I liked the sticky note article/idea. I definitely think it could make a difference. Let us know how it goes Palestrina!
I noticed something interesting last night. I have pretty much stopped eating after dinnertime. I usually have a small bit of something sweet about 10 minutes after dinner and then I don't eat until morning, even if I feel a little hungry before bed. I started doing this because it seemed every time I ate before bed, even just a little bit, it made it hard to sleep. I have come to really enjoy that empty feeling before bed as well.
So its probably been about 2 months that I have been consistently doing that. Last night a couple hours after dinner I really wanted some food. Because I pretty much just don't eat after dinner it was unusual for me so I examined it and realized it wasn't physical hunger, it was definitely the urge to soothe as we have had some stressful stuff going on. I thought about eating anyway, but then I got busy with my usual routine and forgot all about it since I wasn't actually hungry. I realized as I went to bed that I never did follow the eating urge and I think its because its more unusual now for me to eat after dinner, than it is to eat. If I was still eating after dinner and before bed, Im sure I would have not questioned the urge and just eaten.
So, for me I think habit is important too. maybe habit working in conjunction with listening to my body? Anyway, I definitely don't think it would work to make a rule of never eating after dinner, like in a diet or eating rules, its just a self care thing I started doing for myself after I realized I didn't get good sleep from late night snacking.
Another thing I have started noticing is that certain foods actually affect my mood. Sometimes if I eat food that my brain doesn't really want, but that my body does, I feel much better. Like vegetables. I physically feel so much better when I eat lots of vegetables. So, even if Im not craving them, I make them part of almost every meal now and I always feel great after I eat them so I keep eating them, even though my head thinks I just want something like peanut butter and bread or a bowl of cereal. It's weird. Like the other day, I was craving a peanut butter banana sandwich. I made half of one and then ate a peanut butter cookie. Shortly after that I noticed I was suddenly feeling sad and depressed. So, I ate some green beans with a little bit of baked chicken and shortly after, even though we got some bad news in the interim, I felt so much better! It was kind of crazy.
I would like to get to that point with exercise but so far I haven't gotten there. I know exercise makes me feel so much better, but the motivation has not yet been there for me to be consistent with it. Baby steps though right? I did some yoga 2 days ago and it felt amazing yet I still haven't done any since. I don't know what my block with exercise is.
Anyway, just some ramblings for anyone who is reading. Maybe it will be helpful to someone down the road.