How To Overcome The Urge To Binge Eat: 8 Practical Tips
Eating is an essential activity that provides us with large doses of pleasure, satisfaction and happiness, however, some people may develop a negative relationship with food and everything that surrounds the area of daily eating throughout their lives. For example, this is seen in the tendency to binge eat on a regular basis.
This maladaptive way of relating to food sometimes gives rise to eating disorders, and these can be varied and manifest in different ways depending on the psychological problems that each person may present. But even if the individual has not reached the point of developing this type of pathology, this is a significant problem that should not be overlooked. Therefore, here we will see several tips on how to overcome the urge to binge eat in daily life.
Luckily for people who suffer from it, there are a series of tips and behavioral or psychological guidelines that we can follow to avoid such binge eating and overcome the sometimes uncontrollable desire to eat compulsively and without control.
1. Identify if there is an Eating Disorder
The first thing to overcome the urge to binge eat is to identify, evaluate and analyze If our problem has its origin in an eating disorder. That is, establish whether we should try to solve the problem ourselves initially, or if we need help as soon as possible.
Eating disorders (ED) are maladaptive pathologies that are reflected in a person’s eating habits and usually have an intense impact both physically and psychologically, putting the person’s life at risk in the most serious cases. .
That is why, whether we believe we have an eating disorder or have been diagnosed with it, We must go to the consultation of a mental health professional as soon as possible to treat it in the shortest time possible.
2. Avoid restrictive diets
Any qualified nutritionist will strongly recommend that we avoid restrictive diets or miracle diets that claim that it is possible to lose weight in a short time and by consuming little food for a short period of time.
These diets usually have a counterproductive effect on the body called the rebound effect consisting of the fact that after having followed the diet, the person returns to their previous weight in a short time, even being able to surpass it, due to accumulated stress.
In order not to follow deceptive diets, it is highly recommended to consult with a dietitian or nutritionist who can create a healthy, balanced, personalized and science-based diet.
3. Pre-cook what we eat
Another piece of advice that we can follow is to cook most of what we eat during the week, so we can organize our weekly diet in advance and ensure that our diet is healthy and balanced.
The other reason why it is advisable to cook what we eat ahead of time is to have complete meals available while we are working so we can overcome the temptation to eat less healthy processed food.
Just as Mindfulness helps us reconnect with our body and mind, Mindful Eating is a philosophy of life that serves to get in touch with and be aware of all the bodily and psychological processes in which eating behavior intervenes.
In short, Mindful Eating helps us pay attention in the here and now to our bodily sensations with food both hunger and satiety and allows us to eat while being aware of the process.
One of the main objectives of this technique is to carry out healthy eating habits and learn to eat exactly what we need in the best possible way.
5. Apply self-observation
Self-observation applied to eating behavior consists of analyzing whether we eat out of hunger or If we do it because we experience emotional hunger (eating without hunger due to cases of anxiety or unpleasant emotions).
Emotional hunger aims to compulsively fill an emotional void with food, and it is a problem that should be treated by a psychology professional specialized in eating behavior.
6. Apply a limit of calories to eat in the day
Applying a calorie limit to eat during the day can also help us get into a dynamic of eating only what we need and not overindulging or falling into the temptation of bingeing.
Likewise, this daily calorie limit set must be realistic with our needs, that is, it should not be too high or too low. On the other hand, it must be taken into account that In specific cases we should break those self-imposed rules, not take them so seriously so that they become an obsession, giving us some whim (for example, once every two weeks).
It is also advisable to do a personal review of unhealthy eating routines; For example, the habit of snacking between work and dinner or eating late in the morning.
By reviewing these unhealthy habits we will be aware of them and we will be able to modify them for other healthier and positive habits and do not repeat mistakes over and over again due to simple inertia.
8. Avoid unhealthy foods
Avoiding foods with a lot of refined sugars will help us eat healthier and avoid the need to eat more due to the nutritional poverty of ultra-processed foods.
The truth is These foods are full of components that generate artificial hunger with the consequent need to eat at all hours and the risk they pose to health.
Some of the main foods that we should avoid are industrial pastries, industrial chips, sugary foods or foods with excessive chemicals, and carbonated drinks.
