Eating Habits, How did I get fat?

Habits...We all have them. What makes us eat certain things? What makes us eat too much? What gives us cravings?

I would often eat even though I was not hungry. I think that all the dieting I have done over the years made my stomach immune to what hunger really was. I also think my "I'm full" signal has been damaged as well, as I never really have that feeling. The only thing I remember from growing up and even as an adult was being "stuffed" after a large meal. I can't say that I ever knew that I was "full". Even going to a chinese food restaurant would get me to the stuffed feeling but I just knew that it wouldn't be long til I was feeling very empty again after that type of food.

I was also the garbage can when we were growing up. We were always taught to empty our plates. "think of all the starving children in the world"...Ok, if someone didn't finish their plate I would always offer to finish it for them. I wasn't huge as a child, just not a tiny petite thing either.

I just really want to know how to get past the head games I play with myself. I can stick to a plan for a month or two, but for a long time, well that seems to be out of reach. So far, with the band, I am able to limit myself...

I have a bad habit of crackers in the evening. I have been working hard to break it, but so far,I have failed miserably. Even with my band, I can eat 2 stoned wheat thins with a slice of cheese. I don't snack during the day so I am allowing myself to have this snack and counting the calories on "sparkpeople" tracker. I think this is a healthy way to eat, not denying myself something, but eating with a limit. What do you think? I would really love to hear what others have to think, banded or not.


This morning on the local news here, there was a discussion about overweight people and a study done with those who track all their food and those who do not. Did you know that the highest rate of success is those who do track it? I think that this stands to reason since those people are the ones who know exactly how much and what quality they are putting in their mouths. This makes me all the more determined to keep track of my "input" somehow, someway. I may not track everything everyday, but I will sure try hard. So, it is the end of my day, after a stamp class and now it is time to cool off in the pool and then hit the sack. Time for some beauty sleep.