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Emotional eating
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Hey anyone got any advice on how to stop emotional binging? I lost sooo much weight and wanted to carry on but got referred to Camhs from school and had to gain weight. I had to gain it quickly because my health was going downhill and now I can’t stop. I’m nearly back to where I was at the start and I just feel so shit after I’ve eaten but then I just eat the next day. I go to the gym but then I just eat way too much food to loose weight. I don’t know how to stop anyone got any suggestions ?? X
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It sounds like your weight is yo-yo-ing up and down a bit. I think whats best for you is to not fixate on any particular ideal weight that you may have in mind, but instead focus on developing a healthy and positive relationship with food. I have struggled myself with this in the past, and it was definitely because I thought of food as the enemy.
I think the best thing for you would be to really try and change the way you think about, and deal with, food. This is difficult and is different for every person, however I have a few tips after really struggling with this for years myself!
1- keep a food diary. This may initially seem a bit of a strange suggestion, as I am telling you to not fixate on what you eat. But actually by noting down what you have eaten in a day, you won't exaggerate the amount in your head which can be quite common if you haven't kept notes of what you're eating and suffer from a minor eating disorder.
2- plan ahead. A really good technique which helps me is when I plan my meals ahead. This can mean planning and making a packed lunch the day before, and even food shopping for the next days dinner- using a shopping list. Once you have planned ahead for your day, you can forget about losing control. You are in control, you have written a list, bought the ingredients, and know what you're having.
3- It is good to hear that you are going to the gym- this is indeed a healthy and sustainable way to reduce your body to fat ratio. However, you must remember that muscle weighs more than fat. Therefore if you are weighing yourself to gauge how much weight you have or haven't put on, please do bare in mind a greater number on the scales can often just mean muscle gain!
4- I think that one of the things that has helped me the most in the past is having a positive environment at home, for example, I make sure there is limited junk foods in the cupboards. This means that you can eat chocolate etc as a treat - (which is definitely allowed!) but not go crazy and binge when you are feeling sad. Maybe try and limit the amount of junk food in your cupboard if this is what you find yourself binging on.
5- Never under any circumstances starve yourself for a period of time. This is definitely what leads to a binge. When you're so hungry that you can't function, you naturally feel miserable. This is when the negative emotions, which you say can lead to emotionally binging will be more likely to occur. I know this myself, I used to skip breakfast or lunch, only to eat 10x as much as I would have when I finally do eat because I am so so hungry and generally angry at the situation. By having regular meals, you won't have the stabbing hunger feels which can just make you.... well.... hangry!
6- I have noticed that you have said this is 'emotional' binging. Do you mean you eat when you are highly stressed/upset? If so, try and understand the underlying emotions behind this emotional eating, try and talk to someone about why it is that you sometimes feel upset. I would also really recommend practising 'mindfulness' (there are loads of apps to download for free). This is related to meditation and can teach you ways to quickly calm down and relax in high-stress times, leading to less impulsive behaviour.
I really think you can tackle this Emily, it can be a hard journey but you'll get there if you focus and develop a healthy relationship with food
But in the meantime make sure you try and be positive about yourself!
You’ve done a brave thing by opening up about this. I’m sorry you’re going through this. It sounds like a really difficult situation for you. There is an organisation called B-Eat. They offer emotional support and help for anyone dealing with an eating disorder. They offer a free helpline service and support chat rooms on their website.
You can check out their website at https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk. How do you feel about checking out their services?
-Allyson