Turning to food for comfort

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Whenever I'm happy or sad or feel anything I need to eat. I realized I eat with smell. I remember the smell of hot chips and I want to eat them, or a hot meal with a strong aroma and I want to eat. Also with taste, I eat chocolate because it gives me a instant boost of happiness.

How do I eat more healthy when healthy food does not smell appealing or taste very good instantly. When I'm in a depressive state (like right NOW) all I want to do is cry and eat through my senses. How do I eat better through my senses when only bad food is appealing to my senses?

Help please. I can't take being depressed and eating bad food and getting depressed again after eating the food. It's a vicious cycle I can't get out of.

HELP!! !

What I've done that's had limited success, but sometimes works, is to WORK HARD to imagine the smell or taste of something you REALLY like, and then put the other food in your mouth imagining the taste of the more desirable food instead of what's in your mouth. Pretend that food has the taste of the other food you really want. Or, sometimes I just imagine myself eating TONS of the desired food until I'm sick of it and ready to vomit from eating too much of it, and that can get rid of the craving. Problem is I have to REMEMBER to do that LOL

Believing we can't is what keeps us trapped in it. Each additional bite of wrongful eating can reinforce this lie. That's why the focus needs to shift from passivity to assertive action. You know what your temptations are. Create plans to avert this pattern in advance for when they come.

Scent is powerful upon the mind, so find something that smells awful (like turpentine or horrible perfume) and keep some on hand for when you need to condition a new response to things. Never recondition your response to healthy foods. Healthy foods will become increasingly pleasant as you make unhealthy foods increasingly unpleasant.

Sacrifice chocolate to the garbage of the waste bucket instead of your waist bucket. Make yourself take bites of chocolate sprinkled with garlic or some non-toxic soap (or something like that). If you do that consistently, you will re-train your brain.

It is all about perspective. It is so easy to think of junk food as being like having a best friend, always there for you. Sabotage that relationship. It needs it, because junk food is not our best friend. It can be our worst enemy. This isn't much different than someone who grew up in an abusive, dysfunctional family. An adult from such a family will gravitate towards unhealthy toxic relationships.

You true best friend is your body. It is a slave to serve your mind. Our bodies deserve the best we can give and do for them. After we respect and hold our bodies in high esteem (no matter what shape they are in!! !) by caring for them like we would for a best friend, our emotions will become happier.

P.S. – Pretending wouldn't work for me. It is too easy for me to deceive myself. Nothing works like reality for me. Another example... photographs and mirrors. I can't image myself slim and trim with having a memory already established in my mind of something different.

I have tried imaging others foods but my brain knows the difference and I can't fool myself. I never thought of putting garlic on chocolate and sabotaging myself. I'm going to try this, it sounds great. I hope I succeed.

Thanks for the advice faithfilly, and mikassyna.

don't deny yourself some healthful dark chocolate. just save it for the red letter days. make it a treat and not a staple.