A lot of people think that the solution to not binge eating is to eliminate all binge foods from their home.
I used to be one of those people.
Then one of two things would happen.
One, I’d find something else to binge on, making my list of “binge foods to not buy” longer.
Or two, I’d cave and end up buying them anyway for one reason or another – “I’ve been doing well lately,” “I promise to not eat the whole thing this time,” or “Whatever, I don’t care, I want it.”
Ultimately, this never worked for me, and I see it not work time and time again with other people too.
Instead of eliminating the foods from your life, I think a much better strategy is to keep them in your life.
Yes, you read that right. Keep your binge foods in your home.
Why?
Because you need to learn to live with them.
No matter what you do, all these foods are still going to exist in your life. Friends are going to bring them to parties, you’re going to see them in the grocery store, and you’re going to see advertisements. Even if you remove them from your home, you’ll still see them and in turn think about and want them.
On top of that, if you live with other people, they may want to keep them in the house. Then what do you do?
Then of course there’s the restriction side of this. You know, wanting what you “can’t” have and eventually breaking down and going nuts, bingeing on everything and more.
Now, I’m not saying you should go and buy everything you love and torture yourself everyday. Firstly, just pick one or two and work with those. Also, this is not at all about torture, but about doing the work to change how you think about these foods when they’re available to you and to lessen your fear of these foods as well as your desire for them.
What better way to practice being around those foods and not eating them than to do it in the comfort of your own home? Then when you are out with friends or at the store, it’s so much easier to say no.
Eventually, you can get to a place where you can be around any food, anywhere, and genuinely not want to eat it.
Wouldn’t that be amazing?
And yes, it really is possible.
Any desire you have for food is a desire you created for yourself. You weren’t born obsessing about chocolate, chips, or ice cream. That’s something you developed over time by associating them with good feelings.
You can change how you think about those foods and what you believe they will do for you.
When I first acquired all my coaching tools and began my journey to never binge eating again, I had a jar of peanut butter in my home. This is something I could eat by the spoonful and it was never a “safe” food for me. But for months, I kept it there. It was visible in my cabinet and occasionally I would open it and smell it.
I never ate it.
Was it difficult? At first, yes, but it got easier.
After I gave myself the “go-ahead” to eat it, I never did. I even ended up throwing it away after a few months without ever having eaten one bite because I had no desire anymore to eat it. It’s just not something I want to buy or eat on a regular basis.
Will I ever eat peanut butter again? Of course I will! But the constant thinking about whether or not I should buy it, or thinking about it whenever it was in my home, or the fear of eating a whole jar if I did have it, are all gone.
I just don’t desire it like I used to and I completely trust myself when I’m around it.
Instead of throwing all those foods away, stand in front of them and face temptation straight on.
Feel uncomfortable as you don’t eat them. See what comes up for you and figure out why you really want them.
Why do you desire those foods? You get to decide if your reason is one you’re cool with.
Removing food from your life is not a lasting solution. Practice being around them without eating them instead.
