Honestly, you really just have to go at it as a lifestyle change. Not as a diet. For most of us, we plan on eating this way for the rest of our lives (save for small changes when new information/studies come out.) It was easy for me because I get horrible gut wrenching stomach pain when I cheat but for my husband, for instance, he's probably follows the Mark Sisson 80/20 rule and gets away with it for the most part. He won't give up the diet coke when he goes out to eat, and definitely isn't going to turn down some homemade non-paleo dessert once in a blue moon.

I think the best way to dive in to Paleo is to go very low carb (under 20-30 a day) for a few weeks, even if you don't have weight to lose. It kills the sugar monster and resets your taste-buds so when you have the occasional (or daily) carby food like sweet potato or berries, it will feel like a treat and all the processed crap will taste like mealy, oversweetened, flavorless garbage. And definitely give up the no calorie sweeteners for that time too; as they can screw up your tastebud reset as well.

You need to find something that isn't visible and is more long term to motivate you, because weight loss doesn't happen after just a short period of eating well, and it's easy to keep "cheating" and tell yourself you'll just get back on the wagon tomorrow.

I don't need to lose weight and do paleo for my health, but this still works. I remind myself that weight gain and health damage are cumulative and slow to develop. People gain weight (often) at a rate of a few grams a day. They don't wake up feeling exhausted all the time with aching joints, their health deteriorates slowly until they don't remember what it's like to feel vibrant and healthy every day. I think about the fact that every choice I make is a step in either that direction, or in the opposite one, towards good health. Do I want to find myself at fifty and already in poor health or do I want to stay healthy and avoid creeping weight gain when I get older?

More practically, this is what I did when I was switching to paleo: get a calender and put it somewhere you can't avoid looking at it. Decide that you aren't going to eat X food (bread, sugar, whatever) for a certain length of time. Say just 2 weeks, even. Cross those days off in red. Tell yourself that you can have that food at the end of the 2 weeks, if you still want it. If you can't make it, and eat that food, black out the X on that calender day. For me, there was something really powerful about not wanting to look at the broken chain of X's and feeling like a failure that allowed me to avoid the food without much thought. At the end of the two week period, tell yourself you can go 10 more days. Cross those out. Rinse and repeat until you don't think about the food anymore. It might take months but eventually it will happen. I guess it's mental trickery and it might not work for everyone but for me it was extremely effective.

It has been said already that it is best to approach it like a lifestyle change. View it so that the new foods are a part of you and the old foods aren't anymore. If possible get rid of anything that you could possibly cheat with, if it is just hanging around it is more likely to make its way into your mouth.

If you want a serious hardcore hack: When you shop for food try to bring cash only and know generally what you are going to buy and how much it costs so that you only bring enough money for what you need.

It has also been said already that your ability to keep from cheating will get better as you habituate to the new lifestyle. Once you start seeing results it will get even better because you will have associated the foods with real world tangible results. To top it all off, once you get back in metabolic balance you simply won't have as many hunger or temptation issues. Sounds tempting, right? Well you have to get over the first hurdle to get to that place. There's more incentive.

Also don't be hungry. Whatever you do, don't be hungry. Eat satiating foods in satiating ways. Do whatever it takes to be as full and satisfied as you can with what you have chosen to eat.

If you think you are making progress and want to cheat at a social occasion or something like that then be sure to plan to cheat. If you approach it like you are in control and it is all your choice then that attitude will persist the next day and the following week, Be sure not to take planned cheats as permission to plan to cheat all of the time, though. That's a tricky one!

for me, if it's bad, i just dont buy it. i stay as far away as possible from any tempation. the main thing is, i dont beat myself up if i breakdown. i do however make sure i figure out why i broke down and work towards the goal of having it happen less frequently. evaluating my habits and understanding why has worked wonders in all aspects of my life.

i still have a long way to go NO doubt... but ive also come a long way. just keep chugging along.

Mastery of self takes some work. I believe that most of us fail because we are unable or unwilling to truly look at ourselves, at our flaws, and figure out why we continually sabotage ourselves. So many of us are our own worst enemies. This isn't about food. This is about your head. My advise is to keep trying and when you fall (and you will) figure out WHY. What was going on in your head at the exact moment the decision was made to eat off plan. What did you say to yourself to make that o.k. even though it is in direct opposition to what you say you want? You have to deconstruct the conversations you are having up in your head and figure out what these self-destructive scripts are, where they come from, how to spot them when they arise, and how to shut them down when they do.

