"Just stop binge eating"

It’s my favourite line. It straight away makes me wonder how stupid the person in front of me really is. “Just don’t do it then”... oh well now that you’ve said that, I’m healed! I want to shed a little bit of light on binge eating, whether it’s because of a stressful lifestyle or a restrictive diet.

Binge eating is something people try not to talk about. Whenever it’s brought up, especially if it‘s about yourself, it can feel like you’re being attacked. That’s not because eating the foods we enjoy is bad, but there is this stigma around binge eating that puts people in a bubble of embarrassment whenever we speak about over-indulgence. The people who bring light to someone’s binge eating in a way that makes them feel guilty are the ones who have created this awful stigma around weight & overindulgence. They are usually the ones who say things like “just stop then” or “just don’t eat that if...”.

When I’m trying to help someone with their binge eating, I don’t give advice like “stop doing that then”, my first step is to ask why. No one eats a whole mud cake because it tastes nice, and no one is eating a wheel of Camembert because it’s time for afternoon tea. When people binge eat, it’s often because they A) need comfort B) are harbouring negative emotions C) have tried to limit their diet for so long that their cravings are uncontrollable.

Telling someone to stop binge eating, is like telling someone with Anorexia to ”just eat something”. There needs to be a wider acceptance of the fact that there underlying things happening in someone’s life that are leading to this behaviour whether it’s; relationship trouble, work stress, financial instability, ANYTHING.

Enough of the ranting for now, because the point of this isn’t to air my frustration. I want to give a few tips on trying to control overindulgence, and help you understand why it’s not always bad.

Binge eating caused by underlying issues:

I want to talk about eating in excess due to stress and other underlying issues. If you’re someone who finds comfort in food, and you try to limit your eating - you’re fighting a losing battle. If my comfort was listening to music, no one would tell me to never listen to my favourite music again. It’s the exact same with food. If you have gotten to a point where your bingeing is impacting your daily life or your health, and you want to make a change, I’m telling you not to waste your time on limiting your food intake. Sit down, and pick through every part of your life with a fine tooth comb. What happens in your day when bingeing is the only thing you can turn to? Is it the way your boss speaks to you? Is it because your partner doesn’t say goodbye in the morning? Are you having problems with your family?

Stress can come from every aspect of our lives, and if you’re trying to exercise and make healthier choices, you need to pinpoint the things that are leading to your overindulgence. Once you can put your finger on the things that lead to comfort eating, you can start to eliminate them or even substitute the habits you turn to. I’m not about to suggest going for a walk when you want to eat, so you don’t need to worry about that. What I am going to suggest is acknowledging how you’re feeling, acknowledging how you would usually comfort yourself and trying to replace it with something similar. For example, if your comfort is to climb into bed and eat a bag of chips, followed by biscuits and ice cream, why not take away the guilt that comes from the isolation? Invite some friends over and turn a guilty bingeing experience into time spent with friends. You never know, it might help you control your appetite a little bit if you have people to vent your anxieties and frustrations too.

My point is; binge eating doesn’t have to be a shameful activity that happens in the dark. Some people need food to comfort themselves in their current stage of life and that’s okay. Rather than dealing with the guilt, just account for your bingeing and start to acknowledge that it happens. When we acknowledge that it’s actually occurring, it’s a lot easier to find different comforts and solutions.

Binge eating caused by a limited diet:

Not everyone binge eats because they’re stressed, or sad. Some of us binge eat when we try to restrict calories, or we’ve been in a calorie deficit for an extended period of time.

This is when I ask people why their diet would lead to binge eating, and who told them they couldn’t only eat rice for 3 months. Calorie restriction doesn’t have to mean eating chicken and broccoli for 12 weeks, and it certainly shouldn’t mean that you completely cut the foods you enjoy for a long period of time.

When people enter a calorie deficit, they make the mistake of cutting out every food they love, and they set themselves up for failure. You’ll often hear your friends say things like “I’m not eating pizza for 12 weeks”, and it ends one of two ways 1) They don’t last long and end up splurging or 2) They finish the period of calorie restriction and celebrate by eating enough calories to fill a week. Neither of those outcomes are ideal, and I’m not talking from a calorie perspective. They are not ideal because having the all or nothing mindset when it comes to food only says you don’t understand nutrition enough to be entering a calorie deficit.

Rather than looking at food with the idea that you’ll either eat 1 lettuce leaf or 20 cheeseburgers, why not just meet somewhere in the middle? I can guarantee that eating something you love (in moderation) every now and then will not flip your eating upside down. Instead of starving yourself of the foods you enjoy eating, and creating a huge build up that leads to binge eating, satisfy your cravings as they come. By learning about nutrition, and figuring out how you can fit in foods you love, you will create much better habits long term. Sticking to the type of eating that leads to failure after a few days or weeks is only going to keep you in a cycle that causes; overeating, under-eating, guilt, disappointment and resentment.

So next time you try to make healthier choices, don’t opt for a 1300 calorie per day diet. Opt for education and knowledge that will help you create a lifetime full of control.

To sum it up...

Eating the foods you love doesn’t have to bring guilt and disappointment. Calorie tracking doesn’t have to mean restrictive and unenjoyable. Find your happy medium, and let yourself enjoy the best thing life can offer: burgers.