Stop Binge Eating - Stop Overeating

Wondering if you’ll ever get your overeating under control‭?  ‬You have decided that you are sick of it,‭ ‬and that this time you‭ ‬will stick to your healthy eating plan.‭  ‬You will not give into the temptation to overeat.

You stick with your healthy eating plan for a few days.‭  ‬Then one night,‭ ‬at the end of a stressful day,‭ ‬you start eating and can’t stop.‭  ‬All of a sudden you realize you overate again.‭  ‬You start feeling guilt.‭  ‬To numb out the guilt you eat some more thinking you’ll just worry about it tomorrow.

You wake up the next day feeling depressed.‭  ‬You realize that you wasted most of last night eating.‭  ‬You are disgusted at your overeating.‭  ‬You are disappointed that you broke another promise you made to yourself.‭  ‬You don’t really feel like getting out of bed.‭  ‬You are wondering if you’ll ever get your overeating under control.‭ ‬You are about ready to give up.‭

But then you think of the consequences of giving up.‭  ‬Which are an overweight out of shape miserable unhappy you,‭ ‬who doesn’t really do much with their life other than eat a lot.‭  ‬So once again you decide you must get your overeating under control.

Here are some tips to help you stop overeating:

1.‭ ‬Willingness to Learn.‭  ‬You should be learning from every overeating episode.‭  ‬After each overeating episode you need to think back to the events,‭ ‬emotions,‭ ‬thoughts you experienced prior.‭  ‬The next time you go‭ ‬through those events,‭ ‬emotions or thoughts you wont automatically overeat.

2.‭ ‬Journaling.‭  ‬Journaling is a great way to learn about yourself and grow.‭  ‬It’s a great way to spot your own defeating thought patterns.‭  ‬Journal about why you overate.‭  ‬Journal‭ ‬about what stresses you out and increases your cravings for comfort foods.‭  ‬Journal about different tips and techniques you are learning to stop overeating.‭

3.‭ ‬Admit You Need Help.‭  ‬Admit to yourself that you need help.‭  ‬If you have already tried to stop overeating several times in the past without any luck then you are doing something wrong.‭  ‬Often times you are expecting too much out of yourself.‭  ‬Maybe it’s time to admit to yourself that you need help to stop overeating.

4.‭ ‬Get Help.‭  ‬Often you realize that you need help yet you never take the next step.‭  ‬If you are sick of overeating and want to recover you must be willing to do whatever it takes to get it under control.‭  ‬

5.‭ ‬Read up on Overeating.‭  ‬You can start by reading all of the overeating articles I wrote‭‬.‭  ‬In each of these articles I share the best tips that helped me stop overeating.‭  ‬It took me years of researching,‭ ‬going to support groups,‭ ‬and even therapy to learn these tips.‭  ‬Subscribe to my Free tips to stop overeating newsletter‭ where I share at least one new effective tip in every edition.

6.‭ ‬Join my Online Support Group.‭  ‬This group is specifically dedicated to overeating.‭  ‬It’s a great way to meet others who are also trying to stop overeating.‭  ‬It’s a great place where members share tips to stop overeating.‭  ‬Also it’s a great place to find an accountability buddy who will help you stay on track.‭  ‬Best of all it’s Free.‭  ‬Join here.

7.‭ ‬Tell a Friend.‭  ‬This is a great way to get started on your recovery from overeating.‭  ‬Best of all you can do it immediately.‭  ‬Simply tell a trusted close friend of family member about your commitment to stop overeating.‭  ‬Give them a call immediately and tell them.‭  ‬This might be a bit scary,‭ ‬but if you seriously want to stop overeating,‭ ‬you need to do it anyways.‭  ‬Your friend will be more than happy to support you in your recovery efforts.‭  ‬They will help you stay on track.‭  ‬You will get more serious about your recovery efforts.‭  ‬Next time you are tempted to overeat you will realize that you’d be letting your friend down.

