After a binge, it’s easy to spiral into feelings of guilt and shame or harsh self-talk. Sometimes people even feel like they need to punish themselves to “make up for it”. Unfortunately, these reactions often continue or worsen the binge cycle rather than break it. In this blog post, a therapist and a dietitian come together to share recommendations for a compassionate, practical path forward. Instead of punishing yourself, we’ll guide you through checking in with your emotions, working to understand what led to the binge with curiosity (not judgment), and focusing on returning to a steady, nourishing routine.
Recommendations from Alexis Hart, an eating disorder therapist
Check in with how you’re talking to yourself first. After a binge, it’s common to feel guilt or shame, but beating yourself up isn’t going to help and it usually just keeps the cycle going. Try to take a breath, check in with yourself, and remind yourself that you’re human. Overeating or binging is a coping mechanism, not a reflection of who you are as a person. Make an effort to talk to yourself as you would to a friend. It can be helpful to gently investigate what was going on prior to your overindulgence once you feel a little bit more grounded. Here are a few questions to compassionately explore with yourself:
What were you feeling?
Did you have a lot of stress, feel alone, or just really hungry? Had you eaten enough earlier in the day?
Try to approach this like a detective or a scientist, not a judge. You’re just gathering clues and data about what your body and mind might have been asking for, so you can start finding other ways to meet those needs.
Lastly, and Libby will speak more to this, it is important to return to your regular eating routine—don’t skip meals to compensate or punish yourself with extra workouts. That only prepares you for future binges. The objective is to break the binge-restrict-compensate cycle, not to keep it going.
Recommendations from Libby Stenzel, an eating disorder dietitian
As Alexis mentioned, it is absolutely KEY to seek to gently return to your regular eating routine after experiencing a binge. It can feel tempting to want to restrict following a binge, or even to reduce your eating in anticipation of future binge eating. But, these restrictive eating patterns only serve to fuel continued compulsive and out-of-control eating. When our bodies’ haven’t had their nutrition needs met, we are much more likely to experience food in a chaotic way.
From a practical standpoint, seek to incorporate balanced meals and snacks about every 2-4 hours. For meals, I recommend including at least one source of each macronutrient (fat, protein, and carb).
For snacks, I recommend including at least two out of three macronutrients (for example, an apple with peanut butter instead of just an apple). Not only can snacks be satisfying and delicious, but having a couple of (or several) intentional snacks throughout the day helps to prevent you from becoming overly hungry – another common binge trigger.
Similar to what Alexis said about being your own detective, it can be helpful to look for clues about how you interact with food. Maybe you do generally eat enough and tend to have meals and snacks that are balanced from a nutrition standpoint. But, just like physical food restriction can set us up for another binge, so can mental food restriction.
Are there specific foods that you feel are off-limits to you, or that you feel “bad” for eating? Consider exploring what these foods are and what thoughts, beliefs, and experiences you have regarding them. Might avoiding them at all costs be doing you more harm than good?
Final thoughts
Know that you are not alone if your relationship with food is currently chaotic and out of control, and that the difficulties you are facing are not a reflection of your character or willpower! Oftentimes, how we experience food is more of an outworking of what’s going on beneath the surface – for instance, our thoughts and feelings about food, ourselves, and our bodies.
We encourage you to get in touch to learn more about how we can help you cultivate a relationship with food that nourishes rather than deprives you and a compassionate relationship with yourself. Experiencing a calm, centered relationship with food is fully possible for you!
