How You can Stop Compulsive Overeating Just Like I Did
How I did it: I went to school for nutrition, stress
What You Can Do: The first and foremost thing I advise my clients to do is to stop criticizing themselves. Criticizing oneself does nothing more than add insult to injury and it only manifests into greater feelings of negativity. When you stop criticizing yourself your body and brain will begin to realize that you are on their side and they do not need to be at such war with each other.
Second thing is to understand what is happening to you and your brain when you binge eating. There is an internal war going on within you and understanding what is happening to you is important. I’m sure you feel the tug of war with one side of you saying Stop binge eating right now! and the other half is saying I want to eat everything in sight because I am so stressed out. Keep a journal so you can write down your thoughts.
The third process we go through is finding the main cause of compulsive overeating. You are overeating to cover a problem or to reduce the day to day stress that is hard to handle. Binging can then become habit forming and can continue even after you have dissolved some of your stress. But there is still some deep seated reason you are not facing that makes you feel not good enough. Getting to the bottom of the issue can help you move on.
The fourth step we talk about is the types of binges that a person can have. There is no one set binge. In fact there are a few of them. You may begin to binge to hide a problem and then the binge turns into an Opportunity Binge where you simply binge because you are alone and have found it a great opportunity to do so. Again, one side of you thinks it is still a good idea to binge so it will find ways to do so.
The fifth step is to reduce your daily stress. Stress is probably the number one contributor to compulsive overeating. People are stressed out so they turn for comfort. When they don’t get it from people they look to food because there are plenty of “comfort foods” out there. By learning relaxation or meditation, getting organized, and using assertive techniques to handle difficult situations you can greatly reduce stress and your need for outside comfort factors.
Sixth is to begin setting small goals that you can accomplish in small chunks. These will be so small that you may laugh at how easy they are to complete but once you finish the first tiny goal in that chunk you can add another tiny goal to it and give yourself another chunk to complete it. For example, lets say you want to drink 8 glasses of water a day. You don’t want to start out drinking 8 glasses of water the next day when all along you’ve been drinking 1/2 glass a day. You will meet with resistance from your own body and brain. Instead start small and break it down. “I will drink 1 glass of water a day”. Do this for 4 days as your first chunk. After you complete that goal, make your next goal to be I will drink 2 glasses of water a day”. And do that for another 4 days. Reward yourself at the end of each 4 day chunk so that you can show your brain and body how proud you are.
The seventh action we take is to use the Law of Attraction and focus on attracting positive “like” thoughts to what you truly want. When you think about what it is that you want in your life you are sending out a frequency of brain waves that can resonate with other similar frequencies. So it’s important to say things like, “I am healthy and happy in my relationships” or “I am thrilled that I eat healthy and exercise”. When you concentrate on negative things that you don’t want to happen you are still thinking about them and sending that message out there. By saying “I don’t want to binge eating anymore”, you’ll attract more binge eating. So focus on what you want and state it that way.
And finally, I hope to convey to you that you have the power to stop compulsive overeating. With the right tools and the right attitude and a desire to move forward, you can absolutely make the changes you need to get that done.
You can do anything!