Tag Archive for: binge eating

Top 5 Reasons Why Diets Don’t Work

Many people swear by diets. They tell me the diets work, but when I point out tha they go back on the diet when they regain the weight, so essentially the diets don’t work, they shake their head and finally get it.

A diet isn’t just those flashy branded weight loss companies (you know which I’m talking about). Dieting is any form of food restriction such as cleanses, “lifestyle” changes,  restricting foods or entire food groups. It’s all dieting!

Dieting programs and weight loss schemes (yes, schemes!) are a part of a $72 billion industry, therefore it’s no wonder many people fall for its tricks. These companies profit off of telling consumers that “they are not good enough in the body they are in” and they promote “shrinking your body” in order to be happy, healthy, and worthy.

As humans, we naturally internalize these negative and harmful messages and believe we must “fix” ourselves, and therefore give in to the various weight loss products, programs etc. available on the market.

There are numerous reasons why you should avoid diets—they mess with your health, they make you feel shame and guilt about your eating, and they take away from the pleasures of eating.

Let’s look deeper into why diet’s don’t work?

Here are the top 5 reasons why diet’s don’t work:

(1) Diets are not sustainable

Yes, diets may lead to weight loss in the short term. However, once the dieting rules and restriction go away—the weight is regained (plus more)! The literature states that 95% of people who diet end up gaining the weight back that they previously lost. Of the 95%, about 2/3 of those people gained back MORE weight than they started out at.

This cycle of losing and gaining weight brings on the vicious cycles of restrict/binge eating, or yo-yo dieting, which actually causes more harm to your body and your health than good:

  • Impacted metabolism
  • Increased weight gain
  • Increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, hypertension
  • Negative body image
  • Increased frustration

(2) Dieting is starvation in disguise 

Purposefully restricting meals or food causes your body to go into a state of fight or flight. When your body is not receiving the fuel it needs from food, it will go into full-on survival mode. Restricting food sends the signal to your body saying “hey we are in a famine right now, it’s time to help me survive” .

Your body will then begin to compensate to keep you going by:

  • Lowering metabolism
  • Stimulating a chemical in the brain to make you consistently think about food
  • Store/hold onto fat
  • Shut down non-essential systems to promote survival (like reproductive systems)

With all of these compensating measures at play, this is why it is difficult to lose weight time and time again with dieting and food restriction; your body is working hard to keep you alive (since it thinks there is a famine out there!)

(3) Dieting can cause disordered eating

If dieting goes on for long enough, this can lead to the development of disordered eating or eating disorders, and more commonly, binge eating.

Binge eating is a biological reaction to deprivation (which we know is because of dieting). Here’s what happens: there is a chemical release of neuropeptide Y (NPY) which is secreted in the brain when there is not enough calories being consumed (specifically CHO since this is the brains fuel source). The secretion of NPY increases the motivation to eat, delays satiety and stimulates food intake which can feel like binge eating!

Binge eating is a survival mechanism resulting from dieting and food restriction.

(4) Diets lead to food obsession 

Reducing food intake not only makes you feel irritable, fatigued, have brain-fog, and lack motivation, but you will think about food… ALL.THE.TIME.

As a dieters, you often blame yourself for this feeling (being preoccupied with the thought of food), but it is actually a natural biological reaction to food restriction. Of course you will think about food all the time if your body is hungry!

This biological reaction is, again, a survival mechanism. Your body is doing its job!

However, the diet industry want you to believe that something is wrong with you. But your body is not the enemy!

(5) Dieting causes intense cravings 

Diet programs and “diet rules” tell you what foods you should and shouldn’t eat, or give you a “good” food list and a “bad” food list.

If this idea of “good” and “bad” foods is kept up long enough, you will begin to think about and crave the very foods you are restricting. As humans, we are driven by our unmet needs. If you tell yourself “I can’t have ice cream anymore”, all you’re going to think about is eating ice cream.

So if you think you’re addicted to (insert food here), it’s likely that you’re not actually addicted to it but it’s the dieting and food restriction causing you to think about it and crave it!

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Are you ready to leave dieting behind? Pop your name and email in the boxes below to get started with your Break the Spell of Diets in 3 days online experience.

 

How to Tackle Nighttime Overeating and Binge Eating

Do you find yourself coming home from work after a long day and immediately heading to the fridge? Does it feel like this eating is “out of control”?

There are many reasons why you may be overeating or binge eating at night when you are not physically hungry.

