If you struggle with binge eating, there are a few things you need to know about WHY it happens, WHAT you can do to prevent it, and HOW to move on when it does happen.
1. Understand The Implications of Processing Food.
Most people don’t realize processed foods are strategically manufactured to be almost impossible to NOT overeat on.
Processed foods are manufactured on what is called a bliss curve. The goal is to produce a food product that provides a maximum level of bliss.
Bliss is defined as “the state of perfect happiness.”
When you understand that foods are manufactured to provide a “perfect state of happiness,” is it really so surprising that you eat way more chips, pizza, or ice cream than you intended on having?
Food manufactures actually hire “food-scientists” who use complex mathematical calculations and spend vast amounts of money “split-testing” hundreds of different variables like the color of packaging, the shape, texture, color of the actual food, amount of sugar, salt, and fat needed to create the maximal bliss point.
And while this might sound like some evil corporation trying to make you addicted to increase profits, all they are doing is creating a food product you enjoy the most. It’s what we hope and expect from every other product we buy.
The problem with these products is their ability to pack the pounds on your waistline!
If you’re interested in learning more about how processed foods are designed to be incredibly addictive, I suggest reading this short article called The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food. This is a recommended read to ALL my clients.
2. Understand The Physiological Impact of Food
If you took the time to read the article above you will have read that Cheetohs actually fail to release the hormone Leptin which tells the hypothalamus in your brain that you’re full. Again, I ask you, are you really surprised that you overeat on a food that fails to initiate your satiety hormones?
Food also impacts neurotransmitters.
When you eat food, the reward system in your brain is triggered, and you release the neurotransmitter dopamine, which basically makes you feel awesome! Cant blame yourself for wanting to feel awesome.
Unfortunately, many of the processed foods we eat today are a combination of sugar, salt, fat, texture, color, and taste, that is find NOWHERE in nature. Your body is essentially overwhelmed by these hyper-palatable foods. In response to these foods, your body releases LARGE amounts of dopamine.
However you body is always looking to achieve balance, and in a response to these excessive levels of dopamine, your body will begin to remove or down-regulate your dopamine receptors.
Now to achieve those same levels of dopamine with reduced dopamine receptors you need to eat EVEN MORE of that junk food to get that same awesome feeling.
What To Do About Binge Eating
1. Set Yourself Up For Success
Now that you have a better understanding of how food scientists manufacture food products to be hyper-palatable and almost impossible to NOT overeat, it’s easy to see how a binge will occur if every cupboard you open is packed full of crackers, chips, candy, and soda.
You’re lying to yourself if you think you’re going to eat those foods in moderation. Willpower will only take you so far after a long day of work, and endless temptation in every direction.
Your best bet is to simply remove these foods from your house. It doesn’t mean you can’t ever have them, but don’t surround yourself by temptation.
2. How To Indulge In Unhealthy Food Products
Control the dose.
Buy ONLY single serving sizes. Don’t stock up on frozen pizzas, buy pizza by the slice from your favorite pizzeria. Same goes for Ice. Don’t store a gallon in freezer, grab a gourmet scoop from your local ice cream parlor once in a while. Buy the personalized bag of chips, not the family size.
3. How To Use Moderation & Willpower
Don’t rely on willpower to practice moderation as an eating strategy. Most people fail using moderation as an eating strategy, and instead find themselves eating moderately bad all day long.
Instead, use moderation as a buying strategy. This allows you to use willpower (which diminishes over time) at the store to make the conscious decision to buy or not buy, a single serving sized unhealthy food item.
4. Get Your Dopamine Hit in Other ways
Exercise is another great way to release dopamine. You don’t have to do strenuous exercise to release dopamine. Even low levels of exercise like going for a walk release dopamine.
Creative activities like art, and building things also release dopamine.
6. Change How You Identify Food.
Changing how you identify foods is an incredibly helpful way to stop a binge. It’s easy to find junk-food that is disguised as healthy. Foods that are “whole-grains,” “fat-free” and “all-natural,” are labels that are great at convincing us what we are eating is healthy, when in fact it’s not.
Instead ask yourself is this FOOD or a FOOD PRODUCT. Avoid food products!
“Junk-food” is just to common of a word these days, and doesn’t elicit much of a negative response anymore. We’ve become numb to it, and it’s normal to eat “junk-food.”
However it’s NOT normal to eat “Food Products.” Next time you’re hungry and looking to grab something, ask yourself is this food or a food product?
It’s easier to turn down food products.
5. Don’t Carry Guilt
Many people carry incredible levels of guilt and shame after binging on unhealthy foods. Often times the guilt is almost worse than the original binge. Negative self-talk happens and what should have been an isolated incident of over-indulgence, instead turns into a complete shift in behavior. More unhealthy foods are eaten, and a complete abandonment of a nutritional and exercise philosophy occurs.
Instead make the OCCASIONAL conscious decision to indulge.
Completely enjoy that food guilt free, and simply move on. The guilt serves NO purpose, and usually leads to more poor choices, so simply make the decision to not carry any guilt.
6. Context
Lastly, remember that it is all about context. One bad meal won’t ruin a week. Just as one bad day of eating won’t ruin a month. Whether it’s dietary or fitness related, it’s what you do in the long haul that matters!