“I was out of control”

“I couldn’t stop”

“I had to finish the whole package”

“It was like a wild hungry wolf took over my eating”

These phrases are familiar to those of us who struggle with binge eating.  We know all too well the feeling of being in a wave of eating that we can’t stop, even though we know we “should” stop. It might be very clear that we’ll feel physically uncomfortable if we keep eating, yet we still can’t put the fork down. It can feel like a tidal wave that just sweeps us away, and then at the end, pummels us down to the beach with another strong wave of shame. Most binge eaters are all too familiar with the post-binge “I can’t believe I ate all that – what’s wrong with me?” feeling.

How do I stop binge eating?

The shame, guilt and feelings of self hatred that can accompany binge eating means that many binge eaters are not talking about their behavior. We want to keep it quiet because it’s embarrassing. It doesn’t fit with the picture of the rest of our life.  Many binge eaters feel alone in their experience of uncontrolled eating.  But that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s believed that as many as 6 million American women are struggling with binge eating. And the numbers could be way higher.

The challenge is, our diet-culture is still giving us the message that if we just had enough willpower, we could stop binge eating. But really, if the tough-it-out and just-resist-the-urge diet mentality was the path to stop binge eating, would so many people still be in the painful loop of eating more than they need or want to be eating? If fad diets and the popular just-do-it approaches are not the way to stop binge eating, then what are we supposed to do? How do we stop binge eating? How do we calm the wild uncontrollable feeling that takes over and eats and eats?

The key to stopping binge eating

The key to stopping binge eating is to realize that all of our actions are driven by emotional needs.

Let me repeat this. All of our actions are designed to satisfy our emotional needs.

The number one program our mind runs is “Survival”. Survival translates into minimizing pain and maximizing pleasure.

All of our actions are designed to minimize pain and maximize pleasure.

Most of the time we are not aware of these emotional drivers but they operate all the time nonetheless.

Binge eating is simply one example of irrational behaviour driven by our mind’s desire to meet our emotional needs.

Why do we experience irrational behaviour like binge eating? The answer is that our computer program (our mind) is misbehaving because our database has been corrupted.

Database? What database?

The mind’s database that stores information about what makes us feel good (gives us pleasure) and what makes us feel bad (gives us pain).

You see, as we go though life we all experience emotional pain sooner or later. Sometimes the pain is so intense that we are unable to fully process all of it. That is when the pain gets internalized.

The problem is that this internalized pain now sabotages our unconscious decision making.

Let me explain …

Most of our decisions are made by our unconscious mind (the invisible part of our mind) without our conscious awareness. That is not really a problem and is designed that way for efficiency reasons.

The problem starts when we internalize pain rather than dealing with it here and now.

Let’s take an example. Mum is breastfeeding her baby in a public place but dad gets embarrassed and tells her to stop. The poor baby is still hungry and is really angry at mum and dad for starving her. The resulting emotional pain is internalized and soon moves into the unconscious mind because it is to painful to consciously confront.

Years later this incident contributes to the irresistible urge to eat.

This is a very simple example of how a painful childhood event can contribute to emotional eating, even binge eating, in later years.

The fastest way to stop binge eating is to address the underlying issue which is the internalized emotional pain from the past. Timeline Therapy is designed to do just that, quickly and efficiently.

If you want to stop binge eating quickly and permanently then contact me to discuss how we can quickly and safely release the emotional pain from the past.

You are just one phone call away from starting a brand new life.