The Battle of the Binge – 7 Tips to Help with Emotional/Binge Eating

For as long as I can recall I’ve been a binge eater and an emotional eater. As a kid, into my teens, and now in my adult life I have struggled with my eating habits.

At times whenever no one was around, I would eat as much as possible in a single sitting. When people who I loved and cared about me were around, I would still eat a good amount, then eat some more when they left the room. It was as if I was never fully satisfied or full, and even when I felt a bit full, I would keep eating until I would feel like bursting.

There was a lot of shame and guilt surrounding me after I finished a binge session. Sometimes to curb the feeling of guilt I would eat again, because at least for a moment I would feel okay.

This was binge and emotional eating at a high level and it only was hurting me mentally and physically.

I knew at some point I had to stop this habit or at least find a way to acknowledge it when those binge eating moments or emotional eating moments would start to happen.

I’ve realized through research that some of my problems arose from other issues I wasn’t addressing, which I will list below. I hope you find these tips helpful if you too struggle with emotional or binge eating problems.

STAY HYDRATED

According to research the traditional “drink 8 cups of water a day” is not relevant to each individual person. What you should be doing is drinking half your body weight in ounces of water. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds you should be drinking 100 ounces of water per day, and if you are exercising, please increase that amount around 15-25 ounces, or depending on your workouts.

A lot of the time that you are feeling hungry and wanting to continue to eat food, it is likely because you are thirsty, not hungry. Try to get into a habit of drinking a full cup of water before each meal you have.

As well, try drinking a full cup of water before you decide to start snacking, wait 10 mins or so and if you’re still hungry, reach for a healthy snack that is filling, not just fulfilling a craving.

You may have already read about this but a lot of the time when we are feeling hungry, we are actually thirsty. I mean I was in no way drinking half my body weight in ounces of water a day AT ALL before I ran across this information.

If you must, buy a water bottle that is cute, but also practical. I personally like a water bottle that displays the number of ounces of water the container holds on the outside, so I can see how much I am drinking, and how much more I need to finish by the end of the day.

You are made up of 60% water, make sure to keep your body and mind healthy by refueling at the necessary numbers. You got this!

STOP FAD DIETS

Your relationship to food should not rely on crash diets, famous diets, diet diets 😉

There have been countless times I started a diet and only found myself a couple days later face deep in the fridge and pantry searching for all the foods.

For example, I have done a diet where I completely cut out wheat products, is that the Atkins? I’m really not sure. When I did this, I lost weight pretty quickly, but when I started eating breads and pastas again, even slowly reintroducing it, I gained the weight back, plus some. This was not a sustainable, long lasting diet plan. It was a quick, lose the weight plan that only had my body craving and asking for more later.

When you diet you are telling yourself you cannot enjoy some foods, that you cannot eat some foods. I know for me, it left me craving the foods I couldn’t eat. Instead of thinking about all the foods I was going to eat now, I was thinking about all the foods that I could not eat, and it only made me want them more.

Instead, opt for balanced eating, without restrictions. Don’t limit yourself too much. Understand that you are trying to lose weight, get healthy, or just eat better in general.

I’ll talk more about this in a bit.

PLAN YOUR MEALS/MEAL PREP

“I love meal prepping” said no one ever.

Meal Prepping and Meal Planning is one of the hardest and yet most satisfying aspects of controlling what you put in your body.

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of options out there for you to research on meal plans. I’ve watched YouTube videos, Instagram posts and videos, and read online articles/blogs about what to prep and how-to prep.

Not having to worry about your next meal for the day is key if you are trying to stop binge eating habits or even help with healthy eating habits.

When I would “forget” to pack my lunch for work – I say it like that, because I would purposely not pack anything and be like, “oops forgot my lunch, guess I’ll get -insert unhealthy fast food option here-“ – I would end up spending money on food that was bad for me, at a place that didn’t have my health in mind, only my money and the hopes a person like me would return again for more.

Meal prepping is a barrier between you and unhealthy eating habits. Try doing a couple meals a week at least. Start small, don’t overwhelm yourself with prepping breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You could burn yourself out, or even give up if it’s too daunting.

Each week set a goal to have a set number of meals pre-made. And slowly you may find yourself increasing or setting new goals for your meal prep plans.

