Effective Ways to Overcome Binge Eating and Regain Control

Binge eating is a type of eating disorder characterized by episodes of uncontrollable and excessive food intake. This disorder can have negative effects on an individual’s physical and mental health, leading to weight gain, low self-esteem, and unpleasant emotions.

Binge eating is a disorder that affects many people and can lead to weight gain and other health problems. Fortunately, there are ways to stop binge eating and regain control over your relationship with food.

One effective strategy is to identify and avoid trigger foods as much as possible. Adopting an intuitive eating approach that allows them to listen to their body’s hunger cues and eat when they are truly hungry may be helpful. Others may benefit from seeking professional help, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy or interpersonal psychotherapy, from addressing underlying emotional issues that contribute to binge eating.

By taking a multifaceted approach that addresses both physical and emotional factors involved in binge eating, individuals can overcome this disorder and achieve a healthier lifestyle.

Developing healthier eating habits, such as meal planning and incorporating more unprocessed foods into your diet, can help prevent binge eating episodes. Regular exercise and getting enough sleep can also positively impact your overall health and help curb cravings.

What Causes People to Binge Eat?

Binge eating is a complex disorder that a variety of factors can cause. One common cause is emotional eating, where individuals turn to food to cope with overwhelming feelings of stress, anxiety, or sadness. This can create a cycle of negative emotions and binge eating episodes.

Another factor is a restrictive diet, where individuals deprive themselves of certain foods or entire food groups, leading to cravings and the potential for binge eating when they do give in to those cravings. Blood sugar imbalances and sleep deprivation can also contribute to binge eating, as they can disrupt appetite control and lead to intense food cravings.

Additionally, a person’s relationship with food and their self-esteem can play a role, with low self-esteem and a negative body image leading to unhealthy eating habits.

Finally, some individuals may be genetically predisposed to binge eating, as it has been linked to certain genetic variants. Understanding the underlying causes of binge eating can help individuals address these issues and work towards a healthier relationship with food.

Binge Eating Disorder Symptoms

Binge eating disorder (BED) is a serious mental health condition characterized by recurring episodes of uncontrollable eating, even when not physically hungry.

Some common symptoms of BED include consuming unusually large amounts of food in a short period of time, eating until feeling uncomfortably full, and eating alone or in secret due to shame or embarrassment.

People with BED often experience guilt, shame, and disgust after binge eating episodes and may try to compensate for their bingeing through restrictive diets or excessive exercise. BED can also lead to weight gain and other health problems, including digestive issues, heart disease, and diabetes.

Other symptoms of BED include eating rapidly, feeling out of control while eating, and continuing to eat even after feeling physically full. It’s important to note that BED is a diagnosable condition that requires professional help to treat.

If you or someone you know is experiencing symptoms of BED, seeking help from a qualified healthcare provider is the first step toward recovery.

Best Tips to Overcome Binge-Eating

Binge eating can be a challenging issue to overcome, but there are several effective ways to control, manage and prevent it.

1. Clean out your pantry and fridge

The presence of junk food in your kitchen can make it almost impossible to avoid a binge. Remember the old potato chip ad campaign, “Bet you can’t eat just one!”?

Yeah, it’s funny because it’s true. Except if you have BED, it’s not funny.

You can start by removing all processed foods like candy, chips, ice cream, and unhealthy snacks. Swap these trigger foods for healthier alternatives. Not many people will sit around emotionally eating apples and celery with hummus. And if you do, at least you ate food that will fuel your body.

Keeping your kitchen well stocked with fruits and veggies, whole grains, and protein-dense foods will make it WAY harder to overeat.

2. Break a sweat!

Getting some physical activity into your day is a great defense against binge eating, both physically and emotionally. Research suggests that exercise can decrease anxiety, depression, and stress and improve your mood.

Since typically, people don’t binge when they are feeling upbeat and happy, that can be a big help. One study found that with regular exercise and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), people had much more success reducing the frequency of their binges than with the therapy alone.

Not sure where to start? Even just a brisk walk will be a great start. Anything that gets your heart rate going and gets you moving will do. Some of my favorites are walking, jogging, swimming, finding a sport you like to play, and joining a league, if available.

3. Make sure to catch your ZZZs

Sleep is incredibly important for many reasons, but in this case, it matters because the amount of sleep you get can affect your hunger and appetite. Some research has linked sleep deprivation to binge eating and overeating.

Wanna hear a scary statistic? Sleeping less than eight hours per night has been linked to higher body weight and levels of the stress hormone cortisone, which can affect appetite and weight.

To get your sleep habits in line, start by trying to go to bed just 10 minutes earlier each night. You can do it!

4. Eat a protein-rich diet

Protein is essential to a healthy diet and also for brain function. Most importantly, it leaves you feeling full, which means you just might be able to avoid the binges that often come in the evenings.

A good goal is to get a little bit of protein every time you eat. This will lead to making healthier choices about snacks in general.

Eating a bag of cheese puffs and a cup of greek yogurt feels a little awkward. You’ll probably end up sprinkling some granola or blueberries on that yogurt and will feel much better about what you’re eating.

5. Do some meal planning

I’m not not talking about the obsessive measuring and weighing and plastic containers of chicken and rice you might have seen some bodybuilders doing. If you like doing that, more power to you.

All we are suggesting is that you have a plan of what you’re going to eat throughout the day. And that plan can include snacks, even indulgent ones at times! Just remember to use moderation.

Being mindful about what you’re eating can help your eating habits and will likely encourage you to make better choices.

6. Don’t avoid sources of stress in your life

When you’re feeling overwhelmed, it can be difficult to avoid the pressure to binge. Instead of pushing stress aside, find ways to confront and manage it. Stress management will be essential as you learn how to recover from binge eating disorder.

7. Identify, then manage food anxiety

Food anxiety has many potential sources, including a desire to be healthy or a fear of weight gain. Sometimes, food-related anxieties can cause you to try and restrict what you eat, but we know this eating behavior doesn’t work. Part of learning how to stop binge eating is identifying the sources of your anxiety that are contributing to episodes of compulsive eating.

8. Hydrate!

It’s easy to mistake hunger and thirst signals. Staying hydrated throughout the day can curb impulses that could cause you to binge.

9. Write about it

You don’t have to be Shakespeare; just be you. Journaling about your mood, what you’re thinking, or even just about your day can be incredibly effective in staying mindful.

Specifically, the most helpful approach might be to keep a “Mood and Food” diary. It’s worth thinking about how your emotions connect to your eating patterns. This will, at the very least, allow you to start to see patterns in your binge eating episodes and emotional eating.

10. Find joy in your life

Instead of dwelling on questions like how do I stop binge eating (which might just make you feel bad about yourself), it can be more beneficial to focus on finding more joy in your life.

Set aside time for your favorite activities and make it a point to appreciate the good things in your life. While trying to learn how to recover from binge eating disorder, remember to practice gratitude, which can be a wonderful way to find joy.

The Take-Away

Binge eating disorder is, unfortunately, very common. You don’t have to face this alone. Start by talking to your doctor or therapist, and try some of our tips to change your habits, such as exercise, hydrating, journaling, and more. Recovery is possible with support and lifestyle changes, and you can do it.