Stopping bad habits

[Abcdefyouandyourmum]

Has anyone solved the habit of eating when you feel any sort of negative emotion? Bored, sad, anxious all result in eating whatever is nearby. Usually high sugar convenience food.

I lost half a stone before Christmas and now it’s back.

Hi OP. I haven't solved this problem yet either, but I gave up alcohol for January. I wasnt a heavy drinker anyway and I thought it would be easy...it wasn't. I started making myself a cup of tea at the time I would usually have a glass of wine. For the first three weeks, I missed the wine but this last week, I haven't missed it and I find I'm looking forward to tea in the evening, not wine!
In February I'm planning to ditch the unhealthy snacks using the same method: substituting a healthier snack (eg fruit or nuts) for the sugary stuff. Hopefully, if I can keep it up for three weeks, I'll find I'm automatically reaching for an apple instead of a biscuit! Might be worth a try?

Great tip. And well done on ditching alcohol.

My problem is wine with dinner.. and once I have a couple of glasses while eating, I have less control about pudding :(
Not sure what I could have with dinner that I could look forward to!

Yes I have ! Well at least I think so.

Following some advice in here:

• you have to stop buying the food that triggers you. Sugar, high fat, processed. Start with sugar. I have kids who like brands of biscuit I don't like, but when the sugar craving starts turns out I will eat ANYTHING with sugar in. So I keep their sweet treats in a box and in the daytime when I'm working from home, i put the box next to my DH who absolutely will not let me open it! And if he is going to work I literally lock it in his car boot. Sugar isn't just a habit, it's an addiction.
• cut out alcohol. Tell yourself it is for one month. Then if you do one month, do another, and so on.

• practice "urge surfing". I heard of this on MN, but Google it for advice. The aim is to identify the craving, but time yourself to resist it. Start with a few minutes. It's hard to get the hang of but guess what it works - if you can resist the sugar urge and do something else, you can overcome it (not always, but most of the time). I tell myself to do 25 start jumps and make a cup of peppermint tea; by the time the kettle has boiled and the tea is brewed my mind has usually moved on. (But note, this took a whole month of practice and I'm still not perfect.)

• have a healthy alternative snack ready prepared, if you snack while you are watching TV or working or whatever , keep the healthy snack where you are sitting. Sometimes I'm just plain hungry, so I have pre-prepared little pots of pistachio nuts, mini portions of dry muesli, chopped up carrot, Silverskin pickled onions, olives, grapes, etc. The more fiddly it is to eat the better, as it slows you down and stays off boredom (I eat the muesli pots with my fingers). Most of my little pots have favourite savoury snacks in.
• recognise the body confuses the signals for hunger and thirst; have a drink before you let yourself snack. I use a cup-flask so my tea stays hot, and sipping it through the tiny whole makes it last.