Most of us experience what I call mouth hunger.  I differs from true hunger in that it is mainly a desire to eat rather than a real need for food.  We are trained from a young age to ingore the cues from our body and eat what we are given regardless of need.  "Clean your plate, there are starving children in China", our mothers told us.  We eat until it's gone and everyone is happy.  Except of course, us when we have to go and lie down on the couch to "digest" because we are so full.

I grew up in a large Italian family and the big get-gethers requred massive amounts of food that in a "sit down" setting, came in waves.  I learned early on how to eat in this environment without being sick when I got home.  I still ended up being uncomfortably full.  Flash forward and I still struggle with mouth hunger over stomach hunger.  I want I want to eat because it's time, because it's there, because the amount left is too small to be leftover, because it tastes really good.  Lifetime habits are really, really hard to break.

I have a policy about night-time snacking.  I clean up and "close" the kitchen after dinner.  I like to go to sleep light and feel skinny when I wake up.  Again, a mind game but it works for me.  Don't get me wrong I have times when my tummy is annoyingly rumbly and there is something in the fridge calling me.  This is one time when my control is strong.  I make myself go to sleep because I know when I wake up I will NOT be hungry. I am a believer in breakfast but sometimes I experiment to see how long it is between coffee and my "real" desire for food.  If I'm listening to my stomach and not my mouth it can be a couple hours before my body becomes insistant.  I usually don't wait that long for the simple reason that low blood sugar will make me crazy.  I've also found that it's counter-productive to wait until you are "starving" for food because your (my) control is totally gone by that time.

So as usual, life is a continuous process of starting over.  Here we go again.  Put less food on a smaller plate and eat it slowly so you taste it.  Listen to your stomach and not your mouth.  If you can wait out that antsy "I want to eat" feelilng.  You will find that you were satisfied after all.