How do you stop binge eating?

[Judy]

I need some motivation/ guidance. My weight has creeped up to over 200 pounds again after a 60 pound weight loss. What do you tell yourself that makes you stop the binge eating cycle? I wake up always feeling too full from the night before and vow not to repeat my mistakes. Almost before I get the thought out I have food in my hand. Anyone else struggle with this or have in the past? I’m looking for some inspiration. I want to stop gaining before I get up to 242 again.

[Kelly]

Judy, you have to make a conscience effort to stop yourself. If you’re saying you don’t want to binge but before you know it, there’s food in your hands, then there’s a disconnect going on. What’s going on in your life that you’re trying to stuff down because that’s what you’re doing with the food.

Take a deep breath and really think about this. What is the food doing for you? You’re somehow getting something out of it otherwise you wouldn’t be doing it.

[Judy]

You are absolutely right. The food has to be doing something for me, but it has been hard to pin point exactly why I am eating. I am an extremely anxious person so I would imagine I eat a lot to calm my nerves. I don’t know if I am sabotaging myself for some reason. I appreciate your thoughts, and I will try to really think before I eat. Thanks for the reply!

[Rose]

When I got into a ‘binge cycle’ last year and I was forcing myself to fast then I would binge, then I had to fast to balance out calories etc, I stopped ESE / IF for a month or so and I ate lower calorie foods but bigger volume at my maintenance level of calories. I ate 3 to 4 times per day. This way I was never hungry, and I was eating regularly. I ate what I wanted but less. I wanted PB and chocolate so I had some every day……just not the jar. I just did not focus on food all the time. I broke my pattern by doing this. I know others have taken a week of this approach and it has helped to break this pattern of binge / fast. Hope that helps a bit.

[Kelly]

Please know that I do not mean to sound harsh- if that’s how I came across. I just know how you’re feeling because I have been right where you are and it’s not a good place. If you are anxious a lot, then the food is being used as a form of self-soothing; it temporarily takes away those ‘bad & uncomfortable’ feelings.

But, as soon as the food is consumed, those feelings come back and then you’re onto the next thing to eat and the vicious cycle continues. Before you know it, your weight has ballooned all the way back up again. Don’t let this happen Stephanie. Wipe the slate clean today. Tmmr is a brand new 24 hrs to begin to make a change. When the urge to binge happens, take a deep breath and ask yourself, “Ok. I feel like I need to have ________. Am I really hungry for ________ or am I just feeling anxious about something?” If it’s feelings of anxiety, start examining them.

Get a journal or a notebook and go into another room (void of food) and start writing out your feelings. If you are truly hungry for whatever it is you want, portion out an amount and put the rest away. Go into another room to eat. Savor each bite- s-l-o-w-l-y. Revel in the taste and texture of what you’re eating. After you’re done, check in with yourself about how you’re feeling. Take baby steps in the right direction..

[Judy]

Okay, I am going to really, really try to process my feelings before stuffing myself. Again, thank you Kelley. It seems so easy when you hear it. I have to stop feeling sorry for myself and just do!

I might need to take a step back from fasting and try to stop obsessing. It could give me a sort of restart so I can not feel like a failure for not binging after doing really good for a day or two.

My 3 and 5 year old are bouncing around demanding my attention so I hope I properly thanked everyone. I am going to reread the advice later because it is really good. Thank you!

[sandra]

I had problems with the same issue for like 2-3 years, all the way up until I started doing some real work, getting through my issues. The food binging was a symptom of internal turmoil. Once I dealt with that it was a lot easier to break the cycle. Yet, it still takes work, it’s constant conscious effort and a lot of internal work to continue to have a sane eating style… Address what’s really going on inside, I can’t stress this enough.

[ruth]

Binge eating is serious and I would work with a professional to overcome it.

The reason to work with a professional who specializes in binging rather than just a therapist in general is because in my experience and observation things can come from places you wouldn’t expect.

Indirect but with very real teeth and a specialist can help you focus on those hidden parts of the equation rather than ways to try to not react once everything has already reached FUBAR status. Finding ways to actually lighten the chronic stress load, finding what the root of the arguments is actually regarding and resolving it…this stuff is golden and a game changer.

[Anonymous]

You are not binging because you just like that. There are feelings below that binge, that cause the binge. Stopping the binge that is caused by emotions is only possible when you understand the emotion below it, and fix that.

Perhaps it is a belief system you have in place, a negative belief that you will never be thin, so why even try it. Perhaps losing the weight makes you feel ‘naked’ and without protection. Your unconscious will try to fix that, by letting you gain weight. There are many more reasons why. perhaps you feel you are not worthy of a thin body…

You will only get a real grip on this kind of stuffing yourself, when you get rid of the negative thoughts that are below it.

You can try to do this by analyzing how you feel right before you want to start a binge. Or during a binge that was not to be prevented. If you get into binging, and you can’t stop, then at least take the time during and afterwards at WHY you did that. How you felt. Was it boredom, was it loneliness, was it (fill in the blanks).

Don’t judge yourself, just try to figure out why you wanted to eat more than you should. There is no right or wrong in this discovery of yourself. First you need to know why, and then you can work on that underlying problem that causes the binges.

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