I have a bad habit of cleaning off my kids plates! I am the only overweight person in the house...hubby and kids eat normal and stop when they are full. So, as I clean up the kitchen I will eat what they didn't eat. Last night I baked chicken breasts (skin on and I loooooovve the skin) and one of my ds's left the skin on the plate. I saw it and started to go for it and caught myself! Thank God I caught myself before it went into my mouth because I would have beat myself up over it.

I also react to smells and the sight of fast food places. I am just praying that these things that are ingrained in me will disappear.

How have you broken old habits? Does it just come down to brainwashing yourself and flat out will power?

Often, if I am tempted....I take the bottle of liquid dish soap in one hand and blob some on the plates. There's no way I'm eating soaped up leftovers.

Also, some of the behaviors/old habits that I am working on include: eat ONLY when seated and NO seconds. (these are the 'rules') I write these in my journal every day/morning and then check them off at the end of the day: as to all the time, some of the time, or most of the time. If you commit to NOT eating while standing, then the leftovers are not an option.

These things have helped me.

For me, this is usually how I get started breaking a habit. Firstly, you are NOT the trashcan! Throw that stuff out, or wrap it up immediately!

Just wanting to change is a big step in the right direction. Adopt a 'bite it, write it' challenge for a few weeks. That will make you think twice before 'tasting' and clearing up after the kids. Knowing you are going to have to list that extra food.

Good luck!

Plate the food in the kitchen instead of serving family style and put away the leftovers. Serve your kids less on their plates if they routinely don't finish what's on their plate. They can always help themselves to another serving (and most kids won't care if it's not hot anymore).

I no longer worry about serving the same food to my son - sometimes we eat the same thing, but most of the time, I eat my carefully measured foods, and serve him something different since he eats a lot of things I don't eat or don't want to eat any more.

As for the rest of it, fake it 'til you make it. Meaning go through the motions for now, and that will help it become a habit. Frankly, it never gets easy, but it does get easiER, and that's usually enough.

I think we all have some bad habits that need tending to... My biggest bad habits (that I still battle) are not feeling guilted into eating when I'm with friends or at family functions... and not licking my fingers/ spoon when I am making frosting. I do a lot of cake decorating and it is a hard habit to break to not just stick my finger in my mouth when it has a tiny dab of frosting on it. I still do a "quality check" dab when I make a batch to make sure it tastes right before I put it on the cake... but I need to be sure not to do it any other times.

As far as breaking the habits, for me, it really is just about willpower and trying to retrain myself to not do it...

I was a grazer who ate little bits of things all freaking day, and that habit is still with me. If food is lying about, I can have it half way to my mouth before I even realize what I'm doing.

Make a rule, and then follow it. It gets easier.

It might sound kind of silly, but I also do some meditation/self-hypnosis at night targeted toward weight loss. I have some programs on my ipod, short ones are about 10 minutes and longer ones are 30 minutes. The program goes through a lot of relaxation, and then has you repeat mantras to yourself, like "Mindless eating has no place in my life" or "I enjoy nutritious foods", etc.

I don't think it works like the hypnosis you see in the movies, but I have found that since I started doing the programs, I became much more likely to pause before nibbling and ask myself if I really want that extra piece of chicken, and that pause makes a big difference. Also, when I first started doing the program and I was supposed to think things like "I take enormous comfort in small portions" I was like, yeah right. But now I actually agree with the voice on the tapes quite a bit, which is nice.

Before I start cleaning up, I pop a piece of sugar free gum in my mouth. I will not be tempted to snack on the leftovers with the gum in my mouth. And it gives me the feeling that I'm having something sweet for dessert.

I have some pretty bad habits - evening snacking, large helpings, second helpings, and cruising the pantry.

I've broken or nearly broken most of them - it takes several weeks of conscious effort, but it is worth it. When you caught yourself and stopped, hopefully you did a little celebration, because it is that mindset which will change your habits.

i have a habit w/ my kids of taking the first bite from whatever it is they are about to eat .. sure its habit from making sure its not to hot .. tonight after i put it in my mouth i decided i needed to stop or i wasn't ever going to lose so i took it out and fed it to the dog lol .. i actually did that twice tonight i took a bite of a chocolate bunny in mid chew i thought about it for a minute and spit it in the trash .. i like the soap on left overs .. awesome idea .. ill have to do that from now on cuz i tend to eat my kids left overs!!