Tips and Tricks to Reduce Binges.



If you have a eating disorder, or any problems with your eating then it’s best to get professional help. However this can be hard for some people and thus this contains a number of ideas and solution to help us reduce the number of binges. Remember that some of these idea’s will take time to implement and you may need to mix and match before you find what works for you.

One of the most important things to do is to figure out whether the binges are happening due to excessive restriction of the diet or whether they are happening regardless of what you have eaten in the run e.g Bulimia or C.O.E.:-

Make sure you’re eating enough. A lot of the time when you binge it’s because you aren’t eating enough and your body is crying out for nutrients. So make sure you’re eating enough and by that I mean around 2000 calories a day. You should then have enough nutrients and the bodies desire to binge should be reduced. It can be difficult to work out if we are eating enough as often it feels like we are eating alot because we are eating but calorie wise it is a tiny proportion of what you should be eating. Purging, abusing laxatives etc. also mean that you will screw up your eating. We all need food and restricting/abusing our bodies - leads to hunger - leads to a binge - leads to restricting/abusing our bodies.


Identify reasons for binging. Write down how you feel before a binge. If you find out why you’re binging, whether that be hunger, boredom or emotional issues, then you can stop yourself from binging. Using a food diary like the one below can be a great way of gaining insight.

The headings along the top should read:

Time
Meal
Place
Food
Drink
Binge
Purge 
Laxatives
Other
Fullness Level
Emotion's prior to and after eating

and then fill in as appropriate.

Identify your trigger foods. Take notice of what you eat on a binge. If every time you eat a square of chocolate that triggers you into binging then maybe it would be a good idea to try to avoid chocolate? I know it seems simple, but a lot of people don’t think about these things so therefore you don’t notice. Another thing that helps with this, so you don’t deprive yourself of a food group or whatever, is say have a couple of squares of chocolate then ask someone to take the chocolate off you and make sure you don’t go and raid the fridge. When doing this we need to be careful that we don’t block whole food groups from your diet because they are 'bad' or 'unhealthy'. All food is good if eaten in moderation but eating to much of anything be it salad or chocolate can be harmful. A balanced diet and a balanced mind are so important when aiming for a healthy diet. I used to think I've messed my diet up because I ate that fatty chocolate I may as well eat more now and boom binge time.

Meal plans. Meal plans can help to prevent you binging as everything is planned out and it gives you a structure to follow. Another thing that helps with this is having six to eight small meals in a day rather than the three big ones as this helps keep you feeling fuller for longer and can help stop you binging.

Do a food diary - be careful with this if you restrict because it can trigger and thus lead to more binges. An example of this is below you can make it fit your needs as required
Distract yourself. If you think you’re starting to binge then try to distract yourself. Head over to the fun and distractions board, go out and take a walk to anywhere (don’t take money), draw, paint. Just get yourself away from the kitchen and food and get yourself busy.

Shop when you are full - I find that I am far more likely to buy binge food if I go shopping when I am hungry because that looks yummy and wow look how scrum that looks and then I set of home and eat it all. If I go shopping with a list having eaten reasonably I don’t get tempted by unnecessary items.

Lastly remember that whatever happens tomorrow is a new day, a new week, a new month and things will improve eventually so there is no need to beat yourself up