Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great Monday and a good start to the week!
Last week I wrote about how I’m struggling with emotional/binge eating? Well today I wanted to share some progress that I’ve made and some things that I’ve been doing to help with the situation. If you are or have dealt with similar things, feel free to share your ideas in the comments!
1. Reaching out to people and being open and honest with them and myself!
I talked to Annette* a while ago about the problems I’d been having and one thing she suggest was to write in a journal before or after a binge, and just say how I felt. Even writing down key words would be helpful! I don’t do this much anymore (and I should!) but it really helped me to be honest with myself in the beginning! It’s easy to lie to yourself and say everything is fine, but being honest makes you recognize the situation so you can do something about it.
I’ve also opened up to some friends about it and it’s helped because just saying it out loud makes me recognize even more. It’s also great to get support (like from all of you!) so that it’s not so shameful. The shame is one of the biggest part of any issue like this, and getting rid of that is key!
*Check out Annette’s website – she does a lot of coaching and has helped many women overcome binge eating!
2. Be Thankful.
It can be easy to forget all the great things you have in your life. It’s important to take some time and sit down and say or write the things you are thankful for. I did this a lot when I first started working on my binge eating and it definitely helped me feel more optimistic. Here’s an old list of mine:
3. Don’t try to control everything.
This can mean different things to different people. I’m a big control freak and can get very stressed out if things aren’t going the way I want them to. Over the past few months I’ve been getting better at just taking a deep breath and realizing that I can’t control the situation and everything is just fine. Go with the flow.
Another way you can see this is giving up control of your life to God. I don’t like talking religion on my blog merely because I know it’s a very personal thing and I don’t want to make anyone feel like they’re being preached to, especially since I don’t consider myself a religious person! However, I wanted to share that personally, I’ve been working on realizing that I’m not in control and giving that control to God. It’s something that’s helped me get over some anxiety and I have Ashley to thank for being so helpful with it!
4. Eat the foods you really want to eat, and have balanced meals.
One reason that I binge eat is because I never eat things I really want to. I have a history of calorie counting and considering tons of foods “off limits,” such as cheese, carbs, anything greasy or fattening. If I spend all day thinking about pizza, but eat a salad for dinner, I will most likely binge because I can’t satisfy that craving. What to do?! HAVE SOME PIZZA. You won’t die. I promise. It’s all about balance and the 80/20 rule. 80% healthy, 20% indulgent.
5. Plan activities.
A lot of the time I end up eating because I’m BORED. And you know what? Eating is fun! Making food and enjoying it is great, but when that is over it’s time to find other things to do. I made a list in my phone of things to do:
Another great activity? Molly time. Weekends are SO HARD for me. It’s more expected that I’ll binge at this point. However, spending the weekend with Molly and constantly having something to do was so helpful!!!! It was a great weekend!
What are your tips for getting over emotional/binge eating?
Do you try to follow the 80/20 rule?