Stop Binge Eating - Stop Overeating

‭‭If you’ve tried to stop binge eating in the past you have probably failed.  This is common.  It took me 4 years to get my binge eating under control.  During those years I’ve had countless attempts to stop binge eating.  They often failed.

‭I was trying to stop binge eating the hard way.  I was trying to do it using only my effort, my own discipline (or lack of ;), my own self-control, and without seeking others help.  This is certainly the hard way to stop binge eating.

‭The easy way to stop binge eating is to build your support system.  Here are some tips to get started building your support system…

‭1. Read everything you can on how to stop binge eating.  This is critical to your recovery from binge eating.  My articles and posts are filled with such tips.   You can also subscribe to my tips to stop binge eating newsletter.  I give at least one new tip in every newsletter.

‭2. Join online support groups.  These groups are free, anonymous, and are filled with people try to stop binge eating just like you are.  Here is a great support group Lets Stop Binge Eating Together.

‭3. Get an Accountability Buddy. This is someone who has recovered from binge eating before or is actively trying to stop binge eating.  It’s actually very easy to find one.  You can find one through online support groups. You need to check in with your accountability buddy as often as necessary.  For some checking in once a week is enough.  For others they will need to check in every night.

Sick of hiding your binge foods from everyone else? Out in public you probably eat very healthy, leaving others wondering why you aren’t very skinny. But you know why, don’t you. It’s your binge eating. You probably do it mostly at nights and on weekends in private. That’s what I did. I used to go through the drive-through lanes of fast food restaurants, ordering my big cheese burger, large fries, a couple of apple pies, and my big sugary soda. I’d then park in an empty part of the parking lot. I’d eat all the food up in a 10 minutes, making sure the whole time that no one is watching me.

After a binging episode I’d feel so guilty about screwing up again and overeating, and to deal with the guilt, I’d just binge the next day. Comfort foods were my magic pill. If I felt stressed, scared, sad, disappointed, or even bored, I’d just consume comfort foods. A binge just numbed out my emotions. Binging gave a temporary break from experiencing some of life’s tough sticky situations and circumstances.

Yet after I was done binging, I’d realize that the problems, and circumstances I tried to avoid are still there. Often times I felt like an alcoholic. Except my drink of choice was a cheeseburger and fries, a huge steak burrito, or a medium sized pizza (yes sometimes I ate the whole thing).

So I knew that binging was unhealthy, that it was just a bag habit that I needed to drop. Yet I couldn’t. I tried everything. I tried support groups. And they helped yet in between the weekly meetings I’d ofter be tempted to binge, and I was to weak to say no. I tried therapy, and made some slow progress yet still would binge, and feel too guilty to admit it to my therapist. I tried reading books, adjusting my diets and food plans, exercising with some progress yet no last recovery.

That’s when I realized that maybe what’s causing me to binge on food is something inside me. Maybe I need to work on myself. And as I started working on myself I finally experienced lasting progress. And here are the 3 secrets I found out that will help you end your binge eating:

1. Become aware of why you binge

After a binge reflect back on the few hours before you binged. Write down any stressful events, tough emotions, or negative thoughts that you had. Now review your list and you will realize that you probably binged to numb out or deal with a tough thought, a negative emotion, or to deal with a tough circumstance in your life. Next time this negative thought, emotion or circumstance comes up you will be more aware of it, and might even be able to pause and not resort to food for comfort.

There are other awareness techniques that I discuss in my Free newsletter

2. Deal with circumstances, issues & emotions that lead you to binge

After you know the common circumstances, issues, and emotions that trigger a binge for you, then you need to deal with them right away. If your job stresses you out, then you need to either look for another one, or decide to let it go and accept it for what it is.

3. Create a lifestyle that you love

When I was a binge eater, I remember being asked by my therapist how I felt about my life. And when I thought about it long and hard I realized that I hated it. I hated my life, the job I had at the time, and even the friendships I had. I felt like I could do a lot better with my life. So slowly I started looking into getting another job. I also started working on meeting new people, making more exciting friendships. I also decided to start traveling more, vacationing, and experiencing other cities, countries, and continents. As I started creating a lifestyle I love, I noticed my food cravings, and my binging started going away on it’s own

To learn more techniques on how to end your binge eating subscribe to my Free newsletter

You decide to go cloth shopping. You see different styles/colors you like throughout the store.  You grab a couple of shirts (or pants, dresses) that you think would look great on you. You’re excited that you found trendy styles.  You go into the fitting room, change into the clothing, look in the mirror and the excitement is replaced with disappointment.  The clothing just doesn’t look as good on you as you imagined it would.  Maybe you even start becoming conscious about the few pounds you have added on recently.  You start feeling guilty and you end up not buying anything, thinking to yourself nothing looks good on me, cloth shopping sucks.

