5 ways to binge eating freedom

What is binge eating?

Binging is a common form of disordered eating. It’s when you feel out of control with food, eat large quantities of food, and feel pretty down about your eating. Binging becomes the eating disorder binge eating disorder when your eating impacts your life in a big way.

5 tips to reduce binging

Let’s get started with the first of five tips…

1. Acceptance

The first tip to be on your way to binge freedom is to bring acceptance to your binging. This is something we always reiterate because it’s likely that you will binge eat again. We’re not saying that you’re doomed to binge forever. But, when you’re trying to recover from binge eating, things eb and flow. You will probably binge eat again. That’s why trying to accept your binge eating is important to overcoming it. Acceptance is really underrated when it comes to binging. Of course, you want to eradicate it and make things better. But your binge eating is here for a reason. This isn’t to say that you should accept your binge eating and call it a day. But we know that shame doesn’t equal change. Acceptance is about recognizing what’s going on and showing yourself compassion. We suggest that you try and reframe your binge eating. Think of it as something that’s telling you that something isn’t right. Acceptance is also key because people who binge eat also tend to be really hard on themselves. You know we’re right.

2. Notice your binge eating

The second way to stop your binging is going to sound really simple. But it’s much easier said than done. We recommend noticing patterns that are making you binge. While some things are going to be obvious, others will take more digging. Here are some prompts to help you:

• • Are you binging or overeating at the same time every day?

• • The same day of the week?

• • Is it always when you’re bored, alone, upset, tired?

• • Can you identify any emotional triggers to bingeing?

• • Do you binge on the same foods all the time?

• • Are you physically hungry? Mentally hungry? What is your hunger like when you binge?

What could you discover if you went a bit deeper into the root of your binge eating? Of course, we only recommend you do this if it feels comfortable for you to explore this. To do this, we recommend making notes/journaling before or after your binge. You might spend a few weeks exploring your binge eating. Once you identify triggers, you can brainstorm how to work through them. You may benefit from support with this. Our nutritionists and dietitians at Ease Nutrition Therapy are always available for 1-1 Nutrition Counselling support.

3. Stop relying on willpower

We want you to remove a certain word from your vocabulary… Willpower. Willpower will not stop you from binge eating. Like we said before, you’re binge eating for a reason. No amount of wishing for more willpower will help. Or it might help temporarily, but not long-term. You feel like you have no willpower. Because you can’t stop binge eating and overeating. You just wish you could gain some control. Trust us, your binge eating has nothing to do with willpower. And everything to do with your root causes of binging, your triggers, your history with food, how you feel about food, your body, and so much more. You could have the willpower of 1000 people and you will stop binge eating if you don’t heal your relationship with food.

4. Challenge your thoughts

We want you to challenge your thoughts. Hear us out. Do you hop on the “blame train” every time you binge? Do you hitch a ride up the shame motorway? Do you think: “I’m a failure. I’ve failed again. I’ve binged yet again. This will never end.” Do you catastrophize every single time you “fail” at healthy eating or balanced eating? We know you wish you could stop binging. But shame, guilt, and white-knuckling through is probably not going to result in long-term happiness with food. Challenge those thoughts in the same way that you will build acceptance… By noticing the thoughts. Then, you will challenge them with counter-arguments. By challenging the thoughts, you’re almost telling your brain “I notice what’s happened. I know you’re trying to tell me something. I accept this, and I’m making committed action to change this. But I am offering myself compassion because I’m not a terrible person for binge eating.”

5. Eat what’s truly satisfying

Last, but certainly not least. We want you to make sure your meals and snacks are truly satisfying. Think about taste, texture, mouthfeel, and how you feel physically when you eat. You can’t out-smart the biological need to eat nourishing and satisfying food. A huge number of people who binge eat are actually doing so because they’re unsatisfied with what they’re eating. Focus on checking in with what hits the spot for you. Maybe that’s always having something crunchy with your meal, or having something sweet to round off a meal. We like to think about what you could add, never remove. Add satisfaction by adding dressings, sauces, crunch, fats, salt, herbs, and spices. Maybe you need more protein, more fats, or another portion of starchy carbohydrates. Only you know what you truly need. Think about what would bring energy, taste, and enjoyment.

Summary

Recovering from binge eating can be a long tricky journey. But it’s worth it for a healthy relationship with food that improves your whole life. We’ve supported 100s of clients to recover from binging, see some kind words here. We have a free 50-minute binge freedom masterclass to help you too. Team Ease Nutrition Therapy x