How to stop binge eating

pawfectly

Hey! I used to log on this app few months back I had finally started losing weight - I lost around 10lbs before I lost track and let go of this app. Since then I'd maintained that weight but recently I've been having episodes of binge eating in the past month. I used to have this problem before too but somehow I had managed to get it under control but this time, it doesn't seem to be working. I've gained more weight than I lost in a short period of time and though I feel guilty, I can't stop eating because I constantly feel like I need to eat.
Do you have any ideas as to how I can stop this? Thank you x

StealthHealth

I think your solution will depend upon whether you binge for emotional reasons or due to you restrictive diet.

For the former you need to work on the emotional issues and hoe they tie into food. I have no experience of this bu I'm led to believe that cognitive behaviour therapy is one of the techniques that tend to help.

For the latter - the book Brain Over Binge by Kathryn Hansen helped me.

kommodevaran

For me, not trying to control my eating, but instead structure my eating habits and food environment better, and work on my attitudes towards food and eating, has helped:

• Realizing that no foods are evil/bad/off limits. I can eat anything I want, but not everything at once, and not all the time.
• Remove temptations/typical binge foods from my immediate surroundings.
• Plan meals, and shop, cook and eat according to meal plan.
• Stick to regular, balanced meals based on a variety of real, nutritious food.
• Trying new foods regularly, but never force myself to eat anything I don't like.
• Getting enough sleep and rest. Trying to go to bed at the same time every night.
• Getting moderate exercise every day.
• Working on effective strategies to handle emotions, stress, boredom (eating is not effective for this).

LessCookiess

Have you seen a professional about this?

wellthenwhat

kommodevaran wrote: »

For me, not trying to control my eating, but instead structure my eating habits and food environment better, and work on my attitudes towards food and eating, has helped:

• Realizing that no foods are evil/bad/off limits. I can eat anything I want, but not everything at once, and not all the time.
• Remove temptations/typical binge foods from my immediate surroundings.
• Plan meals, and shop, cook and eat according to meal plan.
• Stick to regular, balanced meals based on a variety of real, nutritious food.
• Trying new foods regularly, but never force myself to eat anything I don't like.
• Getting enough sleep and rest. Trying to go to bed at the same time every night.
• Getting moderate exercise every day.
• Working on effective strategies to handle emotions, stress, boredom (eating is not effective for this).

That is great advice, thanks! I have what I would consider a mild binge eating problem. I say mild because I've kept it low enough to prevent major weight gain, but it definitely affects my life. I also have to tell myself that I don't need to be eating all the time, I can relax and facebook without a snack. Gum helps, minty gum makes my binge foods taste bad, and it keeps my mouth happy.

Theo166

Go back to tracking your food.
Tracking will increase your awareness on what may be triggering your binge eating, and help you control the urges.