After a long, stressful day Kim comes home to an empty apartment and has two hours home alone before going out for dinner with her partner. She feels tired, lonely and sad – and hungry. She opens the fridge and sees a large block of chocolate and litre of her favourite ice cream. She thinks: “I’ve had an awful day, I deserve it,” and starts to eat. At first she feels better, but she then feels out of control and can’t stop. Before she knows it, she's finished it all. She realises she is uncomfortably full. "I better get ready for dinner," she thinks. "I can't believe I just stuffed myself again. I feel terrible. I'll be good tomorrow."
In the shower the next morning, Kim feels conscious that her stomach has spread recently. "If it's this big now," she thinks, "what will I look like in a few more years?" She cries under the hot water. Later at work she restricts what she eats to make up for the night before. But she still feels sad and on the way home she buys another litre of ice cream and eats it alone before dinner.
We all overeat from time to time and, let’s face it, eating is rather pleasurable. However, there are several indictors in this story to suggest that Kim’s behaviour is different from someone who might occasionally over-indulge. Do you recognise yourself in any of these behaviours? If so, you are likely to have a problem with binge-eating.
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Do you feel out of control during a binge? For example, do you eat rapidly or eat until you are uncomfortably full? Perhaps you consume lots of food even when you’re not hungry, or you feel like you can’t stop. Have you ever had an irrepressible urge to start a binge?
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Do you ever eat an amount of food that others would consider a very large quantity within a relatively short period of time (e.g. within two hours)?
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Do you eat alone or in secrecy, like Kim, because of embarrassment or shame over the quantity you can consume?
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Do you have unpleasant feelings towards yourself, such as disgust, guilt, shame or sadness, during and after a binge?
- And, like Kim, do you worry about how recurrent binge episodes might affect your body weight and shape in future?
Why do people binge eat?
Many people use their eating habits to regulate and control their emotions and, for them, strict diets, hunger, negative mood states and negative events can all spark a binge.
A whole range of difficult emotions, including stress, disappointment, depression, hurt, fear, guilt, anger, sadness, can trigger a binge. However, it is not unusual for positive emotions, hunger or boredom to do so also. Binge eating provides short-term relief, but it quickly becomes an unhelpful way of managing and avoiding emotion.
Just like anything in excess, it is not the answer to life’s problems. It comes at a high cost because, in the long term, the over-eating doesn’t prevent the unwanted negative experiences, and the behaviour itself causes additional problems. These can include:
- Health concerns, such as weight gain and associated conditions
- Lethargy
- Trouble sleeping
- Psychological issues, such as low self-esteem, depression and anxiety
- Reduced social interaction, strained relationships, and reduced contact with the opposite sex
- Unwanted attention from others.
Strategies to reduce binging
If you are a binge-eater, first of all you have to understand your own triggers. For Kim, her triggers were situational and emotional. She binged when nobody was present and while at home (situational triggers), and when she felt stressed, sad and lonely (emotional triggers). Think about your situational and emotional triggers to binging. How you can be less vulnerable to them?
Change tactics
If your triggers are situational, then change the situation. For example, don’t come home to an empty house if you are vulnerable to binging on your own. Change your routine so you do not receive your habitual cues.
If the trigger is an emotion and you are someone who binges to regulate, control or numb feelings, then try to address your unpleasant emotions in other ways. For example, talk to a friend or member of your family, think of how to solve the problem rather than avoid it, change how you react to the problem, or find ways to accept the problem. It is also important to increase the number of positive emotional experiences in your life. For example, doing more things you enjoy, taking regular holidays or weekends away, making time to socialise. Remember, you are entitled to have fun and feel good about yourself.
The two Ds
Delay and distract.
The two Ds will help you curb the urge for any unwanted behaviour, including binge eating. If you normally binge before dinner, have a cup of tea and healthy snack first, take a walk or go to the gym before returning home to cook. This new behaviour is a good example of delaying and distracting as a way to manage an urge to binge.
Stimulus control
Put simply: do not buy food when you are hungry and do not stock unhealthy foods in the pantry. Reduce the amount of food you have access to and do not go via the shops on the way home.
Know when to ask for help
If any of the above sounds all too hard to do on your own or you feel hopeless, then you may benefit from speaking to a psychologist. Don't let your sense of shame prevent you from seeking help.