eat whatever you want, just smaller portions of it. You know what is healthy and what isn't. But if you really want that burger and fries once a week, you can budget it into your calories. You probably won't be able to eat it every day, so you'll find healthier alternatives. Calorie counting teaches you how much you should really be eating and because you're not deprived - you can eat anything, just maybe not every day or huge amounts of it - it's much easier to stick to.

Good luck!

I agree with the majority of what folks have said, be smart, be sure to get a decent amount of protein, moderate amount of fat and carbs. Eat 'right' 80% of the time and you'll be able to indulge a little in the less healthy things you like 20% of the time. There's no magic, be smart about how you eat and create good habits (lean protein, a lot of vegetables, few carbs, a little bit of fruit, some sweets or snacks in small portions). Good luck, you can do it!

Eat anything you want that meets your calorie goal. Don't demonize any foods.

You may notice that certain foods make you feel fuller longer. Eat more of those.

Based on your description, it sounds like your issues are not really around which foods you choose, it is around portion control. This is by far the most common problem, but people don't want to admit this and deal with it.

To lose weight, you will have to eat fewer calories. Changing which foods you eat alone will almost certainly not make a big difference in the total number of calories you consume. It may shave a few off, sure, but not enough to reduce your calorie surplus to a substantial enough calorie deficit to lose weight.

If you want to be successful at weight loss, you're going to have to practice portion control. Admitting that you are "a horrible judge" of how much of something you are eating is a good first step. Now you can start making your choices about how much to eat more mindfully and start measuring your portions.

Before you say "I don't want to measure my food, that sounds obsessive" (because LOL we hear that all the time) bear in mind that if you're a bad judge of portions, you will frankly NEVER LOSE WEIGHT until you become a good judge of portions. And you'll at least temporarily need to measure for a while (in your case, given your history, a LONG WHILE) to get better at it.

Once you have settled on how many calories you should be eating per day to achieve reasonable goals, here are some tips for eating within your goal.

1) Start measuring your food and logging everything honestly right now. Today. Not tomorrow. This is something you can do before you make any decisions or investments. You don't need to shop for new food or use up leftovers or buy tools, you don't need to research your BMI or TDEE, you don't need to decide if you're going to eat different foods or change your diet. You can do this starting with the very next meal you eat.

Why is it so important to do this immediately? Because it will start teaching you more about what effect your food choices make on your daily calories. You will very quickly start building up an understanding of how many calories are really in your standard sized servings of the foods you typically eat every day. And that information is power. Power to make good decisions.

2) Measure your food. I'm serious. I'm gonna keep harping on this. No guesstimating. No eyeballing. None of that. You have to measure food for a while, or there's no point given your history of not judging how much food you can eat or are eating. For most people, this means weighing. Because weighing is more consistent than using measuring cups for everything but liquids. But if you don't have a food scale right now, today, then use measuring cups RIGHT NOW. No excuses, no procrastination. It's more important to try to measure AT ALL then to worry about the method. But yeah, I strongly endorse kitchen scales, and if you don't have one, look into getting one. Digital ones are cheap, easy to use, easy to store, don't take up much space on your counter or in your cupboard. And did I mention they are CHEAP?

3) At the end of each day, scan your food diary and look at the items with the highest calorie values. Were those foods nourishing and healthful? How did you feel after you ate them? Physically? Mentally? You may find that some quick assessments like these can help you identify foods you might want to cut back on because they don't make you happy enough to justify the calories. Or they may do the opposite: help you better identify foods that help you meet your goals for nutrition and satiety.

4) Start pre-planning / pre-logging. At the end of each day -- maybe even once a week -- sketch out your food plan and fill in your food diary for the upcoming day (or several days) to meet your calorie and nutrition goals. I tend to fill in 80% of my calories at least the day before, leaving myself a cushion for snacks / treats at the end of the night or for things that surprise me when I measure them. Not only has this helped me meet my calorie goals (and lose >175 lbs over 2 years), it's also helped me waste less food, use leftovers better, take advantage of grocery store sales, and has saved me money. Worth it. And it certainly helps you again, better build those skills around knowing how much you can eat.