Setting up a binge?

Jessieqaz

I have been reading so much about binge eating, I don't even remember when it started (do you?) Looking back, I used to not revolve my life around food as much as now, something somewhere somehow went wrong and I lost myself in the food craze.... I know exactly what I am doing, I choose to binge and I know that - and it all started like this:

I wake up feeling great and tell myself I want to be fit and look good :-) I went to the gym, came home and had a yogurt and I wasn't feeling hungry but I made myself a salad as usual and had my lunch and then I thought, hmm.... why not eat some tahini, it tastes good - so I made another salad with tahini and then another salad (it is ok to binge on salad right?) then my tummy starts to feel "full" and somehow that seems to trigger me to want to eat more and I started eating a healthy muffin, then two, then three... then I ate a wholemeal biscuit and once the pack is opened, I MUST finish it! And I tell myself, well I think those butter cookies look really good, might as well also FINISH it also and that's when i start going through all the food I can find - usually cookies and biscuits and I will try to finish them so I cannot binge next time (if that makes any sense).... so this is what I usually will do tonight - pretend I ate something wrongly and had a queasy stomach so I will skip dinner when everyone else is eating. And I will wake up tomorrow feeling guilty and promise myself to not binge again.... The cycle goes on :-(

Any tips from anyone who WAS in a similar situation and has overcome this crazy behaviour?

awesomekaty

I struggle with something similar, and lately I’ve done a decent job at stopping the cycle.

Firstly and most importantly, forgive yourself for these past mistakes. Do not skip dinner tonight, just eat healthier. What is more damaging than the binging behavior itself is letting that behavior control you, and if you miss dinner, you’re letting it take control of your life.

Secondly, eat when you are hungry and until you feel full. Eat consciously and recognize when you are about to be hungry. If you like salads with tahini, don’t deny it to yourself, just enjoy it and focus on every mouthful until you recognize that you’re full.

Thirdly, remove any tempting foods from the house. If you usually binge on cookies and biscuits, do not buy cookies and biscuits.

Fourthly, replace your thinking by dwelling on something healthy. Set a goal. Vow to complete a 5K and replace any time spent thinking about food with time spent planning how to finish the race.

And once again, recognize that changing a behavior is a process and sometimes you will slip up. It happens. To err is human; to forgive, divine.

Best of luck to you. Breaking out of the cycle is always the hardest part on the road to sustaining a healthy lifestyle.