After a binge, it’s easy to spiral into feelings of guilt and shame or harsh self-talk. Sometimes people even feel like they need to punish themselves to “make up for it”. Unfortunately, these reactions often continue or worsen the binge cycle rather than break it. In this blog post, a therapist and a dietitian come together to share recommendations for a compassionate, practical path forward. Instead of punishing yourself, we’ll guide you through checking in with your emotions, working to understand what led to the binge with curiosity (not judgment), and focusing on returning to a steady, nourishing routine. 

Recommendations from me, Alexis Hart, an eating disorder therapist: 

• Start by checking in with how you’re speaking to yourself. After a binge, it’s common to feel guilt or shame, but beating yourself up isn’t going to help and it usually just keeps the cycle going. Try to take a breath, check in with yourself, and remind yourself that you’re human. Overeating or binging is a coping mechanism, not a reflection of who you are as a person. Try to talk to yourself how you would talk to a friend.

• Once you feel a little more grounded, it can be helpful to gently explore what was going on before you overate. Here are a few questions to compassionately explore with yourself:

·  What were you feeling?

·  Were you feeling overwhelmed, stressed, lonely, or just really hungry?

·  Had you eaten enough earlier in the day?

Try to approach this like a detective or a scientist, not a judge. You’re just gathering clues and data about what your body and mind might have been asking for, so you can start finding other ways to meet those needs.

• Lastly, and Libby will speak more to this, it is important to return to your regular eating routine—don’t skip meals to compensate or punish yourself with extra workouts. That only sets you up for more bingeing later. The goal is to disrupt the binge – restrict/compensate cycle, not continue it.

Recommendations from my colleague, Libby Stenzel, an eating disorder dietitian:

• As Alexis mentioned, it is absolutely KEY to seek to gently return to your regular eating routine after experiencing a binge. It can feel tempting to want to restrict following a binge, or even to reduce your eating in anticipation of future binge eating. But, these restrictive eating patterns only serve to fuel continued compulsive and out-of-control eating. When our bodies’ haven’t had their nutrition needs met, we are much more likely to experience food in a chaotic way. 

• From a practical standpoint, seek to incorporate balanced meals and snacks about every 2-4 hours. For meals, I recommend including at least one source of each macronutrient (fat, protein, and carb). For snacks, I recommend including at least two out of three macronutrients (for example, an apple with peanut butter instead of just an apple). Not only can snacks be satisfying and delicious, but having a couple of (or several) intentional snacks throughout the day helps to prevent you from becoming overly hungry – another common binge trigger. 

• Like Alexis was sharing about being your own detective, it can be helpful to consider clues regarding your relationship with food. Maybe you do generally eat enough and tend to have meals and snacks that are balanced from a nutrition standpoint. But, just like physical food restriction can set us up for another binge, so can mental food restriction. Are there specific foods that you feel are off-limits to you, or that you feel “bad” for eating? Consider exploring what these foods are and what thoughts, beliefs, and experiences you have regarding them. Might avoiding them at all costs be doing you more harm than good?  

Final Thoughts

If you are currently relating to food in a chaotic and out-of-control way, know that you are not alone and that the challenges you are facing are not a reflection of your character or lack of willpower! Oftentimes, how we experience food is more of an outworking of what’s going on beneath the surface – for instance, our thoughts and feelings about food, ourselves, and our bodies. 

If you’re looking for further support in experiencing a compassionate relationship with yourself as well as a relationship with food that nourishes rather than deprives you, we invite you to reach out to connect more. Experiencing a calm, centered relationship with food is fully possible for you!  

Alexis Hart is a Michigan-based eating disorder therapist, seeing clients virtually across the state. 
Libby Stenzel is a Michigan-based eating disorder dietitian, seeing clients virtually across Michigan, as well as Idaho, Texas, Arizona, and Colorado.