Binge eating therapist identifies 4 common challenges.
In this month’s blog, a binge eating therapist writes about 4 common challenges and shares some tips to help overcome them.
Everyone eats an extra serving of food from time to time. Maybe it was your favourite dish or you ate more of a particular food because you haven’t had it in a long time.
You may be wondering, at what point does eating become a problem? When eating causes distress it is an indication that you may need to pay attention to it to take some small steps towards relief.
But, where do I begin, you might ask yourself?
The first step is to identify if your eating causes you distress. Do you often feel guilty or ashamed about food? Is your eating affecting your digestion? Blood pressure? Are your eating patterns erratic? If so, don't be alarmed. Keep reading to know more about some things you can start doing today.
1. Cravings
“Why can’t I stop eating?!”
Problem: Diets. There are different types of cravings but a common one stems from dieting.
Solution: Understand that when the body is undernourished by restrictive diets, the brain triggers survival and will drive you to eat uncontrollably. Eating regularly will help switch survival mode off and reduce cravings.
2. Unhelpful Thoughts
“I’ve blown it! I may as well binge.”
Problem: The thought is so automatic that before you know it, you have acted on it.
Solution: Identify that this is a common thought and practice an alternative. For example: “I realise that I ate more than I needed. If I stop now, I will regain control and feel much better in a few hours.”
3. Unhelpful Habits
Watching TV while eating.
Problem: The brain associates eating to watching TV. This becomes a habit. When watches TV eats mindlessly and more than the body needs. Later feels regret and guilt about this.
Solution: Replace the old habit with a new one. Commit to switching the TV off while you eat. You would need to be intentional to start with. Habits develop by repetition. So be patient and consistent… Repeat. Repeat. Repeat…until the new habit becomes second nature.
4. Eating to Manage Emotions
“I’m bored, angry, sad… I’ll eat something!”
Problem: Eating is not the best tool to deal with emotions. It only provides a short-term resolution and adds to more eating distress.
Solution: Emotions give you important information for you to act on. Try to identify the trigger for the emotions. Ask yourself: what could help with the sadness, anger, boredom, etc? Learn to express and manage your emotions. This offers a long-lasting solution and reduces food struggles.
I hope that identifying these common challenges and solutions has been helpful to you or a loved one. Please share to help someone else. If you would like to talk to a binge eating therapist get in touch at jael@art-of-listening.co.uk to see how we can work together.