My Greatest Tool/Worst Weakness

Oh Food...
Every now and again I'll get on a high horse about nutrition.  It's easy to do.  Eating well has such a profound effect on almost every conceivable aspect of performing at capacity as an athlete that when I actually manage to do it I want to scream from the rooftops, "EVERYONE SHOULD DO WHAT I'M DOING RIGHT NOW.  THIS IS THE BEST PROGRAM EVER."  That goes for Weight Watchers, high carb, Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook and the food pyramid.  The trouble is that after years of struggling with good nutrition I suspect that my problem has very little to do with what I'm eating and everything to do with psychology. 
I'd prefer to fixate on the what.  I love making little charts and plans of meals for the week.  I like the idea of eating delicious whole fruits and veggies.  Reading about food and nutrition is interesting and informative.  I could stare the at before and after pictures that accompany the success stories of others for days.  The premise of focusing on what to eat is that all you have to do is follow a certain set of food guidelines and success will be yours.  When I am following those guidelines I buy into this premise wholeheartedly.  It's simple!  I can be thin!  I will look like Bonnie Thunders!
In economics there's a concept known as 'opportunity cost.'  It means that every action you take costs you the opportunity of every other thing you could have pursued in its place.  The problem with being dead set on eating only nutritious food is that it costs you the pleasure of a rich dessert, the peace of mind to go eat greasy happy hour food with your friends or the convenience of picking up some fast food when you're on the go.  I know in my heart that on the whole, the equation comes out in favor of making nutritionally sound choices, but when I'm at most worst and most neurotic, I have a tendency to weigh my options every time I pick up a fork and it's just excrutiating.
In an effort to avoid having to make a choice I tend to pick one of two paths.  I'll either go balls out on making the perfect food plan or I'll start eating out at every meal and to excess in general.  It's not difficult for me to consume 5,000 calories in one sitting.  These are equally inadvisable tools.  The former has proven time and again to be unsustainable and the latter immediately and noticibly decreases my athletic performance.  What's sorely needed is some kind of balance.
When I'm at my best (and I need to go here again) these are my goals with food:
1.)  Eat when I am hungry.  Do not eat when I am not hungry.
2.)  Avoid candy
Right now you may be thinking, "what!??!  Don't you know that processed food will kill you?  Aren't you aware of the environmental impact of your dinner?  You could get so much more out of your diet than that!"  True enough - but I've been playing this game for a while now and I'm tired of losing at it.  I used to have a roommate who struggled with food in much the same way I do.  Ultimately I adopted her philosophy on the subject and I believe it's a winner:
"We do better than most people." 
Word.
<posted on 3.22.12>