Binge eating: A guide on how to manage your eating this Easter

Easter is fast approaching. The kids are very excited at the Easter bunny's arrival. You would love to be able to sit, have one or two chocolates and enjoy it all without the fear that those couple of chocolates will lead to a binge eating episode. 

Yet for people who experience binge eating, this fear is all too real and Easter can be a daunting and worrying time. Chocolate will be everywhere. For many, this is a complete nightmare. How on earth can I get through the Easter holidays without bingeing, let alone enjoy it? Here are some tips. 

Plan ahead

Plan your meals so you know what you will be eating and roughly when. This can give you some reassurance knowing that there won’t be periods where you won’t have something to eat. Planning means you can do the shop in advance and there will be food in the cupboard so you won't be stuck wondering what to cook and then resorting to eating quick and easy ultra-processed foods or getting a takeaway.

It takes the stress out of the mental planning and time-consuming prep work. It also helps to manage your portion sizes and maintain a healthy diet whilst regulating your food intake.

Keep a routine

It's the holidays and the kids are running around, you have days out planned and life can be a bit hectic. That means food times can also be a bit haphazard and we might need to eat more healthily. That's ok.

On the days that you can keep your routines, this is: eating breakfast when you're hungry, having lunches and dinners at regular times, and having pre-planned snacks, this can help to provide a sense of structure and stability. It stops you from reaching out for the chocolate when you are a bit peckish.

It also ensures you and the family are eating one savoury meal a day that is nutritious.

Focus on the people you are with

In the throes of an eating disorder, it is easy to focus on the behaviours that we don't want. It is easy to focus on the worry, fear, and what you are doing that you do not like. This can send us into a spiral of negativity and self-hatred.

Instead, focus on what you are enjoying or looking forward to. Seeing relatives, going to places with your children. Your downtime, finally watching that film on Netflix. 

Take time for yourself

Holidays, even though they can be fun, can also be very stressful. The stress can lead us to binge eat inadvertently. This is because there is no outlet for our stress. One way in which our brain in the past may have learned to deal with stress could have been to turn to food.

Food is a great way to feel better. It tastes good and exciting. It takes the boredom away, it makes us feel good and calm about ourselves. This is an example of emotional eating. If only we didn't put on weight and it made us not feel so good, argh.

The truth is for many of us, we end up building a better relationship with food than we do ourselves. In fact, the relationship we have with food can be a reflection of the one we have with ourselves.

Do you have a love/hate relationship with food? Issues with control around foods? You'd rather not have to think about it? Chances are these dynamics will also be showing up elsewhere in your life. 

Mindful eating

Mindful eating brings us great awareness of not just our behaviours, but what is underneath and driving our behaviours. 

What we see on the surface is us eating too many hot cross buns, or we are diving into the chocolate eggs. We become so fixated with the desire to want our binge foods it consumes us. So do the feelings of guilt and anxiety around food, that we are not able to step away from our feelings to examine what is going on for us.

Behind every behaviour is a thought. These thoughts are the beliefs we hold to be true about us, our eating, and or food in that situation. For example, if I didn't control myself I would just go wild with my eating. That is a belief that you may believe to be inherently true. 

We act and shape our behaviours based on these beliefs. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. Yet, we often do not know what these thoughts are, that we even have them or how they are shaping us because we do not have the mental space to stop, acknowledge them when they are happening, listen to them, or question them. So we end up blindly following them.

Underneath those beliefs/thoughts are our emotions. An event happens that causes us to feel an emotion. That emotion triggers a thought process which then triggers our behaviours. Often this process happens so fast that we do not know it is happening, all we see is our eating.

Feeding into those emotions, are all of our events and life experiences from our childhood and young adult years. These experiences will again have shaped us in a way that we learned coping strategies and how to survive through these experiences.

Memories of these experiences will be hidden away in the unconscious along with any unprocessed feelings about them. Yet they are showing up every day in how we behave, think, and relate to others. They are showing up in our eating habits. 

Because all of these memories, emotions and thoughts are hidden from us by our own unconscious, it can be hard to know how to access all of this to help you stop your binge eating. Being mindful of your eating, your thoughts about eating and how you feel about yourself around eating can start to unlock the hidden clues about yourself.

Find a therapist dealing with eating disorders

Being mindful unlocks the first door, so to speak. You become aware of your thoughts, emotions, and behaviours surrounding your binge eating habits. However, to truly be able to overcome binge eating, it is helpful to find a therapist who understands not only your binge eating behaviours but also understands the theory behind it. Finding a therapist who specialises in eating disorders, and especially binge eating, can provide you with insights and the space to heal.

Through therapy, you can explore those deep-rooted beliefs and emotions that drive your binge eating. A therapist can help you uncover any past events or traumas that may be influencing your relationship with food. By addressing these underlying causes, you can begin to develop healthier coping mechanisms and strategies to manage your binge eating.

How hypnotherapy supports your binge-eating disorder recovery

These are practises you can start to do immediately to support your own insights but also support your healing. 

Relax

Listening to a self-hypnosis session where you learn to relax. Relaxing is not sitting in front of the TV or having a bath. It is relaxing your mind and your body so they become more in tune with one another. By relaxing our minds, we learn to listen and interpret our thoughts and emotions. Mindful eating and mindfulness start to become easier and more insightful. 

Focus on what you do want

Pick a scenario where you normally end up binge eating. Instead of getting frustrated with yourself, start to think about how you would like to behave instead. Think of three positive alternatives that you could do instead of binge eating. For example, I sit in front of the TV and I want to binge. Instead, I want to sit in front of the TV and have a cup of tea. Now visualise yourself doing the new behaviour. Make the picture clear and make sure you are seeing it all from your own eyes, as opposed to you being in the picture. 

Inner child healing

A lot of what we feel comes from unprocessed feelings from our childhood. We may not have got what we needed in terms of love, encouragement and support. We can start learning to give that to ourselves as adults. Relaxing down and then picturing us as a child. It might be easier to remember ourselves in a photo. Acknowledging the child in the photo and telling the child how much they are loved, seen and heard is a wonderful healing modality. 

Develop a support system

Having people around you who are supportive and understanding can be instrumental in disorder recovery. The people around you will understand what you are going through, understand how frustrating and infuriating, but also may inspire you through their own stories of healing.

Just know, healing and stopping unwanted behaviours is absolutely achievable, with the right insight, help and support.