Are you exhausted, burnt out and tired? Does the term Adrenal Fatigue ring true for you? What's the connection between life stress and your indigestion, bowel trouble?
My first approach with any binge eating is to make sure you're getting enough strengthening food on a regular basis. Low blood sugar or nutrient deficiencies can cause overeating - it's simply a survival instinct. There's no such thing as willpower, simply different brain chemistry. When we stabilize brain chemistry with food and supplements the cravings and overeating often dissipates.
Certified Holistic Nutritionist with a gentle approach and a focus on the intersection of mindful eating, healthy body image, and nutrition essentials for a balanced, happy life | wellandfree.ca
The answers already shared here are spot. I'm going to echo some of the main points and elaborate with my own thinking:
1) Inquire into why it is happening specifically on weekends. As Laura Weiner-Kiser suggested below, if there is a strong pattern of deprivation around food, it is very common to be super strict throughout the week and then "let loose" on the weekend in order to relax. I recommend looking into the Intuitive Eating approach for a sustainable, healthy and happy relationship with food (https://www.intuitiveeating.org/).
2) When the desire to reach for food comes up, pause and check in. Is it physical hunger? Boredom? Stress? Another emotion? What is under the surface that needs to be processed and tended to, and how can this be done in a way that doesn't involve food? Ask yourself what you really need in that moment. Maybe it's a walk outside, socialization, rest, etc. This may be challenging at first but with time you will find it easier to understand what your body needs.
3) Take note of the activities that are happening before and during your binge eating episodes. Is there a recurring source of stress on weekends that needs to be addressed, or managed in a different way? Do you tend to watch more TV on weekends, and reach for food by default? Try to get present in those moments and reflect. Taking notes of the experience in a journal may also be helpful so that you can shed light on potential patterns.
I support individuals by structuring positive change, productive thinking with an active pursuit to thrive. Offering a space to mentally tune up supporting your mind and body.
I would propose that binge eating is the symptom of what you are really trying to deal with. Exploring more of what is bringing you to binge eat and dig into your self-awareness. Then finding ways to find more confidence in yourself with tools to approach the other things in your life is where I would start to shift your binge eating habit.
You can do your work, your way, with soul. Learn to trust yourself and tap into your inner wisdom so you can fully show up in your work with confidence. I'm a Career and Life Coach, and I can help
First off, there is hope. You are not alone, and you can stop binge eating.
I say this from experience. I used to turn to chocolate whenever I felt sad, angry, happy, bored, you name it. It became my way to self soothe. It got so bad that I remember making a full tray of brownies, and the only way to stop myself from eating them all by myself in one sitting was I had to spray them with windex before I threw them away. I knew if I simply threw them away, I'd pull them out of the trash. So, I share this to say I have compassion and deep understanding for anyone in this situation.
Secondly, bing eating can feel automatic but when we become aware of the urge to eat and why it's there, we can stop the behavior.
When we understand the source of our binging and we release the emotions we attach to eating, then we no longer have the urge to binge. In fact, after doing emotional healing and working with a coach, I went over a year without eating any chocolate at all. It was not a problem anymore because I no longer needed to binge in order to soothe. Bottom line, the urge to binge dissolves with awareness and emotional healing.
Our actions come from a desire to to avoid pain and to seek pleasure. So when we binge eat, we are doing so to satisfy one of those desires.
Help yourself understand what feelings are driving your urge to eat. And then help yourself see that you can handle feeling that way - that you don't have to eat to try to numb out the feeling. You are strong and capable of experiencing your emotions. This will help you not need to binge because you'll be able to process your emotions instead of bury them with your food. This is why working with a coach is so beneficial because the coach is there to help you process your emotions, understand them, and move through them in a healthy way.
If you want help with this, I'm here. You can schedule a consult with me and we can talk through your specific issues and create a plan of action for you and what coaching together could look like.
Go to my heal.me profile (https://heal.me/beliefseed) and click the "Free Consultation" service for that 60 minute free call together.
The question I would pose back to you, is what is the habit around binge eating? Why does it happen on the weekends and not during the week? (or does it?)
Binge eating can happen for a number of reasons: it can be a habit, or it can be in response to a negative feeling (or maybe boredom), or if you're doing it on the weekends & not during the week, perhaps it's your physical environment.
So, if you were my client, the first step we'd take, would be to uncover what the 'trigger' is that's leading to your binge eating? Once we understand why you're doing it (habit, environment, or avoiding negative emotion) then we can take the steps to conquer the behavior.
Hey! My name is Laura Weiner-Kiser and my life purpose is to help people create a bridge between where they are and where they want to be in their health and life desires.
You start by stopping with deprivation and healing the relationship you have with food. I used to have this terrible habit myself and it took me a while to understand how to stop it. I used to be perfect Monday through Friday and then binge on the weekends and I would never see progress. And then I got more educated and stepping into my health coaching practice further. It helped me create balance in my life. I still have treats, but because I'm not depriving myself so I can enjoy my treats in a way that isn't harmful to my life or my body, while also enjoying a balanced lifestyle. I have so much more information I'm happy to share, but it starts with you accepting to do things differently starting with healing your food relationship.
