“Cant stop…..but why?”
Binge eating is not controllable by will power alone.
The more you try to control it the worse it gets.
Almost everyone will have moments in their life when they will overeat or look to food for comfort or an uplift. If this is a regular behaviour that you are finding difficult to overcome you may be experiencing Binge Eating Syndrome.
Binge Eating is often also known as Compulsive Eating. People who constantly diet are twelve times more likely to binge and develop binging as a way of dealing with food.
The reasons why people develop Binge Eating behaviour is individual and personal.
Some may use food to overcome stress, tiredness or negative emotions.
Others may use the behaviour to deal with difficult life situations or challenges.
Often binge eating may occur after an episode of dieting when the body has been deprived of sufficient food and nutrients.
Some Binge Eating Behaviours:
- Consuming a large amount of food, feeling out of control and unable to stop
- Often binge when you are not hungry and continue after your are full
- Eating so quickly that you have not registered what you have eaten
- Pick and nibble all day between meals and snacks
- Feeling distressed, anxious and guilty after binging
- Feel ashamed or embarrassed about the binge eating behaviour
- Binge eat in secret or when alone
- Hiding or piling food for a secretly planned binge
- Feelings of extreme guilt and self loathing for lack of self control
- Feeling numb when binging
- Feeling depressed after binging
- Feeling lack of satisfaction no matter how much has been eaten
- Eating until feeling sick
Why Diets lead to Binge Eating?
Diets create Tension.
When there is a strong focus on losing weight, the added tension created in the body depletes the happy hormones (dopamine), leading to feelings of being alone, isolated, cold and unloved.
Can you blame yourself for binging on comfort food when you feel all these complex and challenging emotions.???
Diets lead to a weakened metabolism
Regular dieting disturbs the self regulatory process and affects the metabolism. It fools the body into thinking it is responding to starvation conditions and lowers the rate at which food is processed.
If you have been constantly dieting and start to eat regularly, you may experience feelings of “not being full” because the body’s own self regulating system has been damaged.
In addition to this the body’s thermostat which controls the metabolism of food is sluggish and cannot metabolise food at the rate is should. With a sluggish system, most people then reach out for another diet solution and continue the self-defeating process adding further damage to the metabolism.
Diets are not the solution but are part of the problem to being overweight
Selling diets is super profitable and millions are spent each year advertising diets to create insecurities and chaotic diet behaviour. The diet food market is big. Not long after starting one diet, another one begins, creating a cycle and pattern that becomes so entrenched making it extremely difficult to break out of.
Dieting can be highly contagious. Have you ever noticed a social group and the changes that begin to happen when one person starts a diet. Before long almost every person in the group will be on a diet and within a short time, they will compare contrast and compete with diet stories and articles.
My Philosophy is to provide a therapeutic, nurturing and supportive environment to explore your patterns and behaviours.
In particular we will look at the individual biological, psychological and social influences that have prevented you from creating change. With experience in a range of therapies we will work together in gaining deeper insight. Some of the therapies I work with include:
- Psychotherapy
- Hypnotherapy
- Mind Body Therapy
- Insight Therapy
- Emotion Focused Therapy
- Mindfulness and Acceptance Therapy
- Visualisation and Relaxation Techniques
- Yogi Philosophy
In understanding more about your eating cues and reasons behind the behaviour, you will be able to work towards a healthy relationship with food.