Getting in shape, for me at least, required a complete change in the way I eat.  It was simultaneously the easiest and most difficult thing to change.  After learning more about the way the body processess food, it became easy for me to know what kinds of things to avoid and what kinds of things to seek.  In general, the more processed the food is, the more I should avoid it.

Think of it this way -- if you assume our bodies are adapted to process our food in order to get the fuel and building-blocks we need, then eating food that is already processed means our bodies don't have to do what they are adapted to do.  Eating an orange, for example, means we have to peel it and chew it.  Once the orange has been eaten, then our bodies have to pull the nutrients from the pulp and juices, process all the membrains, and then get rid of the stuff we can't use.  All of those processes use energy.  By contrast, drinking a glass of orange juice eleminates the need to peel it, chew it, and digest all the "extra" stuff.  Basically, all we get is the fuel without having to work for it.  Additionally, it's a rare orange indeed that will produce 8 ounces of juice!  Drinking a glass of orange juice is getting the fuel from 3, 4, maybe even 5 oranges! 

So -- I had to change the way I thought about eating.  To me, it became an exercise in how to make my body work for its nutrition.  Having a serious sweet-tooth, and loving breads, pasta, and anything fried became the first target.  Also, not being acustomed to cooking anything beyond popping something in the microwave had to become a thing of the past.  That was the hard part.

So, with books in hand, I started learning more about how to eat in a more healthy way.  Once I got over doing things the old accustomed way, it turns out that eating healthily isn't any harder than eating unhealthily.  Instead of grabbing a bag of popcorn or chips, I grab some veggies.  Instead of making sandwiches with over-processed bread, I get wraps.  Instead of eating a burger, I take the burger and put it on a salad.  It's really not as difficult as we sometimes make it out.  It does take getting used to -- and believe you me, I don't minimize the difficulty in that -- but, once we accustom ourselves to eating in a different way, it becomes normal. 

For those interested in learning more about healthy eating, I strongly recommend reading the "South Beach Diet" book -- and not just the meal plan!  Take the time to read and understand the concepts behind the "why" of the diet, and that will make it so much easier for you to change your outlook on food.