When emotions run high, a lot of people run for the fridge. Emotional eating is a complex habit. For many people, it's a habit that they've practiced for years and years -- maybe even since their childhood. Many people who eat due to emotions such as sadness, anger, depression, boredom, stressed, or loneliness, are fully aware that they are emotional eaters. Even though they're cognizant of their eating habits, in the heat of the moment it's sometimes hard to tell the difference between real hunger and emotional triggers. But knowing your body and finding healthier outlets for your emotions is important for health.

Everyday Health shares some tips on determining real, physical hunger from emotion-based hunger:

• Physical hunger builds gradually, causes your stomach to growl, isn't accompanied by a sense of compulsion, occurs hours after you last ate, and goes away after eating.
• Emotional hunger develops suddenly, is a more mental craving (when you "get a taste" for something), makes you feel like you urgently need to eat, is unrelated to the last time you ate, often has specific cravings, persists even when you're full, and leaves you feeling guilty after eating.
  

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Ever considered placing yourself in a time-out? I have. When my kids are driving me crazy, or my responsibilities are mounting, or I just need a bit of silence, a time-out seems quite heavenly. And if I follow the proper time-out protocol of sitting quietly for one minute per each year of age, I'd get a whole 37 minutes all to myself. Not bad.

OK, so maybe a mommy time-out is not likely to happen. A food time-out might be in my future, though, especially now with holiday eating in full force.

Nutrition experts recommend we all take food time-outs during our meals. They suggest taking 20 minutes between courses -- the amount of time it takes for fullness signals to travel from your stomach to your brain. Stop, think, and listen to your body's natural hunger cues, and you'll take control of your appetite and avoid overeating too.

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Your body has no idea that liquids contain nutrients.

Or so that's the theory scientists have come up with based on a recent study that took the idea that liquids are less filling to the next level. They found that although liquid and solid calories of comparable nutrient value filled people up about the same right away, the people who had the liquid calories reported feeling hungrier sooner afterwards. And in the study it didn't seem to matter if the liquid/solid fullness comparisons came from high carb, high fat, or high protein sources -- a glass of juice or milk isn't nearly as filling in the long-term as a piece of fruit or a hunk of cheese.

Interesting. I can totally see this principle working in my life everyday -- can you?

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Writing for Shape magazine, Dr. Ann Kearney Cook suggests indulging all your senses if you happen to be a person who can't stop thinking about eating and loves too much food. "Food is one of life's great pleasures," she writes, "but if it's your only or most prominent one, it's a sign that something else is missing."

I love this idea and can't stop thinking about how I could feed all my senses to keep me from thinking about peanut butter ice cream with whipped cream and a cherry, or salty hot macaroni and cheese, or...or...

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