how often to do them if at all? and also any advice on stopping myself eating too much at one time

i have a cheat meal every saturday night apart from one week out from my fight and always made weight no problem i see it as sumfing to look forward to after a hard weeks training regieme :)

some researchers say that we mix up hunger and thirst signals - obviously extremes are easy to notice but supposedly we do.

Get in plenty of water (minimum .5oz per lbs of body weight) daily and that should help. My experience is that seems to help.

Also it is my experience that when you eat natural, whole foods and get the right macronutrient ratio for you (protein/fat/carbs) then cravings go down and you won't over eat - unless you are use to being bloated and think it is normal from eating foods that inflame your gut/give you gas etc (wheat being a common issue for many)

Many people recommend drinking water before eating to 'fill up' I kind of agree but too close to eating means you dilute the digestive juices. Half hour before eating and two hours after is ideal acorrding to a few sources I think are solid and in my experience.

That said it can make it a little harder to get your water in... but I still would n't recommend downing a bunch of water 10 minutes before a meal.