Binge Eating Vs Emotional Eating Vs Overeating

I’m often confused as to the difference between overeating, binge eating and emotional eating. My feeling is that overeating is a natural tendency from time to time, whereas binge eating and emotional eating are more habitual.

These two seem similar to me, except that binge eating is more severe because “binge” suggests going over the edge of necessary consumption of food. Emotional eating feels more like an instigator that causes you to binge.

Binge Eating The key features of binge eating

disorder are:  • Frequent episodes of

uncontrollable binge eating. • Feeling extremely distressed or

upset during or after bingeing. • Unlike bulimia, there are no

regular attempts to “make up” for the binges through vomiting, fasting, or over-exercising. 

People with binge eating disorder struggle with feelings of guilt, disgust, and depression. They worry about what the compulsive eating will do to their bodies and beat themselves up for their lack of self-control. They desperately want to stop binge eating, but feel like they can’t.

If you find yourself saying: “I cant stop eating” then you clearly have a problem.

Overeating What separates overeating from binge

eating disorder is: • The binge eating episodes

occur regularly, at least twice a week for six months.

• The binge eater finds the episodes very upsetting. If there is no emotional upheaval over the meal, it is not a binge eating disorder.

• The binge eater does not like to eat in public. To him, eating is a private behavior. To most other people, eating and mealtime is a time to be shared and enjoyed with friends and family.

• The binge eater does not feel normal physiological cues like hunger and being full. He eats more from emotional cues, such as anger and sadness.

Signs and Symptoms of Binge Eating Disorder

Are any of these true for you? • Some days even though I

wanted to stop eating, I just could not help myself.

• Some days I surprise myself with how much food I can eat in just a very short span of time.

• I feel so horrible and guilty after I realize how much food I have consumed.

• It seems that every night I go to bed thinking, “Tomorrow I am going to begin my diet.”

Emotional Eating Emotional Eating is the use of food and

food thoughts as a distraction from any thought, feeling, or situation you would rather not tolerate. Binge eating on carbs works. That’s why we keep doing it!

If you are an “Emotional Eater” you have probably developed a habit of using food to distract, self-soothe, briefly “check-out”, and/or seek some relief from the present moments of your life. You may have “FOOD THOUGHTS” to escape any or all intensity of feeling.

 

” If I do not want to be mindful, I can escape, go mindless with a food thought.”

 Here are some examples of what

emotional eating might look like….

Feeling bored? You think of the ice cream in the freezer instead.

• Feeling angry with your boss? Suddenly you find you’re thinking about the cookies in the break room. Thinking about the cookies feels much better to you than staying focused on how angry you are at your boss!

• Kids driving you crazy? Flash on the image of a McDonald’s chocolate shake and before you even realize it you’re in the drive-through lane.

• You just found out you’re getting the promotion you’ve wanted for over a year. You’re really excited! It’s great news! But how are you going to handle all that extra responsibility? FOOD THOUGHT!!!

• Its Friday evening and you’re facing a weekend with no plans. The next thing you know you’re on the phone ordering a large pizza.

• I want to eat something sweet. I can’t stand fighting this feeling anymore. It’s just too hard. It is just easier to give in and start again tomorrow.

6 Resources to Help You Stop Binge Eating

 Resource #1: Online Support Forums and

Articles – Make use of online support forums and articles from credible sources. Here’s one from Oprah.com: Emotional Eating: Get Your Feelings Out of the Fridge

Resource #2: Family Support – I’m guessing your mind is already coming up with several reasons why this is a bad idea, but you can effectively use your family to support you in your efforts to stop binge eating.

It can take courage to bring up the issue, for sure. But the leverage you gain from enrolling your family can be a big relief.

 Resource #3: Committing To Friends – This is the best way I’ve found to get myself to implement new habits. How is this relevant?

Trying to stop binge eating involves making small changes that add up over time to new habits, so this resource will help you stay accountable to the changes.

Resource #4: Reading Books – Whenever you try and accomplish a goal in life or achieve anything really it’s a lot easier to do when you’re constantly reading about it and learning about it.

Some of my favorite books on this topic are from Geneen Roth. I also like my own book on overcoming binge eating.

Resource #5-6: Music and Dancing/Walking – I list these together, because these resources both have to do with you taking care of your mental and emotional state, doing something you enjoy and can habituate.

http://www.mostlypure.com/