Site Title

Binging

How to Damage Control and Prevent It

 

I wrote an article about this on JB a while back. But it got lost in the archive :(

I think most of us have suffered from binging at one point or another. But have you ever noticed it's those who are trying to lose weight or trying to eat healthier that tend to binge the most? You might call them "bad days", "junk days" or "fat days". So what can you do to get back on track? Why do we do it? But more importantly, how can you stop it for the future?

 

What is "binging"?

Binging is when you suddenly feel the urge to eat absolutly tons of junk junk food/pastries/unhealthy foods - and do it. In excessivly large quanities. And you can't stop yourself. Then afterwards, you feel bloated, guilty, angry, and very low about yourself. usually that makes you just want to do it more. Then sometimes you might try to rectify your "mistake" with "RIGHT! As of tomorro, I'm going to do 14 hours of exercise a day, and make sure I only have NO MORE than 500 calories!" But that doesn't work, and it never lasts and you just end up binging again. it's a vicious circle.

Why do we binge?

I've found that people who tend to suffer mostly from binging are people who are trying to lose weight. And they're always the people who are tyring too hard - exercising too much, or eating too little and being far too restrictive with their diet. I have a theory about this:

When you're being too hard on yourself with your food and eating too little, counting you calories, and cutting out specific types of food and food groups, you crave them. You want what you can't have. A lot of people decide they'll cut out carbs, sugar and all chocolate and sweet things completly. "If I eat nothing but salad for a month I'll lose 10 lbs!" Yes, you might. But what about a week into it when all you can think about is how good a loaf of bread and a big bowl of pasta would be right about now? Or a big bar of chocolate? So you have what you crave. But because your metabolism has plummeted with you not getting enough nutrients, it makes your energy slump and your body doesn't process the food as energy, and instead stores it as fat. So basically, my theory is, compulsive binge eaters are generally people who spend way too much time on intensly strict diets and end up craving what they've cut out.

 
What can I do if I've binged?

So what's the best thing to do once you have binged? First of all, don't be so hard on yourself. You're not the only one, a lot of us have been there. At one point, when I was obsessive about food and exercising (see main in About Me if you havn't already) I used to binge probably around once a week. I remember one Saturday when it was sunny outside, the main foods I'd been eating that week were soups. Clear veggie soups, that had around 100 cals each, and the odd peice of fruit. About 600 cals a day. I had NO carbs, and NO sugar. That Saturday I ate 5 slices of bread and peanut butter, a whole packet of oatmeal cookies with peanut butter, and a family bag of Reeces mini cups. That night I cried and cried and cried, my boyfriend had no idea what was wrong, he couldn't understand. That day I decided I wouldn't ever do that to myself or to him again. I decided I didn't care about losing weight fast, because trying to do it the way that I was was making me desperatly unhappy. So I just started eating healthier and exercising a 2-3 a week, and I did lose the weight I'd wanted to. Not in 2 weeks, but I did lose it. And it stayed off.

The best thing to do after a binge, is go take a nice long walk. For an hour or so, preferably in the woods if you live in a woodland area. Just outdoors. Get your walking shoes on, put on comfy clothes, and take a bottle of water and some music. get some fresh air in your lungs. Don't freak out and go to the gym for 3 hours or anything.. do something gentle. For the rest of the day and the day after, give yourself a mini detox. Lot of fresh fruit and steamed vegetables, fish, clear soups, lean grilled meat, and wholegrains. So an example for the next day would be:

Breakfast: 35g oatmeal with 1 tsp honey to sweeten

Lunch: Tuna salad made with a tin of drained tuna, 1 tsp lemon juice, chopped lettuce and tomatos. Or a clear vegetable soup. Small low fat yogurt for dessert.

Dinner: Grilled salmon filled or grilled chicken fillet with a side salad, or portion of steamed veg with 3 tsps cooked brown rice. Piece of fruit (like slice of watermelon, handful of berries, apple etc) for dessert.

Then have a couple of snacks - one mid morning, one mid afternoon. Choose fruit, or vegetables. Drink lots of water throught the day and lots of herbal teas or hot lemon water.

Only follow this for a day.. for a normal diet you need to chunk it up a bit with more wholegrains and variation of foods. but as a mini detox for a day and the remainder of the day you binged, it;s fine. It'll clear your body out and you'll get rid of that horrible bloated feeling.

 

How can I prevent binging?

It's all well and good doing a detox after a binge, but it won't fix everything. You'll still have overeaten and messed with your metabolism. If you continue to binge, you'll just pile on weight no matter how many detoxes you do. So how can you stop it from happening? Simple. Eat more. You won't crave things if you don't cut them out. It's okay to treat yourself every once in a while too, if you NEVER have chocolate you're just going to crave it and eventually binge. So once a week, allow yourself a small piece of cake, or a regular sized chocolate bar. Or maybe when you go to the movies, have a little extra popcorn or whatever. Just don't go overboard! Make sure you stick to 3 meals a day full of lean protein, fruit, veg and wholegrains, and get a good breakfast. For advice on what to eat and how much, see the Nutrition and Dietry Info blog, the very first blog. By not being so harsh on yourself and tight on what you eat, you won't become obsessed with the foods you're NOT getting. So relax!