  1. You’re not eating enough during the da,y leading to feelings of ravenous hunger at night.
  2. You are eating for reasons other than biological hunger, such as emotional hunger, boredom, loneliness, sadness, etc.
  3. You ignore the signs of hunger throughout the day.
  4. You are using food as a way to unwind or relax at night due to a hard day or general life stressors.
  5. Eating at night is a habit or a part of your routine (that you just can’t break)

Once you’ve identified when and why you may overeat and binge eat at night—how do you confront this issue?

Here are four ways to end the struggle with nighttime eating:

(1) Eat consistently throughout the day.

Eating meals throughout the day ensures sustained energy, limits glucose spikes and crashes and can be just what you need to stop overeating and bingeing at night.

 

Ensure your meals have a balanced amount of macronutrients—carbohydrates, protein and fat.

 

If you are a chronic dieter, it’s quite possible that you aren’t including this very important nutrient with your meals – carbohydrates! Part of embracing Intuitive Eating is recognizing that all food groups are nutrients fit! Carbs are the preferred fuel source for your body. Add carbs back to your meals throughout the day, and you may just see those nighttime binges disappear.

 

(2) Power up with snacks.

Overeating at night is more than likely due to a lack of sustained fuel throughout the day. Having large gaps between meals with no food can leave you feeling ravenous by the time your next meal comes around.

 

If you have a good rule that states “no eating in between meals”, it’s time to toss that rule to the curb. Adding in a snack, either between breakfast and lunch, or between lunch and dinner could prevent those serious hunger pangs that leads to overeating, both at dinner and late at night.

 

Here are some snack suggestions:

  • Cheese, fruit, and crackers
  • Yogurt and granola
  • A handful of trail mix
  • An apple or banana with almond butter

 

(3) Listen to your hunger cues.

Ignoring hunger cues will more than likely lead to overeating. Choosing to listen to the signals of your body will allow you to give your body what it needs. This in turn will help you build back trust with your body.

 

This feeling of trust is important to develop since dieting has stripped you of trust. If you’re holding onto a limiting belief around hunger and fullness, then work on reframing these beliefs into more empowering true beliefs.

 

For example, if you think “I can’t trust my hunger and fullness signals”, flip it around and start to tell yourself “I CAN eat when hungry and stop when full.”

 

(4) Check in on old dieter habits.

Do you find yourself defaulting to old dieting habits? Do you:

  • Only include certain foods in your meals
  • Deny yourself certain foods because they’re “bad”
  • Skip meals
  • Hold onto food rules (ex: no snacking during the day)
  • Ignore your hunger cues

 

These habits are deep rooted in your diet mentality—check in with yourself to identify if these habits may be surfacing. The only solution is to grant yourself unconditional permission to eat and allow yourself foods that satisfy you.

 

Still stuck in the spell of diets? Pop your name and email in the boxes below and start your journey towards breaking the spell of diets and developing TRUST!

 

I’ve Been “Bad” Today, So I Might as Well…”

If you’ve ever dieted (and you likely have if you’re reading this blog), this statement probably sounds too familiar to you. It goes like this:

I’ve been bad today, so I might as well…

  • “Start again tomorrow.”
  • “Start fresh on Monday.”
  • “Just try to do better tomorrow.”

The “start again tomorrow” mentality is your diet mentality speaking and comes from eating what you consider “bad” foods, and/or not exercising and/or binge eating etc.

Typical Scenario:

 You are being really “good” on your diet, eating healthy all day long. But then, you were triggered by a fight with your partner, and you ended the night in a pint of ice cream. You now say: “My whole day is ruined.”

You feel as though the entire day is “ruined” because while you ate “clean” or “healthy” for the whole day, you canceled all that out with what you ate at night. When you reach this point, you feel defeated and focus on all the “damage” you’ve done. This in turn has you completely abandoning your “healthy eating” habits while engaging in a free-for-all with the foods you’ve deemed “bad”. Until of course, you “start over”.

Starting Over Cycle

The above scenario triggers the responses I mentioned above, which are:

  • “I’ll figure it out later”
  • “I’ll start fresh Monday”
  • “I’ll start again tomorrow”

However, once “tomorrow” or Monday comes, the cycle will repeat itself.

Healthy eating all day > indulge in a “bad” food > free-for-all >“I’ll start again tomorrow.”

This cycle is deeply rooted in diet mentality and can be very dangerous to both your mental and physical health.

