How do you do it!?

Exercise - you need to find a way to keep it from becoming boring or burdensome. Mix things up if you need to. My wife bought a treadmill which she keeps in our room. She mounted a laptop tray to it as well. So she can do her workout while watching TV and working on her Photography (editing pictures in photoshop), browsing the web, etc. That works for her and makes the time go by much faster. You just have to find that one exercise that you really enjoy or find ways to keep your exercise routine interesting (walking/running in scenic areas, biking to new places, etc).

On the diet side, step one in my opinion is you don't need to *stop* eating chocolate, white bread, etc, you just need to figure out how to eat it in more healthy ways. Working it into an overall diet plan that accounts for your calories, macro nutrients and such is the key. Trying to give up food you love all together is only going to lead to failure. So try smaller portions of those items. Try whole grain white bread (yes it does exist). For treats, check out Skinny Cow brand, they've got a lot of great stuff. Fruit and yogurt parfaits are a great replacement for ice cream sundaes. There's all sorts of options out there, you just gotta keep looking and trying new things.

Here's another thing that might help you on both fronts. The best way to work in "naughty" foods is to have them on a day when you've done a lot of exercise. I love days where I have multiple soccer games because I burn literally thousands of calories. With that huge burn, I can typically fit in just about any naughty food I'm craving and make it work. So that could work as a motivator for you to keep exercising since exercising means you can add in a treat that day.

I don't think it's helpful to see it as a chore, and look at it as fighting a war against weight. I prefer to visualise the end goal! IE if I see a lovely bikini I would like to wear I don't say "oh no I'd look a sight in that right now!" I say, "My goodness I'll look good in that in a few months!" Keep the focus on what you want not what you don't want. Put up a picture of the perfect body you would like on your fridge, and each time you look at it say "oooo there I am!" Above post about micro-nutrients is spot on, but don't get bogged down the most important change is within your thought process. You are not Failing!!!! You just found a few ways that don't work for you!

Honestly, i was blessed with a very obsessive personality and have many years practice in counting calories. It has become such a habit to do it at this point that i get grumpy on the days i don't work out or fill in my food journal.

But it all satred somewhere; my first goal was sugar and salt. For three days i ate EXACTLY how i always had, and wrote every bite down. Turns out i was getting over 100 g sugar and 5000 mg sodium daily. So on Day 4 i decided i wasn't getting more than 4000 mg sodium and 95 g sugar. that's half a teaspoon of salt and one teaspoon of sugar. And i kept at that pace until i hit where i needed to be and could consistently maintain it (which took a little over a month). Then i looked at my fat, carbs, and protein and did the same with them . As far as exercising, i rarely have an "i don't want to " day- i truly love being active. My mom, however, sometimes dreads working out but she puts her shoes and sports bra on, ponys up, and gets it done anyway. By the end of the warmup she's usually glad to be doing it.

Baby steps on everything, don't set unrealistic goals of "i will hit EXACTLY my nutrient goal for 6 months EVERY DAY!" because you won't. and then you'll be sad. Don't say, "I will do 1,000 pushups today!" unless you are already doing an average of 950. Simply say, "I will be better today than i was yesterday." If that means calories, salt, or situps-do a little bit better every day and it will become more ritual than chore.