How to Stop Binging

For some reason all week long I kept finding myself in conversations about mental illness and eating disorders, so I felt God tugging on my heart to share some insight about it from my perspective.  First of all, I’d like to start by saying mental illness  seems like a scary word to most people, myself included, and I think people think it is scary because society portrays it to be.  Having a mental illness does not make you any less of a person, does not make you crazy, and there are more people than you think that have a mental illness, but either are too scared to open up about it or don’t even realize they are struggling with one.  I myself have been through eating disorders, anxiety, and depression. I could go on and on about mental health, but today I am just going to focus on one topic that has probably been my biggest struggle; eating disorders.

This week I was having a conversation with a close friend about binge eating (also let me point out the friend I was having this conversation with, you would definitely not peg as a binge eater.)  I guess that is another point to bring up though, you can’t LOOK like a certain disorder or place people in a certain category.  Everyone goes through their own eternal battles and a lot of the times don’t show it from the outside, they silently struggle from within.  Anyways, we were talking about binge eating and sharing stories from our past. Binge eating is a nasty cycle that people are in. I know when I binged it was hard to break the cycle because you binged, felt bad about it and then felt so ashamed you binged more, then you got on an anorexia kick and starved yourself, then you starve yourself so much you finally crack and eat everything in sight by the end of the week.  For some people it seems silly and hard to understand. “Just don’t eat so much”, “eat slower”, “just stop when you’re full”. I wish it was that simple, but people who are binging or are dealing with any sort of eating disorder are often dealing with things deeper than just eating. For me, binging was a result of my anxiety outbursts or depression states. I made food my comfort and utilized it for everything. I am not good at dealing with my feelings, and easily become very overwhelmed and overthink everything.  I suppressed my feelings down and tried to ignore them and the only way I knew how to cope with that was with food. Whether I was happy, mad, disappointed, nervous, excited, etc, I would use food. The thing about binge eating, is you eat whether you are full or not. I cannot even tell you how many times I would eat until I got sick. It is embarrassing to admit, but also very real and is something I had to struggle through. 

I am no professional and I am in no way trying to give out false information, but in MY OPINION, I strongly believe that eating disorders are a mental illness, and at least for me, they usually stem from deeper issues.  Over the years, especially after starting CrossFit, and got a mindset coach, I have learned a lot about myself and how to deal with my mental health. There are three main points I want to share that have helped me start to break the cycle of binge eating and hopefully can help someone else too.

Know your triggers– I was told by my coach whenever I felt the need to binge eat or started to feel out of control I should journal how I was feeling at the moment.  This was not ideal for me because I am NOT good with emotions. However, after doing it each time it became easier each time, and also more beneficial.  From writing down how I truly felt it helped me surface my emotions and made them easier to confront, but also helped me find my triggers. One of my big triggers is isolation.  When I am alone with my own thoughts things can get pretty hectic. My brain starts to work in overdrive and every bad thought I could possibly think of decides to make an appearance.  Before, I would easily get wound up in the chaos and the only way I knew how to stop the thoughts were to get comfort food; now I am aware of my trigger so instead of getting overwhelmed I sift through all of my emotions and journal.  Most of the time once I finish journaling I can calm myself down and no longer need the comfort foods. Finding out your triggers can help you stay proactive and have a plan so you are not always on the defensive side of things which makes things feel a little less overwhelming and chaotic.

Follow a Food Plan – This step is something I have learned that helps a lot, but you have to be willing to try something out of your comfort zone and also make a full commitment.  If you say you will do it, but then only follow the plan half the time, you probably won’t see the best results. (with that being said, if you fail, get up and try again; failing is better than doing nothing; regroup and keep trying)  For me, my food plan is counting macronutrients (will be more posts about this in the future).  Currently I am eating more calories than I have in a long time (because I am actually eating enough for my body to function properly) and it has helped so much with my desire to not binge eat.  It keeps me full and satisfied and I eat so frequently that I don’t even crave the urge to eat any extra.  Being able to try and hit a target each day and get a check mark for hitting each macronutrient and total calories gives me satisfaction, and I feel good about myself.  Most importantly, it helps me control my eating habits while still feeling like I am not too restricted with what I can have, hence me not binging.

 YOU ARE NOT ALONE- As I previously mentioned above, I was talking about binge eating to a friend that I would never suspect would binge eat.  People tend to keep their mental health issues a secret and even feel ashamed by them. I am still uncomfortable sharing my personal life with the world, but here I am trying; why? Because I think it is important to spread awareness and let people know they aren’t alone.  You aren’t crazy, you are not the only one who feels the way you do, and more than likely there is someone in your life who struggles the same way you do. When I had this conversation with my friend I felt relieved and I felt better knowing that I was not the only one who struggled with binge eating.  I wasn’t the only one who used food to suppress their feelings. I wasn’t the only one that would hide from friends or family and eat until I got sick. I wasn’t the only one that felt self-conscious when going out to eat with other people, because you always finished your plate while the others only finished half.  It felt good to know that I wasn’t alone. We are never alone and we don’t have to hide who we really are or how we really feel. The sooner you recognize you aren’t the only one dealing with hard shit, the sooner you can learn to cope with things differently and not have to use food to do it. So shed some light in the darkness, talk about your mental health with others, it may surprise you how many people are going through the same things.  Help each other get through the rough patches; I am never alone, you are never alone, we are never alone.