Getting Out of the Trap

While you understand this trap you fall into, and you promise yourself you won’t do it again, it inevitably happens.

So how can you NOT fall into this trap?

  1. Get rid of the diet food rules: Yes, the first step is to stop dieting and to throw away all the rules you have around food. Oftentimes, you are fully aware that these rules haven’t served you well, yet it’s a scary thought to give them up. I get it! That’s why support is so important, you don’t have to do this alone. Click here to join my free Facebook community and get help throwing away the rules.

 

  1. Stop trying to eat perfectly. There is no one perfect way to eat! When we strive to be perfect, the moment you deviate by even one bite, you are ready to throw in the towel. This is called the “what the hell effect” (sound familiar?)

 

  1. Acknowledge Nutritional Needs Diversity (yes, I made that term up!). Basically, everyone has unique nutritional needs. No two people are the same, so trying to follow a set of rules and eating pattern that is dictated to you will always lead to you falling “off the wagon” (diet language), and “I’ll start again tomorrow.” The key is to figure out what feels best in your body to meet your unique nutritional needs.

The diet mentality runs deep. But you CAN chip away at this mindset. Have confidence in yourself and have patience!

And, of course, reach out for support if you feel it’ll be helpful:

Free Facebook Group: Intuitive Eating for a Diet Free Life

Free Session: www.talkwithbonnie.com

 

The Impact of a Dieting Parent(s) on their Children

It’s not unusual to have at least one parent in the home dieting at any given time. And often, both parents are on the diet bandwagon, sometimes following the same diet, and sometimes vastly different diets.

What message do you think this sends to your children?

Mom and/or dad are eating differently, and they are trying to change their bodies which sends the message that there are good foods and bad foods, and that there must be something wrong with their body if they are trying so hard to change it.

Research shows that children of parents who speak about weight are more likely to have negative feelings about their own bodies and experiment with unhealthy behaviors such as not eating enough, using laxatives, detoxes, cleanses and diet pills.

In one study published in the Journal of American Medical Association Pediatrics, adolescents where more likely to control their weight in unhealthy ways and binge eat if their parents spoke about weight loss in their presence. This was seen in both sons and daughters. However, when parents engaged in conversations that were focused only on healthful eating behaviors, these kids were less likely to diet and use unhealthy weight-control behaviors.

In a second study published in Body Image, parents who spoke about controlling their weight were more likely to raise high schoolers who were dissatisfied with their bodies.

 

Parental Diet Talk

A parent’s “diet talk” and modeling of unhealthy “dieting” behaviors sets the scene for their children to develop a poor relationship with food and their body.

Children are like sponges, they soak up everything they hear and see parents do. You may not think they are noticing what you are doing or saying, but they are. Kids notice everything!

When you look in the mirror and mutter under your breath how your tush looks so big, your child hears this and interprets it as “my tush is big, there must be something wrong with it.”

We, as parents must be VERY careful not to discuss weight, dieting, and labeling of foods  around our children.

 The messages surrounding dieting, weight loss, body image, and food will stay with children FOREVER and impact them for the rest of their life.

6 Side Effects of Parental Dieting on Children

1. Develop Disordered Eating and Eating Disorders

 If you diet in front of your children, they are more likely to restrict their own intake, binge eat, and engage in emotional eating because they saw mom or dad engaging in these behaviors (children are modeling what they see).

One client shared with me that she learned to binge and purge from her dad (and he didn’t even know it). She witnessed him binge eat after dinner most nights of the week, then go into the bathroom and purge. Years later, she is trying to recover from her own eating disorder.

2. Develop a Dieters Mindset

 Children will pick up on messages, phrases or actions they see within the home. If you are displaying “dieting” behaviors, like tracking food, negatively discussing certain foods/food groups, weighing/measuring your foods, and speaking poorly about your body, this will be internalized by the child and kickstart their own “dieters mindset”, or “dieting habits”.

Here’s a common scenario:

Mom/Dad: “I can’t eat that, it has so many carbs! I’ll gain 20 lbs. by the morning!

 

Child: Hears this statement and immediately decides not to eat any carbs because it is now associated with ‘instant weight gain’.

3. Fall into the Toxic Trap of Diet Culture

If children have been surrounded by dieting messages from their parents, they are more likely to fall into the negative, toxic trap that is known as diet culture.

Diet culture is all around us—in advertisements, social media, in the workplace/school, and so much more!

