The cause is an emotional need, and it's one way many of us pile on the calories and thwart our good intentions to lose weight.

Emotional eating is a common response to feelings of stress, loneliness, boredom and anger. That's when favorite foods -- creamy pudding or ice cream, salty chips or a slice of cake --seem especially appealing. Eating eases the discomfort, even temporarily.

Emotional eating can also be a way to procrastinate when there's something else you should be doing and aren't in the mood, or it can fill the time when there's nothing to do.

The problem with emotional eating is twofold. Comfort foods add extra calories, and they also tend to be salty, sweet or high in unhealthy saturated fat or trans fat. We tend to eat the apple pie instead of the apple, the French fries in place of a baked potato or carrot cake in lieu of fresh carrots.

There's nothing wrong with an occasional mug of hot chocolate on a rainy day, but frequent bouts of emotional eating can make it impossible to control your weight. What can you do to minimize emotional eating? Several strategies can help:

• Stay active. A regular routine of vigorous, physical activity not only keeps you fit but can also help you keep your stress level under control. The less stressed you feel, the less likely you'll feel the need to lean on food for relief.
• Become aware of triggers. Keep a food diary and record everything you eat or drink daily for as long as you can. Note the time, place, amount and type of food you ate. What was your mood -- happy, sad, stressed, or depressed? Who was with you, and what were you doing? The more information you record, the easier it is to notice patterns and cues or circumstances that may be prompting you to eat impulsively.
• Condition new responses. Identify situations that trigger emotional eating and pair them with new, constructive behaviors. For example, if working late at night gives you the urge to eat chips, take a break and go for a walk. Substitute other activities at times when you feel the urge to eat. Walk the dog, take a bath, play an instrument or meditate.
• Remove temptations. Keep junk foods out of the house. Put healthier snack foods in plain sight and make sure they're quick and convenient to eat. Set a fresh fruit salad at eye level in the refrigerator, for example, or keep nonfat yogurt and whole grain breakfast cereals on hand in lieu of ice cream and snack chips.
• Get enough sleep. If you're well-rested, you'll be better able to manage stress and less likely to seek comfort from food.

These strategies are particularly effective when you do them collectively and consistently.

Food provides us with nutrition, and it gives us pleasure, too. The problems arise when it becomes an emotional crutch. Work to be more mindful about why you eat.