We all went overboard at Sunday lunch from time to time crying crocodile tears for that delicious second helping of grandma's nut pie. Compulsive bingeing, however, is a much more serious condition and is the most common eating disorder in the United States. Chronic and rapid intake of excessive quantities of food can cause oppressive moods of regret, inability to react and embarrassment. Worse still, it can also trigger serious health complications related to weight gain, particularly type 2 diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. Finding ways to stop food is, therefore, the key to living a happy and healthy lifestyle.
Steps
Part 1 of 5: Dedicating to the Emotional Causes of Overeating
Step 1. Talk to a therapist especially if you have BED
This term is the acronym for Binge Eating Disorder and indicates a disorder, known in Italy as Binge Eating Syndrome, characterized by deep-rooted psychological reasons that lead to compulsive eating. The help of a qualified professional could help reveal an underlying anxiety condition, a form of depression or problems related to a negative body image which, individually or together, could affect the ability to self-control.
- There is strong evidence that most people diagnosed with BED also suffer from underlying mood disorders.
- Even in the event that BED is to be excluded, a psychotherapist can be useful if you have a tendency to eat due to stress. In particular, it can help you cope with what makes you feel anxious, stressed, sad, etc. and to learn correct ways to deal with these moods.
- Bring your food diary with you to share ratings with him during appointments. Additionally, it may be helpful for your therapist to review it to discover something relevant that you may have missed.
Step 2. Manage anger or sadness
Those who eat under the pressure of emotions often hide them and turn to food to feel better. Learning the correct ways to deal with negative moods can have a major impact on binge eating - even though you may feel like you have no control over how much food you throw down, the real problem is probably feeling unable to dominate your emotions. When anger, sadness, or other disturbing anxieties begin to break out, find the right way to show or manage them. Call a close friend, read a magazine, or pick up a paintbrush - do something constructive that makes you feel better, not worse. If anger or sadness stems from past trauma, reacting in the following ways can help:
- Write letters to those who have hurt you. You don't have to send them, but the act of transferring moods onto a thick sheet of paper can help reduce stress.
- Make amends with yourself for your mistakes. Stand in front of a mirror and forgive yourself for the harm you may have done. Any self-grievance that you carry with you must be expressed and addressed in order to begin the healing process.
Step 3. Control stress eating
Avoid reaching for your favorite comfort foods when you're feeling anxious. Find out when you are about to give in and find other ways to let off steam. Some of the following anti-stress techniques can help:
- Take a short walk. Even a 15-minute stroll can promote the release of endorphins that are beneficial to the brain and help get rid of anxiety.
- Playing with the pet. Spend time pouring affection on the puppy to release oxytocin, the chemical also called "cuddle" that increases the sense of well-being.
- Perform breathing exercises. If your head is deep in thought, take a moment to focus on something as simple as breathing. Returning attention to the present through meditation or breathing exercises is a scientifically proven method that relieves stress and anxiety.
- Do yoga meditation.
- Learn to meditate to relieve stress. Meditation is a stress reliever that can usually be practiced anywhere.
Step 4. Learn to listen to your stomach
Often ask yourself "Am I full?" it can sometimes put things into perspective right away. We often eat mechanically without paying attention to what our body is trying to tell us. Those who binge usually continue to gorge themselves long after filling their stomachs. But ignore the messages the body is sending.
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It may be helpful to estimate your hunger level on a scale of one to ten, where one means being hungry enough to feel lightheaded, weak, or starving, and ten means fullness to the point of feeling sick. Five represents a condition of contentment or balance - neither hungry nor full.
- Eat when hunger is level three or four and try to avoid reaching level one or two.
- Stop eating when you have reached level five or six - that is, when you feel satisfied or "pleasantly full".
- Stop for a quarter of your meal and ask yourself, "Am I still hungry?" If the answer is yes, keep eating. Stop again when you're halfway through and ask yourself, "Am I still hungry?" Remember, you don't have to clean up the plate.
Step 5. Put boredom aside
For many it is the cause of overeating. Leave the house if you feel like you have too much time on your hands. Pick a hobby. Volunteer to help others. Go see a movie (stay away from the food court). Call a friend or take a walk and explore the neighborhood. You can occupy your mind in so many ways that don't require you to reach out for sugary snacks.
