Strategies To Prevent Binge Eating
When we struggle with eating, we experience a disconnect from our body-mind-soul at its most core.
Not being able to trust our basic ability to feed ourselves, when we are hungry, and stop when we are not, makes for a deeply painful experience of not being able to trust in ourselves and in life - and this distrust reflects onto every relationship we have in life.
When we mess with our hunger switch and give into dieting behaviors, we mess up our biochemistry big time, and we experience cravings and food obsessions that are not normal. We often feel as if we are whole, like something is defect. Instead, of udnerstanding the cause of the discomfort, we turn to magic pills and diets, hoping to be saved from the feeling we have within of not being able to satisfy our hunger - our soul hunger.
No amount of food will ever satisfy our soul hunger.
No amount of self-hatred will make us progress.
Only self-acceptance make people feel safe enough to change - taking a road of self-hatred will inhibit progress. Our natural reaction as humans, when we experience trauma, whether self-induced our abuse from others, is to crawl into a shell, to have no ears, no eyes, to numb out from the pain - and thus no power to make change, because we are stuck simply struggling to survive.
To break through binge eating, you must accept the possibility to accept yourself in this skin you are in right now.
And that through embracing who you are right now - you allow yourself to relax enough, so that you can begin to tune into, what it is you truly need to satisfy that hunger that leads us to binge eat.
Self-acceptance starts with recognizing every time you have a judgmental thought - about yourself or others.
Whenever you notice yourself judging someone, ask what they might need in that moment - love, a hug or simply a smile? We are never right to judge anyone, because we do not know the story behind their current situation. Judgement disconnects us and puts limits on our own worth as humans. We are not small gods running around superior to one another, yet we often tend to act, as if we are - this in the end just creates greater distance and isolation, even if we are the one feeling superior. Something insides us knows it is a lie - it feels hollow, like a pretty seashell waiting for someone to put enough pressure on it, so it crumbles into pieces.
When we judge and put limits on love, we feel like we need to do more to be loved, always this do more - more, more, more.
We are never enough as we are. We feel defect. Like God must have made a mistake, when he made us. And we often become perfectionistic - overcompensate by doing. However, nothing will ever be enough, as long as we allow ourselves to walk around judging ourselves and others all day long.
This is important to be aware of because self-hatred, judgmental attitude is incompatible with compassion, love and lasting change.
Here some strategies on how to prevent binge eating by incorporating more mindfulness and self-care and less judgement into your daily life right now.
1. Eat when you're hungry (preferably 3 meals and 2 snacks a day).
2. Choose foods you are comfortable eating.
3. Slow down and taste the foods you are eating.
4. Do not deprive yourself of food at meals - you need to break the starve/binge cycle.
5. Wear soft, comfortable clothes that feels like a hug (avoid skimpy clothes that are tight and pinch you).
6. Throw out the weight - no humans need a weight to regulate their hunger and body naturally; it only puts the focus externally and does not target WHY we are self-destructive.
7. Be social - connect with people you feel safe around, especially during "binge-times".
8. Find other things that you enjoy in life aside from food, and include them every day, even if they seem somewhat forced at first - you need to create new pathways in your brain for now habits to form. You didn't get a binge and weight issue overnight, so the reverse will also take time. Relax.
9. Sleep - your hunger satiety hormones ghrelin/leptin are sensitive to a steady sleep rhythm hitting the covers at around 10PM.
10. Find other ways to express your feelings. For example music, dancing, meditation, yoga, body work, walking in nature, feeling the rain on your skin, watching the waves break - these are all things that naturally help to get us back to the rhythm of life.
The rhythm of the ocean helps us reconnect with our breath - and thus our core self. Through our breath we can transform our thoughts, emotions and behaviors. Nature is designed to lead us back to balance - body, mind, heart and soul.
Print this out and put on your fridge as a reminder of concrete steps to take to break free from food, body image and weight obsessions.