So many people struggle with binging and feeling out of control with food. The desire to binge can feel so strong that we feel like we have no control and no ability to change our relationship with food. The good news is, in spite of how it can feel, we absolutely can make changes in our binge eating behavior. The hard part is that it requires taking our focus off the binges. More importantly, it requires focusing on not restricting our eating more generally. Binging happens when we are restricting our eating. It can happen in big or small ways but restriction almost inevitably leads to binging.

We can avoid this by focusing on what our bodies are telling us when it comes to food. When we listen to what and how much food our body is craving, those cravings and “I'm really hungry” signals don't get ignored only to explode in a binge later. This is called the diet binge cycle. We restrict our foods in some way (aka diet). Things likely seem to be going well for a while and we applaud ourselves for our willpower. Then, it happens. Our cravings get LOUD, and “sticking to” our eating plan gets harder and harder until before we know it, we are binging and promising ourselves we will start again tomorrow. The cycle continues.

Of course, this doesn't mean we will never find ourselves restricting even subconsciously and binging as a result. We certainly may. If that happens, identifying ways we have been restricting and focusing on addressing that rather than sitting in guilt and shame, can be enormously helpful.

Questions about food/body image? Feel free to get in touch!