How to stop Binge Eating with these 9 helpful steps
What is binge eating disorder?
Binge eating disorder (BED) is a common eating disorder where you eat a substantially large amount of food in a short space of time. It can feel like loss of control eating and is usually followed by a bout of shame and or guilt.
Bingeing is different from overeating, in that with overeating, you are driven by hunger and you eat too much of your meal. Bingeing is not driven by hunger and is a short burst of compulsive eating.
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Discover 10 little-known psychological strategies that go deeper than food rules and diets — from a Clinical Hypno-Psychotherapist.
If you suffer with BED, you are more likely trapped in a Binge Eating cycle, which follows:
1. The Trigger
Something triggers you. It could be an upsetting event, or something someone has said, but it leaves you wanting to binge.
2. The Craving
From the trigger, you are left craving your favourite binge foods. The craving will not stop until you binge.
3. The Binge
This is loss of control eating. You go all out eating what you want.
4. Shame and or guilt
What follows is a period of psychological stress. There is shame in what you have just done, because you know you shouldn’t have done it. This can be frustration, disappointment and or guilt.
5. Restriction – (an attempt to stop Binge Eating)
Because of the shame and or guilt, you vow to never binge again so you end up with restrictive eating behaviors. This can look like following strict rules or being on a strict diet.
To have Binge Eating Disorder (BED) you will have not just one symptom but a few. See the signs and symptoms here.
Further Reading
How to stop binge eating in 5 easy steps
What are the causes and effects of binge eating disorder
Binge Eating disorder typically starts in adolescence or early adulthood. There are many factors involved for the disorder to develop. Though it can be a coping mechanism for trauma suffered when younger.
Some people turn to substance abuse, like alcohol or drugs. For others, food is their drug of choice.
People with binge eating disorder often report accompanying symptoms such as anxiety, depression and or ADHD.
Why do I keep wanting to binge eat?
Binge eating disorder may start as excessive dieting. You could be doing well on your diet until one day something happens and you want all of your favourite foods that you have been missing out on.
Binge eating helps to suppress unwanted negative feelings. Bingeing often feels good in the moment. Because of that, our unconscious drives us to continue to binge eat.
When we feel binge, dopamine and other positive brain chemicals are released. This feels great. It is like a hit so the brain drives us to keep searching for this hit.
Why is it so hard to stop binge eating?
It can be hard to break out of a binge eating cycle. This is because it follows an addiction cycle, where one action overcompensates for another.
For example, when you binge eat, most people experience feeling bad and guilty. They then go on a restrictive diet because they have eaten too much and they think the diet will compensate for their binge eating episodes.
The longer you stay in this binge cycle, the more polarised your behaviour can get. The more you keep binge eating, the more restrictive your diets can become. More restriction leads to feelings of missing out, which leads to having food cravings for certain foods.
This restrictive diet is too restrictive. The urge to binge becomes more frequent and more intense.
Bingeing is also a coping strategy for emotional issues we may not like. We may have not learnt emotional regulation in our childhoods so we end up searching outside of us to feel good and we end up finding food.
Further Reading
Binge Eating Disorder Pscyhological treatment options
How to stop Binge Eating? Here are 9 helpful strategies.
1. Stop the restrictive diet
You’ve had a binge, and now you are worried about gaining weight, so a restrictive diet seems the most logical thing to do. Only this is the one thing that can cause the next binge.
Restricting your food intake causes you to have food cravings.
Long-term weight loss is not going to be gained by strict dieting, or calorie counting. Weight loss is going to be achieved by little positive steps of a combination of healthy eating habits, exercise and mindset.
Start by considering forbidden foods. What are they?
Allow yourself a little of what it is you want, rather than totally depriving yourself. This helps to curb cravings. Once you have a little, then don’t beat yourself up.
2. Avoid Skipping meals
It can be tempting to skip meals or to do intermittent fasting because you have had a binge.
However, in one study, it has been shown that fasting can actually increase compulsive eating. I have noticed in my clients, that their binge eating got worse when they started intermittent fasting.
When we skip meals it means we get hungrier. When we stop eating, our hunger only intensifies until we end up overeating and eating the wrong foods. This can lead to a binge.
Start with three meals in a day. Build up regular eating habits.
Over time your body will know what is the right amount to eat. This is intuitive eating. Our bodies will not learn how to eat and how to stop binge eating if we are skipping meals.
3. Keep a mood journal
Binge eating disorder is not logical, rather it is an unconscious emotional response to something.
A study on Binge Eating and stress, concluded that stress alone was not the cause.
Binge eating is triggered by many psychological factors and is not straightforward.
By keeping a mood journal, you can note how you are feeling when you binge. Over time you will notice a pattern. You can see what is the driving emotion for you.
Low self-esteem may play a factor as well as any mental health conditions.
Take your time writing out your journal. Ponder the day and the events and how you felt.
Some Questions to help you;
What happened today?
How did I react?
What was it about (event, or person) that made me react that way?
How did I feel before, during and after eating food?
