Stop Binge Eating - Stop Overeating

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

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 14th, 2008 at 12:45 pm and is filed under Stop Binge Eating.