You’re home from work and have the house to yourself. You’ve been very disciplined during the day. Just plenty of water to drink and a few biscuits. The scales show those pounds yielding to the diet. And then you find yourself opening the kitchen door. There’s a tub of icecream in the freezer that’s got your name on it. When that’s gone, there’s that piece of cheesecake and a peanut butter sandwich or two to round things off. By the time you’ve finished, the good work of the day has been undone with an intake of calories sufficient to keep a small army going for a week. But, and here comes the sad truth, you have to support being overweight with your lifestyle. If you have a little self-discipline, there’s no reason to carry all that extra weight around. It’s the boom and bust approach to dieting that does the most harm, with binge eating one of the most common of the eating disorders. Why do we do it?
Binge eating is evidence of emotional problems. It says something fundamental about how we see ourselves, how much we really care about our bodies. In these modern times, everyone knows how dangerous it is to be overweight, let alone obese. Every article like this everywhere on the web tells the same story of the risks of diabetes, cancers and heart disease. So to take the decision not to lose weight is making a statement about our lives. Put the other way round – if we cared about the risks, we would find the motivation to diet. Defeatism means giving up. We believe we are beaten. Sometimes, it’s like there’s no point in even trying even if we are literally shortening our lives.
Of course, there are therapies and treatments for all the eating disorders but, without coverage under a health plan, this is an expensive exercise. For most people, it comes down to self-help. So you need to untangle the cause and effect. Answer this simple question: what triggers a binge? If there’s a consistent reason for suddenly wanting to empty your fridge, this gives you a starting point. You might find it useful to keep a diary. It’s easier to see a pattern when you read back through a month or so of entries. Then you have to confront those situations and devise a way of getting through them without the need to eat. Recognize this desire for food has nothing to do with physical hunger. If that was the case, using a drug like meridia would be the answer, suppressing your appetite.
You have to break the habit of eating as a response to your emotions. Be your own therapist. Apply common sense and approach the exercise with an open mind. With honesty, you should overcome the problem. Of course, a sensible diet will help. Eating a good breakfast sets you up for the day. Avoid snacking and keep to regular times for lunch and an evening meal. If hunger does become a problem, you can buy meridia and it will see you through difficult times until your stomach gets used to smaller quantities of food. The aim should be to improve the general quality of your life. You will not become happy overnight, but at least aim for a more positive outlook.