I need help: How to break the food cycles?

I'm so frustrated with my weight. But I have nobody to blame but the person in the mirror.

Yesterday I was in the doctor's office for a regular checkup and while waiting, noticed a book on a shelf nearby, "You on a Diet: The Guide to Waist Management" or something like that. I thumbed through it as time ticked by.

One page about two-thirds of the way caught my eye. It had to do with particular types of snacks and what eating them blindly meant. It struck me hard. Soft sweets, like ice cream, which are the bane of my existance supposedly mean that you're depressed. Salty filler snacks, like Cheez-It's or pita chips, mean you're sexually frustrated. Damn! I guess I need to get happy and get a date, huh? LOL!

Workouts have been haphazard the past month. I've been having issues with waking up at night for about an hour, which causes me to set the alarm back to normal wake up time (5:45) instead of workout time (4:45). I've been frequenting lunch and happy hours with friends in the few times of being social. And to top it off, school is kicking my butt and I tend to munch while sitting at the computer.

I try to eat a good meal at lunch, preferably making this the largest of the day. The problems come when I get home and get into the habit of eating just to eat. How do you break that cycle? And how do you break the cycle of wanting something sweet after a meal. It's not big, sometimes just a bite of a piece of chocolate or even a cookie, but how do you get past that?

Many times at the end of the evening, I feel full and still not satisfied. It's frustrating. And I see it showing in my weight and how the clothes are fitting worse these days. You'd think someone who is good at planning and organizing might be good at doing the same things in her own life, but it's just not happening.

Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? I'd love to hear from you all either in the comments or even off line. adventurechick3@yahoo.com You rock!