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Found a nice article on Medhelp newsletter, must read, copied from the link

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People think that they gain weight over the holidays just because there is so much good food around. That’s only part of the truth. The more important factor is that weight gain happens because the stress of the holidays leaves many people “emotionally” hungry, and they eat too much to make themselves feel better. Holiday weight gain is the result of a seasonable exaggeration of the everyday bad habit of “emotional eating,” the fundamental cause of obesity.

It’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, but for many people the holidays are a time that accentuate loss, highlight financial strains, heighten family tension and simply put people under stress when there is just too much to do and not enough time or money to do it all.

Here’s how it works: We all know that food provides a bit of relief from all the stress and strain. You’re overwhelmed at work because you know everything that still needs to be done at home--no problem, you grab a cookie from that big platter on the receptionist’s desk. You’re anxious at a holiday party so you hide out at the buffet table. And when you’re at a family meal and someone says something hurtful, you keep shoving food in your mouth so you don’t say what’s really on your mind.
The food soothes you. It calms you down. You do feel better. Now food is a medication, a tranquilizer, or an antidepressant. Everyone uses food in this way sometimes. Where it becomes a problem is when you use food this way too much or too often. So how do you know if you are overusing comfort food? Are you heavier than you want to be? Do you always gain weight during the holidays? If so, you are overusing comfort food.

You might be wondering what else you can do. You can do what I have been able to help 11,000 emotional eaters do already. You can break the emotional eating habit. There are three steps that you can start practicing today.

1. OBSERVE: WHEN an emotional eating urge is starting.

2. You can then pause and EXPLORE: WHY you are really hungry (What is the emotional hunger that sends you looking for the comfort of food).

3. You can DECIDE: HOW you can handle that emotional hunger in a better way than turning off your mind by over-eating.

Since the holidays are only a few days away, use this year to observe yourself and your eating patterns. I believe that observation is the first step to achieving lifelong weight loss. When I say to observe yourself, I mean: notice the times when you’re reaching for a second dessert or find yourself hiding out in the kitchen eating the leftovers from the platters. In those moments, what else is going on? Are you lonely? Disappointed? Angry? Bored? Are you worried about being perfect? Are you insecure? Do you feel criticized, ignored, unappreciated?

Noticing the triggers that send you looking for food is the necessary first step towards losing weight. It’s the thing that the dieting world never tells you. The more you learn how to address feelings without the use of food, the less you find yourself turning to food. It’s that simple. But it doesn’t happen over night.

On our website, we offer a Holiday Survival Guide that you can use to arm yourself against some of the stress of the season. It contains FREE interactive tools that focus on the underlying psychological causes of holiday weight gain, such as family dynamics, and provides personalized solutions to minimize holiday tension. Customized for each individual, the tools pinpoint potential issues and challenges triggered by holiday related stress and provide you with personalized reports containing tips and insights you need to manage the stress in your family and to insure that you don’t let anyone spoil your holiday season. With less holiday stress, you’ll be less hungry.

This year, observe yourself. Then, rather than make a New Year’s will power and good intent resolution to eat perfectly starting on January 2nd, make a different resolution. Resolve to end the bad habit of emotional eating. Learn how to manage your stress, your relationships, and your feelings without using food to turn off your mind. If you do that, and stick to it, by next holiday season you’ll have recovered your power over your eating patterns, put an absolute end to yo-yo dieting, and as an added bonus you will have opened up your mind in new ways by finding a powerful problem-solver in yourself that can make your life even better than it is now. If you want help doing that, go to www.ShrinkYourself.com, and learn more about how to break the emotional eating habit.