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More than 50 percent of all overweight people use food to cope with depression, anger and stress. Are you among them? You can't change what you don't acknowledge.

Check off the reasons you eat. Please be brutally honest in your answers:
  1. I munch when I get bored.
  2. I like to eat with my friends, even if I'm not hungry.
  3. I eat so the cook will not be offended.
  4. I eat when I get depressed.
  5. I eat when I'm lonely.
  6. I eat when I get anxious about something.
  7. There are times when my eating is out of control.
  8. I like to nurture other people with food.
  9. I will eat my way through a difficult time (like a divorce, a job loss, an illness or a broken dream).
  10. I eat when I feel my energy go down.
  11. I crave some foods.
  12. I just like to have something in my mouth.
  13. I eat even if I'm not hungry.
  14. I like to celebrate with food.
  15. I think about food a good deal of the time.
  16. I have a tendency to binge.
  17. I eat to be polite.
  18. I'm sometimes embarrassed by how much I eat.
  19. I eat to relieve stress.
  20. I get upset if I overeat.
  21. I eat because I get angry.
  22. I'm displeased with my weight, but I overeat anyway.
  23. I always clean my plate so as not to waste food.
  24. I need high levels of sugar in my system.
  25. Eating is my main enjoyment in life.

For each "frequently" you checked, give yourself two points, for each "occasionally," give yourself one point, and for each "never," give yourself zero points. If your overall score is more than 35, it's likely that you have serious trouble with emotional eating and must get your self-defeating pattern under control. If your score is between 15 and 35, you struggle with emotional eating at times, and you could benefit from learning new coping strategies.
From the October 2003 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine

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