What is Binge Eating?
Have you ever found yourself starting a diet on Monday but by Friday you are already bingeing on biscuits and takeaways? When this happens, it’s easy to blame yourself and feel like a failure but in truth, your body is just trying to keep you fed and happy!
Binge Eating vs. Overeating
First up, it’s important to differentiate between overeating and binge eating as they often get muddled! Overeating is a normal behaviour that everyone experiences at some point in their lives. For example, eating too much when out with friends or over Christmas.
Binge eating on the other hand, is associated with a loss of control. Usually, it occurs in a short period of time (e.g. under 2 hours) and can be planned, happen in secret, occur occasionally or happen multiple times in one day. Binge eating is often followed by intense feelings of shame, disgust and guilt which can lead to purging / compensatory behaviours (e.g. overexercising or vomiting).
So, what triggers binge eating?
1. Physical Hunger: when you diet you restrict your calorie intake which can result in irregular eating and inadequate intake. When this happens, your amazing body initiates survival mode to stop you starving! It does this by encouraging you to eat by increasing thoughts about food and heightening your physiological need to eat which can trigger binge eating and loss of control.
2. Rigid Restraint: setting strict dietary rules can trigger binge eating as you tend to think about and crave the foods you are trying to avoid! Rigid rules can reinforce the restrict-binge cycle as they are often unrealistic to maintain which can lead to the ‘what-the-hell’ mindset when a rule is broken.
3. Emotional Distress: Binge eating is often used to try and regulate emotional distress such as anxiety, depression, or boredom. However, binge eating can also happen in response to positive emotions like excitement as well.
What you can you do to reduce binge eating episodes in the future:
1. Eat regular meals throughout the day – regular eating helps your body maintain blood sugar balance, reduces food cravings and supports your energy requirements.
2. Find flexibility – no food is a bad food or needs to be cut out completely. Research shows that having a more flexible approach to dietary restraint reduces the risk of bingeing.
3. Get Support – if you feel like restrict-binge cycles are becoming a common theme, seek support from a dietitian and/or therapist specialising in disordered eating to help you understand how to break the cycle and find food freedom!
If you need help breaking free from rigid food rules and want to learn strategies to help you reduce binge eating, book a FREE discovery call with us today – we would love to help you!
