How to stop overeating? Response Center

From Monday to Friday, counting calories, preparing boxes for work, cooking healthy things … all this to start the “weekend party” on Friday evening – pizza, beer, popcorn, chips, ice cream … everything should be in portions big!

Or differently: we eat little throughout the day (for lack of time or on purpose), and in the evening we get so hungry that we simply start eating.

It could also be: we’re bad, we’re in trouble, we feel lonely and then there’s an unstoppable hunger…

Sound familiar? Many people, after bouts of “emptying” the refrigerator and kitchen cabinets, feel remorse and blame themselves for lack of discipline and are accused of lack of will. And again they promise themselves that “from tomorrow” and “from Monday” everything will change.

But often nothing changes.

To end the vicious cycle of overeating, you need to understand the reasons for it. Based on this, we will know if we can handle the matter ourselves, or it will be easier if we ask for support from a specialist.

table of contents:

Why do you want to fill the inventory?
Overeating – Warning Signs
Diagnosing Binge Eating Syndrome
Time to ask the question – why do we actually overeat?
Binge eating and restrictive diets
What can you do to stop binge eating?
How do you deal with overeating?

Why do you want to fill the inventory?

First, a little solace. The spells of what we now call binge eating are not our invention and have been known since prehistoric times. At the time, they were often a condition of survival – people were eaten to survive a fasting time that forced them not to have food.

Today we live in a world where access to food is virtually unlimited. Let’s be honest – we can actually eat any amount of food we want at any time. Our overeating is often caused by boredom, exhaustion, stress or social situations. In many cases, these episodes are so rare that they do not affect the general menu and daily habits.

Unfortunately, for many people, overeating is not just an “accident at work.” Eating large amounts of food becomes a disorder that affects both mental and physical health. When do we suppose the problem is deeper? When overeating occurs regularly and we eat too much food in too short a time. If we feel that this is happening completely out of our control, and in addition feel guilty – it is worth considering these situations carefully [1].

If you find yourself or someone close to you in this description – I invite you to read on.

Overeating – Warning Signs

For several years we have known for sure that for many people overeating is not a whim, it is a symptom of a lack of will, and in general, the advice to “hold together and stop eating too much” is not enough. binge eating syndrome (also called “binge eating disorder” or “binge eating disorder”) binge eating disorder 

It is estimated that about 2-6% of the population suffers from compulsive eating, and most of them are women. Even every fifth woman may suffer from this disorder [3].

Diagnosis of binge eating syndrome

So what are the signs that should worry us? How do we know that overeating is no longer a cycle that happens to us from time to time, but a problem that we must look at closely?

The hallmark of BED is that binge eating is not the result of the exceptional taste of food, but a desire to relieve stress . Most often, due to the amount of calories absorbed, body weight increases, which leads to overweight and obesity. People who overeat often diet to lose weight, experience weight fluctuations, stomach cramps, constipation, and acid reflux; They find it difficult to concentrate, give up social life, and feel tired and out of energy.

Compulsive binge eating is diagnosed by a doctor based on the following criteria:

• Frequent episodes of unrestricted eating, characterized by eating significantly more food in a relatively short period of time (eg, two hours) than most people can eat at that time, and a lack of sense of control over the quality, quantity, and way of eating. time.
• The occurrence of binge eating at least once a week for 3 months.
• These episodes are accompanied by three of the following symptoms:
  • Eating much faster than usual
  • Eating until an unpleasant feeling of fullness,
  • Shame on eating and therefore eating alone,
  • Eating large portions despite not being hungry.
  • Feeling depressed and self-loathing after overeating.
• Distinctive suffering in connection with unrestricted eating.
• There are no frequent compensatory measures for overeating (as is the case with bulimia nervosa) [2].

Time to ask the question – why are we already overeating?

Finding an answer to this question is an important step towards dealing with the problem. The causes of compulsive overeating are not yet fully understood and, as with other eating disorders, they are very complex. Let’s try to describe it briefly:

We distinguish 3 groups of risk factors :

• Biological – related to a genetic predisposition, as well as disorders of the satiety center or excessive secretion of cortisol,
• Psychological – related to, among others, early childhood obesity, conflicts within the family, overeating in other family members, over-demanding of parents, parental abuse of psychoactive substances, early separation from parents, dissatisfaction with the body and depression, irregular eating, bad mood, cravings for sweets, lethargy, poor sense of control over food,
• Socio-cultural – resulting from, among other things, cultural patterns in the modern world, striving for a sublime figure through starvation, use of harsh diets, intense physical exercise as well as drugs and pharmaceuticals, yo-yo effects devastatingly affect mental health [3 ].

Binge eating and restrictive diets

It turns out that very often, uncontrolled overeating occurs in people who follow restrictive diets. By eating too few calories and cutting out too many foods, they create a vicious cycle — consuming too few calories leads to overeating, and subsequent regrets are stifled by another restrictive diet.

It is very important in the process of overcoming this problem to cooperate with a dietitian who will help to organize meal times and choose a diet with the appropriate calorie content, allowing you to control excessive appetite, correctly composed in terms of nutrients, but without unjust exceptions necessary. The dietitian will arrange the diet in such a way that there are also products that are considered “prohibited” – including them in the plan will help dispel the myth of prohibited products, which we tend to “jump” on in times of weakness.

Working with a dietitian not only leads to weight loss, but also reinforces the belief that it is possible without completely giving up chocolate, pizza, or spaghetti. It is worth emphasizing that the role of the dietitian in working with the student / ward is not limited to writing the most optimal diet. Everyday support is equally important, helping to choose valuable alternatives to products in the nutrition plan, support in the most difficult moments, nutritional education [4].

What can you do to stop overeating?

If you are at this point in the text, you already know what compulsive eating syndrome is, and you will probably find yourself describing its course and causes.

Remember – if you feel that you will not be able to deal with this problem on your own, be sure to contact a specialist – a psychologist or psychotherapist – who will support you in finding the right way to solve the problem. Several studies show that the association between feelings and compulsive eating is so strong that therapy is a completely natural and most effective way to deal with the problem . It would also be helpful to consult a dietitian who will help you deal with the weight gain and obesity associated with compulsive eating. [15th].

How do you deal with overeating?

Working to change your approach to eating takes time, but it can be successful if we find support from professionals and modify our existing beliefs about eating and losing weight. Remember that:

• To lose weight, you must first … stop the process of gaining weight ; An analysis with a specialist of the factors that cause weight gain will be the first step to a permanent change in the figure,
• Our goal is to take back control of the eating process, not the number on the scale,
• We often perceive ourselves in a distorted way – the support of a dietitian i psychiatrist will help us to objectively assess our progress,
• Let us measure our intentions by force, let us not impose on ourselves such limiting limitations, with which we will not be able to deal mentally,
• There is no one-size-fits-all diet for weight loss, but a good analysis of needs and conditions will allow everyone to discover what works best for them [6].

Below you will find some general tips and techniques that will help you change the way you think about food. This is the first step to protecting yourself from overeating.

• Watch your feeding behavior (I even encourage you to write it down), this will allow you to capture the moments when you lose control of your food,
• Plan your meals – make sure that there are no more than 3-4 hours between them, do not go hungry, decide where you sit and eat calmly,
• During the meal focus only on eating – do not look at the computer or phone, do not read,
• Do not blame yourself if the bout of binge eating occurs again, analyze the situation and try to learn from it,
• Plan what you can get caught up in if he thinks they will constantly return for food,
• Give yourself time to make changes and monitor results.
• Do not compare yourself with others [7].