The holidays are upon us. The santas are ringing their bells on the street corners, the decorations are in the store windows, and holiday tunes seem to play from every speaker in NYC. If these images bring up more anxiety than feelings of joy and merryment- you are not alone. The American Psychological Association reports that over 3/4 of all Americans experience higher than healthy levels of stress, and these statistics skyrocket during the holiday season. The holiday season brings with it social obligations, visiting family, disruptions from your regular routine, and how to afford all of those gifts?? It is easy to cope with these stresses by turning to food, which happens to be overly abundant this time of year. Try these tips to minimize emotional overeating this holiday season:

1. Check in with yourself before you eat. Are you hungry? If not, what are you experiencing? If you notice that you have the desire to eat because you are having an emotional reaction, try to identify what you are feeling and do something that more directly addresses the feeling. For example, if you have the desire to eat because you feel sad, try calling a comforting friend or listening to your favorite music rather than eating a pint of ice cream. Eating the ice cream may result in temporary relief of sadness while its going down, but you'll only feel worse after you eat it. You'll end up with 2 problems instead of 1-the original sadness plus the feelings from having overeaten.