I think it's exercise more than you eat in most cases...at least for me it is. I lost 65 lbs on my own & kept it off for 12.5 yrs! It was easy for me & really was not hard at all keeping it off either like some people may think. I just quit eating so much & quit eating the wrong foods & did a LOT of walking. The weight literally just fell off me. I went from a sz 16 to a sz 10 (197 down to 135 then settled at 140). I'm taller so that was the perfect size for me and the 5 lbs difference really wasn't all that different for me.
IMO, a lot of times, people over-eat b/c the food is there & we just eat it b/c it's staring at us so we start craving it in our minds. We sometimes eat out of boredom or b/c we're trying to avoid leftovers or just b/c the food is just so dern yummy you can't help yourself but to eat more b/c it tastes SO GOOOOOOD.
The trick is to just STOP! Eat til you're satisfied, wait a little bit & see if you're still hungry. It's a lot easier than you think. You just have to occupy yourself w/other things than food. What I've been doing is taking what I need, putting on the plate, putting the remaining portions in the fridge for later. That way, I won't be tempted to eat more before the next meal then I occupy myself with other things. You have kids so spend your time doing things w/them. Maybe go outside & play or go to a museum, etc.
Also there are other tricks like using smaller plates, putting the fork/spoon down w/each bite, switching one 'good' food for one 'not so healthy' food, etc. I also found that the LA Weightloss plan works REALLY well too. Just get more exercise, eat less, cut out sodas & other 'junk' that you really don't need & eat better. You don't have to avoid yummy stuff, just fix it differently. For instance, if you like pork chops, bake or broil instead of fry. If you like chicken...bake, broil, or boil it. If you love fried chicken as we do, you can make baked fried chicken that is totally yummy! You don't HAVE to eat salads & veggies all the time, we don't. Don't deprive yourself of stuff you like, just eat in moderation...like, for me, I try to eat one slice of pie ala mode instead of two at a time (or cake, cookies, etc but for cookies, I at least have to have two! lol) but honestly, we RARELY eat sweets, we're really not sweets or junk eaters but when we do it's for the holiday dinners & we don't eat a lot of breads or chips, etc, just an occasional sandwich and MAYBE a small bag of chips on occasion. I prefer nuts over chips and we eat whole wheat or grain crackers if we have chili or whatever needs crackers and we don't eat a lot of those either...things like this ARE doable, you just have to stop & think about it first, think of what you're willing to give up that you don't need. You just have to make up your mind & do it. Needs over Wants. If you exercise, start out w/5-10 mins at a time. I HATE exercising but there are things you can do that's exercising w/o the 'workout' blahs. Physical play w/the kids like 'catch' or frisbee, hide & go seek, tag or just go for a walk, take the stairs, park far from the door at the market, plant a garden, clean the house, if you have a dog, walking the dog or taking it to the park is exercise...exercise can be fun w/o being 'blah'.
Hope this helps, good luck!!!