Here are 3 recent videos I made filled with tips on how to stop binge eating.  Binge eating is simply overeating.  It’s when you start eating a certain food and can’t stop.  Often people experience binge eating when consuming junk foods or comfort foods.

Stop Binge Eating - Tip 1 - Do Not Diet

Video Summary:

Do NOT Diet.‭  ‬Dieting doesn’t work.‭  ‬I’ve tried all the diets.‭  ‬I would be able to keep a diet up for a few days.‭  ‬But then I would have a day where I would crash,‭ ‬and binge eat.‭  ‬Rather than trying to diet to lose weight,‭ ‬try to slowly improve your eating habits.‭   ‬Instead of eating‭ ‬5‭ ‬junk foods a day,‭ ‬try eating‭ ‬4‭ ‬for the next‭ ‬2 weeks.‭  ‬Once you have done that successfully then trying eating‭ ‬3‭ ‬junk foods for another 2 weeks, etc.‭

Stop Binge Eating - Tip 2 - Practice Controlled Moderation

Video Summary:

Eat fatty or sugary foods in Controlled Moderation.‭  ‬Do not deprive yourself of foods your crave.‭  ‬Otherwise you will keep increasing your cravings for those foods.‭  ‬One day you will crash and binge on those junk foods and comfort foods.‭  ‬Eat fatty and sugary foods you crave in controlled moderation.‭  ‬Control the portion size.‭

Stop Binge Eating - Tip 3 - Watch out for Off Days

Video Summary:

Watch out for for Off Days.‭  ‬These are the days when you wake up and don’t feel like doing anything.‭  ‬You’re really bored,‭ ‬stressed out,‭ ‬tired,‭ ‬or feeling really lazy.‭  ‬Often to deal with those emotions we resort to eating comfort foods like pizza and ice-cream.‭  ‬When you wake up and are feeling an off day,‭ ‬you need to perform an activity to snap yourself out of this right away.‭  ‬Go for a long walk,‭ ‬watch a motivating video,‭ ‬listen to energizing music,‭ ‬review your goals,‭ ‬visualize some of your dreams, etc.

‭‭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

The endless dieting and binging cycle.  When will it ever end.  When will you finally get control of your eating habits.  After the last binge you promised yourself once and for all, that you will not binge again, that this time you will stick to your healthy eating, exercising and drop off the weight.  Yet You have made that promise to yourself several times and broke it.  Is there any hope?  YES there is hope…

How would you like to end your binge eating? how would you like to have a normal relationship with food? how would you like to finally drop off those last few pounds, and keep them off for the rest of your life?  Yes it is possible, and yes you can do it…

One of the biggest road-blocks to recovery for me as a binge eater was my unrealistic expectations.  After dealing with overeating and binge eating for several years I still yo-yo dieted.  I would start a new extreme diet expecting myself to finally drop the extra weight and recover this time super fast once and for all.  This is like someone getting on a surfing board for the first time and expecting to surf the first big wave they run into perfectly without falling off the board.  What are they thinking?  What are you thinking?

If you have been yo-yo dieting, and binging now for a year or more, it’s going to take you some work to finally create a healthy relationship with food and create a life long lean body.  Understanding what realistic recovery from binge eating looks like is critical to your own recovery.

For me it meant binging less and less often and having shorter binging episodes. Of course this happened slowly and gradually.  And while I can and will give you future tips on how to speed up this process, there is no magic pill.

The next diet you come across, or the next food plan which might be great and all will not end your binge eating.  Neither will the next great exercising machine or video.  Believe me I’ve tried them all without any luck.  Often I would lose a few pounds, but binge on food for comfort, and gain those pounds and even add on a few extra.

So your first step to recovery is having realistic expectations.  Go easy on yourself.  If you binge forgive yourself.  Otherwise you will feel really guilty and might binge again just to numb out the guilt.  Realize that recovery is possible and that yes you can and will do it in time.

If you would like some practical tips on how to end your binge eating please subscribe to my FREE newsletter