Most people have heard of binge eating. However, many are not aware that there are two major categories of binging.
1. Binging and Purging (This is where food is consumed followed by self-induced vomiting.)
2. Straight Binging: (no self-induced vomiting)
It is this second type of binging we will be discussing in this article (Binge without purge). With 3% of adults suffering from binging, this problem is more common than many realize.
Binging is an even greater problem for obese adults. If we limit ourselves to this population only, we find the percentages increase to as high as ten to fifteen percent. So as you might expect, binging is much more of a problem for obese people.
A discovery that has turned up in research is that dieting is often the trigger for binging. Binging is one way in which some people try to reduce stress. Dieting certainly qualifies as a stressful event. For some people, binging is a way of self-medicating in an effort to relieve feelings of frustration and anxiety.
In this regard, it is appropriate to view food consumed for this purpose as an addictive behavior. Like many addictive behaviors, binging creates a nasty and vicious psychological circle.
A person becomes overwhelmed with frustration or anxiety. To gain relief, the person binges on food, this is briefly successful. Then, realizing what has happened, the person becomes overwhelmed with stress about what has just occurred. This is a devastatingly nasty cycle of events.
And around and around we go.
If you are a chronic binger or if someone close to you is, it’s important to realize that:
1. You/they may not be able to cope with this problem without outside help.
2. There are several options for professional help (types of therapy) available these days
However, if you feel that this is something that can be handled alone, consider some of these proven approaches:
1. Avoid very low calorie diets. These tend to create much more stress. Target losing no more than one to two pounds per week.
2. To make your diet more enjoyable and reduce stress, budget two hundred calories a day for foods that you really like.
3. NEVER go more than 4 hours without food.
4. Aim for 4 to 6 meals a day.
5. Do your best to maintain a regular eating schedule. I know for some, this may feel restrictive, but studies show that this works best for the majority.
Exercise, some form of sports, meditation and other such activities can help to reduce the effects of stress. Another approach is reframing. In this approach, you learn to view events differently so that in the end, you don’t have the same emotional response. In other words, you can learn to view the world in a non-stressful manner.
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Tags: Weight loss, Weight loss
