Binge Eating and How to Treat It Yourself

If you feel that you are overeating in a way that makes you feel uncomfortably full and the portion that you eat is too large but you just cannot seem to stop, then probably you have a disorder called Binge Eating Disorder. All overeating is not binge eating, and to understand whether what you are doing while gorging on food is a disorder, you need to look out for these symptoms:

binge eating disorder treatment

1. You should have been overeating on junk food mainly.

2. The overeating made you uncomfortably full

3. The binges happened every week or for more than three months.

4. After the binging was over you felt depressed.

 What are the reasons for Binge Eating?

The reasons for Binge eating disorders are still being researched. However, many theories have been put forward till date. The most probable cause for this disorder has been given as emotional eating. Everyday stressors like tensions, relationship issues or work or career related problems make binge eating a habit.

Junk food that is rich in sugars and have high salt content release endorphins into the body when eaten. These are feel good hormones. But other hormones are also released into the body which make the feel good sensation short lived and brings you back into a vicious kind of cycle that will make you want to eat more.

 How to stop binge eating?

1.  Stress: Try to relieve stress through activities like meditation, exercise or simply through socialising with friends and family rather than reaching for that bucket of ice-cream.

2. Maintain a food diary:Write down everything you put down in your mouth in this diary, the focus on the food you intake will slowly help you to move away from binge eating.

3. Stop dieting: Stopping eating in the name of dieting makes you crave for food, and gives rise to yoyo dieting. You go through spells of absolute fasting followed by overeating.

4. Eat proper meals: Remember to eat well and do not ever skip breakfast. This is because eating avoids the feeling of emptiness inside and will keep you away from overeating in your next meal.

5. Exercise: Apartfrom the benefit of keeping excess weight off your body and boosting self-esteem, exercise also reduces stress by releasing endorphins into the body.

6. Sleep at regular times:Waking long hours might make you eat more to conserve energy. This is a trap and may lead to binge eating.

Photo Credit By: healthprobs.com