Overeating... HOW TO STOP?!?

Experiment to figure out which foods are filling *for you*, on what schedule. Some people find protein filling, others fats, some volume, others "whole foods" vs. "processed foods" (however they personally define those), some find particular specific foods especially filling (baked potatoes, oatmeal are a couple of common ones, but they don't work for everyone).

Some people do better with fewer but bigger meals, up to OMAD (one meal a day), while others do better with all-day grazing . . . and it can be anything in between, skipping breakfast, eating a bigger breakfast, saving calories for snacks at snacky-feeling times or around workouts, who knows? (You do. 😉)

Use your food diary. Notice when you feel more full, or more crave-y. What's different? It could even be something on the previous day! Be a detective, look for patterns.

Even things that don't have anything to do with eating can be factors. For sure, trying to lose weight too fast is a problem for many people. Poor hydration can masquerade as hunger. (If your urine is pale straw colored, not dark, you're probably OK. Bright yellow can be OK, if you're getting lots of water soluble vitamins. But not dark.)

Fatigue can spike appetite. Things like poor sleep (quality or quantity) can be in the picture. High stress increases fatigue. (What counts is cumulative stress, and low calories is a stressor that adds on to any other life stressors like family or work issues, pandemic, whatever.)

Some people find certain kinds of exercise to provoke hunger, but that varies a lot by person, too. Common triggers are high-intensity exercise, maybe strength exercise, long-duration exercise sessions, or it can be total exercise volume.

Boredom can increase appetite, for some, or habit. If those are involved, it can help to adopt a new hobby or resume an old one (either to counteract boredom, or as a replacement for an undesired habit, since it's usually easier to break a negative habit by replacing it with a positive one, rather than quitting the undesired habit cold turkey). Bonus points if the hobby requires clean hands (sketching, needlework, playing a musical instrument . . .) or creates dirty ones (painting, gardening, carpentry . . . ).

Some people will find that they eat to relieve stress, or because of other emotions. If there's emotional eating, finding a different way to deal with those issues directly is key. It could be prayer for those who are religious, meditation (spiritual types or not), exercise, hot aromatherapy bubblebaths, temporary distractions, exercise, self-help books, therapy, journaling, art or other things.

If the real underlying problem isn't food, the solution isn't eating.

Experiment, try variations (one thing at a time, mostly, for at least a couple of days), you can figure it out.

Best wishes!