Is dieting a good thing?

Hubby and I were chatting about how dieting can actually make you pick up weight.

Well not that I have picked up weight but I was complaining about the struggles to loose the last 700 grams, how it has taken me all week just to get back to 41.7kg's and how frustrated I am.

He mentioned to me that when I was 47kg's I never stressed about what I ate, never worried about when my next meal was or for that matter actually ate as much as I do now. This brought me to thinking that does obsessing over one's weight actually make you put on weight. I would like to get to a point where I no longer think about food or what exactly I am going to eat at my next meal or even WHEN my next meal is going to be. I would like to NOT care about food, I was like that before and managed to maintain my weight with no problems now that I weigh less I feel like I have to watch every morsel that I put in my mouth ... strange.

So I have to question myself, is the "task" of loosing a bit of weight shoved me against the wall of self obsession. Is the constant monitoring of food intake, trying to keep a balanced diet doing quite the opposite of loosing / maintaining my weight.

Where does one draw the line of balance? How does one maintain ones weight with out being obsessive? Is the fact that I am "dieting" and watching what I eat the catalyst for weight gain.

When I was not "dieting" I ate less, probably higher calorie but lower nutrient food, my body coped. Now I eat low calorie higher nutrient food and my body and mind seems to be rebelling. I simply do not understand ... how is it that it is so much harder to maintain a lower weight when I feel I am giving my body what it needs.