If it does, you are certainly not alone.

Eating in response to stress often causes us to make poor food choices which usually lead to overeating which eventually results in weight gain.

Admittedly, this tends to really hit home for me. Even as a nutritionist I struggle with wanting something ooey, gooey and simply scumptious to eat when particularly stressed about something.

We learn from an early age to associate food with comfort and love, feeling good. Special occasions and holiday celebrations often revolve around food. Its natural, then, when stressed to run to food seeking the comfort of something delicious to eat.

Take a minute and think about some times in your life or situations where the amount of stress or distress that you were under caused you to over eat.

So what to do?

Well the answer really is to learn some other responses to stress that are not destructive to you, those that don't involve food.

This isn’t so easy and it will not happen overnight. Like anything else in life, learning new skills (which this really is, by the way) take some practice. It’s going to take some time.

First, go easy on yourself .

Next, spend some time thinking about something that you really really enjoy doing… something small and easy to do…like soaking in a long, hot bubble bath , relaxing on your deck with a spy or romance novel, taking a walk, playing the piano, listening to soothing music…whatever. Every individual is going to have their own activities, their own personal activities that tend to calm them, helping to relax them.

Here are a few more activities to try:
• Practice relaxing every day. Sit quietly, breathe slowly and deeply, paying attention to each inhalation and exhalation. Clear your mind of unpleasant thoughts.
• Keep a journal, writing about your deepest feelings
• Take a short nap
• Develop a support system of friends you can confide in when the going gets tough

What about preventing stress? The following suggestions may help:
• Stop multitasking, and concentrate on one activity at a time
• Learn to say “no”, recognizing your limitations. You do not have to be all things to all people
• Find “me” time each day. Treat yourself to something special…a massage, a soothing bath, quiet time out in your garden
• Get an adequate amount of sleep each night, at least 7 hours
• Eat a well balanced diet

So now an assignment. (Merely reading this won’t help, action steps are necessary, too.) Take some time to think of three or four activities that you can easily do when you are under stress and that urge to eat becomes terrifically strong.

Follow through!