The 2nd Thing to Give up to Stop Binge and Emotional Eating is trying to make up for your binges.

This is part two of the 11 steps to stop binge eating (check out part one here if you haven’t already!)

I’m going to talk about the three most common ways my clients try to compensate or make up for their binges, why these are not effective methods of weight management, and how they perpetuate the cycle of bingeing.

1-Skipping Meals

This is definitely the most common! How many times have you tried to skip breakfast because you overate the night before? Attempted to survive on iced coffee until 4pm? Swore off carbs, or decided that you might just cut out eating completely for today? Maybe you told yourself you were “fasting.”

If any of this sounds familiar, you may want to check in with yourself about this. I know it’s tempting because you are terrified of weight gain, but if you read my previous article in this series you’ll know that restriction of any kind sends you right into a binge.

And yes, for those of you wondering this absolutely includes anything that resembles intermittent fasting. This is also too restrictive as you heal your relationship with your hunger, food, and your body.

Want to STOP bingeing for good? Instead of trying to skip meals, cut out fat, carbs, or calories, just wait until your natural hunger surfaces again and eat a regular meal!

2-Overexercising

After a binge you may try to “make up for it” with exercise. My personal brand of undoing a binge included hours on the StairMaster, extra runs, and often working out 7 days a week.

This will distort your relationship with exercise because working out is a privilege, not a punishment, AND this approach will leave you exhausted and extra hungry (kind of like having PMS all the time – yikes😩). What do you do when you’re tired, cranky, and extra hungry? That’s right babe – you’ll be bingeing again in no time.

Instead of overexercising post-binge, give your body rest so it can repair and regain balance as soon as possible. In the same way you wait to eat again when you’re naturally hungry, wait until your body is ready for movement and be gentle with it and do something you enjoy. This will help you break the binge cycle for good.

3-Purging

Many people believe that purging (vomiting), after a meal will basically just get rid of it and it’ll be like it never happened. The physical and emotional consequences of repeatedly purging can be severe – destroying your dental health, vocal cords, and digestive tract, cause dehydration, low blood pressure, uncontrollable mood swings, anxiety, depression, and more – but one of the absolute worst side effects is that it perpetuates the binge cycle because you are not getting enough calories or nutrients.

Purging is tempting after eating a whole carton of ice cream, I know, but the consequences are simply not worth it. Instead of skipping meals, overexercising, or purging, try practicing mindfulness, working with a skilled therapist, or other stress reduction techniques to deal with the fear and emotional discomfort that surfaces after a binge.

If you’ve learned anything in this post, I hope it is that your goal now is not to undo that last particular binge, it’s to start changing your behaviors to break the entire cycle for good.

I know that fear that surfaces after a binge, I know it with every cell of my body and the urge to undo it is just as strong as the urge to eat in the first place. But if you truly want to break up with binge eating forever, drop the post-binge restriction, over exercising, or purging. Your body and mind will thank you and you will be on your way to a healthy, balanced relationship with food.

All my love,

Cina