Narwhalicornucopia

Brain Over Binge

[narwhalicornucopia]

The cause of a relapse is the same as the cause of any binge eating episode: an urge to binge.

Kathryn Hansen, Brain Over Binge

[narwhalicornucopia]

[I]f my lower brain sends out an urge in the future, I will know exactly what to do: I will listen to it with detachment, and I won’t react emotionally to it or act on it.

Kathryn Hansen, Brain Over Binge

[narwhalicornucopia]

All I had to do was listen with detachment until [my thoughts] fizzled out, which took only a matter of minutes.

Kathryn Hansen, Brain Over Binge

[narwhalicornucopia]

To prevent relapse, all I have to do is never act on an urge to binge, ever.

Kathryn Hansen, Brain Over Binge

[narwhalicornucopia]

My thoughts were not dangerous at all. I could easily choose to listen curiously but not react to or act on them.

Kathryn Hansen, Brain Over Binge

[narwhalicornucopia]

My thoughts remained just that—thoughts—and they didn't affect what I chose to do.

Kathryn Hansen, Brain Over Binge

[narwhalicornucopia]

Knowing that my thoughts were automatic allowed me to prevent the cascade of reactions in my body, stopped the wave from happening.

Kathryn Hansen, Brain Over Binge

[narwhalicornucopia]

I knew I did not binge eat anymore, no matter what crazy reasons my brain generated; so I stayed on the couch, listening to the thoughts running through my brain. There was no need to argue with them, no need to stop them…

Kathryn Hansen, Brain Over Binge

[narwhalicornucopia]

I knew that no matter what crazy reasons my animal brain generated, I didn't have to act on them, because my human brain gave me the power to say no.

Kathryn Hansen, Brain Over Binge

[narwhalicornucopia]

Listening with detachment made the urge to binge indefinitely less intense. I did not get anxious, fearful, or angry as in the past; instead, I just listened without reacting emotionally.

Kathryn Hansen, Brain Over Binge

[narwhalicornucopia]

I'm not saying it was completely effortless, but it was certainly not the painful struggle that resisting binges had been before…

Kathryn Hansen

[narwhalicornucopia]

That night, I decided not to feed the urge, and a remarkable thing happened: the urge just went away. I remained detached from those thoughts, and they simply subsided on their own. I didn't get caught up in my feelings, and they died down.

Kathryn Hansen