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I read Brian Wansink’s Mindless Eating and found it very helpful and informative. In addition to phycological reasons on why we eat more than we think, we should not overlook at the fact that processed foods are very cheap and easily available nowadays, in part, due to government policies of subsidizing the raw materials of these foods: corn, sugar, soy, which we end up eating in the form of cheap and calorie rich chicken nuggets and sodas, etc. It is time to review these policies and start using taxpayer's money to subsidize locally produced fresh fruits and vegetables instead.

On 2 points:

When I have a cold and lose my sense of smell, my appetite goes way down, and I eat almost nothing, which makes me see how much appetite has to do with hunger and how little food I truly need to satisfy hunger. Sometimes the loss of the sense of smell lasts as long as a week, and I live in fear that it won't return, an especially scary thought as I found that along with the condition I lost a good deal of the savor for life that comes with smell.

When I stopped smoking, I lost weight and eventually figured out why: My favorite cigarettes were those smoked after eating, and I was constantly eating more in order to enjoy my cigarettes more.

I often eat to block out anger or sadness which I know is NOT GOOD!

But one good thing is... if I had a bad day, nothing makes me feel better than cooking a big meal, not eating it, cooking it! Just the act of chopping vegetables is relaxing, kind of like meditation.

Is it better to eat three full heavy meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) or little snacks throughout the day? I've heard arguments for both.