4. Find your triggers
Binge eating rarely has anything to do with food. Rather, it is your response to a trigger.
A trigger is when an event or a situation happens that causes you to respond in a certain way. Your response is to binge eat.
By keeping a note in your journal of events that happen, you can start to notice your triggers.
Is your binge eating caused by an emotional event, like you being angry or upset at something? Is it set off by environmental triggers, you being in a certain place for example?
After a while hopefully you will start to see patterns of behaviours and patterns of thoughts emerge.
5. Plan your meal times
Establishing a regular pattern of eating is part of the treatment for Binge Eating Disorder (BED).
I notice in my clinic, that clients will often follow a pattern of being a little bit hungry, not wanting to eat for fear of weight gain. They then wait until they are famished before eating and end up overeating.
Meal planning will help you to follow a regular eating schedule and help escape the binge/restriction cycle.
Meal planning will ensure you are not missing eating entire food groups.
A binge eating myth is that by increasing your food intake will lead to weight gain. Not necessarily if you are eating healthy food and getting regular exercise
When you plan you are making it easier to develop healthier eating habits. It makes it easier to ensure you are eating regularly.
6. Practise mindfulness
Mindfulness is where you are fully present in what you are doing. You are aware of your behaviours, emotions and thoughts.
Studies have shown that mindfulness meditation can decrease the frequency of Binge Eating and has many health benefits such as relieving stress and lowering blood pressure.
Being fully present causes you to slow down. It causes you to be present. By being present, you become aware of your emotions. You will start to notice being able to handle them more effectively and not being overwhelmed by them.
Mindful eating, is when you are paying attention to your thoughts and emotions around food. Practising being aware whilst bingeing can help you to have greater awareness of your emotional drivers and any unhealthy eating habits contributing to your binge eating.
The calmer and more aware you are of your feelings helps you to be in control of your thoughts around food.
You will find your emotions less intense and therefore less likely to binge as a way of coping.
There are many self-help programmes and self-help books to guide you with mindfulness. Plan in some self-care steps you can take to start feeling more relaxed.
7. Develop a healthier relationship with food
Recovery from eating disorders is not always as straightforward as recovery from addiction to alcohol or drugs. Your drug of choice here is food.
Like alcohol or drugs, food can end up being your only friend. Though you may have a love-hate relationship with food.
In an ideal world, you would be doing intuitive eating. This could be a long way off yet, so do not fret, as with all eating disorders, recovery is a journey.
There is nothing wrong with you, you just need to learn a new pattern of eating and learn to manage your food triggers.
Most people with binge eating want to lose weight. It is natural to think that food and eating certain foods, is the problem.
Food and binge eating is just a symptom of what is happening in your unconscious.
8. Find better ways to feed your feelings
The common cause of a binge eating habit is to try to control undesirable feelings like sadness, depression, or loneliness.
If someone is having a bad day, food seems like the only friend they have. Having bad foods causes stress and anxiety to disappear, and the feeling fades out. It was only fleeting.
Practising mindfulness is a way to connect to your feelings.
Having a support system with others is also another way to bring positive feelings into your life. There are many support groups with others who have BED, to help you not feel so alone.
Deep breathing is another technique that helps you reduce anxiety and alleviate stress by activating the parasympathetic nervous system. Finding relaxation techniques helps to get better connected with yourself.
Go back to the time when you started binge eating. What was happening for you around then?
9. Talk to an Eating Disorder specialist
Binge Eating Disorder is characterised as an eating disorder in the DSM 5 (Diagnostical and Statistical Manual of mental disorders)
Like other eating disorders, it is best to get the treatment and support from a healthcare professional like an eating disorder psychotherapist. It is a good idea to consider surrounding yourself with a healthcare team.
Treating an eating disorder on your own can be very hard and frustrating. There are many different treatment options, from cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), talk therapy, also known as interpersonal psychotherapy, Hypnotherapy, dialectical behavioral therapy and these will include a form of acceptance and commitment therapy.
See here, which would be best for you.
There are many therapists who specialise in eating disorders so take your time to pick the best fit for you.
If seeing a therapist on a 1:1 basis is too intense for you, some therapists will offer group sessions and some will offer online therapy.
It is important for you to find someone who you feel safe with and can trust.
Conclusion
There are many elements to Binge Eating and many causes. For the best possible outcome, it is recommended that you seek out someone to work with.
Many people do recover from Binge Eating Disorder.
Recovery can take time and is not a linear journey.
There will be many times when you fall back. That’s OK and is natural. Keep going, and surround yourself with supportive and positive friends and ideally support from a family member.
Recovery usually requires changes to not only eating habits but emotional well-being and mindset.
I do observe positive responses from people who are willing to explore their minds and emotions and are willing to put the work in.
Recovery is totally possible.
Further Reading
How to stop binge eating in 5 easy steps
Why willpower won’t stop you Binge Eating
Binge Eating Disorder Treatment, which one is best for you
How to get back on track after a binge eating session
Further Help
US – National eating disorders association. UK – Beat Eating disorders
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Break the Binge-Restrict Cycle Without More Dieting
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