You Can’t Stop Binge Eating if it’s a Reward
August 24th, 2008 by Andrew BolisTrying to stop binge eating or to stop overeating is very tough. You know you need to stop and get your eating habits under control. I bet you told yourself I wont binge eat anymore. This is the last time…
But what happens? You still have a binge eating episode. And this sabotages your efforts to stop overeating. I think you need to go easy on yourself and see why overcoming binge eating disorder is a little tough.
Your body and mind are smarter than you think. Why do we binge eat if it’s bad for us? Did you realize that there is a payoff or a reward you experience from binge eating?
Let me describe a typical overeating episode for me and see if you can catch the payoff or reward…
“I’m coming home from another stressful day at work. My job is really boring, I kept trying not to fall asleep at my desk this afternoon. My boss is annoying and I hate working under him. I wish I could just quit. Ahh but then I’ll have to go through the job hunting process and that will be a pain. ” - Automatically without realizing it I just walk over to the fridge and can’t stop eating junk foods. Now I’m feeling numb, I don’t have to worry about my job, and can just relax and watch some TV maybe.
Did you catch the payoff of my binge eating? It’s not having to face my real problems in life. Overeating is the best form of distraction from real problems, and tough action steps that one has to take. It’s a great avoidance method.
By overeating, I don’t have to start looking for a new job, update my resume, call some recruiters and so on. I can just avoid the problem all together, or at least postpone dealing with it.
A binge eater who resorts to food for comfort, is just like an alcoholic who stops by the bar at the end of a stressful day. They are both trying to escape their real life problems.
But Does it work? NO! Your problem will be there when you wake up the next morning and have another day. And you wondered why you cant stop binge eating? Well now that you see the payoff, I’m sure you can be more understanding and go easy on yourself.
Life is tough, overeating is easy. To overcome overeating you need to understand why you do it in the first place. Understanding the payoffs of overeating is very important. Now that you know some of those payoffs you need to ask yourself some questions.
- Think of the last time you engaged in binge eating, and ask yourself what was the payoff?
- Is it a real payoff or is it just temporary?
- Did overeating really solve my problem? or did it just postpone me having to take care of it?
The more you ask those questions after a binge eating episode, the more aware you will become of why you binge eat. This is the first step to recovery from binge eating disorder.
Leave a comment and let me know what you found out from asking those question 
August 26th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
I asked that questioned before i binged but i dont think i answered honestly because my answer was for pleasure but then I asked it later about an hour after i binged and I relized I have had tons of questions going around in my head and i couldn’t find the answer so i binged and instead of questions in my head I was focused on the food I just ate and the feeling of numbness I was experiencing.
What do you do after you relize why you binge, I mean what else can I do instead of binge? i have tried many things but nothing seems as rewarding. i think i need to just change my outlook on whats going on in that moment before I binge but how do I do that? If you know please let me in.
August 30th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Thanks for your comment.
Well that depends. But basically you have to take some action steps to fix or deal with whatever is making you binge. Often it’s a stressful person, situation or circumstance in your life. Once you deal with it, you will notice the temptation of binge eating will slowly start fading.
You are welcome to share about why you are binge eating, and get more support in the forum.