There's plenty of reason for hope.

Emotional Eating is not about self-control, it is about understanding the causes and learning new ways and he right perspective on how to deal with your emotions.

You can choose when and what to eat instead of doing it in automatic, impulsively.

Find below some tips and solutions to deal with Emotional Eating:

The first step to deal with emotional eating is to be aware of what emotions trigger your eating.

This may be an easy task for you but if not or if you have several emotions that trigger your eating you may find it useful to make a short journal where you post:

Time of eating

Was I hungry?

Emotion(s) that triggered the eating

Foods that I ate

Approximate number of calories of what I ate

How I felt during the eating

How I felt later on about the eating episode

Once you know the emotions that triggered the eating make a list of alternative things to do or actions you can take instead of overeating, you must know that the urge will pass in a maximum of 45 minutes, here are some examples:

Another sign that can give you a clue if you are eating emotionally is to think if when you eat that specific food you mostly do it alone, either all by yourself or if you are the only one eating.

Reading a book

Listening to music

Go for a walk

Walk the dog

Call a friend

Play cards

Clean your room

Turn off the TV and go to sleep

Do laundry

Take a bubble bath

Try a relaxation technique

Place these alternatives on the fridge, on the pantry door or carry them outside with you, wherever you have the treats that you normally use for overeating, to remind you of the options.

Every time that you go for the treat ask yourself if you are hungry, more likely than not you won't, and it will remind you that you are not eating because of hunger, it helps with your awareness that you are not eating to satisfy your body and helps you to look for alternatives.

If you are hungry you can check your eating patterns and adjust them to eat healthy right before the time you have the urge.

Think on the foods you use to evereat, look for healthy alternatives, have them available to you, think on a gradual approach replacing little by little the amount of the bad food with the healthy ones.

There are some studies that suggest that our brain's memory of food peaks at about four bites, so you can satisfy your urge with way less, try eating it slowly, savoring it, connecting to the experience, making it as worthwhile with less amounts. Some people use the 'dividing' technique, instead of having the whole bag of chips, divide them in containers in small amount and only eat a portion..

For some of us the 'cut-throat' approach works just fine, if you know you are not hungry and you are getting the urge to eat for emotional reasons just say no and don't do it, you must know that there are also rewards and amazingly you will feel wonderful, emotionally and physically that you were able to beat the urge.

As a matter of experiment, if you can and have the will, try not eating sugar or carbs for 5 to 7 days, experience the feelings, the way your body feels, the way you feel emotionally and encouraged that you can beat the urge and it does not control you.

For some of us just not having available what we crave helps, don't buy it, don't have it available at home, or just in small quantities.

Nutrition helps tremendously with cravings, when you follow a healthy diet you are giving your body all the nutrients it needs, proteins, carbs, fats from all food groups and from healthy sources, the body starts to detox itself and your body is able to 'suck-in' the nutrients it needs, which in turn helps with the physical cravings.

One of the worst killers of healthy eating is fighting against your body's signals of hunger, to prohibit yourself or limiting the amount of comfort foods does not mean to be hungry, you must provide your body with the nutrients it requires every day. Never, ever, starve yourself.

Stress is like a container of bad emotions or feelings, if stress is what is prompting you to overeat learn techniques to cope with it, you will find some hints in the following article:

Lack of sleep is also the result of negative feelings and it only compounds the problem, taking good care of yourself, starting with good sleep can be key to overcome your emotional eating, learn some tips to get a better sleep in the following article:

Boredom can be a big culprit of emotional eating and it should be one of the easiest to overcome, simply make a list of activities that you like and prompt yourself to do any of them, start gradually and find venues to occupy your mind.

Exercise has tremendous benefits besides helping you burning calories and you should consider starting activities that help you tame stress and clear your mind, check a list of the many benefits that exercise can bring to your life:

It is important to have present all your motivations for seeking to put a stop to a behavior that you deem harmful to yourself, if you are reading this article you are on a search to stop habits you don't like, think on your motivations, write them down, have them with you at all times, reading in the morning as the first thing you do when you wake up, read them before going to bed, have always present the benefits and rewards for your efforts on changing your life to a better you.

If you falter in your efforts don't beat yourself too hard, just get up from the fall and keep at it, it is hard to change behaviors that may have been with you for years and reverse them overnight, it is your persistence and consistency over time that will help you conquer them.

Emotional eating is a symptom and not the cause, you learn to cope with them and these tips help you cope with them in a healthier way but the only way to eliminate the source of the problem, the cause is to deal with the causes of the negative feeelings.

Easier said than done, however, there are many things you can do to face and confront your problems at the source, many come from our relationships wiht others and the world.

Many diets include support at this level and you may choose to seek professional treatment, fix your problems at the source and you will eliminate emotional eating.