Binge eating means eating a large amount of food really quickly when you are not hungry. Binge eaters often carry on eating past the stage of feeling full. Binge eaters usually have certain favorite foods that they start eating, very often in secret, and cannot stop eating until all these items are gone.
There are warning signs that you may be a binge eater and that you need to start to tackle the problem:
You hide secret supplies of food that you like to eat and then you eat them in secret when no one else is around.
You think about food all the time and everything revolves around food.
When you have a problem at work you go home and sit and over-eat on your favorite binge foods such as chips, ice cream, cakes, bread or chocolate.
You are eating even when you do not feel hungry and you keep eating even when you feel full.
If you do give up these foods that you regularly binge eat you get withdrawal symptoms.
If you know that you do at least three of the above then you have fallen into a pattern that needs to change, otherwise you will put on weight, and possibly damage your health and your self-esteem.
What happens when your binge eating is over is that you end up feeling very full and guilty and cross with yourself.
Many people eat for reasons other than hunger. They eat to feel better. We all do this to a degree but if you are regularly eating large amounts of food and then feel over-full and guilty you need to tackle how you take care of yourself.
Food does not make the problems go away.
Regular binge eating means you have a problem that is out of control and you need to take back control. Remember: You control your mind; it does not control you. You can control how you think about food.
Kathy was often bullied at school and came home and ate large amounts chocolate, crisps, ice-cream and soda to comfort herself.
It is normal to come home from school and have a snack but Kathy ate a pile of treats until she felt unwell and cross with herself. Eventually she felt able to talk to her aunty about the bullying of a group of school friends and she soon realized that these school friends did not even know how to behave nicely toward one another and stopped being upset by their poor behavior. Her aunty encouraged her to make a new circle of friends and this solved the problem. Kathy now goes home after school and has a small healthy snack. She no longer feels the need to binge eat.
Regular binge eating is a sign that something is causing you unhappiness.
It is important to realize that you are using binge eating to cope with a problem. It may be unhappiness or bullying, or even stress at work. You are using this way of eating to comfort yourself.
There are other ways of coping with problems and there is no problem on this earth that has not been experienced before by someone else. You are not alone and one of the best ways to sort out a problem is to talk to a trusted friend or relative, or even your doctor. Most people feel honored when friends and family share problems with them and ask for advice: I know I do. If you really cannot share your problem then write it down and then write down possible solutions.
HEALTHY RECIPE
My Eve's Pudding
Ingredients
500g frozen or fresh mixed berries, 100g butter, 100g caster sugar, 75g self-raising flour, 25g ground almonds, 2 eggs and 15g flaked almonds (to finish).
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4
2. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy
3. Beat in eggs, one at a time
4. Gently fold in the flour and ground almonds
5. Place the berries in an ovenproof dish and lightly sprinkle with sugar to taste
6. Cover the berries with the cake mixture and scatter with flaked almonds
7. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes until golden brown and cooked in the center
8. Serve with low-fat ice cream
Ask Alva
Can you give me some tips to prevent high blood pressure as both my parents suffer from this condition?
— Melissa
You can take effective steps to prevent high blood pressure by: Losing weight if you need to, exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, reducing and managing stress, quitting smoking and drinking and cutting down on salt and caffeine. All these changes will improve your health long term.
— Alva
Healthlines: How to stop binge eating
