Diets Don't Work As A Binge Eater - Embracing Emotional Balance- S1E5

Have you ever felt trapped in the cycle of restrictive diets while trying to conquer binge eating? I share from the heart about the struggles and triumphs in my own journey from a binge eater to a reformed mindful eater. Together, we're abandoning the diet mindset that amplifies food obsessions and emotional triggers. In this episode, I unveil the often-overlooked connection between our emotions and the foods we crave, and I offer actionable insights into developing healthier coping mechanisms. It's a candid conversation about reshaping our relationship with food, emphasizing emotional well-being over the number on the scale.

We'll also navigate the practical side of sustaining a balanced lifestyle, providing tips on keeping nutritious options at hand. I'll guide you through recognizing your emotions and understanding their impact on your eating habits. This episode isn't just about what not to do; it's a resource-packed toolkit for what to do instead. Join me for an empowering session filled with empathy, understanding, and a roadmap to a more mindful and nourishing life.
For my Guided Journal to help recognize the trigger and patterns -
Binge On Life Not A Cheesecake!

https://pixabay.com/users/sergepavkinmusic-6130722/ Thank You Serge Pavkin for the preroll!

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:17

Hey, I'm Coach Mickey and I'm so glad that you've joined me today, and if it's your first time joining me, come on in and make yourself comfortable and if you do, join me on a regular basis, thank you so much. I am so proud of you because binge eating is not an easy task to deal with. We know that this is something that we have to strive for and address every single day when we are binge eaters and, knowing for myself as a binge eater now I call myself a reformed, mindful eater I'm here to share with you some of the tips and information that I have learned through the years of binge eating and also through health coaching and wellness coaching, to help people just like you that are just beginning to address and understanding what binge eating is. Or maybe you are coming back because something has transpired in your life and it's time to regroup. So today is just going to be a quick tip, and one of the things that is addressed and brought up constantly to me when I am either speaking or doing a podcast or having one-on-ones with clients is what about dieting? And I'm going to tell you firsthand again in my humble opinion, don't diet. Don't diet when you are trying to overcome binge eating. And why is that? Because when we diet and I always look at it this way it's trying to have a structured way of eating. It's not really teaching you mindful eating, it's teaching you how to lose weight. Now these are two different elements. Now they can be combined and collaborate together at some point. But, however, when you are starting out and trying to overcome binge eating, let me tell you what the differences are.

Speaker 1: 2:08

Well, with dieting, first of all, as a binge eater, what's the first thing we do? We think about food all the time, especially if we have some kind of an emotional trigger that has set us off, that causes us to run to the refrigerator or grab that bag of chips or whatever is going on. During that time frame, your body and your mind is not thinking oh, what should I eat? So it is within my calorie count, so thinking how do I feel good right now, right this minute. And that's why dieting is very difficult when you are working with binge eating. So the most common thing again is because it's restrictive, and we know that when we're restricted from certain foods, then our mind becomes preoccupied because we're wondering when am I going to eat? When am I allowed to eat? How much can I eat? These are all really tough things when it comes to binge eating and implementing food, because we're always thinking about food, not because of what we're eating, but we're thinking when am I going to feel good again? When am I allowed to feel happy again and feel good again? When can I feel that feeling of reward based on what's happening? When can I have the food that I want to have? And so these are all difficult questions when you're a binge eater.

Speaker 1: 3:36

Binge eating is not about losing weight. It's about dealing with feelings, and until we recognize and see what feelings we have that are associated with these foods, it's very difficult to actually keep you know, stay with it within a diet and a restricted eating habit. So what can we do with this? So, instead of feeling deprived from different food groups that we want, or you know something that may be triggering us psychologically, then the best thing to do is recognize what am I feeling? What am I feeling and why am I going for that food to begin with? The other thing, too, is what is the response to our bodies and the craving? The reason that we have difficult dieting is because we're restricted away from these foods that are engineered to make us feel good and trigger all of these pleasurable feelings in our body. So there's a lot of elements that we have to do prior to that. So my thought and my advice and information to you is forget about the dieting. I think the most important thing we should do right now is look at why do I feel the way I do, what drives me to the food that I'm eating, and what other coping skills can I use in place of the food as a coping mechanism. So that's kind of my points for today. We will dive into a little bit more about dieting and what we can do.

Speaker 1: 5:04

My suggestion would be always have some healthy kinds of food on hand. If you have something that you want that sweet because some of us crave sweets I always suggest have a lot of berries, because you can eat a big bowl of berries. Be mindful when you're eating them. Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries you can cut those up and have those available to you. If you are a salty person, like I am, and you wanna have that crispy, salty flavor, then get some cucumbers, slice them up, put some salt on it. You could do carrot slices. You could do carrots in your hot air fryer you could do. I've got all kinds of recipes that you could do that'll kind of substitute for some of these things to help you.

Speaker 1: 5:44

So my tip for you for today is replace just one, one of your binge foods with something that's healthy, that you have available right now. And I would highly recommend you can look for my guided journal. My Guinal Journal is a 30 day journal that not only has you formatted of every question that you can answer for yourself because this is all for you, so you understand the patterns and the triggers but it also has I've incorporated Mandela prints so you can color. So before you go and you reach for that binge food when you're experiencing something, another coping skill you could do would be either reading a book or crafts or something else. But if it's a go to right now, you can have that book right on your desk, right in your next to your couch or your bed or wherever you are, or on your office desk, and have it available. That, instead of going to binge, take your colored pencils, maybe stop and color right into your journal what you're thinking and how you're feeling, and let's see if that can at least stop to just the mindset, just for just a second so you can go back and regroup and see if that binge food is really that important, if we can get over some of those coping skills with food and maybe start addressing more of the emotions.

Speaker 1: 7:02

All right, I'm very proud of you. Remember, the most courageous thing you can do is be yourself. I am with you on this journey. We are not alone in this. Please know that, as a secret binge eater, you don't have to do this alone, and I look forward to answering your comments, your questions and anything else that you may need to get you this journey. Okay, I will see you on our next episode of Binge on Life, not a Cheesecake. If you like this, please subscribe, share it and like it, and I will look forward to seeing you again. Until then, see ya.