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Alternatives to Binge Eating
When the desire to binge is present, either it is covering up some deeper issue or it is a result of habit, or both. Either way, there are some practical steps you can take to reduce bingeing frequency and/or find healthier ways to fulfill needs.
1) Make sure you are consuming enough food on a regular basis. One of the most frequent physiological causes of bingeing is deprivation (through dieting or insufficient nutritional intake). Make sure that you are not deficient in some important nutrient. Don't skip meals, if possible.
2) Check your physical needs. Are you getting enough rest? (Sometimes bingeing covers up extreme fatigue.) If you have hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) or similar symptoms, make sure you eat small snacks throughout the day, whenever you are a little physically hungry rather than waiting for meal times. People who eat only at designated meals, even if they are hungry in between, are more likely to overeat or binge in the evening.
3) If you find yourself reaching out for food at times of emotional hunger, when you know you are physically satiated, the following techniques may help you stop eating, or else reduce the quantity you eat:
a) If you intend to binge, stop and think what you really want to eat, and don't settle for anything else. If you want hot fudge, go out and get hot fudge – carrot sticks or cheese and crackers or donuts will not do. Often, if we can eat precisely what we crave, however "sinful" that feels, we no longer need to eat anything else. However, eating something else, we are likely to eat and eat and eat until we either collapse or go out and eat what we wanted anyway. A woman I know stopped all her bingeing by keeping a supply or chocolate covered malt balls and chocolate chip cookie dough always on hand. If she ate just a bit of either she was totally satisfied, while before this, when she denied herself all sweets, she ate five times as much, continously got indigestion and gained weight.
b) Whenever you binge, do some writing or journaling to 1) express whatever you are feeling 2) begin to detect what the "payoff" is –- what you really are yearning for. Knowing you will write whether you binge or not gets you into the habit of expressing yourself. Perhaps, you will eventually write instead of bingeing. Even if you still overeat, writing insures that energy keeps moving. If you know what you really want, you can begin to work on changing your life to satisfy your emptiness/hunger in nonfood ways. For example, if you really need to be more assertive in your relationships, begin to practice speaking out. If your relationship is in trouble, seek help, work to change it or find other, more nourishing relationships. If you need more friends, find ways to meet people.
c) Develop a list of things to do instead of eating, e.g. taking a walk, drawing, playing with clay, writing, cleaning, dancing, hugging a pillow or having a good cry. Find things that you are likely to do, that are readily available, that you enjoy and that preferably involve some physical activity or occupy your hands (so you can't eat at the same time). Keep this list posted on your refrigerator as a reminder of other activities you may choose instead of eating. You may choose to eat anyway, but if you get in the practice of having other things around to do that you've already planned out, it's much easier to stop bingeing than if you don't have anything else in your mind besides food.
d) If possible, slow down your pace of eating and eat consciously. That is, taste your food, chew carefully, sit down and eat, don't do another activity simultaneously. If you eat this way, it is a lot harder to overeat.
e) After each food item, before selecting the next, stop for 5 minutes. Tell yourself, "if in 5 minutes I still want to eat something else, I can, but I will just rest for now." Taking breaks gives you a chance to get involved in something else, and perhaps stop a binge in progress. If you still really want to keep going, you can, it just will take more time.
f) Have compassion for yourself. Bingeing is not the end of the world. If you do binge, that does not mean you are doomed to keep eating and eating out of control forever more. It just means that right now, in this moment, you are bingeing. Many people get so wrapped up in shame and feelings of failure, that they say ,"oh well, I blew it anyway, I might as well keep eating until I drop." Alternatively, you can say, "I've been bingeing, and I understand there are some very good reasons why I do this, but that's enough for now. Perhaps after I've done some practicing of some of these techniques, I will do this less often. I'm still O.K. even if I do binge.
...And remember, have compassion for yourself for having difficulty having compassion for yourself!!! When judgments come, talk to your inner critic, find out who s/he is, what they want, what they are doing there. Get curious about what you gain by listening to your critic and putting yourself down...