Compulsive Overeating & Binge Eating Help

Compulsive overeating and binge eating disorder and problems is marked by periods where you will binge uncontrollably on food (without vomiting or purging).

If you battle with binge eating you may comfort eat or engage in secret eating, yet there will be a feeling of huge compulsion to overeat and binge that drives you and that you may be unable to successfully resist when it strikes.

Compulsive overeating is likely to involve what you consider to be bad or forbidden foods, which the binge eating urge drives you to consume, irrespective of whether you’re hungry.

The many people I have successfully helped tell me about the overwhelming urge to binge eat, the fear of being ‘discovered’ or seen binge eating, and the guilt and self-loathing that follows an episode. I have known people to avoid social eating situations and eating in front of others for fear that they may lose control in front of others.

So how can you take back control and end your compulsive eating and binge eating symptoms?

 

 

Compulsive Eating

With your compulsive eating you may feel out of control around your binge eating. Once the compulsive feeling kicks in, you will have an overwhelming urge to overeat. You may find somewhere away from others to engage in secret eating and you may have your own stores of food squirrelled away. I have even helped people who would, in the grip of their compulsion, raid the bin to find some food they knew was there.

You may divide foods into ‘good’ and ‘bad’ and know that your relationship with food and your health is off balance.

After a binge, you may feel guilty, remorseful and depressed. And no matter how you try to resist, once the urge strikes you know it will win.

Your eating may impact on your self-esteem and self-worth. You may feel disappointed and disgusted with your actions. You may live in fear of others finding out and judging you. And you may feel so unhappy that you avoid looking in the mirror as much as possible.

Sometimes, someone struggling with binge eating may try to manage the consequences of their eating by dieting, starving themselves or religiously engaging in exercise.

It may have eroded your confidence and you may struggle with anxiety and/or depression.

Yet, as my clients know, however bad things feel now, there is cause for hope because you can extinguish your compulsive overeating and binge eating.

 

 

Ending Binge Eating and Compulsive Overeating

To start taking back control over your compulsive overeating and binge eating follow these steps:

1) Keep an Eating & Emotions Diary

If you are going to start regaining control over your eating then you need to know exactly what you are doing right now. Keep a daily record of what you are eating, when you are eating, whether you felt out of control while eating and notice any emotions and thoughts before, during and after you eat.

You may find this step uncomfortable at times as you have to face and record what is currently going on. Remind yourself that you are taking this step so you can soon start feeling better, happier and healthier. Knowing what you currently do and any related situations, thoughts and emotions driving your current behaviour will make the job of change much smoother.

 

2) Learn How To Quickly Gain Calm Control

When strong emotions, such as the compulsion to eat, take over, we lose the ability to think clearly and logically. Our ’emotional brain’ takes over and our ‘thinking brain’ quietens. And as emotions play a huge role in binge eating, the more you can learn how to relax and feel calmer, the more clearly you can think and so the more in control you will feel.

The quickest way to relax is to breathe deeply. Your out breath needs to be longer than your in breath to trigger your natural relaxation response. When emotions, panic and compulsion take over you tend to breathe faster and shallower. So take two minutes several times a day to extend that out breath – hold your breath for 5 seconds to reset your breathing and then use a count of 5 on your in breath and 7 on your out. Do this at least 20 times at a time and regularly throughout the day.

 

 

3) Change Your Patterns

Rather than do everything in the same way each day and hope that the urge won’t arise or that you won’t give into it, start to change your daily patterns. Our minds work on patterns and lead us to do most things in the same way as we have before.

For example, one person I helped would get in from work and go straight into the kitchen to over-eat, before anyone else was home. She started to change that pattern so instead she went straight upstairs to get changed or she changed shoes and went straight back out for a walk.

Using the information you have from your daily record, identify the patterns and triggers and start to actively do something differently in what you do.

 

4) Use Your Mind Constructively

Take time each day to relax deeply using self hypnosis or my free relaxation audio and start focusing on how you want to do things. Imagine feeling calm and in control, having the strength and self belief and take these into all the usual situations in your life.

Doing this will train your mind to naturally feel calmer and more in control and will help build your resilience and self esteem so that you can live life on your terms.

Help To End Binge Eating and Compulsive Eating

If you feel you need professional help to overcome your compulsive overeating then get in touch and arrange your complimentary consultation. Everything we discuss will remain completely confidential and chances are, having helped so many others take back control over their eating, that however bad you think things are, they can still be resolved.

To your health and happiness,

Dan Regan

Hypnotherapy in Ely and Newmarket 

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