Part 2 of 5: Eliminating Other Behaviors That Trigger Overeating
Step 1. Slow down
Binge eating implies fast food intake. Slowing down and taking time to focus on what you are eating (flavor, temperature, etc.) can sometimes help calm the overwhelming desire to fill up. This conscious way of eating has become a well-known method of curbing overeating and is recommended by doctors, celebrities and chefs alike.
- Don't eat while standing or in a car or when you're trying to do something else. Sit down for meals. Try to avoid situations where you feel compelled to "gobble" your food.
- Stop and put your fork down between bites.
- Chew the morsel completely and swallow it before lifting the fork again.
- Put yourself in a position to feel the consistency of the food and to notice its taste and smell.
Step 2. Turn off the TV
It may be that excessive eating is not a response to stress or other moods - the exaggeration with food may simply be due to the fact that you are too distracted to listen to your body's signals. Avoid distractions while eating - turn off the TV and computer, put the book away - and focus on the plate and how your body feels. The researchers found that eating regularly while watching TV reduced fruit and vegetable consumption and increased consumption of fast food, fizzy drinks and unhealthy snacks.
Step 3. Make changes
We are creatures of habit. Using a different dish or sitting in a different place than usual could keep your attention a little more on the string to stop eating at the right time. As professional dieticians point out, little things like changing schedules and using a smaller plate can lead to big changes over time.
Part 3 of 5: Developing Good Habits
Step 1. Start exercising
Get up and move. The effects of exercises on mood enhancement are well documented. Physical activity can reduce stress hormones and give you more energy and a good mood. Aim for 20-30 minutes of moderate physical activity each day. Some of the following activities are useful and improve mood:
- Yoga
- I swim
- Excursions
Step 2. Keep temptations away
Eliminate favorite comfort foods from the pantry and fridge. You cannot eat what is not there. And now that you keep a diary of what you eat and have learned about the foods you tend to gorge on, remember it when you go to the grocery store. If you tend to stay behind cookies and chips, two of the most common contraindicated foods, be sure to avoid the aisles with packaged sweets and snacks.
Stay strictly out of wards with dangerous food. Cookies, chips, fizzy drinks and other unhealthy snacks are usually found in the aisles of the grocery departments of the supermarket, while in those outside you can find fresh products, fresh meats and fish
Step 3. Stay away from fast food restaurants
When you get home from work, resist the temptation to detour and stop at a shop where they serve ready-made foods without even getting out of the car. The tensions of the day could cause you to impulsively buy delights drenched in fat or covered in abundant sugar. If willpower isn't helping you and you still find yourself queuing up, consider ordering a healthy salad or low-calorie menu item rather than the usual unfeeling dishes.
Part 4 of 5: Managing the Sudden Cravings for Food
Step 1. Forgive yourself
You can have a hard time and that's okay. Bad habits of a lifetime cannot be changed overnight. Try to be patient with yourself and treat yourself with kindness and indulgence.
Step 2. Don't get guilty
These, in addition to anger and sadness, only create a vicious circle that leads you to overindulge more and more with food. Some constructive ways to express your disappointment while not bingeing again are:
- Say goodbye to the past. Whatever he did is part of the past. You can't change this, but the future can. All you can do is learn from your mistakes and move on.
- Understanding how you got off the track. Reflecting and writing about what led you astray the last time (bait foods, a particular emotion, etc.) can help relieve feelings of guilt and bring attention back to what you need to do.
- Set positive reminders. Contribute to this by organizing tools to do better in the future. Use an app or set reminders on your computer's calendar to open windows with positive messages.
Step 3. Seek help if you need it
It's hard to do it alone. Finding like-minded people can be crucial to the "healing" process. There are many national and local organizations that can assist you. Or, if you can't wait and need to talk to someone urgently, reach out to other people online and connect with them in a chat room or join a forum or bulletin board. Here are some examples of recommended resources in the US that might be useful:
- Overeaters Anonymous
- NEDA
- Academy for Eating Disorders
- Healthful Chat
- Healthy Place Forums
Part 5 of 5: Recognizing the Tendency to Overindeed
Step 1. Write a food diary
Ignorance does not always ensure horizons of great happiness. Writing down everything you eat can be an enlightening experience because most people tend to underestimate the amount of food they eat. Also, taking note of when you eat could help uncover problem situations or certain times of the day when you are most likely to overdo it. Or the diary could quickly highlight which foods you use most often to gorge yourself.