Diet culture conditions use to believe that our self-worth is tied to weight, body size, what we eat, and what we look like.

With strong dieting messages in the home PLUS a world saturated with diet culture, the child will inevitably have a poor relationship with food and a negative body image.

Don’t set your child up for a life of food struggles and body hatred. Embody the habits you desire for your children!

4. Negatively Impact Child’s Weight, Growth and Health

Due to extreme restriction, bingeing, or a combination of the two, children can become significantly under- or over- weight. This can lead to health issues down the line (i.e., nutrition deficiencies, missed milestones, weakened immune system, disease etc.)

5. Create Body Image Issues

Because the child has been hearing mom or dad speak negatively about their body, the child will internalize these messages and in turn also never feel satisfied with their bodies.

Here’s a common scenario:

Mom/Dad: “Ugh, I’m so fat! These jeans don’t fit me like they used to.”

Child: Hears this statement and associates weight gain with feelings of sadness, shame, negativity; also demonizes the idea of a larger body. These thoughts about body image can transcend into adulthood.

6. Cause Mental Health Issues

Dieting is harmful on a physical level and a mental health level. Dieting causes one to feel like a failure, have low self-esteem, depression, and low self-worth. This trickles down into all aspects of life and relationships.

If your children are grown, married, and have children of their own, consider how your dieting habits are impacting your grandchildren when they come to visit.

Make a conscious decision to be more aware of your actions at home and help change the trajectory of your children’s (and grandchildren’s) future relationship with food and their bodies.

 

If you’d like support, just reach out to me and schedule a complementary call at http://TalkWithBonnie.com

 

And join me later today to hear about the dieting mistake that I made and it’s impact on my daughters (and how you can avoid making this same mistake). It’s all happening in my private Facebook Group HERE.

(If you are reading this after April 7, 2021, the replay of today’s live training is in the Facebook Group for you to watch at any time. Click here to join our group.)

What is Binge Eating Disorder and How is it Treated?

According to the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA), Binge eating disorder (BED) is a severe, life-threatening, and treatable eating disorder characterized by:

  • Recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food in a short period, while also feeling a loss of control during the binge.
  • Experiencing shame, distress, or guilt after a binge.
  • Not using unhealthy compensatory measures (e.g., purging) to counter the binge eating (if someone binges and purges, that is bulimia).

Why Does BED Develop and Who is at Risk?

While there is not one specific cause for BED, there are a few risk factors that make some people more susceptible:

  • Chronic Dieting: Binge Eating Disorder is one of the many negative consequences of restrictive dieting. The younger someone starts “dieting,” the higher their chance of developing BED. Restricting calories (aka dieting), can trigger a binge, especially in those who have symptoms of depression. (If you need help to stop dieting, scroll to the bottom of this page and join the Break the Spell of Diets in 3 Days online experience – for free!)

 

  • Negative Body Image: Feelings of negative self-worth can increase the risk for a binge, which is often triggered by stress, feelings of sadness, or emotional distress.

 

  • Family History: There is a genetic link between family history and all eating disorders.

 

  • BED is more common in women: In the US, 3.6% of women experience BED at some point in their lives, compared to 2.0% of men.

 

  • Emotional Trauma: Abuse, death, family separation, bullying, or other stressful life events can increase risk factors for BED.

While BED can develop at any age, it most commonly begins in late teens and early ’20s. With an increased focus on diet trends and picture-perfect social media profiles, teens are more susceptible to using food as a coping mechanism to manage emotions. The sooner one receives support, the sooner they will be on the road to recovery.

Health Risks of Binge Eating Disorder

Binge eating can be related to a variety of physical, emotional, and social issues. Chronic health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure, are strongly linked to being overweight and obese. BED can also impact one’s mental and emotional health, resulting in higher rates of insomnia, anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues. Finally, BED can interfere with social relationships and engagements.

Signs and Symptoms of BED

  • Going through large amounts of food in short periods of time
  • Stashes of empty wrappers and containers
  • Appears or feels uncomfortable eating around others
  • Avoidance of eating in public or with others
  • Hoards food in odd places
  • Carves out time in the schedule for a binge session
  • Withdraws from usual friends and activities
  • Always appears to be on a diet and has an extreme interest with body weight and shape
  • Feelings of shame, embarrassment, depression, or guilt after overeating
  • Never feeling satisfied, no matter how much food is consumed
  • Extreme fluctuations in weight, both up and down
  • Stomach cramps or other non-specific gastrointestinal complaints

Treatment

Treatment for Binge Eating Disorder is a multidimensional approach with a treatment team that includes a physician, registered dietitian, and therapist trained in BED.

