Binging masks your feelings for a short amount of time.
Binging on food can ultimately lead to obesity. During a binge, you self-medicate with an excess of food, in the hopes of numbing and eliminating negative feelings. Dieting and food deprivation can trigger a binge, as can high stress levels. The lack of self-control and the inability to control cravings can make you feel embarrassed, ashamed, guilty, sad and angry with yourself. After a binge you feel worse than you did beforehand. This may motivate you to attempt to stop the behavior.
Instructions
1. Incorporate relaxation techniques to get a handle on stress. Breathe deeply, from your abdomen, during stressful times. Inhale through your nose and fill your lungs with as much air as possible. Exhale all the air through your mouth while contracting your abdomen. Repeat this, making sure your stomach inflates and deflates as you breathe. Practice yoga or meditation as additional or alternative relaxation techniques.
2. Take on an activity that keeps you from binging. Read a book, listen to music, talk to a friend on the phone, or exercise when you feel a binge coming on. Distract your mind from thinking about food. As time passes your urge to binge subsides.
3. Eat a balanced diet, so you feel satiated and not deprived. Consume three meals per day and add in two to three healthy snacks over the course of the day. By constantly providing your body with nutrition, the urge to binge reduces. Avoid completely eliminating bad foods, because this may make you crave them even more. Have treats in moderation and replace dieting with healthy eating habits.
4. Feel and express the emotion you are trying to mask with food, instead of resorting to binging. Examine your feelings when you feel a binge coming on. If you feel sad, cry for a minute; if you're angry, scream out loud or hit a pillow; if you're lonely, visit a friend.
5. Seek support if you cannot stop your binges on your own. Participate in individual and group therapy sessions and self-help groups. Meet other people in the same predicament and realize that you are not alone. Get information about binge-eating prevention and recovery. Talk to a therapist about your emotions to find any underlying reasons behind your binges.
6. Consult your doctor about medications you can take to help prevent binges. Your doctor can prescribe antidepressants, to help control your negative moods and reduce or eliminate binges. He can also prescribe appetite suppressants to reduce your cravings for food.
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