Just by having a couple meals ready, you’re lowering the number of calories you’ll be intaking just by making the food yourself.

EAT MINDFULLY

All credit goes to a book I’m reading called “Eating Mindfully” by Susan Albers. Just a few chapters in and I’m hooked on her compassionate outlook on our relationship with food.

A couple key factors that I’ve already started to implement in my own life are changing the thoughts you have towards food and listening to your body more.

I would highly recommend reading this book if you have a chance.

One of the thought changing process’s is just eating what you want to eat without restrictions. Just like cutting out fad diets.

When you eat mindfully you are feeling your food, really tasting each bite, thinking about how it makes you feel and the emotions you get while you eat them. Is the food you are eating, just okay? Then why continue to eat it? Don’t just mindlessly chow down on food that leaves you unsatisfied.

As well, listening to your body, and reconnecting to what your stomach is truly telling you is vital. Re-learning the signs of being hungry or full are difficult, but with mindful eating, you are thinking and processing while you eat. Don’t be distracted by other obligations, cherish and respect yourself and your food enough to think about each bite and recognize when you are full or satisfied.

Eating until you are overly stuffed never feels good. So, try to stop and think with each bite you take and feel how your stomach is reacting. You may already know some foods and signs that trigger over filling or sluggish feelings. Try to recognize them and approach each meal and snack with an open mind each time.

EXERCISE

Get your heart pumping. Do something new that gets your body moving and your heart racing. You don’t have to just show up at the gym and walk on a treadmill. There are so many ways to get active

Walk you dog

Go for a bike ride

Go swimming

Find a popular hiking trail

Take an introductory class (ie Boxing, Zumba, HIIT, Cycling) – you never know what you end up falling in love with + a lot of places have a free intro class, no need to commit to one thing when you can try it all .

When my body is moving, I feel tired, but after I feel energized, refreshed, and like I can do anything.

Exercise helps get your mood right, burn those extra calories, and benefits your overall health.

Skip the Chips and Cookie Aisle

Buying good snacks is going to be so important for you to help with the negative side effects of binge eating.

Remove all junk foods that cause damage to your body now and down the road by donating or throwing out foods that are not beneficial to your health.

You are not required to eat foods in your house just because they are there. You do not have to finish that box of cookies because you spent money on it.

Buy lots of healthy foods for snacking, like watermelon, honey melon, apples, grapes, blueberries, baby carrots, celery, cucumbers, nuts and seeds.

You do not have to eat these all alone. For example, dip your veggies in some homemade humus, or store bought. (If you want an easy hummus recipe drop a comment or shoot me an email). Mix in some dark chocolate bits to a trail mix of nuts and seeds. And of course, utilize YOUTUBE for good snacking ideas! Here’s a fun one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZZOc9KDkFM

Remember you are human, and you will have those moments where you find yourself in the midst of wanting to binge. The least you can do is have healthier foods around, because we all know that its tough to break the cycle of emotional and binge eating habits. But by eliminating tempting foods that you’re used to grabbing for you will help stop the unhealthy side effects that binge and emotional eating causes to our bodies, at least to a small degree.

Talk to Someone

Having people, you can express your emotions to and open up to about your problem is going to help give you the support you need.

Sharing your problem with a loved one or friend can bring a lot of peace to yourself.

Opening up can be therapeutic and one of the first steps to help you on a path to change.

If you don’t have any friends or family you feel comfortable enough to talk to, find a doctor, nutritionist, therapist, or any medical professional that deals with eating disorders to help guide you to healing.

I hope you found these tips to be helpful in your path to healing. I am on my journey as well. We need a tribe to get us through life and the problems we face. These are some of the elements that have helped me curb my problems with emotional and binge eating. A lot of the information I have written about comes from research and self-analyzing. I encourage you to do the same. It won’t take one article, one book, one person, one healthy meal, or one exercise session to get you to a place of healing.

This will take time, but you deserve this. You owe it to everything that you are to commit to a change. Take one step at a time, but understand that at least you’ve started, at least you are trying.

You got this girl; I believe in you!

Drop a comment, like, or share if you feel this has helped you in any way. Lots of love!

#bingeeating #emotionaleating #eatingtips #healthyhabits #loveyourself