Binge Eating: My Solution

Yesterday, someone commented asking me to talk about how I stopped binge eating, because yes, I used to!

Do I anymore? No. Do I sometimes overeat? Yes.

There’s a difference. To me, bingeing was this:

Dieting, eating really good all day, eating one small morsal of something bad, and then going to the cupboards and eating everything that I considered bad. I mean, not one bowl of ice cream, but five. Anyone experience this?

Well, heres so how I solved the problem:

I stopped dieting, and I started eating whatever I wanted to eat.

You might be thinking “what? But that’s the worst thing I could do! If I allowed myself what I wanted to eat, I’d eat everything bad! I’d be out of control, fat, and miserable!”

Okay, I understand you might feel this way, but no you won’t. If you want to conquer compulsive eating, I first recommend that you buy the book “Why Weight,” by Geneen Roth. I use this book with myself, and a couple of my clients, and it’s wonderful!

If you’re reading this book, page 84 talks about how “food is only food.”

Here is how Geneen Roth puts it:

“When we realize that we can have the foods we want, the need and desire to have them all the time disappear. If we can have them whenever we’re hungry for them, they lose their power and become ordinary.

Exercise: Buy one food that you want and have not allowed yourself to eat.

After you finish eating it, answer the following questions:

1) Once I bought the food and ate it without guilt, did I still want it as much as I thought I had?

YES OR NO?

2) If I felt like I could eat this food as much as I wanted it – as much, say, as I feel like I can eat carrots or lettuce – would my desire for this food change?

YES OR NO?

We only give ourselves permission not to eat when we give ourselves permission to eat. We can only tell the difference between foods that we want and foods that we think we want when we give ourselves permission to eat all foods.”

So, there you have it. Geneen Roth’s point of view. And of course, there is more to it, and she goes into detail. But, I wanted to use her point of view because it’s my exactly point of view on eating, and she put it fabulously. She goes on to do exercises regarding “What do I really want?” “Calories don’t count” and “Restaurant Eating, Social Eating,” etc…

In the exercise above, my answer went like this:

Buy one food that you want and have not allowed yourself:

I bought frozen yogurt filled to the brim with half peanut butter, and half pecan praline flavors. I topped it off with organic granola (I’ve been craving granola), yogurt chips, coconut, and reeses peanut butter cups. I washed that down with two homemade chocolate chip cookies, all while watching The Bachelor with my cousins.

1) Once I bought the food and ate it without guilt, did I still want it as much as I thought I had?

NO. I felt sick afterwards, and became thankful that I could wake up and eat something healthy for breakfast.

2) If I felt like I could eat this food as much as I wanted it – as much, say, as I feel like I can eat carrots or lettuce – would my desire for this food change?

Oh gosh, If I knew I had the opportunity to eat that same thing every night, I would lose my appetite. Feeling sick off sugar like that just does not sound appealing. Now I know that I can just have a little bit when I crave it, and I don’t need to think about it all the time. It’s there whenever I want it.

SO. That being said, here’s how I have listened to my cravings so far today, using the chart below:

First, I woke up at 6:30

Using chart:

Hungry? No

Do I have a picture of what I want to eat? Yes

Can I smell or taste what I want to eat? Yes

Do I want something spicy, sweet, bland, cold, hot, room temp, smooth, crunchy, other? Hot and smooth

What will I eat? Coffee with soy creamer

6:45am

Hungry? Yes

Do I have a picture of what I want to eat? Yes

Can I smell or taste what I want to eat? Yes

Do I want something spicy, sweet, bland, cold, hot, room temp, smooth, crunchy, other? Sweet, hot, crunchy

What will I eat? Energy bagel bar toasted with butter

I was satisfied with a little bit left, and I stuck it in the fridge. About an hour later, I grabbed the little piece out of the fridge, ate it, and headed off to Step Class

After Step, I was starving! I knew what I wanted, but I didn’t have everything to make it, so I crossed the street to Trader Joe’s and bought some yogurt and my favorite granola.

Hungry? Yes

Do I have a picture of what I want to eat? Yes

Can I smell or taste what I want to eat? Yes

Do I want something spicy, sweet, bland, cold, hot, room temp, smooth, crunchy, other? Sweet, cold, crunchy

What will I eat? Mango yogurt with organic blueberries, a little bit of chia seeds, cranberry maple granola, and walnut pieces (I didn’t use the agave because I remembered that the mango yogurt is already plenty sweet – I use agave on plain yogurt, which is what I usually have. Mango sounded great today!)

So, there! I made it, and I was in heaven. Now, I don’t have to think of food at all. The next time I am hungry, I just ask myself these questions, and go from there:

Hungry?

Do I have a picture of what I want to eat?

Can I smell or taste what I want to eat?

Do I want something spicy, sweet, bland, cold, hot, room temp, smooth, crunchy, other?

What will I eat?

Have a very blessed day, and listen to your body!

If you need support in this area, and want a Health Coach who loves encouraging people, please email me at gratitudeandfood@gmail.com.