How to Stop Binge Eating: 12 Tips From Therapists

Understanding The Binge Eating Cycle

People might binge eat for a number of reasons. For example, research has found a strong link between compulsive overeating and depressive symptoms. Some people binge due to high stress levels or use food as a distraction when they’re feeling down. Given that depression often co-occurs with binge eating disorder, learning how to deal with depression can be a crucial step in your recovery journey.

There are three main factors that contribute to the cycle of binge eating.

Basing your self-worth on your weight

There are several factors that help define a person, from personality traits, to abilities, to belief systems. For many people who binge eat, however, a large amount of their self-worth is defined by their weight. These feelings can lead to unhealthy habits and disordered eating.

Extreme dieting

A person with a negative body image may introduce dietary restrictions that are difficult or impossible to follow. They may restrict their calorie intake to a dangerously low level , start skipping meals , or completely deprive themselves of foods that they enjoy. This kind of extreme dieting isn’t sustainable, and for many people, can eventually lead to craving certain foods and binge eating.

Binge eating

When someone tries to maintain impossibly strict eating standards, they may eventually give up and give in to their urges. Many people wind up binging after a period of restriction.

12 Tips for Getting Control of Binge Eating

Even though you might feel out of control, it is possible to change your habits and create a healthier relationship with food. The following 12 tips can help you learn how to stop binge eating for good.

1. Take the time to monitor, understand, & address your patterns

Emotional or environmental factors frequently trigger binge eating. If you are a binge eater, monitor your patterns closely so you can understand what might be contributing to your binge eating habits. Knowing your environmental and emotional eating triggers, as well as what causes binge eating disorder, is an effective way to combat binge eating behavior.

2. Start a daily journal (food & mood)

Journaling can be a powerful way to keep track of how you’re feeling and what you’ve been eating, which may help you understand your binge eating behavior.

Research shows that keeping a food intake diary can help reduce binge eating episodes. Additionally, journaling for mental health is a proven way to improve mental well-being and can successfully reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, which might be emotional triggers for binging episodes.

3. Focus on not skipping meals throughout the day

An essential part of knowing how to stop binging is giving your body the consistent nourishment it needs. Depriving yourself of food can increase the risk of binging. If you want to figure out how to stop binge eating disorder, try to maintain a regular eating pattern and healthy eating schedule. By monitoring your food intake, you will be able to practice more intuitive eating habits and create a healthy eating routine.

4. Make a daily (or weekly, if possible) meal plan

A structured meal plan can also help establish more intuitive eating habits. When you plan your meals, you can also shop mindfully and avoid stocking up on foods that could trigger your next binge episode.

5. Don’t avoid sources of stress in your life

When you’re feeling overwhelmed, it can be difficult to avoid the pressure to binge and build a healthier relationship with food. Instead of pushing your feelings aside, find ways to confront and manage your stress levels. Stress management techniques, whether self-developed or gained through stress therapy, will be essential as you learn how to recover from binge eating disorder.

6. Use mindfulness meditation (daily!)

Mindfulness meditation for stress can help you let go of stress, anxiety, negativity, and other factors that might be contributing to binge eating. Spending even 10 minutes on meditation daily can improve your emotional and physical well-being. If you’re new to meditation, our mindfulness meditation guide provides easy steps to begin a practice that can alleviate stress and reduce binge episode triggers.

7. Identify, and then manage food anxiety

Food anxiety has many potential sources, including a desire to be healthy or a fear of weight gain. Sometimes, food-related anxieties can cause you to try and restrict what you eat, but we know this eating behavior doesn’t work. Part of learning how to stop binge eating is identifying the sources of your anxiety that are contributing to episodes of compulsive eating.

8. Clean your kitchen

Set aside time to clean out your kitchen. Clear out trigger foods and stock your kitchen with healthy food choices that make you feel good instead. This will also help you practice more mindful eating habits when it comes to choosing the foods you choose to fuel your body.

9. Hydrate!

It’s easy to mistake hunger and thirst signals. Staying hydrated throughout the day can curb impulses that could cause you to binge.

10. Develop & keep a healthy sleep habit

When you sleep, your leptin levels are elevated. Leptin is a hormone that helps regulate the sensation of feeling full. If you’re not getting enough sleep, however, your body may produce more ghrelin, a hormone that makes you hungry. Sleep and appetite are directly linked, and a healthy sleep schedule can greatly reduce the risk of binging and various other health problems.

11. Find joy in your life

Instead of dwelling on questions like how do I stop binge eating (which might just make you feel bad about yourself), it can be more beneficial to focus on finding more joy in your life.

Set aside time for your favorite activities and make it a point to appreciate the good things in your life. While trying to learn how to recover from binge eating disorder, remember to practice gratitude, which can be a wonderful way to find joy.

12. Work with a therapist

There are many strategies and tools that can effectively help you learn how to stop binging, but they can be difficult to implement on your own. If you’re struggling with binge eating habits, you may want to consider professional binge eating disorder treatment like interpersonal psychotherapy or cognitive behavioral therapy. A therapist can help you understand why you’re binging and work with you to overcome harmful habits and the symptoms of binge eating disorder.

How to Recover from Binge Eating

Recovering from binge eating is a process. Even if you’re committed to changing your habits, you won’t necessarily stop binging overnight.

Keep the following things in mind as you work on knowing how to control binge eating behaviors.

Be kind to yourself (self care!)

Let go of your judgment and try to show yourself compassion instead. Try to have the same level of patience and understanding you’d show to a friend. Since binge eating is often linked to low self-esteem, engage in self-care, practice positive self-talk, and work to boost your confidence levels.

Remember, you’re not perfect

Perfection is an impossible ideal. Instead of striving to be perfect, work on appreciating yourself for who you are right now. Let go of inner pressures and give yourself the space to make mistakes.

Don’t let one setback make you give up

It’s normal to have relapses during the binge eating disorder recovery process. A binge eating episode doesn’t mean you’ve failed, and it doesn’t mean you should give up. Instead, work to create a relapse prevention plan so you can reduce the risk of binging in the future.

Work with a therapist (even after you make progress)

Even if you’ve made significant progress in your recovery, you should strongly consider working with a therapist. Therapy can provide support and help you work through the issues that are associated with this common eating disorder. Not only can a therapist treat your binging, but they can treat other issues that are impacting your mental health.

Get Professional Help for Binge Eating Disorder

Recovering from a mental health condition isn’t something people have to go through alone. At Talkspace, you can get support from a licensed mental health professional. Talkspace is an online therapy platform that makes getting help easy, affordable, and best of all, convenient. You can get connected with a therapist to better understand you binge eating disorder diagnosis. It isn’t always easy to seek help, but binge eating disorder treatment can help you take back control of your life.