Can You RELATE?

I went through this yesterday.  And after leaving the store I realized that I’ve been through this fitting room drama countless times.  Even though I’m skinnier than I was 3 years ago, I still feel the traces of growing up as a fat kid.

So what’s going on?  Is this fitting room drama related to one’s weight (whether they are overweight or not)?  At first I thought it was, but I was WRONG.

I remember a couple of different guy friends I had, who were both very skinny naturally, they just had a hard time putting on weight.  When I first met them I though “it must be awesome, they look great and they can eat whatever they way”. Guess what? I was WRONG.

After getting to know them I found out that they are just as insecure about their weight & body shape as I was about being overweight.

Believe it or not, they were desperately trying to find ways to gain weight, and put on a few pounds.

CONCLUSION:

On the one hand I think everyone should try to work on their body, and try to improve its shape, it’s certainly a worthy pursuit.  HOWEVER, on the other hand being content with who you are now is a state of mind and isn’t dependant on your current weight or body shape.

So here is a healthy way of achieving both a better body and contentment.  Work on your eating habits, try to get in shape, but in the present moment love and accept yourself for who you are.

Loving and accepting yourself for who you are might sound tough but ISN’T IT LONG OVERDUE? How many times have you been really tough on yourself? How many times have you felt guilty about overeating, binging or missing a workout? Isn’t time to just start accepting yourself for who you are right now? 

I’m not saying accept yourself and keep engaging in unhealthy eating habits.  Because then you wouldn’t be LOVING yourself.  You have to accept yourself and love yourself.  One without the other doesn’t work.

I have suffered from binge eating/overeating for 3 years and recently started experiencing lasting recovery.  I would like to help you end the cycle of overeating/binging and then starving yourself to make up for it.  If you are interested sign up for my FREE tips newsletter

I would like to hear everyone’s thoughts about the fitting room drama and their relationship with cloth shopping, so please share below

1. Perfectionism
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How often do you have a perfect day? One where you clear your to-do list, spend enough time with family or friends, get all of your work done at the office (or finish all of your homework if you are a student), and still manage to have time for yourself to relax?

What about the last skill you learned?  How many times did you screw-up until you started seeing progress?  Did you perfect the skill from your first try?

It’s obvious that perfectionism is a lie.  Yet for many of us who deal with overeating, we often go through cycles of yo-yo dieting.  After a binge, an overeating episode or just a period of weight gain, we get back on a food plan or diet expecting to follow it perfectly this time around.

The first time we mess up, consume a bad food (a food not in our food/diet plan) we become very disappointed at ourselves, feel an overwhelming sense of guilt, and label ourselves as failures once again.

Perfectionism is a lie. Recovering from overeating/binging is a process, it has a lot of bumps, and roadblocks a long the way.  Those who recover are those are easy going, can forgive themselves, and are willing to stick it out.


2. All or Nothing
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Remember the last time you tried sticking to a diet or food plan, and slightly fell off track.  Maybe you ate more than your plan allowed, couldn’t resist having that cookie or bag of potato chips, or just experienced a tough emotion and resorted to a slice of pie for comfort.  What happened after that? You probably started feeling guilty, and realized that you have already failed, so you kept overeating/binging.

This is a result of All or Nothing thinking.  You either want recovery to happen 100% your way according to your plan otherwise you are just going to give up, and not even try.  Have that one cookie or slice of pie will not mess up your diet, and will at most add 200-400 calories to your diet for that day.  What really makes you gain the weight is your All or Nothing thinking, which makes you feel like a failure and encourages you to keep overeating to numb out that negative emotion.


3. Dieting Works
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Dieting doesn’t work. At least not on it’s own.  For a person to lose weight and keep it off for at least a year or two they need a lot more than a diet.  Dieting just addresses the external factors of weight loss like what foods you eat.

