Wondering How to Stop Binge Eating?

According to Wikipedia, binge eating affects 3.5 percent of females and 2 percent of males in the U.S. Even more astounding, up to 30 percent of individuals seeking weight loss treatment can experience bouts of binge eating. And although there’s no scientific cause, binge eating has been shown to be tied in to emotions and can be triggered by happiness, sadness, anger, or even boredom.

What is binge eating?

Binge eating is described as compulsive eating that can get out of control and lead to weight gain and even obesity. It happens through periods of excessive overeating, and is a serious condition that can have negative implications (high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease to name a few) on your health if not addressed.

In order to curb binge eating, we recommend starting with these four helpful steps that will encourage you to find the reason for your binging and help you control it so that it doesn’t control you.

1. Eat more frequent meals throughout the day. Fruits, vegetables and lean proteins. Eating substantially throughout the day will help curb your appetite over the long run and will leave you with less moments where you crave food.

2.  Honor your feelings and emotions. Don’t dismiss your feelings – everyone has the right to their feelings and emotions and realizing how you feel is an important step in validating your feelings.

3.  Develop a strong support network. Having outlets, along with tools and resources to help you navigate through the feelings associated with binge eating can help you get rid of feelings of isolation. It’s also a way to develop healthy coping tools and mechanisms.

4.  Minimize time and exposure to unhealthy situations. If you know that spending time with your family increases your stress and acts as a trigger for binge eating, minimize or avoid those situations. Keeping yourself safe and happy, while limiting exposure to unhealthy situations can help you stay on a routine and avoid bad habits in the future.

This list is a good starting point to getting on a healthier and happier road. Try these four helpful tips, and for more information, reach out to us at questions@hungryhearts.org for more information on how to stop binge eating.