If you’re inclined to binge, the most important thing to do for yourself is to try and work out the emotional reasons behind your eating. Do you overeat when you’re happy, sad, alone, bored, anxious, pregnant. Processing these emotions and pin pointing the root of the problem is hard and takes time, but here are some good techniques to help you change your behavior and combat binge eating in the future:
Rid binge foods from your environment. Don’t buy or store junk food that you can binge on. After all, you can’t eat what’s not there.
Try taking up a hobby. Keep yourself occupied. Boredom will drive you to the fridge. So rather than feeding yourself with food, you’ll distract yourself with something productive.
Decorate your fridge with stuff that motivates you. I have two pictures on mine: One is a photo of cellulite, and the other is of Giesle Bundchen. All of a sudden that cracker with a chunk of camembert on it isn’t as tempting.
Call a friend. The next time you are reaching out for a tub of ice cream, why not reach out for some support and try talking through your feelings with a friend, your trainer or seek some professional advice. You don’t have to do this alone.
Do something to sabotage your binge. In other words, pamper yourself with something that’s positive as opposed to self-destructive. Get a facial. Take a bubble bath. Go to the gym. There are many places to go and activities to take part in that’ll also lead you away from food temptations. Try Miss Boot Camp…now there’s a thought!
This process takes time as you are trying to change habits here, so it’s good to have some techniques to fall back on when life gets the better of you! And remember: one day at a time. If you do end up in a binge, make sure you compensate the next day and exercise longer.