What I have done differently: Well, let's talk about food first: Back in the Atkins days, I would totally avoid carbs and sugars and pretty much ate low fat proteins and lettuce all day... but it soon registered that this was not healthy, but it was definitely better than my eating candy as an afternoon snack or just a bowl of pasta for dinner. What was important was keeping a reasonable glycemic index...and that didn't mean just eating a whole cow for my daily meal...it meant that if I was going to eat bread, pasta, or sweets, that I ate something with a good amount of protein along with it. Getting a balanced meal with the right balance of meat, carbs, and veggies is the healthy way to go...also it is important to avoid saturated fats. And then lastly, I am more into natural and simple foods - I don't buy calorie-dense packaged foods like granola bars, breakfast bars, chips, etc. that have little nutritional benefit and usually packed with sugar or salt...I avoid these foods because they can't really make a meal, and it is important to eat real meals...hot foods, cooked with good ingredients.
And then there's exercise -- physical activity is important, and it makes me feel good...plus let's me eat just a little bit more. It's important not to reward yourself with food after exercise. It's key to eat only when you're hungry.
And lastly -- there's just mental wellness -- that means I make it a point to spend my childrens' waking hours with them. I make sure I have time for myself as well to shop, to write in a journal, to surf the web, play with my iPhone, to watch silly TV, to just sit outside when it's sunny with a glass of something cold to drink (or hot if it's not particularly warm).
 

 Products that I have stopped using that caused contention:
I stopped eating/buying microwaved popcorn. I totally love kettle corn but popcorn has no nutritional value. It's just a munchie...and my son was asking for it too much so I just stopped buying it.
I also quit buying anything "low fat" -- maybe this was more of a contention for me. In the end, calories matter - not fat...so there really is no reason to stock up on low fat foods unless we're talking low in saturated fat.
Finally, I quit buying bakery items from my grocery store (a little disappointing for me) because they contain trans-fats - a big no-no for us all!

I like mayonnaise and the "light" version tastes great...fat-free tastes horrible so why use it?

This stuff is great - has some benefits of nuts, low in saturated fat, reasonable caloric content...and tasty. I never would have considered such an alternative beverage in the past but it has wholesomeness. I chose this picture to represent "alternative" foods that are natural and tasty.

Because I spend so much time with my son...he was able to recognize all his letters (both capital and lowercase) at age 20 months. He was able to read at a 2nd grade level at just 3 years and 4 months. And he was able to write full sentences quite legibly at 3 years and 4 months. I'm not bragging. Every child is smart. It just depends on how much time you're willing to spend with them to do stuff like this. Spending time with my family over all else is what I call wellness.

I made my garage into a gym...so I can exercise everyday without making excuses while watching mindless TV.