There are alot of diet products that are sweet deserts,so if you need to cheat it might be better to cheat with these and add only half the calories of the other.

You answered your own question in your post:
After a year at the gym you have seen little results.
A better question is how badly do your want to realize your goals of having a six-pack and be cut/toned?

The difference between caloric intake and caloric expenditure will be your results, no matter how you look at it.

Your cardio needs to be a minimum of 35min or more with your heart rate steady at your own 65 - 90% max. Calculate it and know your range. 220 minus your age will give you your max 100%, so go from there.
Remember that you can also do cardio following your weight sessions as you already have that metabolism high.

Your weights routine should be ever changing - your body gets used to the same old same old so you need to change what you do every few weeks, including a change to the exercises, the number or sets and reps, and the amount of weight.

As for your diet, if you have not kept a food journal so far, start one. Be sure you know EXACTLY what you are eating and then you will know what your ACTUAL caloric intake is. Be honest and write down every single cough drop to get a real picture.

And forget about the diet products as they are full of harmful artificial sweeteners. Foods that claim to be 'fat-free' may well have double the sodium of the regular, so all that salt you are eating is just as bad for you.
Start reading labels on ALL food items; you will be disgusted to find all the crap that gets put into food items and passed off as 'food'.
Eat fresh and organic as much as possible.

Last, be realistic and honest with yourself. Do you really think that you will get away with depriving yourself of an item, forever? Eventually, your body will rebel and start demanding. It may be an idea for you to get your eating issues handled first, then all the rest will be easier for you.

Hey again,

I totally agree that the results speak for themselves and I do see how vital the diet is alongside exercise. I really do because I've been so frustrated for putting all that hard work in on one side of things and it all falling to the crapper with the diet. However for me.. the binge eating was related to coping with a roomie with cancer - they've since died and it seems I have been able to control the bingeing heaps more. So in other words it was a coping thing (the food).

I have really challenging goals but I really work damn hard at the gym. Most of my meals have been healthy, organic as possible - lots of grains, fruits, veges, nuts... and I can do this 5 out of 7 days okay. But then I do that naughty food swing.

I guess my real question is... How do people do it.. without getting to the point where they feel deprived when they have sweet cravings. Is half a pack of tim tams equivalent to an hour intense cardio workout for example.. and how much naughty stuff can I have without 'not getting anywhere'.

A chocolate bar a week and a pizza okay? that type of thing.. maybe an 80% / 20% kind of rule?

Abs are made in the kitchen!

When I was dieting down for the contest last year (pics on my photo page, about three pages in) I was allowed one cheat meal per week. The theory is that if you are really watching the carbs that by week's end you need to boost your carb levels a bit and it re-sets your metabolism.

We had to tinker a bit to figure out exactly what was the right amount for my cheat meal. Too much and it would take me all week to get back to the same weight I had the previous week. And that was from one meal!

I have a feeling that the chocolate bar and pizza cheat will be too high in sugar, bread and fat and still be as counterproductive as what happens to you currently.

My cheat meal was steak (instead of my usual boiled chicken), a green salad (lime juice and flaxseed oil dressing) and a single slice of dark chocolate cake with some fresh sliced strawberries on the side (not the frozen ones packed in juice and more sugar). Luckily for me the cake can be bought by the slice - otherwise I would have eaten the entire thing (in one sitting).

Closer to the contest we found that I could only do this meal once every two weeks... and in the final six weeks before the show I dropped the cheat meal altogether. The result was 5.75% bodyfat and stage-worthy abs that I could see. For the first time in my life.

Regarding the cravings: I was eating 5-6 small meals daily. 2-3 hours apart. If I got hungry it wasn't all that long until I could eat again. If I got desperately hungry it meant that my daily calorie intake was a little too low. Once I stopped eating sugary - fatty things I found that I didn't miss them so much. Don't really like the way that sugar makes me feel anymore, when not balanced with my usual protein/essential fatty acid intake.

Though I will admit that the last week was the hardest - very low carb that week and I was yelling at the food commercials on the tv. Glad that was ONLY a week!

haha.. well now I have a great idea.. going out to have a coffee and a small piece of mud cake or getting a dark chocolate bar would do me justice! It would be good to do that out of the house I think too. For my goals i'm not training for shows, just for myself... so I think my sanity will not be compromised if I do something like that - I need to have something nice, I see what your saying about pizza though.. still learning. trying to make the diet appropriate and suitable for the exercise i'm doing I guess takes time and experimentation and I welcome any ideas and suggestions on that to make the whole process easier.

anyway I'll never give up and see how things go :)

What might your advice be on protein bars?

Oh of course.. and along with that.. eating carbs at night? ... or before bed even.

I've been trying to keep it just to a herbal tea before bed; because that's the most difficult time for me with wanting to eat something carby.

Protein bars: only in an emergency. Like, you've just finished your workout, you forgot to bring real food with you and you are more than half an hour away from a meal. Or on a 50-mile bike ride and you start to "bonk" (loss of energy due to lack of fuel).

The problem with protein bars is that even with the good ones the carbohydrates are of poor quality. And they can be full of the kinds of chemical additives you'd rather not be eating. You're better off eating high quality low-glycemic carbs (leafy green veggies). Personally I find I feel better too.

Before Jay Cutler became the steroid behemoth he is today I heard him speak to a group of bodybuilders. When asked what supplements he recommended he replied, "food is your best supplement."

I don't think I can over-emphasize the truth of that statement. Every meal a balanced blend of protein, low-glycemic carbs and essential fatty acids, 5-6 times a day, every 2-3 hours. It works for bodybuilders AND it works for people whose goal is to get fit and lose excess bodyfat. Real food over processed s***. Organic when you can get it. As little artificial gunk as possible.

Re: carbs at night. Eeeek, carbs by themselves? Never! Stick with the tea.

What I do when I need to be strict with the diet is pre-package all my meals. On the weekends I'll cook my chicken and veg, weigh it all out and put in reclosable plastic bags with squirts of white vinegar, flaxseed oil and seasonings (not salt). Six of these every day. Only these. Stops me from eating excess carbs at those times of the day when I'm tempted.

fantastic, thanks!

I think this is what alot of trainers would call a "cheat" day. It's a day to be a reward. however a weekend usually is more than one day.
I feel so guilty of what I might eat on the weekend that I train hard during the week to make up for putting my body thru trauma for junk on a weekend day. try not to do it the whole time and, if you have extra time on your hands on the weekends, get out more to avoid being sedentary where you reach for snacks.

The only thing I would add is...don't use your cheat day to undo what you've done all week.

I buy fat free fudgecicles for my treats. I also will splurge on some ff ice cream as well. I stick to the serving size on the box. You can certainly take advantage of the 100 calorie paks too. There are a lot of good low calorie products out there. I would say too, though, watch the processed food. I try to have a salad for lunch and dinner. This is a good filler. When your trying to watch calories, but need to not feel full, this works wonders. I stay away from iceburg lettuce...complete waste of chewing energy!!!

I'm not trying to compete either, i'm just trying to find things that work. Diversity is key too. Jay Cutler...as Fiddler stated...still eats every 2-3 hours a day. He sets his alarm clock to eat in the middle of the night! Now, most of us simply cannot consume those kinds of calories...but I think you get my point. Food is best.

As well, make the most of your time in the gym. Use your time wisely for the most efficient fat burning and muscle developement.

'nother thought: even your snacks should be protein - carb - fat balanced. Although I have not been on the Zone diet in years I think the books give sound advice. He has a fairly simple way of helping the reader make balanced meal choices, including last snack/meal of the day.