The amount you eat is not for the lack of willpower. Rather, it is an inborn drive that helps to assure the survival of the human race. If you try to override this biological urge by dieting or restricting your food intake your body counteracts by releasing powerful chemicals that stimulate your hunger and makes you want to eat. Each time you purposely eat less your body starts a complex process in your body that compels you to eat.

That growling in your stomach really is being controlled by a complex chemical process that originates in your brain and is triggered by either sensory or mechanical origins. Once your brain thinks your body needs food it sends a wave of chemical signals that make you feel hungry.

The hypothalamus part of the brain is what is responsible for controlling our hunger urges. This part of the brain generates chemical signals that communicate with other parts of the brain and our body to begin a two way process of communication that tells us when to eat and also when to stop eating.

This complex chemical reaction that makes you eat are based on sensory inputs like the smell of the food. Also, your memories of how a particular food tastes along with how a food looks are all it takes to get the process started.

You body can also start this chemical reaction if your cells decide that they need additional fuel to keep your body running.

Chemicals in the brain called neurotransmitters transmit signals to other brain neurons when your body feels it needs nourishment to keep running. Although new discoveries are being made all the time about how the hunger process works scientists feel that one special neurotransmitters called Neuropeptides is what triggers the need for carbohydrates

The current theory being proposed by scientists is that when our carbohydrate levels and blood sugar levels drop Neuropeptides are released by the hypothalamus makinf us crave sugary or starchy foods.

While you sleep, your glycogen and blood sugar stores are used up, and they send a message to the brain to release NPY. It's no coincidence that our favorite morning foods are rich in carbohydrates - cereal, breads, bagels, and fruit.

Skipping breakfast increases NPY levels so that by afternoon, you're set up for a carbohydrate binge. This craving for carbs is not the result of a lack of will-power; it's an innate biological urge at work. Stress and dieting are thought to trigger NPY production as well.