Ep #344: Weekend Binge Eating

Hello! Before we get started, I want to remind you that registration for the next round of The Stop Binge Eating Program is opening in just two weeks, on March 19th of 2025.

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Let’s get you out of binge eating and into a binge-free life. You can do it.

Alright, now let’s talk about weekend binge eating.

Binge eating can happen at any time. There isn’t one time of day, or one day of the week that I’ve never heard someone say they binged.

But I’d say the two most common times that I hear are nighttime and weekends.

I actually did an episode on nighttime eating, #13 if you want to give that listen.

And today it’s all about the weekends.

For many people, they treat weekends very differently than weekdays.

This is most common for people who don’t work on the weekends but, there are of course people who do work weekends that also think about them differently.

I worked weekends for many years. Most of my jobs required me to work at least one weekend day, sometimes both, and I still sometimes thought of those weekends days differently.

But anyway, one reason why binge eating happens more on the weekends for some people is because of how they think about the weekends vs how they think about weekdays.

They might think that weekends are the time to let loose, time to ease up, and the time to be more relaxed with their eating.

It’s like weekdays are when they are adulting and responsible and maybe being a little more boring. But then weekends are party-time.

And included in that “party-time” is less focus on what and how much they’re eating, and less strict rules about what and how much they’re eating.

Which brings us to another reason why weekend binge eating happens.

You might be super strict and super healthy with your eating during the weekdays. And then when the weekend comes, you want to take a break from doing that and just be free to eat whatever and how much ever you want.

You basically free yourself from the constraints you’ve put on yourself all week and just let go.

And the more strict you have been, the more you’re going to let go.

So the weekend bingeing can be a result of you being too strict with your eating during the week or it can be a result of you just thinking that weekends are the time to eat all the things. It’s how you’ve associated eating with the weekends. And, it can also be a combination of both.

All week you might be super strict with your eating, thinking that weekdays are the time to eat this way. And all weekend you might let go of all your restrictions that you’re tired of having, thinking that weekends are the time to be free.

You go back and forth from thinking that you need to be super strict to thinking you’re free to do what you want.

So you go back and forth between bingeing on the weekends and eating super healthy during the weekdays because of how you’re reacting to being free after being so strict.

And of this is your pattern, how you think about Monday can also come into play.

If you’re thinking that on Monday you’ll be back to being quote “good,” then on Sunday you might want to get in all the quote “bad” food before you have to be good on Monday.

So it can lead to last hurrah eating before Monday, getting it all in while you’re allowing it.

On Sunday, you’re thinking that this is your chance. And you might actually start thinking that on Saturday, or even Friday night.

When your time is limited, you want to make the most of it so if your time to eat those foods is limited, you want to get as much as you can while you can.

The weekend is the time to eat what you don’t usually allow yourself to eat.

And I want to be clear on my wording. I’m not saying it’s the time to eat what you don’t usually eat. It’s what you don’t usually allow yourself to eat.

There is a big difference between choosing to not eat certain foods because you just don’t want them or you don’t like how they make you feel and not eating foods because you don’t allow yourself to.

The former is you making empowered decisions for yourself based on your true wants. The latter is you not giving yourself a choice, forcing decisions on yourself, and being too restrictive with yourself.

If you’re forcing yourself to eat a certain way because you think you have to, that’s what can lead to the weekend bingeing.

You don’t allow yourself to eat certain foods on the weekdays so when you do allow on the weekends, two things can happen.

One is that your desire for them builds up over the weekdays, as you keep telling yourself you can’t eat them, and by the time the weekend comes your desire is so strong, you’re urging for them.

The other is what I was talking about before where you try to get as much as you can before Monday comes when you stop allowing yourself to eat them.

That’s what can happen when you switch between allowing and not allowing.

So, that is why I recommend that you allow 100% of the time, rather than switching back and forth.

And I gotta be clear about what it means to allow.

What is doesn’t mean is that you eat whatever whenever.

It means you have unconditional permission to eat what and how much you want to eat.

The permission doesn’t necessarily mean you will, it just means you’re allowed to if you want to. You are free to choose.

You have permission and with that permission, you get to choose.

So if you don’t eat something, you’re not forcing yourself to not eat it, you’re choosing to not eat it. Choosing feels so much more free than forcing. Forcing is what will make you feel restricted.

And 100% allowance, all the time, will stop you from feeling the need to have a last hurrah, and the need to get it all in while you can.

When you have unconditional permission, you’re allowed to eat that food on Monday if you want to.

You get to choose.

And you may choose to not eat that food on Monday and if you do, that’s okay. It’s your choice. Or you may choose to eat and that’s okay too. You’re not being bad if it’s allowed.

And if it’s allowed, there is no guilt, no feelings of being restricted, and no urgency to eat it if you do eat it. Those are all things that can lead you to binge.

If it’s allowed, you feel free, you feel relaxed, and those are things that can result in more mindful and calm moderate eating.

You might think that you only allowing those foods on the weekends is helping you to be more healthy but it’s more likely leading you to binge.

So give yourself 100% allowance, unconditional permission, and from there you will choose what you want to eat based on what sounds good to you and what will feel good in your body.

That’s one thing that can help you to stop the weekend bingeing.

Don’t make weekdays and weekends hugely different in your mind when it comes to eating.

You may choose to eat differently on the weekends but, don’t make it a strict, forced way of eating on the weekdays and then the completely opposite on the weekends.

Let’s not go from one extreme to the other.

Now let’s talk about another reason why weekend bingeing can happen.

It can happen when you have more free time than you do on the weekdays.

Now, some of you might have the opposite problem sometimes, where your weekends are super busy, and I’ll talk about that in a moment.

