Face it: If you can just stop yourself from overeating, your weight loss program would certainly be simpler and easier to achieve. But that's just the problem: It's difficult to. It takes a lot of willpower to prevent yourself from bingeing. In fact, for most dieters, this is the biggest challenge that they face as they try to shed off those ugly pounds.

But the truth of the matter is that there are triggers that cause you to exceed your caloric intake by hundreds, if not thousands, of calories. The reasons for overeating are many and varied and it is up to you to try to figure out what that is. Once you have identified what is causing you to eat more than you really have to, you can take steps to avoid these situations, change these habits or prevent them from happening if you can.

One of the most common reasons why you overeat without you even really being aware of it is that you eat too fast. How quickly do you clear your plate? If it takes you less than twenty minutes to wolf down your lunch, then you are eating more than you have to. This is because it takes at least twenty minutes for your brain to tell your body that it is already full. To combat this unconscious tendency, try to chew your food twenty times before swallowing it down. You can also put down your cutlery while you're still eating so you don't get tempted to put more food on your fork and into your mouth. The key is to really savor the taste of your food so you don't just gobble it down and eat more than what is really necessary.

Stress and tiredness are also common reasons for overeating. When deadlines loom and you know you have to produce that report or get the ire of your boss, you tend to turn to comfort foods to give you that much-needed energy boost and console you. The usual choices are usually savory pastries, donuts, cookies and chocolates and that very popular perk-me-up-- coffee. It is true that these give you that much-needed energy boost but being the simple sugars that they are, that is only temporary. They easily get digested by your system such that when you feel that effects wane-- what is known as the "crash"-- you need to get another donut from the box. Depending on how long you're going to be stressed, you'll probably be eating more than your week's share of donuts in one sitting and that's not going to sit well with your efforts to stay lean and healthy. If you want to have more energy while meeting your deadlines, try this: Stock up your food arsenal with fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grain breads. These are loaded with complex carbohydrates and get released into your system gradually. They will give you the sustained energy you need without adding pounds to your waistline.

Finally, your plate could be the culprit behind your tendency to eat more. When you have a big plate, you usually fill it up so your eyes will register that it is "full." Switch to smaller plates and see your caloric intake decrease.