If you are suffering with BED, or you know someone who is, please reach out for support. Recovery is possible.

 

Article sourced from my newsletter, Radiant Health.

 

 

Food Deprivation Leads to Rebound Eating

Overindulging in a food item that you restrict is common if you are a chronic dieter. It actually makes a ton of sense that you’d have intense cravings for a food you won’t allow yourself to have.

 

When you restrict a food(s) that you really want to eat, at some point the deprivation becomes so great that the backlash is what we call rebound eating.

 

Rebound Eating in Action

You start your diet on Monday and promise yourself you will not eat any chocolate. After all, you’ve been enjoying chocolate almost nightly and find it difficult to stop at just a few squares.

 

Your friend from out of town comes to visit and brings you a box of chocolates. You thank her and think to yourself “I’m not going to eat this; I’m being really good on my diet”. So, you put the box of chocolates away in the cabinet, high up on a shelf.

 

The next day, your partner spots the chocolate, opens the box and enjoys a piece. He puts the box away, but now you know it’s open. You are feeling a little anxious, you want a piece but at the same time you don’t want because you’ve been “so good”.

 

As it turns out, because you’ve been “so good”, you decide you deserve to have a piece of chocolate, almost like a reward for being good on your diet. You take the box down, open it up and pop one into your mouth.

 

You realize you didn’t really taste it; you ate it too quickly. You decide “I’ll just have one more”.

 

And then, the inner critic voice starts to show up. “Oh darn, I blew it. Why can’t I just keep to my diet. I’m just going to finish what’s there, there are only 4 left, and then I promise I won’t have chocolate again! My diet starts tomorrow!!”

 

Once you finish the chocolate, you plop down on the couch and feel miserable. You feel so guilty for eating the chocolate, so disappointed in yourself and decide as a punishment, you will skip dinner. The only problem is, you then find yourself bingeing into the evening.

 

The above example is one way the backlash can happen when you deprive yourself of a food you love.

 

It’s important to know that eating doesn’t have to be this difficult. Learning to eat to honor your body and your health while enjoying all foods (including chocolate) is part of being an intuitive eater.

 

It’s time to make peace with food.

 

Are you ready?

 

Click here to schedule a time to chat about how you can change your relationship with food.

 

Can You Fail at Intuitive Eating?

The short answer is no! You cannot fail at intuitive eating. But let’s dig into this topic a bit because the idea of failure is top of mind for chronic dieters.

 

You’ve been down this road before. You want to lose weight so the only way you know how to do that is to go on a diet. You’re going along fine, eating what the diet tells you to, not eating what you “shouldn’t” and you start to feel lighter on your feet. Your clothes are fitting better and you are on a high.

 

Until you aren’t anymore.

 

What happened?

 

Well, you had a bad day at work, you lost a client, your boss yelled at you, you got a ticket driving home, and you had a fight with your partner. You walk in the house and you are in a really foul mood. You head straight to the kitchen and open the fridge to grab that chocolate cake you knew was in there, leftover from the party the other night. You dig in, and you tune out.

 

When you come out of your chocolate cake coma, you are really upset with yourself. You just blew your diet. Now you feel frustrated, angry with yourself, and the negative self-talk begins: “There you go again, screwing it all up”, “You can never stay on a diet, why do you even try”, “You are such a failure”.

 

The above is just one scenario where your desire to be “thin” led you to a diet which led you to feeling like a failure. What are some other scenarios?

 

2 Other Scenarios that Lead to Feelings of Failure

 

  1. Scenario #1: You want to lose weight and be “thin”. You go on a diet, restricting and depriving yourself of your favorite foods. At some point, you can’t stand the deprivation anymore…you must have “just a little” chocolate. You eat a piece, then another, and then another. Now, it’s an all out binge, as you vow to start again tomorrow. What happened here is that the restriction led to cravings which led to bingeing. Now, you feel miserable again and you have a deep desire to lose weight, again. You start the cycle all over> diet>restriction>deprivation>cravings>rebound eating>binge eating. And the feeling you have = FAILURE.