But if you have all this free time that you don’t usually have, one thing you might do is choose to eat for fun.

You get all this free time and now you’re thinking about all the food you can eat that day.

This might happen if eating is your go-to for fun. You might think it’s the most enjoyable thing you can do with your time.

It could also be a reaction to being too restrictive with your eating during the weekdays as I talked about earlier.

And if this is happening, and you don’t want eating to be your #1 fun activity, then it’s important that you explore other options for fun.

Eating isn’t the only option. There are so many more, you just might not be aware of them yet or have forgotten about things.

So take some time to explore options, come up with ideas, research, ask other people what they do. In my program someone just did that in our group, they asked what people do for fun that doesn’t revolve around food and so many cool ideas were shared. You never know what idea other people might have that will spark interest in you. And who knows, you just might find your new favorite thing to do.

What can also happen with having more free time, is that you don’t know what to do with it, so you just eat.

It’s not actually an excited, planned choice like I just talked about, it’s more of a default.

That’s something I used to do too often.

I hadn’t made plans because I wanted to just do whatever I felt like doing but then when my day off came, I didn’t know what to do and I assumed that my friends would already have plans or I didn’t want to put in the effort to come up with a plan for something to do so, I’d just eat food.

That was what I chose to do with my time.

I hear many of you talk about a similar issue.

You have free time so, you choose to eat to fill your time.

And the more time you have, the more you eat.

So a whole day of free time can turn into a whole day of eating.

If this is what happens to you, I encourage you to be more intentional about what you do with your free time whether it be for the whole day or for those in between moments.

You might have free time between afternoon and evening plans. Be intentional about what you want to do with that time.

Now, I’m not saying you need to be super scheduled. But, you can at least decide ahead of time something or some things you might want to do with your time and then choose what you are in the mood for when the time comes.

And if when your free time comes you don’t feel like doing any of those options, take a moment to explore what you are wanting to do, what you are in the mood for.

Instead of just eating food as a time filler, and instead of eating while you figure it out, take a moment to be with yourself, and have a conversation with yourself to figure out what you want to do next.

Eating that food isn’t helping you to figure anything out. It’s distracting you from self-exploration.

You’re probably not going to figure out what you’re really wanting to do while you’re eating food.

You might even in that moment decide to not figure it out and just eat. Eating becomes your decision.

So, if free time is the issue, prepare for it and also, connect with yourself and your true wants when you’re looking for something to do.

Are you wanting to relax? Do something creative? Do something fun? Connect with someone? You’ll get an answer if you take the time to ask, and if you don’t accept “I don’t know” as an answer. You do know. Give yourself a moment to uncover the real answer.

And then go get what you’re wanting, even if it is going to take effort. It will be worth it.

And then there are those of you who have the opposite problem of not having enough free time on the weekends.

You’ve worked all week, you’ve been busy all week, and then you still don’t get a break on the weekends.

So when you do get free time, even if its just minutes, or even a whole hour, you’re looking for the quickest, easiest way to give yourself a break.

And you choose to eat food. You’re eating to relax. You’re eating to distract from the busyness. You’re eating to calm yourself down. You’re eating to give yourself some pleasure, especially if your busyness is more like doing chores and obligations than it is fun.

Basically, you’re using food to create a moment of fun and pleasure or are using food to calm your emotions, to shut off your brain, or to distract and give yourself a break.

And the people who have a lot of free time might be eating to accomplish the same thing after a busy week.

You’re trying to decompress quickly and easily.

And if this is the case for you there’s two things I’d explore for yourself.

One is, what do you want to do in those moments when you do have time? What would be the most beneficial to you?

And the other is to prioritize your own personal self-care and pleasure, whatever it is you’re urging for the on the weekends, more throughout the whole week.

If you’re urging for it, you’re not getting enough.

And what I’ve seen time and time again is that people have the ability to give themselves more but, aren’t taking it.

Maybe they say yes to too many things, maybe they prioritize other people’s pleasure and emotions, maybe they aren’t delegating as much as they could, I see that one happen a lot with parents who take on most of the to-do’s when they really could delegate more to their partner or older children, and maybe they don’t allow themselves to rest or experience more pleasure because they think they need to be productive all the time. That’s another common thing I see happen.

So many of you think that resting, or doing more fun things is a waste of time and that you should be more productive.

But, if you don’t give yourself the rest and fun that you desire and that you need, you’re going to get burnt out and then urge for it.

So whatever it is that you’re urging for on the weekends, find ways that you can give it to yourself more throughout the whole week.

Audit what you are choosing to do with your time and explore how you can make more time for you and your needs and wants.

The more you give yourself, the less you’ll urge.

So, so much of the weekend bingeing is actually a result of what you’re doing and thinking during the week. It can also be a result of what you’re choosing to do with your free time and how you’re thinking about your free time.

As I talked about in this episode, there are a few different reasons why you might be bingeing on the weekends. So for you, it could be one, it could be a combination.

Know what the reasons are for you so you know what will help for you to work on.

You can stop bingeing on weekends.

Your weekends don’t have to be that much different from the weekdays.

You decide how you think about them and what you choose to do for each day of the week.

Alright, so that is our episode today and before I go, I just want to remind you again that registration for The Stop Binge Eating Group Coaching Program will be opening on March 19th so if you are interested, get on the waitlist at coachkir.com/group, you can also find all the info about the program on that webpage, and if you have any questions that aren’t addressed on that page you can email them to info@coachkir.com.

I can help you get that binge-free life you’ve been dreaming of. We can make it happen together.

Alright, that is all for today. I’ll talk to you next time, bye bye.