Ep #341: Eat More to Binge Less

Hello! Let’s jump right in and talk about eating more to help you to binge less.

For many of you, one of the reasons why you binge is because you’re not eating enough.

And I’m not just talking about the amount of food that you’re eating in general, although that can for sure be a cause of bingeing.

If you’re not eating enough food to fuel your body, then your brain is going to urge you to eat more. And because your brain’s number one job is to keep you alive, it might urge you to eat excessive food because it wants to prepare for future under-eating. This can happen if it sees a pattern with you under-eating and under-fueling your body. It doesn’t know that you’re doing it on purpose to control your weight. It only knows that it’s not being properly fueled so it’s going to do what it can to get you to eat more.

For a lot of people, this happens when they go on diets that encourage them to create big calorie deficits. They get so hungry and then feel ravenous and they feel driven to eat a lot.

And what can also happen is that you might be eating very little during the day and then use that as an excuse to binge at night. I know I for sure used to do that a lot. I would save up my calories for a binge or at least overeating at night. And then I’d sometimes end up eating beyond my calorie goal I had set for the day because once I got started I had a hard time stopping.

So under eating, not eating enough food to fuel your body properly can cause urges to binge.

What I also mean by not eating enough is not enough food that you enjoy eating, that you like, and that you want to be eating.

You might try to eat only healthy foods, most likely because you think you need to in order to control your weight but also maybe because you think you need to to have a healthy body and mind.

Many of us take it to the extreme and it’s usually because of the messaging we get about foods that are toxic, that are bad for us, that cause cancer, that cause weight gain, and that prevent weight loss.

And I’m not saying that all that we’ve been told is wrong. Some of it is true. But some of it isn’t so first, we need to check our sources and make sure we’re getting information from reputable sources with research that backs it up.

But even with the true stuff, it’s so important that we don’t take it to the extreme if we don’t have to.

Some of you might have health conditions where your doctor recommends cutting out certain foods or you have allergies or sensitives or intolerances and eliminating certain foods would be what’s best for you and your body. And if that’s the case for you, I recommend you listen to a previous episode I did, #76: Allergies, Intolerances, and Chronic Illnesses. It’s possible for you to eat in a way that’s best for your body, in a restrictive way, and not binge and it’s going to come down to how you choose to think about what you’re eating and not eating.

But for the rest of you, which is who this episode is geared toward, who are taking it to the extreme and never allowing yourself to eat the unhealthy, quote “bad,” sugary, high carb, or high fat foods, being so extreme and strict about not eating those foods most likely is not having the effect you’re wanting it or expecting it to. You’re doing it to to super healthy and to lose or maintain your weight but when you’re this extreme, here’s what can actually happen.

There will be times when you want to eat those foods, because you do like those foods. And every time you want to, you tell yourself no because you think you can’t eat those or shouldn’t eat those. And each time you say no, your desire for them grows and over time, your desire builds up so much that you start urging for them. And at some point, you break, and you finally say yes. But, you might also be telling yourself it’s just this one time and you’ll be back to being good tomorrow so, you eat as much of that food as you can while you can, before you tell yourself you can’t or shouldn’t again. And you might also eat other foods you haven’t been allowing while you’re giving yourself permission to be quote “bad” or unhealthy.

You end up bingeing on what you have been denying yourself of and what you’ll soon after begin to deny yourself of again.

You go from zero to excessive and in the end, you probably are eating more that you would have had you just said yes to yourself more before.

So you do it to be super healthy and lose weight but in the end, you end up bingeing.

What I also see happen is that people don’t eat what they want because they think they should eat something healthier, whatever that means to them, and then after they do, they feel unsatisfied because it wasn’t what they wanted. So, they go into their cabinets or their fridge or go to the store and end up bingeing or overeating on something that they think will satisfy them. So, they end up eating more food, and more calories, than they would have had they just eaten what they wanted in the first place.

For many people, they think that eating less in quantity or eating less of certain foods, or zero, will help them to control their weight but, when that less turns into more bingeing, and zero turns into excessive, and you’re likely not going to get your desired outcome.

And actually, you’ll likely get the opposite outcome of what you’re wanting.

So if you want to decrease your bingeing, eat more.

If you haven’t been eating enough food in general, eat more so your body is properly fueled.

If you haven’t been allowing yourself to eat what you want, allow yourself to eat those foods more.

Now, I’m not saying that you should be eating a lot of food that isn’t nutritious. One of my group members told her doctor that she was going to be working with me and the doctor warned her that that was what I was going to encourage her to do. And it’s not.

When you work with me, I don’t encourage you to eat a lot of food that isn’t nutritious. But what I do encourage is for you to eat those foods when you want to and you’re going to decide when you want to not just based on what you feel like eating but, you’re also going to take your body into account and how it will feel.

So often people say that what they really want is to eat pizza and french fries and ice cream and foods like that all the time. But that’s not really true. They think they want that but when they tell themselves the whole story about eating that stuff all the time, they realize it’s not really what they want.

They want to eat all that without the consequences of how they’d feel if they did but unfortunately, the consequences can’t be avoided. They’re part of it. We can’t ignore that.

So sometimes you’re going to eat what you feel like eating, that isn’t very nutritious, and sometimes you’re going to choose not to because of how you anticipate your body will feel. And sometimes you’re going to eat just a small amount because you know that if you eat more your body won’t feel good.

You’re always going to have permission to eat what you feel like eating. You’re always allowed to. And sometimes you will choose to and sometimes you won’t.

And it’s so important that you’re honest with yourself about what you want.

Many times I’ve had group members tell me they don’t want to be eating certain foods but then they binge on those foods, or binge on foods like them.

If they didn’t want them, or foods like them, then why would they choose those foods when they’re bingeing?

When we start to look at it honestly, they realize that they want to not want those foods but there is a part of them that does want them.

If it’s the same for you, it’s important that you acknowledge this for yourself. You might want to be a person who only eats nutritious food, but you aren’t that person. Most people aren’t. Most people want to eat cake or cookies or pizza sometimes. And that’s okay.

Accept that about yourself.

And also know that you can still be healthy, and be at a healthy weight, and lose weight while eating those foods that aren’t nutritious.

For most people, it’s not the foods themselves that cause weight gain and poor health. It’s the amount.

And also, there are stories about people who eat non-nutritious foods and drink sugary drinks that live long and healthy lives.

It’s okay if you eat those foods sometimes. It’s not as big of a deal as you may be making it out to be in your head.

And remember, you’re better off eating those foods sometimes in your regular eating than never eating them and then bingeing on them.

So if you’re not eating them at all, eat them more so you don’t fall into deprivation eating.

So, the main lesson here I want you to take away from this episode is to stop denying your body of the fuel it’s asking for and to stop denying yourself of the foods you want to eat.

Give your body what it wants and give yourself what you want. And remember too that when I’m talking about what you want it’s important that you tell yourself the whole story. It’s not just about what you want, what your body wants matters too. You’re in this together and you’re making decisions for the both of you. So take your body into account when you’re deciding what you want.

So, if you want to binge less, and if your binges are a result of you being overly restrictive with your eating, eat more fuel for your body and eat more of what you want.

It will be so much better for you to have some of those less nutritious foods in moderate amounts here and there rather than bingeing on them.

Eat more, binge less.

Alright, that’s all for today and I’ll talk to you next time. Bye bye!