Hey there Stunning!
So, let me be brutally and embarrassingly honest right now. Whenever I feel sad, stressed or anxious, I turn to food. Food makes me feel better... well, for a moment. The past week I have been binge eating. And I have gained back everything that I've lost and have gained 10 pounds on top of all that. My husband lost his job, and I felt so helpless that I tuned to food. During this binge, I ate 3 entire large pizzas, and entire case of Pepsi and countless bars of chocolate. The thing is, these things made me feel amazing when I was eating them, but now, I feel like a failure. So, here it is. HOW TO STOP BINGE EATING.
Food Is Not a Moral Decision.
If you choose to eat a slice of pizza over a rice cake, you're not a bad person. Your human instinct just over threw your desire to lose weight. And guess what THAT'S OKAY! Humans used to rely on fat to live. Rice cakes weren't in a cave man's diet but a big slab of buffalo was. Just because your inner cave person won, doesn't mean that you failed and everything's over. You can get back on that horse, just don't unpack and live in Bingeville. Food and guilt have nothing to do with each other, food is strictly nourishment for your body. That being said, binge eating is not a good thing. Binge eating means that you've treated something with food that cannot be treated by food. So Its important to understand why your binge eating.
Why Are You Binge Eating?
People who asses binge eating, use the acronym H.A.L.T. It stands for Hungary Angry Lonely and Tired. People who binge eat, usually feel one of these things before binge eating. Personally, my trigger is hunger, but its different for everyone.
HUNGRY:
Your stomach is aching, you're getting pangs, and your body screams EAT NOW! So you do, and you don't stop until you're at the bottom of a pizza box and a bag of chips and you can't move. When you're hungry, your blood sugar is low, the neurons in your brain are firing, and your stomach is in need of food so your body demands that you nourish your body, and you take it too far. I've been there, done that.
When this problem presents its self, first, drink a large 16oz glass of water. Then, slowly eat a healthy, balanced meal. Don't let yourself get hungry, eat a small snack between meals. I like apples and yogurt as a snack, but anything healthy helps.
ANGRY:
Have you ever been so mad that you just want to eat, and eat everything in site? I have. And scientifically, it makes sense too. When you're angry you have aggression that needs to be released. When you have no way of releasing that aggression on the person or the situation that is causing it, you're left with this tension that needs to relieved. Food relieves aggression when you conquer large helpings of food, then your brain releases Oxycontin and you're left with a lower sense of aggression.
When you're feeling angry and you know you're at risk of binge eating, channel the aggression into a positive way. Go for a run, work out or listen to music and clean
LONELY:
We've all been there, it's a miserable feeling and it hurts to be lonely. Speaking as a girl who was ostracized in school and went through high school with no friends, I understand binge eating to fill the hole of companionship. I get it, but I also know that it doesn't help anything. At the end of the day, food isn't your friend.
When you're feeling lonely, remember that you're important and irreplaceable. Everyone feels lonely sometimes. To coupe with feeling alone, read a book or watch a movie. Do not eat to comfort yourself, and if you go to the top of the page, there is a Facebook link, you can ALWAYS talk to me, I love hearing form you guys, and I would love to help remind you how much you mean.
TIRED:
I'm guilty of this one too. I have a horrible habit of staying up all night and then getting tired and then binge eating. When you're tired, your brain doesn't tell your stomach when you need to stop eating as easily as it would otherwise. Another reason you may do this is because calories equal energy there fore the more calories the more energy you have when you're deprived of sleep.
Obviously the way to fix this one is sleep, but if that's not something you can do, eat something like a banana. Bananas are packed with energy. Then drink a big glass of water, avoid energy supplements.
How to move on after a binge.
First off, forgive yourself. Everyone makes mistakes. Then get back into your work out routine, but don't over compensate for the binge, go for a walk, or take a relaxing bath and most importantly breathe.
If you think you may have a binge eating disorder,
Please get help, join a support group like this one or you can seek help by calling the eating disorder hotline at 1-800-931-2237.
