You know those times when it seems like no matter what you do, you just cannot break out of the binge cycle?
You swear on everything you own that you won’t do it tomorrow, but then come 7 pm all of your willpower goes out the window and you cannot stop wandering around the house, looking for something to eat.
And then you curse yourself and beat yourself up for being a failure and giving in.
So what do you do when you can’t seem to break out of the binge cycle?
Remember this…
You do not need to “fix” your binge issues forever.
Often times, when we’re knee-deep in it, we put so much pressure on ourselves to break out of it “forever”.
(“Seriously THIS TIME, I’m done bingeing. DONE. I mean it. Forever.”)
But with that pressure of trying to fix something that we’ve struggled with in one fell swoop, it creates a ton of internal anxiety and we put the weight of the world on our shoulders.
(Which is a recipe for disaster because stoping bingeing never happens all at once.)
So give yourself permission to focus on JUST TODAY.
If that seems overwhelming, focus on the next meal. Or the next 10 minutes. Or the next breath.
Distill it down to something that feels manageable.
How can you eat in a way that allows you to feel nourished and loved RIGHT NOW?
What can you do for yourself that will help you to feel more balance in the next hour?
Bring it back to your immediate, present moment; the foreseeable future. (Not for the next 30, 40 and 50 years).
You can do anything just for today.
This is what I would tell myself when I couldn’t seem to break out of the binge cycle.
Of course there were emotions to look at, issues to sort through, food rules to break, etc etc…
But when all hell broke loose, I literally would forget all of that and bring it back to this day, this hour, this moment.
It helped me to focus on one breath, one meal, one moment.
So, breathe through the “I need to fix this forever”, let go of the pressure you’re putting on yourself and remember…
How can you show love and compassion to yourself in this meal, this moment, and this breath?
Other resources to help:
- The 4 Ways To Stop a Binge Guide: This guide will give you 4 things you can do to HALT a binge mid-cookie bite (plus a bonus section of ways to prevent future binges!). Its your lifeline when you don’t know how else to stop…grab it here!
2. The After Binge Toolkit: The hardest part of a binge is the end. Where you are left with the last bite taken, wondering what you’ve done to yourself yet again. And the feeling of emptiness and of being out of control feeling. That’s where this toolkit comes in 🙂
3. Trusting Yourself Around Food. This podcast episode talks about developing trust. I share a story from my own life and prompt you to nudge yourself into trust one small step at a time.
For more support on how to stop overeating at night, click here.
