Welcome to week 1 of our series “Weekly Tips to Help you Stop Binge Eating”!
Have you ever wondered whether you binge eat or not? You may overeat sometimes, but does that qualify as a binge? Maybe you are pretty sure you binge eat but don’t know where to go for help. If you can relate to any of these, this article is for you. Please note this article will define different eating disorders and describe the characteristics associated. This article is not meant to diagnose an eating disorder and is meant for purely educational purposes.
I’m Toni, a Registered Dietitian specializing in helping people stop binge eating and learn how to eat intuitively to nourish their body and mind. Today this article will help you determine:
- What binge eating is
- Whether or not you may be struggling with binge eating
What is Binge Eating?
Binge Eating Disorder is defined in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) as:
“Eating, in a discrete period of time (e.g., within any 2-hour period), an amount of food that is larger than most people would eat in a similar period of time under similar circumstances” combined with “The sense of lack of control over eating during the episode (e.g., a feeling that one cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is eating)”.
The DSM also includes this criterion linking binge-eating occurrences with experiencing three or more of the subsequent behaviors:
- Consuming food at a notably faster pace than usual
- Eating to the point of feeling uncomfortably full
- Consuming significant quantities of food despite not feeling hungry
- Eating in solitude due to embarrassment over the amount being consumed
- Experiencing feelings of self-disgust, depression, or intense guilt following overeating
Another important distinction about Binge Eating Disorder is that it is not associated with regular use of inappropriate compensatory behaviors (such as purging, fasting, excessive exercise). If compensatory behaviors are involved then it may fall into bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa binge eating/purging subtype.
Did you read any of the above and think “yup, that’s me”? If so, you’re not alone, Binge Eating Disorder is the most common eating disorder in North America (1,2). A study in the United States showed binge eating disorder usually rears its ugly head around the age of 21, but it can start at any age and impact any gender (2).
It can be difficult to recognize the signs and symptoms of binge eating from simply reading a diagnostic criteria so you may find these questions below useful to see if binge eating is an area you may want to seek help with.
These questions are from “reclaiming yourself from Binge Eating” by Leora Fulvio.
Am I a Binge Eater?
- Do you eat in secret?
- Do you restrict certain foods sometimes but binge on them at other times?
- Do you go off and on diets repeatedly?
- Do you obsessively read health and fitness magazines and diet books?
- Do you drink a lot of coffee or diet soda to keep you from eating?
- Do you eat a certain way in front of people and completely different when you’re alone?
- Do you steal, hide or hoard food?
- Do you eat until you are uncomfortably full?
- Do you feel guilt and shame after you eat something you think you shouldn’t?
- Do you ever try to compensate for what you’ve eaten by exercising excessively, taking laxatives, throwing up, or restricting food the next day?
- Do you often say things like, “This is the last time I’m going to eat this way, I’m start- ing my diet tomorrow.”
- Do you avoid certain situations because of food?
- Do you avoid certain situations because you feel uncomfortable in your body?
- Do you feel as though you can’t stop when you start eating certain foods?
- Do you think about food much of the time?
- Do you eat when you are sad, lonely, anxious, tired, scared or bored?
- Do you ever feel unsatisfied after a meal, even if you know that you are no longer hungry, and still try to find some kind of taste or meal that will satisfy you?
- Do you justify your use of food as a reward or as medicine, such as, “Well, I’m sad today, it’s okay for me to eat these cupcakes.”
- Do you justify your use of food because it’s a special occasion, “My best friend who I never see is in town! It’s necessary to eat this food at this restaurant!”
- Do you often eat large amounts of food in inappropriate places such as in bed or in the car?
- Do you find yourself scavenging for food? Searching for something to satisfy a certain urge and continuing to eat until you’ve found it?
If you answered yes to one or more of these questions you could likely benefit from seeking some help to work on your food relationship. If you answered yes to three or more of the questions you may be struggling with binge eating.
These questions aren’t meant to make you feel poorly about your relationship with food (trust me, it’s not your fault), it’s meant to highlight areas you may benefit greatly from working on. Please don’t be hard on yourself, so many of these behaviours that negatively impact our relationship with food are actually encouraged in today’s society. It can take a lot of learning and unlearning to heal your relationship with food and stop binge eating, but the work is SO worth it.
I hope you found this article helpful, if you have any questions feel free to comment on this article or send me an email at: toni@intuitiondietitianco.ca. If you would like to work with me to stop binge eating and heal your relationship with food you can book a discovery call using the link below!
P.S. stay tuned because I will be writing a series of blog articles on my top tips to help you stop binge eating!
References
