Post by SusieQ on Feb 4, 2005 11:07:48 GMT -5
What is a binge?
I would define a binge as any episode of unplanned eating that is set off by a compelling urge to eat, that is done quickly, mindlessly, in a kind of trance state. It goes on uninterrupted until the food is gone, or the eater gets sick. It often feels alien, like "something just came over me." It often feels irresistable. "I couldn't help myself." It is often followed by self-disgust, recriminations, guilt, anger at oneself. It doesn't feel good.
Now, please be clear with me about something. If you binge frequently, and respond to it by purging of any sort (self-induced vomiting, laxative, compulsive exercising, diuretic abuse); if your binges interfere with your social or occupational functioning, or cause you overwhelming emotional distress, please seek professional help. You have an eating disorder.
No, I'm talking about your garden-variety, once-in-a-while, ordinary binge.
What can be done about these episodes that come upon us out of the blue and wreak havoc on our health?
First, if binges are a recurring problem for you, I would suggest that you journal for a while. Not necessarily the point values for all your foods, but just write down what you're eating. You may discover a hidden trigger. Like, if you eat too much fruit and not enough protein, you set up for a binge. See if there's a pattern that simple changes can beat. Typical biologic triggers include: eating too many simple carbs without accompanying protein, letting yourself go too long without food, getting too hungy, not eating breakfast. Some foods just are triggers: the ss/ff puddings may "charge" your chocolate pump, for instance. Learn your triggers and just plain ole avoid 'em.
Second, take your emotional temperature. Are you a person who feels they have to "swallow sh *i * t" from your bosses or family? Do you binge to get the taste of all that stuffing out of your emotional mouth? Do you binge when you feel deprived of something? Are you trying to eat away loneliness, sadness, depression, anger?
If the answer to the above is yes, you have to learn to feel and deal with your feelings, rather than try to medicate them away with food. But how?
Here's one way that might help.
A binge is like a seizure. It often has an aura, a prewarning. You have to learn to identify that earliest hint that a binge is coming. Get yourself a notebook, a journal of some kind. You are going to be a scientist about yourself. So the next time you have a binge, try and keep one part of your brain switchen on as an observer. When the binge is over, instead of beating yourself up, get to work. Get out your notebook and write everything you can remember about the hours or days preceding the binge. Just let it keep pouring out. Try to reconstruct your thoughts as the binge approached. Recount the events of the day.
You are looking for any pattern....either in your food choices or your emotional state. Anything at all that you can alter to head off the binges. You are also trying to stop the self-recriminations. If feeling bad after a binge was an effective binge-stopper, none of us would ever binge more than once. So replace that with a beneificient, curious scientist. A Watcher that has your best interest in mind. Let your Observer tell you things you don't know about yourself. You will learn a lot.
Once you get better at recognizing an oncoming binge earlier, you get to work on averting it. Here's what you do.
Get yourself an ordinary, old-fashioned, friendly little kitchen timer. The portable kind, not the kind on your oven. That's your Binge-Busting Friend.
The next time you feel a binge coming on (which you will be able to do because you made friends with your binge), make a deal with yourself. Tell yourself that you will not deny yourself the binge if you really need it. You are only going to delay the start of it. Take your time to a room far away from the kitchen, and set the time for 15 minutes. In 15 minutes, you can start your binge if you still want it.
What are you going to do in that 15 minutes? You are going to take out your binge notebook and write for that time. Here are some things you might consider writing about:
1. How I Will Feel After I Finish My Binge
2. Finish this statement: What I Need Now Isn't Food But _____________. How will bingeing help me with what I need? What can I do to comfort myself right now besides binge?
3. My List of 10 Things I Could Do After the Timer Instead of Binge
4. My List of Five Places I Could Go RIght Now To Get Away From Food
5. How I Will Feel About Myself If I Am Able to Avert This Binge.
DING! The timer goes off. You feel restored to yourself, you are back in control. You do one of the things on your list instead of eat. Congratulations!
Or...what if the impulse is still there, although diminished in intensity, you don't trust yourself yet? DO ANOTHER FIFTEEN MINUTE SESSION. Reset the timer. Keep writing. Or set the timer and go do one of the things on your list for only fifteen minutes. (A good one is to crochet for 15 minutes. It's very soothing and relaxing, and it keeps your hands busy!) In other words, you are delaying the start of the binge in manageable, fifteen minute increments. It's easier to hold off for a finite time. (Like 12 step programs teach people to take it "one day a time", sometimes an addictive urge has to be fought FIFTEEN MINUTES AT A TIME. That's how I managed to quit smoking, btw. Fifteen tortured minutes at a time. Ugh.)
What do you do if, after 15 minutes, you binge anyway? Well, you congratulate yourself for that delay. It's better than just giving in to the first irresistable impulse. It's PRACTICE for the day you get complete control! Engage your Scientist/Observer and get to work on your binge journal. Try very hard not to be mean to yourself. Reward yourself for your efforts. (I guarantee you, you will get better cooperation from yourself if you treat yourself nicely!)
If you're creative, put some energy into your binge tools. Decorate your journal. Paint your timer, or put stickers on it. Fill your journal with inspirational quotes. EVERYTHING about binge-busting should be undertaken with the greatest of self-love and patience and care. You deserve it.
