Breaking Up With Binge Eating

If you have a rocky past when it comes to potato chips, should you banish them from your home forever? What if your trigger food is chocolate -- does that mean you must never buy m&m's again? Or can you only call yourself 'recovered' when you can have your trickiest foods at home and not binge on them? In this episode we'll talk about how your relationships with specific foods may have turned abusive, but you can reset them! With a few sequential steps,  you'll form a new dynamic that is healthier, happier, peaceful, and binge free.

Being tired is one of the most common triggers for binge eating. And when we feel "tired" most people are experiencing not just physical fatigue, but also the emotional drain of dealing with responsibilities, challenges and... life! In this episode we'll talk about what makes our brains so sensitive to immediate gratification from food in that state. And I'll teach you a skill which helps avoid the whole loop of fatigue --> binge --> regret. 

There's nothing quite as upsetting as noticing someone is in distress and being able to do NOTHING about it. All too often, that person is us. We might notice through self-monitoring (see prior episode) that we are having a hard time, or just barely surviving, but draw a blank on what to do. Today we'll cover the 5 basic psychological needs introduced in the last show and some suggestions for what actions you can do if you are struggling in each area. 

We crave data. We journal our workouts, log physical measurements, and take interest in our gadgets' feedback on our steps counts and hours of sleep. But without insight into our psychological health, we suffer a major big blind spot. Staying aware of how we're doing psychologically gives us an edge in preventing and ending binge eating and emotional eating. In this episode you'll learn about 5 of your psychological needs, how to tell when we are replete or running low, and how this awareness helps us end binge eating. 

When even the thought of cutting back on carbs makes you crave bagels...Or the mental image of plain rice and canned tuna sends you straight to the vending machine... Or you consider restarting macro counting, but would rather do your own appendectomy...You've got diet burnout. And that is actually a good thing. You'll see why in this episode.  

At points in your journey you might find yourself not progressing or taking action, seemingly paralyzed. In this episode you'll meet Jackie and find out the perfectly logical reason she was stalled, and the solution we uncovered. 

Maybe there is actually nothing "wrong with you". Maybe it's okay that you slipped up. Maybe you can help yourself feel better instead of choosing to make yourself feel worse. Dare to be compassionate by learning more in this episode. 

It's normal to have confidence which varies depending on the context. But for many people who struggle with emotional eating or binge eating, feeling inferior to someone else can cause the intense anxiety and self-consciousness that makes a person head for the pantry.  In this episode, we'll talk about the 4 options you have in that scenario. 

Want to see yourself making more progress? Want to feel stronger and more motivated on a daily basis? It's all in the words you use. In this episode we'll touch on the key phrases you'll want to start using, and which terms you'll want to strike from your vocabulary to leave binge eating and emotional eating far behind you. 

If I were your fairy godmother, I'd wave my magic wand and get you out of every crappy situation: marathon Zoom meetings, the splitting headache days, I'd even get you out of hangovers and bad dates. But... (sigh) I can't stop life from being distressing at times. What I can do, is help you avoid the situations you can save yourself from, and give you some tools to get through the aggravations in your life without emotionally eating or binge eating.