Do you eat by the clock? Skip breakfast or lunch? Avoid snacking as a weight control strategy? If you answered yes to any of these questions, keep reading and learn how to change the timing of your meals and snacks to control not only hunger, but weight.

Our structured lifestyle has led many of us to believe that we must eat at certain times of the day. Many people routinely skip breakfast and lunch due either to time constraints or to a misguided weight-control strategy. Society and weight loss programs have taught us to believe that snacking is bad and should be avoided. Stop listening to others, and listen to YOUR body instead.

Overeating by definition means consuming more calories than our body needs at that point in time. Whenever we overeat, our body stores any extra calories as fat. Fat cells have a seemingly unlimited ability to grow to accommodate more stored calories. The defining factor in the growth of fat cells is the AMOUNT of calories eaten and the REASON they are eaten.

So, how often should I eat?

In the best of worlds, we would eat when we were hungry and stop when we were full. Sound impossible? Watch a six-month-old baby. She cries when hungry, and most certainly stops eating when full. If a baby can do it, so can we.

Try the following:

Instead of eating by the clock, or avoiding snacks because you think they are bad for you, listen to your body. Figure out how your body tells you it's hungry. Does your stomach rumble? Do you become listless and tired? Learn to separate physical hunger from so-called mouth hunger. Physical hunger is our body telling us it needs fuel to continue to function. Mouth hunger is our brain commanding us to eat brownies because weíre stressed. What type of hunger causes you to consume most of your calorie intake?