Dietitian explains how to stop binge eating.

Have you been wondering how to stop binge eating for a while now? Does your relationship with food feel obsessive? Are you constantly hungry and caught in a relentless cycle of intense cravings and dieting?

Well, I want you to know that you are not alone. As a Registered Dietitian and someone who has had her own struggles with food in the past, I know exactly how frustrating and exhausting this cycle can be. Thankfully, there are proven strategies to break free from this pattern, and I'm going to share them with you today.

This post is all about how to stop binge eating.

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If you would prefer to sit back and watch this information, check out my YouTube video below, which covers this exact topic.

My binge-eating journey

I consider myself very lucky to have a good relationship with food right now, but it wasn’t always this way. I’ve always loved food, even choosing a full career centered around it. However, as a young, impressionable woman, I wasn’t immune to societal pressures to look a certain way.

When I started college to become a dietitian, despite studying nutrition, my first years were filled with chemistry, labs, and math classes with only a few practical nutrition hours each week. Trying to maintain a perfect diet felt like a duty, yet I would fail because it wasn’t sustainable. I didn't have a good understanding of nutrition at this point, and I was another victim of a lot of the misleading nutrition information we see on social media.

Thankfully, I broke free from this cycle, but it took extensive nutrition education and working with many individuals to realize there is no magic solution to dieting, weight loss, and eating healthy. Now, in my career, I meet women who have been stuck in this cycle for ten, twenty, and even thirty-plus years, and it's heartbreaking to see.

But it is possible to get to a place where food no longer dominates your life. You can control your eating, enjoy food without binging or guilt

Can you relate to this?

1. Restriction: It might begin with counting calories, daily weigh-ins, reading food labels, or cutting out food groups. Initially, you might see weight loss and feel proud.
2. Slowly, you start thinking about food more and more. You find yourself constantly wondering about your next meal, focusing on macros, and struggling to concentrate on other things.
3. The cravings grow louder now, especially after restrictive days, leading to bingeing in the evenings or when alone, bringing temporary relief but often ending in discomfort.
4. This is followed by feelings of guilt and shame. This post-binge guilt is overwhelming, leading to promises of stricter future diets, thus perpetuating the cycle to start all over again.

This is known as the binge-restrict cycle.

What’s really happening when we binge eat?

For a long time, I thought my struggles were due to a lack of willpower. But this is not the case.

This cycle is the result of a physiological adaptation to perceived starvation.

When you restrict food, even moderately (like eating 1500-1800 calories a day), your body fights back in order to maintain balance. This includes increasing hunger hormones like ghrelin, lowering metabolism, and releasing neuropeptide Y (NPY), a hormone that drives you to eat.

Research has also shown that even the anticipation of restriction is more likely to lead to binge-like behaviors. One study showed that when a group of people were told that they would begin a week-long, low-calorie diet starting immediately after their participation in a cookie taste-rating task, they ate more cookies than the group of people who were not asked to diet afterward.

So, how do we break free of this binge-restrict cycle?

Number 1: First and foremost, you need to make sure you're eating enough, period.

And this is a big, big one. One of the biggest reasons for cravings or even thinking about food in general is that you're simply not eating enough. When you're not fueling your body enough during the day, your body will have intense feelings of hunger later on.

I always say that if you're not intentionally eating early in the day, you're going to unintentionally eat later in the day.

So, you need to ensure that you have structured meals and snacks throughout the day and do not leave large gaps between eating.

Number 2: The second mistake I often see is that your meals are not balanced.

Eating balanced meals with every macronutrient is crucial for preventing binges. By consuming balanced meals, you will stay fuller for longer and get the nutrients your body needs. This will really help with cravings.

Number 3: Include your favorite foods.

Research shows us that the deprivation of certain foods can heighten your pleasure response to them, making you more susceptible to a binge.

So, if you keep telling yourself you can't eat chocolate and you avoid it as much as you can when you finally allow yourself to have it, you won't be able to control yourself, and you'll overeat.

I used to do this a lot when I was younger. I would have rules that I couldn't eat certain foods, and then if I slipped up and broke the rule, I’d end up eating loads of it, feeling uncomfortable, and not even enjoying the food in the first place.

So, try not to have forbidden foods and try to take a more neutral approach to all foods.

Number 4: Meet your basic needs for water and sleep.

If you're not drinking or sleeping enough, your body will start to react by ramping up food cravings. Make sure you get at least 7 hours of sleep a night and drink fluids regularly throughout the day.

Number 5: Be aware of binge patterns

Start documenting when binges happen and the events leading up to it. Was there a trigger? Did you eat enough earlier in the day? Can you get curious about what you may have been needing at that moment before the binge?

Number 6: The last one I want you to work on is managing your emotions.

Typically, a binge involves a physiological need (more food because you have been restricting!), but there can also be an emotional need. Try asking yourself, what do you really need at this moment?

• Are you seeking relaxation? Feel like you need to de-stress or unwind?
• Are you bored or lonely? Do you need connection?
• Do you need soothing or comfort?

If you can identify a need, consider ways to meet that need outside of food.

FAQ

Conclusion

I really hope this post was helpful. These are all the things I would have liked someone to tell me when I was younger so I could figure out what the heck to do. These are real techniques that have helped me in my journey and also my clients who struggle with food and their bodies. It's really helped them break free from those cycles that kind of felt like they were getting weighed down by that, and now they feel very at peace and free with food.

More balanced nutrition inspiration

I always advocate for nutrition without restriction. Check out these posts for more easy tips:

• How much protein do you really need?
• 10 easy nutrition & health hacks
• How much fiber do we need? A complete guide to fiber