You see food, you eat it and yet again, the hunger snaps back. As much as binge-eating disorder can create a chaos of food in your life, there are more than nice strategies you can imply in your lifestyle to fight and stop this eating disorder.
“Bingeing is such an emotionally frenetic activity that no other concerns can exist in the same space. It is a hell that people who are food-sensitive are familiar with; and, because it is known, it is therefore not so terrifying as some of the problems that are outside our control. Problems like divorce, illness, death.”
– Geneen Roth, Feeding the Hungry Heart: The Experience of Compulsive Eating
Binge-eating can create a heavy distress and disappointment every day. The more you feel distressed, the more your urge for eating increases. 1 out of 35 adults have binge-eating disorder in the U.S. It’s unimaginable how much emotional and mental ordeal must have been going on in the backdrop of the disorder. You can find more details about this disorder at Binge – Eating Disorder (BED).
Here are some simple yet effective lifestyle changes to adopt which will stop or prevent binge-eating disorder.
Start Your Day with Breakfast Always
Many binge-eaters or overeaters tend to skip breakfast in the morning. They have this misconception that skipping a meal in morning might help them with developing control for food for later part of the day. However, skipping the morning meal will just magnify the appetite, and you’ll feel hungrier than ever for the whole day. Start your day with breakfast always. Your control starts with the first meal of the morning.
Plan your Food
The key way to get control is to plan your food very carefully. Plan about what, when and how much you’d eat for a day, and stick to it strictly. Plan to eat small amounts of meal at regular intervals in a day. This will help to keep your stomach at peace, and you can fight with the urge more strongly. The main aim of planning your food intake is to form a healthy eating habit; for both body and brain.
A Total NO-NO to Diet Plan
As already mentioned, skipping meals will just make you gulp on more food. Starving yourself is not the answer to control your eating. In fact, your belly would just demand more food to be filled up in response to the starvation. Keep the stomach at peace with planned meals, and then slowly you can keep the urge in control. So, if you’re considering about diet plans to deal with bingeing, then you need to rule it out of your options.
Keep Tempting Food away
Your hunger can be instantly triggered by any tempting food near you. Even if you’re full,your brain would send you the message that you want to eat it. Don’t stack your pantry with any food that is appealing to you. Try keeping yourself away from such food which can reawake your hunger and desire.
Work Out
Working out is one of the best ways to fight with this eating disorder. Basically, the main aim of exercise and working out is to melt out all the extra calories your body have through the sweat and keep your metabolism in control. It would make your body feel lighter and fit. Moreover, your body would get a perfect break and distraction from the thoughts about food. Any simple exercises like a walk around in the evening or morning jogging can also help you deal with the stress formed by this disorder.
Write Your “Food” Journal
Most of the people who have binge-eating won’t realize how much they’re eating. You can start writing and recording a food journal to keep a track of your meals. Jot down what, when and how much food you ate in a day in your journal scrapbook. See for yourself where you need to cut down or which particular food is triggering your meal.
Meditation and Relaxation
Meditation and relaxation is very effective in self-reflection. It helps to relieve all the stress and burden of your mind. You can contemplate, and rewind your inner thoughts. Realization and awareness is the key solution to any problem. When you meditate, you become aware of what is actually happening with you. You’d be able to relax yourself, and keep the food itch in control eventually.
All the above mentioned ideas are surely powerful enough to fight with the eating disorder. But remember none of these would work unless you are determined.