 

  1. Scenario #2: It’s the holiday season, and you’ve dieted your way into that little black dress. You are going to kill it at the holiday parties and family get-togethers. You can’t wait to hear all the compliments about your weight loss and how great you look. But wow, you are surrounded by all these goodies that you haven’t eaten for so long. You tell yourself you are not going to eat anything you “shouldn’t”. But then the inevitable happens. You aren’t paying attention, there’s a little too much alcohol and before you know it, you’ve dipped into the appetizers and pastries. At this point you tell yourself “I deserve it, I’m going to enjoy the holidays and not worry about the food. I’ll get back on my diet on January 1st.” And on January 1st, you wake up and feel miserable . You’ve regained much of the weight you lost, that little black dress doesn’t fit so well anymore, and you feel like a FAILURE.

 

What do you do? See scenario #1 above.

 

A Better Option than Dieting

 

I have another option for you where you will NEVER feel like a failure. And that option is > Intuitive Eating.

 

Intuitive eating is eating based on your physiological need to eat, based on your hunger and fullness signals, and NOT based on situations you are in or emotions you are feeling.

 

Intuitive eating is returning to eating the way you were born.

 

Now, just because you were born an intuitive eater, does not mean the journey back to it is an easy one if you’ve been dieting for years. You see, while as a baby you didn’t give much thought to eating, it was something you just knew (i.e. hunger pangs, cry for food; full belly, push away), as a dieting adult, you haven’t been listening to these signals. You’ve been relying on outside influences to guide your eating.

 

One of the biggest challenges I see with women who are learning to return to being intuitive eaters is TRUST. They are afraid to trust that their bodies will guide them correctly.

 

Is this you too?

 

I get it! You have lost trust in your body and in yourself to make your own food decisions because of all the “failures” from dieting (see scenarios above).

 

So, it’s of utmost importance that you understand that there is no pass or fail in intuitive eating.

 

Read and internalize this next sentence – I cannot fail at intuitive eating!

 

One of the biggest objections I hear from women who hesitate to commit to working on their relationship with food through intuitive eating is that they are afraid to fail again. That they’ve done it all and failed, so why should this work.

 

The reason? You have not tried this before. And if you have and you hit some roadblocks, then it’s more than likely that the diet mentality is still lingering. This is NOT FAILURE. This is part of the process.

 

A New Year Decision

 

Take this moment to commit to your intuitive eating journey. Repeat over and over “I cannot fail at intuitive eating” so a new neural pathway forms. Let this next year be the year where you leave dieting and all the negativity that comes with it behind.

 

I am taking new clients now for 2019. If you’d like to speak with me to see if we are a right fit for working together, just click here.

 

Revealing Your Dirty Little Secret…Night Time Bingeing

You’ve worked really hard to get the amazing body you have now. You’ve been on diet after diet but this last one was THE one. You lost the weight you wanted to, but to do that you eliminated lots of foods that you love.

 

You know what I mean. Bread. Simple good old-fashioned bread. The kind you make a sandwich with.

 

Sandwich you say? Oh, you haven’t eaten a sandwich in years. As a matter of fact, if you’re being honest with yourself, you’re probably afraid of eating a sandwich. If you eat a sandwich, your inner critic starts screaming at you that you’ll gain the weight back, you’ll get fat again, and tomorrow you’ll wake up with an additional 3 pounds on your body. Bread is bad!

 

Does this inner critic voice sound familiar to you?

 

To quite the voice, you stick to the rules you followed that helped you lose the weight. No bread. No pasta. No cookies, No ice cream. No carbs!

 

People admire your body, tell you how great you look, how good you are when they see you eating your salad for lunch. But when you get home after a long hard day at work, what happens?

 

Fatigue, hunger, deprivation all set in and you have just one cookie. But that leads to feeling guilt and shame, and then another cookie. Then you feel even more guilt, shame and alone, and that leads to finishing the cookies and binge eating for the next few minutes, hours or even the rest of the evening.

 

But no one knows, except you! It’s a secret you are hiding from the world. You look perfect, you act perfect, and you eat perfect. Who would know that your dirty little secret is that you binge eat at night all the foods you don’t allow yourself to eat during the day.

 

How can you get out of this binge eating trap?

 

3 Steps to Stop Binge Eating

 

  1. Stop restriction yourself and allow all foods into your life again. I know this is so scary! But it’s important if you are ever going to have peace with food and your body.

 

  1. Be aware when you are binge eating. Don’t numb out like you usually do. Stay present, experience it and you will find that you will stop eating before the cookie package is finished.