Namaste,
Susie
I would define a binge as any episode of unplanned eating that is set off by a compelling urge to eat, that is done quickly, mindlessly, in a kind of trance state. It goes on uninterrupted until the food is gone, or the eater gets sick. It often feels alien, like "something just came over me." It often feels irresistable. "I couldn't help myself." It is often followed by self-disgust, recriminations, guilt, anger at oneself. It doesn't feel good.
Now, please be clear with me about something. If you binge frequently, and respond to it by purging of any sort (self-induced vomiting, laxative, compulsive exercising, diuretic abuse); if your binges interfere with your social or occupational functioning, or cause you overwhelming emotional distress, please seek professional help. You have an eating disorder.
No, I'm talking about your garden-variety, once-in-a-while, ordinary binge.
What can be done about these episodes that come upon us out of the blue and wreak havoc on our health?
First, if binges are a recurring problem for you, I would suggest that you journal for a while. Not necessarily the point values for all your foods, but just write down what you're eating. You may discover a hidden trigger. Like, if you eat too much fruit and not enough protein, you set up for a binge. See if there's a pattern that simple changes can beat. Typical biologic triggers include: eating too many simple carbs without accompanying protein, letting yourself go too long without food, getting too hungy, not eating breakfast. Some foods just are triggers: the ss/ff puddings may "charge" your chocolate pump, for instance. Learn your triggers and just plain ole avoid 'em.
Second, take your emotional temperature. Are you a person who feels they have to "swallow sh *i * t" from your bosses or family? Do you binge to get the taste of all that stuffing out of your emotional mouth? Do you binge when you feel deprived of something? Are you trying to eat away loneliness, sadness, depression, anger?
If the answer to the above is yes, you have to learn to feel and deal with your feelings, rather than try to medicate them away with food. But how?
Here's one way that might help.
A binge is like a seizure. It often has an aura, a prewarning. You have to learn to identify that earliest hint that a binge is coming. Get yourself a notebook, a journal of some kind. You are going to be a scientist about yourself. So the next time you have a binge, try and keep one part of your brain switchen on as an observer. When the binge is over, instead of beating yourself up, get to work. Get out your notebook and write everything you can remember about the hours or days preceding the binge. Just let it keep pouring out. Try to reconstruct your thoughts as the binge approached. Recount the events of the day.
You are looking for any pattern....either in your food choices or your emotional state. Anything at all that you can alter to head off the binges. You are also trying to stop the self-recriminations. If feeling bad after a binge was an effective binge-stopper, none of us would ever binge more than once. So replace that with a beneificient, curious scientist. A Watcher that has your best interest in mind. Let your Observer tell you things you don't know about yourself. You will learn a lot.
Once you get better at recognizing an oncoming binge earlier, you get to work on averting it. Here's what you do.
Get yourself an ordinary, old-fashioned, friendly little kitchen timer. The portable kind, not the kind on your oven. That's your Binge-Busting Friend.
The next time you feel a binge coming on (which you will be able to do because you made friends with your binge), make a deal with yourself. Tell yourself that you will not deny yourself the binge if you really need it. You are only going to delay the start of it. Take your time to a room far away from the kitchen, and set the time for 15 minutes. In 15 minutes, you can start your binge if you still want it.
What are you going to do in that 15 minutes? You are going to take out your binge notebook and write for that time. Here are some things you might consider writing about:
1. How I Will Feel After I Finish My Binge
2. Finish this statement: What I Need Now Isn't Food But _____________. How will bingeing help me with what I need? What can I do to comfort myself right now besides binge?
3. My List of 10 Things I Could Do After the Timer Instead of Binge
4. My List of Five Places I Could Go RIght Now To Get Away From Food
5. How I Will Feel About Myself If I Am Able to Avert This Binge.
DING! The timer goes off. You feel restored to yourself, you are back in control. You do one of the things on your list instead of eat. Congratulations!
Or...what if the impulse is still there, although diminished in intensity, you don't trust yourself yet? DO ANOTHER FIFTEEN MINUTE SESSION. Reset the timer. Keep writing. Or set the timer and go do one of the things on your list for only fifteen minutes. (A good one is to crochet for 15 minutes. It's very soothing and relaxing, and it keeps your hands busy!) In other words, you are delaying the start of the binge in manageable, fifteen minute increments. It's easier to hold off for a finite time. (Like 12 step programs teach people to take it "one day a time", sometimes an addictive urge has to be fought FIFTEEN MINUTES AT A TIME. That's how I managed to quit smoking, btw. Fifteen tortured minutes at a time. Ugh.)
What do you do if, after 15 minutes, you binge anyway? Well, you congratulate yourself for that delay. It's better than just giving in to the first irresistable impulse. It's PRACTICE for the day you get complete control! Engage your Scientist/Observer and get to work on your binge journal. Try very hard not to be mean to yourself. Reward yourself for your efforts. (I guarantee you, you will get better cooperation from yourself if you treat yourself nicely!)
If you're creative, put some energy into your binge tools. Decorate your journal. Paint your timer, or put stickers on it. Fill your journal with inspirational quotes. EVERYTHING about binge-busting should be undertaken with the greatest of self-love and patience and care. You deserve it.
Namaste,
Susie
