What to do After a Binge

It's personal.

Real personal.

Your relationship with food may be something that you try to avoid, hide or feel deep shame around.

I know because I’ve been there too.

What I know for sure is that no one likes feeling out of control with food. And very few like talking about feeling out of control around food.

We don’t need labels, the feeling is enough. But binge eating is by definition the consumption of large quantities of food in a short period of time and the feeling that your eating is out of control. Which is where it differentiates from overeating.

If you just experienced a binge, instead of beating yourself up and spiralling into another shame eating binge, here are 6 things that you can do now:

1. Let go of the judgement. It’s not helpful anyway. If you want to get out of the cycle you need to stop beating yourself up. Christine Hirsch says “Beating up on yourself is really easy to do. But nothing good ever comes out of self-torture.” One way of letting go of judgements is to reframe them into validating statements, such as, “I choose to be patient with myself as I process my actions.”

2. Breathe. Connecting to your breath allows you to connect your body and the feelings you're experiencing (or trying to avoid). Taking just 6 deep breaths can calm down your nervous system and ground you into the present moment.

3. Get curious and journal. Journaling helps process your emotions and uncover what the motivating factor was for your binge. Start with these questions: What is happening in my life today? What triggered me to binge? What was I feeling before I binged? What emotions am I experiencing? What do I really need What was food providing me at that moment? Where else can I receive the same?

4. Don’t restrict afterwards. Even if you binged the day before, you still need to eat today. We have a biological need for food. Choosing to restrict the day afterwards may lead you to another binge because when we restrict food for too long our body naturally wants to consume as much as it can when we allow it food. As Lisa Newman says, "Depriving yourself of food or trying to work off the excess intake will only create deprivation and depletion. And those are drivers for more binging in the future."

5. Go for a walk. Getting out of the house and moving your body can help to change your mindset. Plus, walking also aids in digestion and can ease the physical discomfort of binge eating.

6. Ask for help. It can be hard to go at this alone when you really don't have to. If you're ready for a change, let's chat.

What to do next...

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