Stop Binge Eating - Stop Overeating

Cravings for junk foods and fast food are often a big
problem for someone who’s trying to lose a few pounds.

You have probably have tried to stop eating junk foods
and found it very difficult.

Usually you decide to start a diet and get your weight
under control.  And you can keep it up for a few days,
maybe even a week or two.  But then one of those days,
you come across a very tempting junk food, and you
just can’t resist.

You Tell yourself that you will only have a little.
However once you start eating you can’t stop, and you end
up having a binge eating episode, or consume a whole
feast of junk foods.

I know you have probably tried to control your junk food
cravings using much of the popular advice that doesn’t work.

Maybe you just tried avoiding exposure to junk foods.
Maybe you stopped buying it.

You probably still found that you can’t stop eating junk foods.
Here is why…

What will happen the next time you are at a social
dinner or lunch, and everyone is consuming the junk food
you have been avoiding?  Well if you have been depriving
yourself, your cravings will be out of control.

While at the event you might eat a sensible amount just
because you are ashamed to overeat in public,
after wards you will probably have an overeating episode.

Besides if you had such strong discipline and self-control
then overeating junk foods probably wouldn’t be an issue for you in
the first place.  I know I don’t.  I’m not very disciplined
and when I try to rely mostly on my will power I often
disappoint myself.

So how do you get your cravings for junk food under
control?  How do you stop eating junk foods?

Tip 1 - Consume enough food, do not diet, do not try and
eat too little to lose weight, all of that simply doesn’t
work.

How many diets have you tried?  Maybe you lost some weight
while on a diet but didn’t you gain it right back right
after you stopped dieting?

Diets don’t work.  Converting your bad eating habits to
healthy ones takes time, it’s a gradual process.  Dieting
for a month or two will never give you lasting weight loss.

Often dieting deprives you of your favorite foods, or
leaves you feeling hungry throughout the day.  Of course
as a result that hunger and deprivation builds up and
turns into an overeating episode followed by lots of
guilt and shame for ruining your diet.

Well go easy on yourself, a diet isn’t realistic,
it doesn’t work, so forgive yourself and move on.

Also remember that a diet will never help you stop eating junk foods
long term.

Instead make sure you are consuming enough food.  Make
sure you are enjoying a variety of foods.  Make sure you
aren’t physically hungry at the end of a meal.  Start
paying attention to your hunger levels.  If you are once
hungry between meals, have a small snack, it’s ok.

It’s much healthier than eating too little, letting your
hunger build and then have a binge eating episode.

This might be tough for you if you have always been
dieting.  But give it a try.  Also make sure your hunger
is physical and not emotional.  This isn’t an excuse to
engage in emotional eating.

Emotional eating is where you eat to deal with tough
emotions.  Eating a huge meal at the end of a stressful
day is a common example of Emotional Eating.

Tip 2 - Consume Your Favorite Junk Foods & Fast Foods
in Controlled Moderation

I know you are worried that if you start eating your
favorite junk food you wont be able to stop eating it.
Many popular overeating support groups advice you to
abstain from all junk foods and fast food claiming that
they have addictive elements to them.

Well I tried that.  I seriously tried abstaining from all
of my junk foods for a while, but it never worked for me.
I tried and failed at it several times.  And I’m guessing
if you can avoid junk foods all together then overeating
wouldn’t be a problem for you in the first place.

Not only that but the more I tried to abstain from junk
food, the more I craved it.  Of course the more cravings
the bigger of a binge eating episode I ended up having.
It just didn’t work.

I couldn’t stop eating junk foods simply by avoiding them all together.

What really works is consuming your favorite junk foods
in controlled moderation.

If you really feel like eating
fast food one night, then decide what you will order,
visit the restaurant and get just that.  A cheeseburger
every now and then won’t hurt you.  Rather it will help
you avoid future overeating or binge eating episodes.

If you have really been craving doughnuts, then get a
doughnut on your way to work one morning.  Remember
“controlled” moderation.  You shouldn’t order more
than one doughnut.

How do you know the right number of servings or amount of
junk food you should buy?  Well that’s up to you, you
need to decide before purchasing the food and stick
with your decision.

If you decide to only eat one doughnut then it’s a bad
idea to order a dozen. Don’t do it.

The more often you give yourself permission to have
those “forbidden foods” the less and less you will
crave them.  The less cravings you have for junk foods
the less often you will overeat or binge eat.

I hope these tips help you get your junk food cravings under control long-term.

Instead of trying to stop eating junk foods completely, these tips should help
have normal eating habits around junk foods, and be able to eat them in
moderation.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 at 12:01 am and is filed under Stop Eating Junk Food.