You know how it is. You stop for a break to unwind. Maybe you sit down for a tea or a coffee and without thinking your hand is there clasped around a cookie or a piece of chocolate.

Well you can imagine if you do that too many times the pounds start to pile on.

With obesity being such an issue nowadays you really cannot afford to get into this routine. Today, obesity is recognised as a very serious health issue. In North America as much as 40 per cent of the population is obese. Being overweight is associated with many illnesses and is directly related to increased mortality and lower life expectancy.

There is a certain comfort in food though, isnt there? And when you think about how we have been raised you can understand why.

When a baby cries one of the first instincts of a mother is to feed it, even though that might not be the real reason for the crying. Crying is the only way a child has of showing distress, whatever the cause. Over time the mother learns that putting something in the babys mouth keeps it quiet and the child learns that in distress, eat!

OK so I have made this sound very simple but there is some science to back this up. Certain foods, carbohydrates, release the neurotransmitter dopamine which is commonly associated with the pleasure systems of the brain.

So, if food leads to pleasure you can understand how someone who is feeling stressed later in life might turn to food for comfort.

Being aware of what is going on is part of the solution. If you suffer from stress, and lets face it, who doesnt, the key is to find a non-fattening way to deal with it. I suggest you learn some stress reduction techniques like meditation, breathing exercises or maybe just going for a walk.

Here is a tip which you might find useful. Attach a rubber band (not too tight) around your wrist on the hand most likely to reach out for that cookie. The next time you notice that hand heading toward those fattening foods give the band a twang, and say to yourself no. Itll sting a bit but the real intention is just to break your habit. By raising it to a conscious level in this way you can start to change your behavior. As soon as you say no do the new piece of behavior instead.

It takes anything from 7 to 21 days to create a new habit. Start today and break the link between stress and comfort eating