This is a mistake I made many times in my various failed attempts to lose weight. I would assume, like many do, that I had to eat the "diet" food like grilled chicken and broccoli.

I think one of the few advantages to having a lot of weight to lose is that we typically have a larger calorie budget and we have time to adjust our food choices slowly. There may come a time where all of us are so close to goal that we have to eat more of the typical diet food but that is not a good place to start if it is foreign to us.

There is nothing wrong with eating chicken and broccoli obviously. It can be handy if you are getting low on calories at the end of the day for whatever reason. If you enjoy eating that it is fine too. I am a little over halfway through my own journey so my habits are different from where I started but I am still enjoying good food like chips and pizza. I still don't eat a lot of chicken because when it comes to lean protein I will usually pick fish.

I took my time this round. In the beginning I was still eating fried foods and while I still do I eat less than I did originally.

The downside is that people who know you are on a diet may question your choices even if they fit in your calorie budget. They may assume that you are blowing your diet because you got the french fries but that is their own misconceptions.