You do NOT have to give up ice cream if you want to lose weight! Of course, something has to change, but you don't have to go cold turkey. Here are 6 suggestions for enjoying ice cream while you drop a few pounds:

1. Why are you eating the ice cream? If it's because you're bored, tired, stressed, someone else is eating ice cream, etc - don't eat it. Eating doesn't solve an emotional issue. In fact, you'll probably feel worse after ice cream in these situations because not only did you not address your feelings, you ate more than you wanted.
2. Sitting in front of the TV with a gallon of ice cream and a spoon is not going to help. If you want ice cream, measure out a serving (1/2 cup, or about 1 ice cream scoop). We always eat more when we eat from a container, because someone we're wired to want to eat to the bottom!
3. If you can't stop yourself from eating too large portions at home, only eat ice cream when you go out. Order a small scoop, or even a child-size cone. You'll save money while you satisfy your ice cream craving.
4. Keep portion-size ice cream at home. Remember those little cups of ice cream with the cardboard covers that we used to get at school for special lunches? That's the right serving size. If we keep single portions on hand, we're more likely to eat less.
5. Set a limit. You might decide to eat ice cream twice each week. Or you might decide to enjoy ice cream only on Tuesday evenings. Set a limit, and stick to it. If we know we can have a favorite food periodically, we tend to not crave it as much.
6. Some people find sugar-free or fat-free ice cream is a nice compromise. Read the labels for calorie content before you purchase! If the calories aren't significantly lower, it's not worth it. For example, 1/2 cup of Ben and Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream has 270 calories. Get their body and soul version of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, and 1/2 cup has only 190 calories. However, their low-fat fudge brownie frozen yogurt has 190 calories - no bargain if you're trying to lose weight unless this is your absolute favorite ice cream and it makes you swoon with pleasure to eat it. Then enjoy it - in a 1/2 cup serving.