Avoid binge eating, they say. It’s easy, they say. Well, if you know that feeling, when something clicks in your head and you feel like you could literally eat 3 bags of chips, 5 cakes and 8 bowls of pasta, you also know that it isn’t always easy.
The good news is, that you can make it easy, by having a strategy.
How To Succesfully Avoid Binge Eating (A 5 Step Guide)
#1: Calm down.
The #1 and most important step in avoiding a horrible binge is to first calm down. I cannot emphasize this enough.
Just think about it. When you see a honeybee flying towards you, will you start panicking and flapping around with your hands?
If you do, you will scare the bee and it will sting you for SURE. You will be in pain, the bee will die, you both lose.
On the other hand, if you stay calm and just move out the way, even take the bee outside with a glass and piece of paper, you both win.
This strategy can be applied to 99.9% of situations in life. And it is what can save you from binging.
You have to give yourself 5 minutes to think the whole situation over before shoveling half of the fridge into your belly.
#2: Ask yourself the question: Why am I hungry?
There is a question, you have to ask yourself. I guarantee you will be surprised by the answer.
This question is: Why am I hungry?
When you find the cause of your hunger, it will be easy to eliminate it.
There are a few possible answers to this question:
- you haven’t eaten enough:
This can be solved by eating a proper meal. Not a cake or cheeseburger or whatever.
A healthy, appropriate meal (one that fits in your diet plan) with two glasses of water. It takes 20 minutes for your stomach to
realise that it’s full, so give yourself plenty of time before reaching for that second serving.
- you are stressed out:
See step #3.
- you’re bored:
See step #3.
- your blood sugar level is spiking, causing you to crave certain things:
Read about how to bring down blood sugar levels.
- you are socially pressured:
Read my article about how to successfully avoid cheating and binging in a social situation.
#3: Try to Eliminate stress/boredom as much as possible
The #1 reason for binging is feeling stressed out. You are not alone with this.
It’s really easy to deal with it, so don’t worry. It does require you to remain calm and cool headed though.
Next to stress, people tend to eat when they’re bored. That is the easiest problem to avoid.
Try to do at least 5 things on this list:
31 things to do that distract you from binge eating:
- Drink 2 cups of sparkling water (with ice cubes).
- Polish your nail.
- Watch your favourite TV show.
- Call your girlfriend/boyfriend.
- Have sex.
- Give yourself a facial.
- Clean your apartment.
- Pet your dog/cat/gold fish.
- Take your dog/cat out for a walk.
- Find a chill forest/flowery field, look around, smell the fresh air.
- Do your make up.
- Write in your diary.
- Write a blog post.
- Decorate your room.
- Try on dresses.
- Use your adult coloring book.
- Do Yoga.
- Go running.
- Look at cute baby animals on the internet.
- Watch a comedy movie.
- Watch your favorite Youtube videos.
- Write me an e-mail. 🙂
- Dance.
- Listen to rock music.
- Drink Tea.
- Spray some lavender essential oils in the air, then lay down on the floor and relax.
- Watch a Disney Princess movie.
- Read motivational posters.
- Give yourself a massage while breathing slowly and deeply.
- Play non-violent video games.
- Imagine yourself 1 year from now, when you’ve reached your goals. 🙂
#4: Eat something filling with high fiber content and low G.I. and carb levels.
If you still think you are going insane if you can’t have 3 whole pizzas, try filling yourself with some healthy fruit or vegetable snacks.
Their high fiber content will help you with the feeling of satiety. The low G.I. levels make sure that your blood sugar doesn’t spike resulting in more cravings.
- Snack on your favorite healthy snacks.
- Eat a banana/a cup of berries.
- Drink a lowcarb smoothie.
- Drink a protein shake.
Remember!
Even though you probably have a calorie goal, and you might want to skip eating/drinking at all, not to exceed it … BUT.
If your cravings are really bad and they are driving you bonkers, consider eating something healthy.
Eating 200-300 calories from healthy snacks is much better, than eating 1000+ calories from unhealthy junk food. (Hell, even eating 1000+ calories from healthy snacks is much better.)
It’s not going to ruin your diet if you drink a smoothie or eat some fruits, but if you eat a whole pizza, you’re going to feel really bad and guilty after it.
#5: Draw conclusions/analyze the situtation.
You can congratulate yourself for succesfully resist temptation, but don’t be sad or upset if you could not.
Always remember, that you tried your best and you are human.
We are not robots. We have feelings, emotions and weaknesses.
Everyone gives in to temptation sometimes. And that’s perfectly fine. The most important thing is, that you analyze the situtation, and take notes on what you think went wrong
and learn from your mistakes.
On the other hand, if you were succesful, you can take notes, so you know what strategies worked.
Next time you have binge eating temptations, they will be a hundred times easier to resist.
3 Healthy, High fiber, Low G.I. Recipes to Help You Avoid Binge Eating
Healthy Pineapple Banana Nicecream
Recipe: vanillacrunnch.com
Healthy Strawberry Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding
Recipe: dessertswithbenefits.com
Salt and Vinegar Zucchini Chips
Recipe: sugarfreemom.com
What are your best strategies to avoid binge eating? Share with us in the comments!
