Stop Binge Eating and Lose Weight
I think the most stressful part of the process was that I needed to stop Binge eating It is daunting to stop eating as I think everyone believes they will gain weight if they allow themselves to eat whatever they want. The reality is that you could get some pounds if you first encourage yourself to eat whatever you want, but this wasn't true of me. (Well, the compulsion to weights loses is what starts this cycle.
Since I really let myself eat whatever I wanted, I could stop eating those things when I didn't really enjoy them anymore, whenever I wanted. Forbidden food loses its appeal when you really allow it to be consumed at any time. For example, when I was starving and binge eating, I could have eaten a whole sleeve or two cookies in one day, because I knew I wouldn't be "allowed" to eat them the next day. I consumed more than I needed or even wanted, just because soon they would be prohibited for me.
I would just eat 2 or 3 cookies at a time and then I would be saving the rest for the next time I wanted them when I gave myself permission to eat them whenever I wanted. Eventually for a month or longer the box will remain in my office. I was one of those who "forgot" that even cookies were there. (Surely never before happened to me!)
Get Rid of the “All or Nothing” Mentality
What I preach on this blog is that if you want a healthy relationship with food you have to get rid of the "all or nothing" attitude. I was on a diet at the time of my binge, or I wasn't – because I was binge eating when I wasn't on diet. No middle ground was there. Now I try to follow the common method of 80/20, where I'm eating 80% of the time, but still splurge 20% without any remorse. While I didn't have a diet my body naturally lost the excess weight that I wore–so I didn't eat anything! I must have trusted the process and trusted that my body naturally begins to crave the truth when I just followed my hunger signals. Sometimes I feel stressed but when I start to feel complete, I just stop eating when I'm hungry. If I need it, I can always return to get more food, so no need to bring all my face together at once.
