How not to binge- a sort of guide
These tips are intended for people with restrictive eating disorders who also binge and want to stop- just because that's what I have personal experience with- but it might be helpful for others who binge too.
Just a disclaimer, I am not a medical professional
(This is probably going to be long)
I'm just warning you- you're probably not going to like what you read here. I hope you still find it helpful anyways.
First off, let's start by defining binge eating- a binge is different from overeating- and a "binge" is also different for someone with a restrictive ed. In BED, an individual will typically feel out of control, overeating despite not being hungry, past the point of fullness and maybe to the point of pain or sickness. They will usually experience distressing emotions, like extreme guilt. However if you've been restricting for a long time your appetite and hunger cues are... unreliable at best. Even if you experience feeling out of control, eating past the point of fullness, distress and guilt- you ARE hungry. Your body and brain aren't working against you when you feel that desperate urge to eat everything, they are trying to keep you alive.
I understand how distressing it can be though so I want to help đ you deserve to eat but if you can't do that, you at least deserved to be comfortable. Okay now that I've ranted, on to the actual tips!
1. Assess why you binge- like *really* assess. Be honest with yourself even if it sucks. Are you hungry but not giving yourself permission to eat? Bored? Stressed or emotional? This is the most important step! My personal triggers that I identified were feeling full, pain (emotional or physical), exhaustion, and boredom. So the strategies I have are based off of those triggers- I try to avoid feeling full, take painkillers when I need them or talk to a friend for emotional support, get enough sleep, and keep myself occupied.
2. Take your fucking multivitamins! This isn't a cure-all since multivitamins aren't meant to supplement actual food but they will still help. oftentimes that desperate hunger is a sign that you're malnourished. I recommend taking gummy multivitamins as they're less likely to cause stomach upset
3. Electrolytes! Drink a sports drink or electrolyte mix that actually has a sufficient amount of sodium and glucose/sugar too, I don't wanna see any diet gatorade. If your electrolytes aren't balanced you'll be dehydrated at best and could literally die at worst. Salt is essential because it helps you retain water (yes you WANT to retain *some* water otherwise you're dehydrated-its a matter of balance) and sugar/glucose will help with low blood sugar. Also on this note of balance and hydration- don't drown yourself in water!! Only drink as much as you want/need, not more. Drinking too much can flush out essential electrolytes.
4. Give yourself permission to eat- (even if its still not a lot) plan out what you'll eat ahead of time so that you can feel prepared and be realistic about how much you can consistently eat without binging. Don't start a fast immediately after a binge either. Allow yourself to eat what you want too- are there specific foods that you tend to always binge on? Eat a portion of that food in combination with a safe food to feel less deprived
5. This is something that I never hear anyone recommend but it is SO IMPORTANT- and that's to not tell yourself that you will never ever binge again. I'm sure you've done this before, you feel awful, guilty, filled with self-loathing and the only comfort you give yourself is "I'll never EVER do this again" but you remember saying that last time and the time before and it just leaves you feeling worse- hopeless even. This makes a lot of sense because there are certain personality traits that predispose people to developing anorexia- specifically perfectionism and rigidity. But you actually need to get rid of that mindset to move on. Binging is not about "self control" or a lack of discipline or motivation or anything of the sort- it's more of a problem with self-regulation. Which is NOT something to beat yourself up over.
Here's some examples of what not to do and what to replace those thoughts and actions with to set yourself up for success:
- "I'm NEVER binging again!" > "I am no longer binging right now"
- "I fucked up again- I'm unbelievable!" > "I made it 4 days without binging this time- next I'll make it to 5 days"
- "I hate myself/I'm disgusting"/*insert self deprecation* > "what I did was understandable given my circumstances and I forgive myself"
- if you engage in purging behavior, try to do something else - maybe a bath, a nap, watch TV, or play a game- you have to teach yourself how to cope with the aftermath of binging in order to stop. You have to forgive yourself and show some self-compassion (it's not easy but it gets easier đ)
Notice how far you've come, don't be afraid to feel proud of yourself for every victory no matter how small it seems. And if you read all of this, thank you and I hope it was helpful somehow!! ^-^
