Viscious Circles!

Stress you feel when you're upset actually makes you feel hungry and creates body fat. Chronic stress from deadline pressures at work to painful baggage from your past triggers your body to increase the production of cortisol, the hormone that encourages fat storage, particularly around the belly. Your body also pumps increased adrenaline into your bloodstream, which makes your pancreas churn out insulin. That leads to incessant hunger.

You eat for relief, which, unfortunately, lasts only as long as the last bite. Then the problems you were trying to solve with food suddenly reappear. (Surprise: They never went away.) And you feel like a failure: Not only didn't you solve your problems, you created a new one, right there around your waist!
Sometimes food cravings mean you want food, but often, especially for emotional eaters, they're saying you want something else: It could be creative stimulation, companionship, or more satisfaction in life

Play detective. Keep a food journal,

Shop for some stimulants. Do you eat when you're bored? Time to make a new "grocery" list,

Make a human connection. "For some people, food is love," says Prevention columnist Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., psychiatry instructor at Harvard Medical School. "You may be hungry for feeling, closeness and companionship." Or, you eat to escape painful feelings. "Make a human connection instead, Call your best friend." Make sure you pick someone who makes you feel good. If you have issues with a parent or friend, calling them could lead you to finish off an entire row of cookies.
Create new habits. Many people eat every time there's a lull, such as during TV commercials, says eating disorders expert Sandra Haber, Ph.D., adjunct associate clinical professor at Adelphi University's Derner Institute in New York City. Be prepared for those lulls. "Keep manicure supplies, stacks of empty photo albums, or a cross-stitch project by the TV for something to do," she suggests. Even better, find a hobby. When you're engrossed in something you love, you forget all about eating, especially if you're active. Falling in love with bicycling.
Head toward your dreams. Maybe you're hungering for a big change, such as a more satisfying career. Go for it, one little step at a time. "Take a class at a community college, or just start talking to people in that field. Moving toward goals is exhilarating,"
Rethink your rewards. Like most people, you probably eat to celebrate happiness too. (Don't most happy occasions involve eating?) Find new, affordable rewards such as earrings or tickets to a play or movie.