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How To

How to Quit Binge Eating

Contributor
By Bill Herrfeldt
eHow Contributing Writer
(1 Ratings)

Binge eating is a psychological disorder that is described as consuming a large amount of food at one time. Unlike other eating disorders, binge eating doesn't involve purging food or extreme fasting. Binge eaters consume food even if they are not hungry, or when their stomachs are full. They do not taste the food they are eating, and frequently swallow food without fully chewing it. Once having done it, the binge eater regrets what he has done and often lapses into a depression. If you are a binge eater, the following ideas may help you stop.

Difficulty: Challenging
Instructions
  1. Step 1

    Join a support group where its members will share their own personal experiences with this disorder. Many binge eaters are comforted by knowing that others share their problem, and they can trade ideas about what has worked for them.

  2. Step 2

    Seek out therapy. This has proven to be the most successful way to curb binge eating. The therapist will keep track of your moods, and will help you both develop habits that are healthy and rid those that contribute to your problem. Much of the disorder is stress or depression related, so a therapist will help you reduce and cope with it.

  3. Step 3

    Delay caving into the desire to binge. When your desire to eat becomes overwhelming, try waiting for 20 minutes. In many cases, that desire will gradually subside.

  4. Step 4

    Create a list of people whom you can call when you are bored. Boredom is one of the major causes of binge eating, and talking to someone may help reduce your urge to binge eat.

  5. Step 5

    Avoid repressing your anger or depression by putting your thoughts on paper rather than by binge eating. Often, we harbor those thoughts against others, but our society teaches us not to demonstrate them. This is one way for you to dispose of those feelings without confronting the offending party.

  6. Step 6

    When all else fails, take to the streets. There is no better way to curb your desire to binge than walking or some form of aerobic exercise. Many people have found that they develop a sense of well-being by doing this, which will go a long way toward suppressing the desire to eat. In many cases, they have found exercise the one way they can thwart the urge to binge, and they do it each time they face that problem.

Tips & Warnings
  • Before seeing a therapist or doing any of the other things mentioned in this piece, seek your doctor's advice. He may determine you have other conditions that may put you at risk.
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