Us mums have a tough job. Not only must we abide to every need, request, demand of our delightful off springs and generally take care of them from dawn till dusk, we also have to fit in taking care of a home and in many cases a husband and a job too! It’s no wonder that we often forget about taking care of ourselves.

When we don’t have time to think about the actions we take, especially when we’re over tired, it can often lead to acquiring a few bad habits. Like grabbing food on the go and making the wrong choices. A chocolate bar, for example, can send you on a real feel good high and beat the hunger pangs for a short while. The problem is that those energy levels quickly drop again, our blood sugars plummet, and it leads to more ‘sweet’ cravings.

This in turn encourages us to binge on more ‘bad’ choices that inevitably make us fat. And when we feel fat, lethargic and not good about ourselves, it only makes the need for ‘comfort food’ even more apparent, which of course equals even more bad choices!

Time to break the cycle!

We all have some bad habits and many of us swear to do something about them at the start of the New Year – but why wait? Let's recognise them now! Breaking bad habits is about recognising the pattern of when they occur. For example, you reach for the fags when you feel on edge or when you’re taking a break. You reach for the wine when you’ve had a stressful day or when socialising. You binge eat when you are bored or sat front of the telly or over tired and stressed.

But what if those habits start to take over and control you and your life?

The simple theory about human behaviour is that we do things that either bring us pleasure and/or help us avoid pain. And that's not a bad way to look at bingeing.

Bingeing has many, many levels and is often a response to stress or anxiety - including the anxiety of gaining weight, which is quite an irony. What can be more stressful than a busy mum, with a husband and couple of kids, in an executive job, where her looks and appearance are paramount, and where she finds insufficient time to eat properly.

In many cases, bingeing can start as simple over-eating - we often call it "comfort"eating - an attempt to make ourselves feel better about something - ourselves, our life, our environment. But then compulsion can start to take over. The whole process of bingeing becomes an escape - and we can end up on a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. Bingeing helps to keep us busy, keep our mind off the problems and can provide us with a temporary feeling of being alive!

So it has several addictive layers: the food (especially the type of food we binge on, which is definitely not lettuce), and the tension and release cycle.

One of the ways of avoiding binges is to simply break the chain of events. Distract yourself - take on an alternative activity that is emotional or physical. Break the association. If you tend to binge when watching TV, avoid watching TV. Take yourself off quietly and read that book you have been meaning to start for months. Don't go to the shop to buy the food you keep bingeing on. Buy something different that you can snack on, but that does not have the "craving" appeal to you.

Exercise or activity is a great distraction - it pushes all of your concentration and energy in another direction and releases natural chemicals in your body that are much better ways of relieving anxiety and stress. So, join a gym, or buy an exercise video. Go outside and do some gardening, or take the kids for a walk until the urge to binge subsides.

Experts say it takes just 4 weeks to create a new habit and the same time to break one so stick with it for just that amount of time and before you know it you will have changed your naughty ways!