 

  1. Breathe through it! Yes, identify the emotions you are feeling and breathe through it. Once you know what the true underlying feeling is, you can address it without food.

 

You are not alone. There are others who are experiencing exactly what you are! Seek out the support you need to beat binge eating. You don’t need to fly solo.

 

There’s a community of women ready to welcome you who understand what you are going through. Click HERE to get the support you need.

 

 

 

 

Food Deprivation Leads to Binge Eating

Overindulging in a food item that you restrict is common if you are a chronic dieter. This is called deprivation backlash-rebound eating.

 

Here’s a common scenario: you deprive yourself of a certain food, such as your beloved chocolate because you are on a diet and you are not allowed to have chocolate, right? Well an old-time friend comes to visit and brings you a box of chocolates. You put it away vowing you will not open it. A family member spots the chocolate, opens the box and enjoys a piece. Now what do you do?

 

You think to yourself, “I’m not going to have any, I’m on a diet and I’m doing so well”. You walk away.

 

A few minutes later, you think to yourself, “Hmmm, I’ll just have one, really only one.” You eat one. It was yummy.

 

A few minutes later, “I’ll just have one more”. And then…”Oh shucks, I blew it. I might as well finish the box, there are only 4 more. I promise I will start my diet again tomorrow, and I won’t eat chocolate again!”

 

Sound familiar?

 

You probably truly believe that you won’t eat chocolate again, or do you? You now feel guilty and as a punishment you skip dinner only to find yourself bingeing into the evening.

 

The above example is only one example of the backlash that happens when you deprive yourself of a food you love. You rebound by eating, and overeating.

 

There are many different forms of rebound eating.

 

Have you ever engaged in The Last Supper eating? I have had many clients tell me that the night before their first appointment with me they ate all the foods that they thought I would tell them they can no longer eat…. the foods that they thought would be off limits. Boy, were they surprised when I didn’t tell them that at all.

 

Listen, eating shouldn’t be this difficult. It’s time for you to make peace with food so you can once and for all stop the dieting cycle.

 

Need help? Click here to schedule a time to chat.

 

 

Your turn to take action: Tell me about a time that you engaged in rebound eating or The Last Supper. Share your stories in the comments section below.

 

National Eating Disorder Awareness Week

Eating disorders affect everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status, sexuality, or background.  With today’s media and advertisements showing stick-thin models as the “right” way to look, it makes sense why so many people may develop an eating disorder. A negative body image can lead to serious eating disorder.

 

National Eating Disorder Awareness (NEDAwareness) Week starts this Sunday, February 26th and runs through March 4th.  The theme of this year’s NEDAawareness Week is It’s Time to Talk About It. The National Eating Disorder Association wants to encourage you and everyone else to talk about eating disorders.

 

The two most commonly talked about eating disorders are bulimia and anorexia nervosa.

 

Bulimia is the act of bingeing and purging.  A person with bulimia will often consume more calories in one sitting than they would in a normal day.  This bingeing leads to guilt and self-shaming which turns into purging.  People with bulimia are often a healthy weight but are struggling on the inside.

 

Anorexia nervosa is a disease that tricks your mind into seeing a distorted, often larger, version of yourself.  A person with anorexia starves themselves, forfeiting calories as well as many vitamins and minerals that are necessary to keep their body running.  People with anorexia typically appear thin and fragile, but that isn’t always the case.

 

Although these may be the two disorders that you are familiar with, there are other disordered eating behaviors that you should be aware of.

 

Binge-eating disorder is very similar to bulimia, but without the purging.  A person with binge-eating disorder engages in uncontrollable, continuous eating past the point of fullness.  This is the most common eating disorder in the United States.

 

Orthorexia is an “unhealthy obsession” with healthy eating.  A person with orthorexia nervosa has a fixation on righteous eating and it usually starts as an innocent attempt to eat more healthfully.

 

Regardless of which eating disorder is exhibited, those who are struggling with one seek ways to change their body.  Today’s media makes it hard to find happiness and peace in your own body, so it is important to promote your own body positivity.

 

In order to break free from the daunting stress and pressure from the media, I encourage you to embrace intuitive eating where you can begin to trust your inner body wisdom to guide your eating. Intuitive eating can help you love your body again and change your relationship with food.  This takes time, patience and support.

 

If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, please share this information and seek help immediately. The sooner you do, the sooner you will find peace with your body.

 

If I can help, please email me at Bonnie@DietFreeRadiantMe.com.