Binge eating can be so confusing because we just can’t understand why we continue to do it. We tell ourselves that’s it! This is the last apple pie I’m going to eat. And then the very next day the cycle starts again. It’s so debilitating and frustrating to not be able to simply stop!
What if I told you that binge eating could be your body’s way of telling you, you are not receiving adequate nutrients and so it continues to signal for you to eat even when you are full. And over time, binge eating has become an ingrained habit.
This is what happened to me. And in this article I’ll share with you some strategies to help change the signal your body is giving you by looking at the food you consume but also, the triggers to your unhealthy food habits.
One of my triggers was being alone at home watching Netflix. Another was overeating – I still wanted more. I soon learned that carbohydrate consumption was a big trigger for me, especially highly processed products that are high in sugar, trans fats and salt.
I strongly advocate food and movement as medicine and getting back to eating whole-foods, and adding movement in the form of resistance training (Weights) and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) cardio. As a nation we are getting sick mostly from the lifestyle choices we make particularly our obesogenic food environment. Just stop and think for a moment. Approximately 10% of food in the supermarket is considered real whole-food. The rest are highly processed products derived from food and other chemical substances which affect your metabolic health.
And, I bring these products up because they are what is making us overeat and binge eat as they are highly palatable and addictive. The Big Food companies spend millions on ensuring we continue to buy and consume these products to line their pockets, with little care for our health.
So, it’s time to take back your health.
This first strategy will seem strange, but bear with me. STOP DIETING. Yes, when I heard this concept and instead looked at it as a style of eating that promotes health and metabolic wellness, a big weight fell off my shoulders having dieted, binged, and purged for several years.
There are proven studies that indicate dieting and yoyo dieting can lead to a change in behaviour around food which can include overeating, binge eating and indeed, other eating disorders.
Dieting really interferes with your metabolism, and actually reduces your BMR Basal Metabolic Rate, particularly a low-fat diet, which makes it harder to release body fat. You end up with cravings and out of control eating, and forming unhealthy habits around foods.
Next, consider the foods you are consuming. We are learning more and more about how insulin is the fat storage hormone. If you wish to understand this better head on over to https://www.insuliniq.com/ who has a free introductory course on how high insulin affects your health whether you are diabetic or not. And also look for Ben Bikman on Youtube where he talks everything insulin, and educates us about the fat cells in our body.
What you will learn is how eating mostly a low carbohydrate diet, prioritising protein, to not fear good fats, and using fasting as a tool for not only weight loss but for metabolic health.This will help you feel more satiated after each meal and experience less or no cravings in a very short time. This is the experience I found, and now mostly eating this way has diminished my cravings to very rarely, or not at all.
Our insulin levels aren’t measured but they should be. Long before a glucose test tells us we are pre-diabetic or diagnosed with type 2 diabetes our insulin levels have been rising over many years. With elevated insulin it is almost impossible to lose any weight. Elevated insulin levels also indicate other chronic diseases like heart disease, high blood pressure and cholesterol, and stroke. So you can see the importance of dietary changes towards whole-foods.
The science is this. When we consume too many carbohydrates, particularly highly processed products like cakes, chips, lollies, biscuits, potato and starching vegetables, rice, bread, and pasta they turn into glucose and then glycogen if stored as fuel. That is simply how the body works. This raises our blood sugar and insulin responds too and also rises.
The only way that your body will release fat is when your insulin levels are low. So another strategy is NO MORE SNACKS between meals. This gives your body an opportunity to use up the glycogen store and then release body fat.
Fasting is a tool useful but not for someone experiencing binge eating, not to begin with anyway. It can feel like deprivation and can hinder you from getting back to a healthy relationship with food.
Here are some strategies from Brain over Binge f by Kathryn Hansen https://brainoverbinge.com/ she also offers coach and has a podcast. Like me, she suffered with Bulimia for years with little help from the conventional methods like a psychiatrist. She researched for herself and read the book Rational Recovery which gave her the answers she was seeking. Now we are looking at how we think and react and act on our thoughts.
- View Urges to Binge as Neurological Junk – when you think about it an urge is a thought that you can essentially ignore. We have thousands of thoughts per day and many of them don’t get any traction so why should the urges to binge? By viewing it as junk or as a faulty message makes it easier to dismiss.
- Separate the Higher Brain from The Urges to Binge – understand that these strong urges aren’t truly you. It’s not what you want for yourself. You are not your habit. Try to separate yourself and use your logical higher brain.
- Stop Reacting to Urges to Binge – now that you have separated yourself from the urge it will help you to stop reacting to it or paying it attention. Look at it as just one of many thoughts you have each day, don’t give it strength.
- Stop Acting on the Urges to Binge – this is a crucial piece. This is the habit part. Your brain has given you a thought but not acting on it will help break the habit cycle. To do this, remind yourself that it is just a thought and instead of doing what you usually do, find something else to distract you from acting on the urge.
- Celebrate Success – this is the best part though you will have set-backs. It’s normal with ingrained habits. But be sure to celebrate the wins and look for strategies to stop acting upon urges. For example, don’t drive to the shop to buy your stash, instead read a book, do some gardening or go for a walk. Find something at first to take you away from acting on the urge.
So, how do YOU put this into practice?
- CONSIDER YOUR TRIGGERS AND STRATEGIES TO CHANGE OR REMOVE THEM
- STOP DIETING – use food as medicine
- STOP SNACKING – eat adequately at each meal
- CONSIDER THE FOOD YOU ARE CONSUMING – low carb, prioritise protein, don’t fear good fats.
- FOLLOW THE FIVE COMPONENTS TO STOP BINGE URGES
- SEEK HELP