Dieting is like a good accounting book.  It has all the knowledge one needs to become an accountant, however, it’s not enough by itself.  That potential accountant will need to study the book hard, maybe seek other accountants adive for more understanding, then make some connections and network to get an accounting job.

Dieting has a negative effect for us who deal with overeating.  Especially if we have a Perfectionist or an All or Nothing mentality.  Diets are all guidelines not concrete solid rules. Even those who successfully lose weight by combining a diet with other resources never follow the diet perfectly.  They’ll often have days where they totally fall off track.


4. Social Programming
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How many commercials have you seen where an overweight person loses so many pounds by taking a pill, or exercising for 10-20 minutes a day for 30 days? 
Society, advertising, and other media sources always make weight loss look so easy. I’m sure you have tried many of those magic pills, and weight loss equipment without any luck.  I’ve tried them too so that makes us both suckers

Many diet books today makes regularly eating healthy food sound so easy. If Bob can do it, why can’t you?  The TRUTH is that improving your eating habits, dealing with emotional eating issue, and losing weight are all tough.  While I can give you helpful tips/guidelines to help you along the way, speed up your recovery etc, there is no magic pill.

Give yourself credit for your efforts.  Think about how long you have been working on your overeating.  Many other people would have given up already.  Be proud that you are still sticking in there and trying ;) 

To learn more about dealing with these lies and learn other useful tips to recover from overeating subscribe to my FREE Tips newsletter.

Also if anyone wants to share how these lies have impacted their overeating or can think of any other lies please share in the comments

We all know that binge eating is bad for us. We all feel the guilt after a binging episode.  Sometimes we feel so guilty that we binge again to numb out our emotions and not worry about it. 

We all notice the weight gain that comes from binge eating.  We all know all the pain and hassle that comes with being overweight.  It sucks.  So Why do we binge?

We often feel that binge eating is just like a dark cloud hanging over our life.  We just wish we can live a NORMAL life like everyone else.  We wish we can have a NORMAL relationship with food, yet we don’t.  We know that binge eating is standing in the way of many of our goals, dreams and aspirations.  Yet we still binge.  So back to the question why do we binge?

In my own experience, and from doing lots of reading/studying on the subject I learned that we have a logical side and then we have EMOTIONS or an emotional side. Emotions are often a lot stronger than logic.  Emotions operate in the moment, while logic plans and for the future or reflects over the past.

When you feel a craving for a certain comfort food, or are physically reaching out for food to binge on, your logical side is turned off.  You are usually operating on an emotional level.  If your logical side was on, you would remember that binging is bad for you and you would STOP. Yet once again you are operating on an emotional level.

So What’s the solution?  One technique that helped me is pausing and turning on my logic.  And here is how this works.  Take out a piece of paper and a pen and write down the following questions (or print this post right away, DO  this now, reading advice without taking action is a waste of time) :

- Am I about to eat because I’m Physically hungry?  If not then what am I trying to feed?

- How will I feel after binging on this food?  Remember all the guilt I felt after binging last time?  Remember all the pain of the weight gain thats a result of my binging? Remember how this is stopping me from living a NORMAL life, and getting in the way of my other goals, dreams and aspirations?

- What will my life be like if I keep binging?  What will my life be like 1 year from now?  What will it be like 5 years from now?  What will my body size be? What about the quality of my future?

- How will I feel If I don’t binge?  If I say NO?  Are there any consequences to saying NO?

- What will my life be like if I keep saying NO?  What will my life be like 1 year from now?  What will it be like 5 years from now?  What will my body size be? What about the quality of my future?


Now that you have these written down (or printed them) carry that piece of paper with you in your pocket at all times. Whenever you are about to binge, pull it out and reread the questions, and put some thought into the answers.  If you can’t differentiate between when you are about to binge, and when you are just about to enjoy a regular meal, it might be a good idea to review these questions any time you are about to eat something.  Also if you are just starting out, you might want to review the questions at random times during the day.

Try this for a week.  I know it might sound stupid.  But try it for a week, what do you got to lose? Using this technique was critical to my own Recovery. You are more than welcome to send me a message and report back your progress or even frustrations with this technique. I’d love to get some feedback.

I have suffered from binging/overeating for 3 years and just recently started seeing some fruits of recovery.  I would like to help others dealing with this.  If you are interested in learning more tips on how to stop binge eating, sign up for my FREE newsletter