People can react differently towards food from time to time. Sometimes the strongest food cravings hit when you're at your weakest point emotionally or you can shun it away completely. You either may turn to food or get away from it based on comfort — consciously or unconsciously — when facing a difficult problem, feeling stressed, or even feeling bored. Find out how emotional eating can sabotage your weight-loss efforts, and get tips to get control of your eating habits. To help stop emotional eating, try these tips: Keep a food diary: Write down what you eat, how much you eat, when you eat, how you're feeling when you eat, and how hungry you are. Over time, you might see patterns that reveal the connection between mood and food. Tame your stress: If stress contributes to your emotional eating, try a stress management technique, such as yoga, meditation, or deep breathing. Have a hunger reality check: Is your hunger physical or emotional? If you ate just a few hours ago and don't have a rumbling stomach, you're probably not hungry. Give the craving time to pass. Get support: You're more likely to give in to emotional eating if you lack a good support network. Lean on family and friends or consider joining a support group. Fight boredom: Instead of snacking when you're not hungry, distract yourself and substitute a healthier behavior. Take a walk, watch a movie, play with your cat, listen to music, read, surf the internet or call a friend. Take away temptation: Don't keep hard-to-resist comfort foods in your home. And if you feel angry or blue, postpone your trip to the grocery store until you have your emotions in check. Don't deprive yourself: When trying to lose weight, you might limit calories too much, eat the same foods repeatedly and banish treats. This may just serve to increase your food cravings, especially in response to emotions. Eat satisfying amounts of healthier foods, enjoy an occasional treat and get plenty of variety to help curb cravings. Snack healthy: If you feel the urge to eat between meals, choose a healthy snack, such as fresh fruit, vegetables with low-fat dip, nuts, or unbuttered popcorn. Or try lower-calorie versions of your favorite foods to see if they satisfy your craving. Learn from setbacks: If you have an episode of emotional eating, forgive yourself and start fresh the next day. Try to learn from the experience and plan how to prevent it in the future. Focus on the positive changes you're making in your eating habits and give yourself credit for making changes that'll lead to better health.