1. Decide if you are really hungry. Ask yourself if you are hungry before you eat, and if you are satisfied so you can stop eating. Boredom, loneliness, anxiety and habit do not equal hunger, and eating until you are stuffed is overeating.
2. Address emotions. Eating to deal with stress, emotions or boredom won't solve your problems; it will only add calories to your diet and pounds to your frame, usually without the satisfaction of even tasting the food. Find other ways to relax, cope or entertain yourself.
3. Resign from the "clean plate" club. Refrigerate leftovers for tomorrow's lunch. Take half of large restaurant portions home. Try planning something enjoyable to do after meals so you don't keep eating just to waste time.
4. Avoid the "Now I've blown it!" syndrome. There are no bonus points for perfection-just try to make choices over the weeks and months that add up to a healthful diet. You don't have to feel guilty after enjoying a brownie, just make more nutritious snack choices for the rest of the week.
5. Take things one step at a time. Research suggests that even modest weight loss can benefit your health, so focus on slowly losing weight, instead of trying to lose too much too fast. Better yet, try making your lifestyle healthful-the weight loss will eventually follow
Source: University of Washington
