Emotion Regulation

laniakea67

Hello, fellow travelers.

Like me, I am sure many of you binge eat as a way to help you regulate or "control" your emotions. I have PTSD from childhood trauma and binge eating "helps" me avoid having emotional breakdowns when I experience things that remind me of the trauma. Food is my bipolar disorder drug.

What are some strategies you use to prevent an episode of binge eating? For example, I have started keeping a journal. It is small and fits in my purse for moments when I feel overwhelmed by emotion. I write a few sentences to identify 1) what feeling I am fighting and 2) why I want to binge. It helps.

spinwam

I am just joining this group today. I definitely binge for emotional control. But also out of boredom. Sometimes it works for me to set a timer for 10 minutes when I am having a good craving to let that pass. I've also found that I just have to stay away from sweets. I can not have snack foods in the house or I will eat them all. At once. I like the idea of journaling too.

Poppyaswell

Hi, I find I binge for alot of reasons, boredom, comfort and then I crave the sugar. I have discovered though. that I was trying to diet too hard out and I would crash and binge after a few days. So I decided I would relax and put the bathroom scales away (as I was weighing myself everyday) and just decided to be mindful about what I was eating, as in type of food and quantities. If I really felt like something I would have it. I then after a couple of weeks, weighed myself to find I have lost quite abit of weight. yay! I have 1.8kg to get back to goal (the weight I was before the Christmas festivities.
It is a learning curve;)
As for journaling, I think that's a great idea. You will begin to see patterns in the way you eat.
Have a great week guys.