Be sure that you recognize when you are truly hungry, particularly the difference between being really hungry and eating as an emotional response. If you have been an emotional eater your whole life you might not understand the difference so learn to recognize that when you are really hungry your stomach will growl and you will feel a little weak and tired. That is your body's way of saying that it needs fuel, so try letting yourself get really hungry before a meal just so that you can feel what it feels like when your body is hungry.

Learn to recognize your emotional eating triggers by recording these in a book or in a computer file recording those times when you feel like eating as well as details of the food you want to eat. Before long you will start to notice a pattern emerging. Do you always crave fried food after a meeting with your boss instead of meals you would eat on a calories loss diet? Do you want cake the minute you walk in the door after the evening commute or do you need a double cheeseburger at lunch just to get through the afternoon?

Stop stocking your pantry with comfort food because if it there is none of this food in your kitchen cupboard, you simply will not eat it. When you are feeling blue and you want something sweet or something fried as a comfort, if it is not in the house are you really going to take the time to drive to the store and buy this comfort food or go to the fast food restaurant to get something? Most people will not most of the time, so if you are craving something and you do not have it in the house you will look for a substitute rather than going out to buy whatever it is you are craving.

Do not comfort yourself by eating and instead of opening a bag of potato chips when you feel miserable or alone, find other ways to feel better. Call a friend, take a hot bubble bath, treat yourself to a manicure, write in a journal to try and discover what is making you sad or lonely. There are hundreds of ways you can comfort yourself besides reaching for food so learn to use other things to get you through a tough day and this leaves room for you to continue to eat calories loss meals when you need to.

Fill your shelves with food that you know is healthy because if you have this and only this, you can use it to replace unhealthy comfort food when the urge to splurge happens. Instead of candy bars, keep granola bars in the cupboard and instead of chips, keep popcorn or sliced veggies or other calories loss foods around because making healthy substitutions for the foods you crave is a very practical way to deal with emotional eating. After all, cravings happen but eating healthy snacks in place of the high fat, high calorie comfort food is a practical and responsible way to deal with food cravings when they happen.

Only satisfy a craving after waiting 0 minutes before eating. Wait it out by setting a timer, looking at your watch, whatever you need to do. But wait a full 30 minutes before acting on that craving. If you still are craving that food after 30 minutes, allow yourself to have a half portion of it, but you will find that usually after 30 minutes that craving will disappear.

 Include regular exercise in your daily life because it both assists you burn calories and it causes your brain to produce serotonin and endorphins and these impact on your emotional well being. Twenty minutes or more of exercise can trigger the same feeling of well being that you feel after eating food. Emotional eating is not responsible for your entire weight gain, but it does reduce your capacity for a consistent weight loss. Using these tips and tricks to control your emotional eating will help you stick with a calories loss diet and will help you to start losing weight for the long term.