What is Binge Eating?

Binge eating is described as eating an amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat in a similar period, and feeling a lack of control over eating. Binge eating is sometimes followed by an effort to rid the body of the excess food, by methods such as purging/vomiting, laxatives, diuretics, excessive exercise, or other methods such as what is now termed "diabulimia" which is letting one's blood sugar run high in order to not utilize the energy. When people binge eat, they are usually eating in response to emotions rather than response to hunger. When a difficult situation arises, binge eaters cope with food rather than other coping methods.

Tips to Overcome Binge Eating
# Ditch the diets!

Diets cause you to control your food externally, by restricting calories or types of foods. When you are deprived of a certain food or category of foods, you will usually end up focusing and obsessing more about that particular food. You begin to crave the foods that you are not allowed. This ends up as a food that is usually binged on because you spend all day trying not to eat the food, then obsess more and more until you finally can't control yourself.
# Neutralize all foods.

An alternative to diets is to neutralize all foods, seeing all foods as neither "good" or "bad". Balance and moderation is the key to healthy eating. If you ate only broccoli because that is a "good" food, you would not get all the nutrients your body needs. Rather than telling yourself you can never eat sweets, aim for 80-90% of your diet to be healthier foods with 10-20% sweets.
# Listen to your body's hunger and fullness signals.

Your body can regulate itself to maintain your weight. Because of our perception of appropriate portion sizes, which have dramatically increased over the years, what we perceive as appropriate is usually a serving for 2-3 people. We are also conditioned to "finish your plate" where people feel guilty if they leave food and therefore eat until they are stuffed, consuming much more calories than needed.

Hunger and fullness can be described on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being totally empty and 10 being stuffed and miserable. 5 would be neutral, neither hungry nor full. Rather than waiting until you are a 1 or 2 to begin eating, eat when you are at a 3, stopping when you are full at a 7, rather than a 9 or 10. These numbers are subjective and take practice to learn. For some great handouts on hunger and fullness, see www.move.va.gov
# Listen to your emotions and learn new coping methods.

Keeping a food journal where you record when you eat, what amounts, your hunger level when starting to eat, your fullness level when finished eating, and the circumstances surrounding when you ate, as well as your thoughts and feelings, can give you some great insight into why you are eating. Learn to stop when you feel like eating and ask yourself "Am I hungry?" If so, then eat, being mindful of how fast you are eating and stopping when you are full. If you are not hungry, learn to ask yourself the "I feel, I need" question. For example, "I feel lonely, I need to call someone." Develop some coping responses you can choose rather than food, such as journaling, talking to a friend or counselor, relaxation techniques, taking a bath, going for a walk, or whatever will help you meet your need.
# Improve your body image.

Body image is highly influenced by the media. We learn distorted ideas about what the ideal body looks like. Family attitudes also affect our body image, with parental modeling of what we should look like, as well as attitudes about food. Teasing can cause us to see ourselves differently. Improving your body image can take time, but you can begin by noticing what the media encourages such as the themes and messages they portray. Learn to counter and challenge those thoughts about what messages are unrealistic and unattainable.

These are some guidelines to help you begin to decrease your binge eating. Binge eating is a complex behavior that may be difficult to overcome by yourself. Therapy can help you begin to see why you are turning to food and help you take small action steps to begin to substitute other behaviors rather than eating. A therapist can help you learn to see yourself differently and have a healthier body image. When other areas in life aren't working, eating problems are one way the problems show up when you don't address them. Get help addressing your problems, so you can overcome your binge eating.



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