WE are all guilty of bad habits, which can seem impossible to quit.

As an adult, it’s increasingly frustrating when something seems to happen automatically – or to be out of our control.

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But there is a scientific reason behind these irritating urges.

According to several psychological studies, there is a three-part ‘habit loop’.

First comes the trigger – which could be stress (smoking), time of day (snacking), preceding events (phone buzzinh), or location.

Because of this, the easiest time to ditch a bad habit is on holiday abroad – or on a break from work.

The second step is the behaviour itself.

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When doing a common habit the behavioural part of your brain, the prefrontal cortex, goes to sleep and the basal ganglia takes over.

This is the same hack which allows us to talk while we drive, because your brain goes into auto-pilot, freeing up thinking space in your prefrontal cortex.

But this is also why it’s so difficult to break the bad behaviour, because the logical part of your brain shuts down.

The third part of the three-step process is the reward, and the hit of dopamine.

So next time you feel yourself reaching for a chocolate bar just because it’s 3pm, try and think of the three-part process.

If you understand how the habit is formed, you’ve got a lot more chance of breaking it.

Tips to kick the habit:

• Snacking: Make sure you’re eating for the right reason, not because you’re stressed, bored or sad.
• Reassess your limits, by making yourself wait until your body is physically craving food (e.g. rumbly tummy).
• Replace junk food with healthy snacks.
• Coach potato: Stick to the 2/30 rule: no more than two hours of TV a day, and at least half an hour of exercise.
• Don’t channel surf, just watch specific shows.
• Exercise while you watch, doing sit-ups or push-ups, and clean your house during ad breaks.