- When you enter a note in the diary, you should add the time, what you ate and how much. Also, you should take note of what you were doing at the time, mood and circumstances.
- Bring a pen and paper with you or use your phone to record your food intake. Don't rely on memory - remember that most people underestimate how much they eat and you will be inclined to too if you rely on memory. Also, you may forget the small snacks (the handful of candy from the bowl on someone's desk) or the bites of cake from a friend's plate (it all counts).
- Make sure you accurately record the quantities and things like salad dressings.
- You can view an example of a food diary here.
Step 2. Look for role models in the journal
By recording other details, such as mood or circumstances, you can begin to discover recurring patterns and causes of overeating. For example, you may notice that you binge when you are feeling stressed or sad or when you are at your parents' house or after you have talked to your older brother. This is eating for stress or emotional hunger.
- Other things to check for include waiting too long between meals (which can cause you to overeat when you eventually eat) and eating on the go (like in a car or while standing and trying to do other things) or in front of the TV or at the computer (people tend to overeat when they are distracted and don't focus on their meal).
- Notice the effects of smelling or seeing food. Perhaps the diary could reveal that you cannot do without a delicacy when, on the way home, you pass that pastry shop from which irresistible scents come. Even if you weren't even an iota of hunger before, the smell of freshly baked bread made your stomach rumbling.
Step 3. Learn more about emotional hunger
The diary may reveal that you eat to cope with difficult moods or even just out of boredom. Do you throw down food whenever you feel sad, stressed, angry, anxious, lonely, bored or tired? Instead of dealing with emotional distress, perhaps you try to silence it with food. Unfortunately, eating does not resolve whatever triggers the discomfort in you and even if you may feel better at the moment, it will inevitably return.
Stress causes the body to release cortisol, also known as the "stress hormone" which can trigger a "fight or flight" response. This reaction can increase appetite, prompting the craving for comfort foods (usually sugar-overloaded and fast-releasing) which, in turn, fuel the fight-or-flight mechanism. If you suffer from chronic stress due to things like school, work, family or the environment, you may have a higher risk of becoming a person habitually suffering from emotional hunger
Step 4. Try to understand the difference between physical and emotional hunger
It can be difficult at first to find out when you are actually hungry and when you want to eat because it is driven by a state of mind. Before grabbing a cookie or bag of chips, consider the following:
- Did the feeling of hunger come on suddenly? Physical hunger is gradual, while emotional hunger is sudden and intense.
- Do you feel the need to eat right away? Physical hunger can usually wait. When you are hungry in response to an emotion, you feel like you need food now.
- Do you just want a specific thing? If you are attracted to different foods, hunger is probably physical. But if you are obsessed with a specific food, perhaps the hunger you feel is emotional.
- Do you eat even after you feel full? If you chow down on food until your stomach is full and you still don't feel satisfied, you probably want to quench an emotional rather than a physical hunger. The second stops when you are full.
- Do you have feelings of guilt, feel ashamed, helpless or embarrassed? If you experience feelings like these after eating, it is likely that you are trying to satisfy an emotional need through food, not to satisfy a physical hunger.
Step 5. Learn to recognize the signs of BED
Overeating or emotional hunger does not mean that she has BED. BED is a common eating disorder that is considered serious and dangerous, but it is also treatable. It can only be diagnosed by a professional, so be sure to talk to your doctor if you suspect you have it. Symptoms include:
- Eating much faster than normal and larger amounts than most people would be able to swallow in a set period (usually less than two hours).
- Feeling out of control while eating.
- Eating in private because you are ashamed of what you are devouring.
- Eating too much food when not hungry.
- Feeling ashamed, guilty, depressed, or disgusted by what you are swallowing.
- Inability to correct after binges, that is, to compensate for overeating by vomiting or doing more exercises.
- Get busy with binges at least once a week for three months.
- Be aware that weight is not necessarily related to BED. Your body weight may be normal or you may have mild, moderate or severe obesity. It is important to remember that not everyone who is overweight bingees or has BED.
