A Written Plan to Prevent Binge Eating

From time to time, almost everyone binges, but for those with eating disorders, a written plan to prevent binge eating provides balance and healing.

Difference Between Overeating and Binging

Picture Thanksgiving Day as you gather with family around a feast. So many holiday treats tempt us to try one more thing until we feel so full we can't take another bite. Although this is not healthy, for most people it's just an occasion to overeat, and the following day a normal healthy eating routine is resumed.

People with a binge eating disorder lose control of their life to food. Instead of eating for life, their life centers on eating. The urge to eat becomes strong enough that it blocks rational thought. The best laid goals are disregarded, and the focus becomes food. Those suffering from a binge eating disorder gorge themselves on a regular basis, and this behavior leads to feelings of shame and embarrassment. As part of a cycle, they follow binging with renewed promises to change their ways. However, the compulsion to eat does not go away and their good intentions are not enough to help them overcome their eating disorder. To succeed in overcoming a binge eating disorder, good intentions must be backed up with a plan.

Signs of Binge Eating Disorder

Binge eating has only recently become a recognized disorder. Binging includes eating when not really hungry and persisting to eat past the uncomfortable mark. Once the binge is over, the person often goes on a diet or tries to return to eating sensible meals. Unfortunately, restricting their eating can lead to more bingeing, perpetuating the cycle. If reading about this behavior makes you question whether or not you may suffer from a binge eating disorder, the following list will be of interest. Other behaviors that flag a binge eating disorder include:

• You continue to eat even if you are so full you're uncomfortable
• You eat more food when binging than you would at a regular meal
• You eat very fast when binging
• You struggle with feelings of out of control eating
• You diet often without losing weight
• You practice regular binging
• You regularly eat alone
• You hoard food and hide empty wrappers and containers
• You struggle with feelings of depression or anxiety over how much you've eaten

Using a Written Plan to Prevent Binge Eating

You want to do the right thing. In fact you wake up each morning with a new resolve to eat sensibly and perhaps to lose unwanted weight. The problem is holding that resolve as the day wears on and the sudden urge to eat overtakes you. Following a written plan to prevent binge eating helps you through these times. However, this aid must be prepared ahead of time, because once the urge to eat comes upon you the plan must already be in place.

Because binging is often the answer to coping with stress, at those times having a written plan to prevent binging keeps you anchored to your heart's real desires during times of weakness. When the urge to eat is intense, look to your written plan and choose another way to cope.

Designing Your Plan

To design a written plan, do the following:

• Set long-range personal goals
• Talk with your health care professional for input
• Make a list of things that give you pleasure (other than food)
• Participate in a new hobby
• Make a list of ways to change your eating behavior
• Remove tempting food from your home and work environments

When following the above list, your doctor will be able to offer guidelines to get your eating habits on track. There are a number of diet programs like Weight Watchers and NutriSystem that can also help with this.

As you write your plan, it's important to get your focus off of food. Think of things that bring you pleasure other than food. What are your hobbies? Is there something you have always wanted to try, but haven't had the time or didn't follow through? Something like crocheting keeps your hands and mind occupied and still allows for watching TV. Devise a list that distracts you from eating while providing pleasure or a sense of accomplishment.

The main purpose of the plan is to learn how to change your eating behavior. You've probably collected quite a few tricks over your years of dieting. Use this information to build a strategy to help you deal with life. For example, if you tend to binge at work in order to cope with the stress of incompetent co-workers, your written plan would remind you to drink water instead of eating to see if you are really hungry. Another part of your plan to cope could include making sure you don't keep food at your desk so even if you feel like stuffing your face, the food isn't there. In the same way, throw away the food that lures you to binge at home.

Make a plan, write it down, and follow it. Experience freedom from food.