Beating the Binge: Six Ways to Stop a Binge Before It Starts

The garlic bread, left over from my parent’s dinner party, was cold – so I microwaved it, and scoffed half a loaf, dipping it furtively into a pot of onion and garlic dip. I was a teenager on my first diet – and I was experiencing my first binge.

Anyone who’s been on a diet for an extended period of time will know what I’m talking about. It’s that day when one little thing going wrong leads to another, and another, and before you know it, you’re shoveling a packet of cookies and a tub of ice-cream into your mouth. During a binge, you couldn’t care less about the calories.

Binging can destroy your motivation, self-confidence and self-image, and put a serious dent in your chances of dieting success. So how can you beat the binge? You need to stop it before it starts – and here are six ways to do that.

(Note that this is not an article about binge eating disorder – which is a recognized eating disorder. If your binging is frequent and uncontrollable, please see your doctor and ask for a referral to a dietician or counselor if necessary.)

Don’t Get Too Hungry

If you read Finding A Balance Between Hungry and Stuffed last week, you’ll know that it’s not a good idea to wait until you’re ravenous to eat. If you deny your body sufficient food, you can expect to have powerful cravings – which can lead to binging on all the wrong sorts of things. When you’re hungry, you crave stodgy, fatty foods – often salty or sugary ones.

Do Distract Yourself

If you’re feeling the urge to mindlessly munch through everything in your fridge, find something to distract you. Many of us have the bad habit of eating when bored: if you’re not hungry, then get stuck into some work or some fun. When you’ve not got much to do at work, challenge yourself to clear your inbox or knock some low-priority tasks off your to-do list. When you’re at home and bored, how about some spring cleaning – or a long relaxing bath?

Don’t Buy Trigger Foods

Do you have a specific food that seems to trigger off a binge? Something which you just can’t eat in moderation? Some dieters find it easier to give up chocolate (or cake, or cheese) completely, instead of rationing themselves to small portions. Avoid having these “trigger” foods in the house. If you know that you’ll need to go to the store to buy chips, then your natural inertia may win out over your desire to binge!

Do Wait Twenty Minutes

From time to time, all of us get cravings for particular foods. Perhaps you feel that you simply must have some chocolate, or some crackers and cheese, or chips and dip. Try waiting for twenty minutes, and see if the craving’s still present. Chances are, the urge to eat will have gone away. If it hasn’t, the wait will have given you the self-control to enjoy a small snack without eating a day’s worth of calories in a single sitting.

Don’t Be Too Strict

Does your diet ban a long list of foods? Labeling something “forbidden” automatically makes it more alluring (just ask Adam and Eve…) Unless you really can’t eat them in small quantities, don’t ban all chips, candy and other less-than-healthy items: just make them an occasional part of your diet. It’s far better to savor a daily snack-sized chocolate bar than to deprive yourself for weeks, only to binge on a giant family-sized bar.

Do Go For a Walk

One of my favorite binge-beating techniques is simply to take a walk (or do some other form of exercise). This gets you away from food, gives you some mood-lifting exercise, and makes you reluctant to undo your good work! After a brisk walk or cycle ride, you won’t be feeling so tempted to stuff down a giant portion of cake. Exercise is especially beneficial if you’re feeling down or upset – since negative emotions may make you want to snack excessively.

Have you identified any factors which lead to you binging? If so, how do you beat them?