Beyond that yes keep a clean house (food wise) and limit exposure to scenarios that are too tempting for you. Learn to make a few things that make you feel really happy and satisfied that you can treat yourself with when you feel like falling off the wagon (paleo cookies or cakes or mash potatoes with lots of butter or whatever appeals to you) You can comfort yourself with decadent food and still stay on your eating plan. You just need to figure out what foods will feel special to you and make sure you can whip them up quickly or keep them in the freezer ready to go.

Good luck. It ain't over till it's over so never give up. It can be done if you are willing to do the work required.

For me it was very much the internal conversation I had with myself. I tried Atkins numerous times and had a similar experience that you are having. Good for a few days, then something would come up. Small cheat here and there turn to bigger and bigger cheats, turn into aww screw it.

What has made plaeo stick is this:

On Atkins I told myself "I dont eat grains because they make me fat"

On paleo I tell myself "I dont eat grains because they are killing me."

On Atkins I told myself "I dont eat sugar because it makes me fat"

On paleo I say "I dont eat sugar because I understand exactly how bad for me this is and the negative effects it has on my body"

For me its telling myself that the grains and processed foods are basically poison. Why would I want to poison myself? But also I am a mom and I want to be around for a long time. I want to be healthy, active and a good role model for my kids and family. And also start them off in the right direction. Another big thing that keeps me from cheating is I hate feeling awful after cheating..both emotionally and physically. And the desire to look good and healthy in my clothing is a good incentive as well hehe. Good luck to you! You can do it!

I did this :

• Gradually make changes, don't throw everything away in a day. I started by eating quinoa, grapefruits and fish, then adding red meat, then removing quinoa, then removing grapefruit and substituting it with eggs (basically I cut out more and more sugar until I was VLC).
• Keep a paleo house so there are no temptations
• Think about the future, not about the present. 20 minutes of joy while eating chocolate is nothing compared to a lifetime of feeling great.
• Think paleo all the time. Don't think "oh on the paleohacks website they said that was healthy", think "what would Grok do?".
• Ignore the horrible persons that say red meat is bad for you, including doctors. Slap them if you must.

Don't change your diet, change your life.

Decide that it's actually something you want to do. If it is, stick to it.

Throw out your scale.

Have faith that it will work, rather than second guessing. Changes take time, it will be worth it.

Read one of Gary Taubes books. Either Good Calories, Bad Calories or Why We Get Fat And What To Do About It. Or get the audiobook. This book will convince you that carbohydrates will make you fat, especially refined sugar and fructose. Or just go on YouTube and listen to one of his lectures. Or Robert Lustig's lecture on sugar/fructose.

Our culture is incredibly impatient...we want what we want when we want it! Reconditioning yourself to slow down, to be patient, to have faith and know that good things are coming is a HUGE challenge for most of...but the rewards of making this happen for yourself will last a lifetime and beyond, so that ought to be motivation aplenty...be easy on yourself, and keep a sense of humor, and you'll be alright!

Read Willpower by Gillian Riley. Basically, to succeed at any thing like thins, you need to realise that you are free to make any choice, including continuing to eat badly. If you imprison yourself, by making a commitment to eat paleo for the rest of your life, or even just 2 months, your mind will rebel. Realise that each and every choice is made in the eternal present, and you may change your ability to choose.

This is not a diet, religion, cult, etc :) It is a healthy Lifestyle. Diet implies restrictions & rules, this leads to what people refer to as 'cheating' you can cheat on a diet, you cannot cheat on a Lifestyle. In a Lifestyle we make bad food decisions, accept the consequences and carry on. I just put myself in the food mind set of someone living maybe 15,000 years ago and I eat what I would recognize as real food and ignore everything else.

It all comes down to motivation, if a person was suddenly diagnosed with some mysterious disease where if they were to eat any food that was not natural or sugar & wheat free they would die immediately, trust me they would have no problem eating healthy.

Starting the day with a high-protein and high-fat breakfast is one of the surest ways for me to get through a day without even the remotest inkling of a cheat. Start with a 3 egg omelette with a tbsp of cream, cheese, vegetables, etc. and maybe a half an avocado.

I sometimes skip breakfast, which sometimes works but sometimes leaves me very hungry at the end of the day.

I also avoid anything sweet, even sugar-free sweet things like diet soda, they seem to kick my body into some kind of food overdrive. Like I had a rum and coke last night and you would think that I hadn't eaten in a week, despite already having > 2000 calories that day (about 400 more than my normal day).