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I always ask myself what I want more... the food item I'm looking at or a slimmer body. The slimmer body is working :-)

Part of it will be routine too - I'm now in a better routine where I don't eat crisps, chocolate and cake!

Good luck on your journey

I really think this is a matter of will power. And it gets much easier as you continue to fight the cravings.

If you are going to eat something that you think you shouldn't, which is totally fine in moderation, make sure it's only enough for one serving size or even less. Don't let yourself eat the whole bag of something.

And as the other poster said, find a healthy alternative. Have a piece of fruit, chips/salsa, veggie.

I have similar issues. I would often find myself eating tons of food when I wasn't even hungry. For myself personally, the thing that works best is getting into a routine.

Here are some things that I have done:
I get to work about two hours earlier than I used to and I wear gym clothes on my commute. This forces me to go to the gym if nothing else to grab a quick shower and change for work. While I've done this on occasion if I had a hectic day in front of me, usually I workout. This contrasts with when I had a gym membership near my home that I never went to cause I would get lazy around the house and find excuses. The 5 days a week of exercising really starts to add up. I find I have more energy throughout the day and maybe it's just in my head but I feel less likely to break my diet now because of it.

Packing lunches is huge. If I try to eat out at lunch and stay within my calories I'm always STARVING afterwards. With meals I make from home though I can add in a lot of things that are very filling and low in calories (I also make my food spicy as **** because I eat it slower like that and tend to overeat less) and are just healthier in general. I'm also less likely to make a bad decision for the whole week Sunday than I am 'just this once' throughout the week.

Every time I catch myself thinking/obsessing about food, I try to drink a liter of water (I'm lazy with my diary, I just put 8 cups if I think I had enough water, I don't actually track the water I drink). It means a lot more trips to the bathroom throughout the day, but it helps me make sure I get enough water, is healthy for me, and makes it harder for me to ogle cookies or cupcakes or whatever with a gallon sloshing around down there.

This is my second serious attempt at a diet. Last time was two years ago and I lost 50 lbs in just over 3 months. The reason that diet failed and I gained all the weight back and then some was because I had no routine. I was working out like an animal and eating practically nothing but yogurt all day. It wasn't something I could maintain for any extended period of time. This time around I'm going a little bit more slowly, and cutting myself more slack than I did before. Most importantly I'm trying to change my lifestyle into more of a routine. "Hungry? Well it's not lunch time yet so I'll wait until 1230 to eat my lunch like I have done every day." Even now, after just over three weeks, I'm starting to notice that my body is responding. Whereas at the start I was getting hungry at 930-10AM since my breakfast was smaller than I was used to, now I start to get hungry around the time I'm supposed to eat lunch anyway. Stick with what your doing (make sure it's healthy and you're not cutting too extremely of course) and your body will adapt. You just have to be patient and stick with it.

So if I haven't said it enough: ROUTINE ROUTINE ROUTINE!!!

Good luck!

I have found that it is 50% mental. I read somewhere that food is meant to nourish your body, maintain all the proper functions of your important organs. It is not meant to be a reward or necessarily fun. We as a society have made food into social gatherings. TV advertisements are bad especially when you are on a diet. The best way to work around that is to allow your self to have one thing you crave once a week so you do not feel like you are depriving yourself. If you can stretch it to 2 weeks or 3 weeks or a month that may even be better. I also found having a support group to talk to will help hold yourself accountable for the things you indulge in too much. Most people understand and will not berade you but empathize with you and then give you strength to move past it.

I try to do things that CAN'T involve eating, like going for a jog, taking a shower or bubble bath, or even going to bed (if it's a night time craving).

Other times, I might get in a quick work out to burn a burst of calories so I CAN have the food I'm craving.

Congrats on taking the steps to change your life and the 8 you've already achieved!
If you need MFP friends, feel free to add me.