So, let me be brutally and embarrassingly honest right now. Whenever I feel sad, stressed or anxious, I turn to food. Food makes me feel better... well, for a moment. The past week I have been binge eating. And I have gained back everything that I've lost and have gained 10 pounds on top of all that. My husband lost his job, and I felt so helpless that I tuned to food. During this binge, I ate 3 entire large pizzas, and entire case of Pepsi and countless bars of chocolate. The thing is, these things made me feel amazing when I was eating them, but now, I feel like a failure. So, here it is. HOW TO STOP BINGE EATING.
Food Is Not a Moral Decision.
If you choose to eat a slice of pizza over a rice cake, you're not a bad person. Your human instinct just over threw your desire to lose weight. And guess what THAT'S OKAY! Humans used to rely on fat to live. Rice cakes weren't in a cave man's diet but a big slab of buffalo was. Just because your inner cave person won, doesn't mean that you failed and everything's over. You can get back on that horse, just don't unpack and live in Bingeville. Food and guilt have nothing to do with each other, food is strictly nourishment for your body. That being said, binge eating is not a good thing. Binge eating means that you've treated something with food that cannot be treated by food. So Its important to understand why your binge eating.
Why Are You Binge Eating?
People who asses binge eating, use the acronym H.A.L.T. It stands for Hungary Angry Lonely and Tired. People who binge eat, usually feel one of these things before binge eating. Personally, my trigger is hunger, but its different for everyone.
HUNGRY:
Your stomach is aching, you're getting pangs, and your body screams EAT NOW! So you do, and you don't stop until you're at the bottom of a pizza box and a bag of chips and you can't move. When you're hungry, your blood sugar is low, the neurons in your brain are firing, and your stomach is in need of food so your body demands that you nourish your body, and you take it too far. I've been there, done that.
When this problem presents its self, first, drink a large 16oz glass of water. Then, slowly eat a healthy, balanced meal. Don't let yourself get hungry, eat a small snack between meals. I like apples and yogurt as a snack, but anything healthy helps.
ANGRY:
Have you ever been so mad that you just want to eat, and eat everything in site? I have. And scientifically, it makes sense too. When you're angry you have aggression that needs to be released. When you have no way of releasing that aggression on the person or the situation that is causing it, you're left with this tension that needs to relieved. Food relieves aggression when you conquer large helpings of food, then your brain releases Oxycontin and you're left with a lower sense of aggression.
When you're feeling angry and you know you're at risk of binge eating, channel the aggression into a positive way. Go for a run, work out or listen to music and clean
LONELY:
We've all been there, it's a miserable feeling and it hurts to be lonely. Speaking as a girl who was ostracized in school and went through high school with no friends, I understand binge eating to fill the hole of companionship. I get it, but I also know that it doesn't help anything. At the end of the day, food isn't your friend.
When you're feeling lonely, remember that you're important and irreplaceable. Everyone feels lonely sometimes. To coupe with feeling alone, read a book or watch a movie. Do not eat to comfort yourself, and if you go to the top of the page, there is a Facebook link, you can ALWAYS talk to me, I love hearing form you guys, and I would love to help remind you how much you mean.
TIRED:
I'm guilty of this one too. I have a horrible habit of staying up all night and then getting tired and then binge eating. When you're tired, your brain doesn't tell your stomach when you need to stop eating as easily as it would otherwise. Another reason you may do this is because calories equal energy there fore the more calories the more energy you have when you're deprived of sleep.
Obviously the way to fix this one is sleep, but if that's not something you can do, eat something like a banana. Bananas are packed with energy. Then drink a big glass of water, avoid energy supplements.
How to move on after a binge.
First off, forgive yourself. Everyone makes mistakes. Then get back into your work out routine, but don't over compensate for the binge, go for a walk, or take a relaxing bath and most importantly breathe.
If you think you may have a binge eating disorder,
Please get help, join a support group like this one or you can seek help by calling the eating disorder hotline at 1-800-931-2237.