It deeply frustrates me when I hear people talking about how the right diet will stop someone’s compulsive eating problem.
This is 100% false.
This is clearly a lack of understanding of what happens in someone’s life that leads them to want so desperately to eat everything in their fridge.
There are misinformed people who think that those struggling with this need structure and to have a plan laid out for them with everything they should and should not be eating.
“They’re eating too much sugar and sugar has the same effects in your body as cocaine. They need to cut it out and the cravings will stop.”
“They need to make sure they’re eating enough fiber so they’re full longer and don’t go hungry for too long.”
“They gotta meal prep so they have everything ready and can make sure they’re eating properly.”
The common problem with diets is that it “teaches” you that some foods are good, and some are bad. So, obviously, you should stick to the good and remove the bad.
Which ones are good and which ones are bad? I’m glad you asked.
The good ones are the unprocessed, non-white stuff, fruits, veggies, lean protein, and healthy fats. And that is true. These are all very good for our health.
And the bad? That’s everything outside the above categories.
Pizza? If it’s made with white flour it’s a no no but if it’s made with cauliflower, then you score. Chocolate? Forget about milk chocolate. Grab that 80% bitter AF dark chocolate bar and pretend it tastes heavenly.
Donuts? No!
Soda? No response needed.
White bread? Next!
Basically, you have to say no to everything you enjoy because allowing them back in your diet means you’re failing. It’s wrong. It’s unhealthy. And you’ll never reach your goals.
You go on this very restrictive eating plan and hate every second of it. There’s zero pleasure in your meals, and in addition to that, it’s simply not enough food.
You eat oatmeal with blueberries for breakfast, even though you find it super bland and are dreaming about bagels with cream cheese.
Lunch is some dry chicken breast with a kale salad that tastes boring. For snack, you grab some Greek yogurt with chia seeds and fruit while flirting with the crunch bar sitting at your desk at work.
As you head home, you’re fantasizing about a delicious juicy burger with parmesan fries, a glass of soda, and a carton of ice cream to finish it up.
This goes on repeat for 2-3 days. If you’re lucky you’ll finish the week strong. Until a day comes and all that willpower no longer exists and you give in to the urge to eat. However, you don’t eat just one piece of chocolate. You eat an entire bar, a whole pizza, a bag of chips and cookies.
Guilt sinks in and you make a promise that the next day (or week) will be different. In the meantime, you continue eating because you already “ruined” that day so might as well enjoy it one last time.
You don’t know balance.
It’s a black and white mentality. You’re either on a diet, following the plan to a T (“being really good”) or you’re off the diet, eating all the forbidden foods far beyond fullness.
Among many other issues, diets overly restrict and are not enjoyable. They’re NOT sustainable, and 10 times out of 10, it will make binge-eating much worse for those already dealing with that.
So, let’s go back to the example above and change things a little.
For breakfast, you skip the oatmeal and go for the bagel with full fat cream cheese that you like so much. You add a slice of smoked salmon with some fruit on the side.
Now this meal is completely enjoyable (to you), and you’re not worrying about what you’ll eat next while having breakfast. You’re present, happy, comfortably full and completely satisfied, both mentally and physically.
At lunch, you still choose chicken (because you do like chicken) but go with chicken thigh as it tastes much better than the breast. You pair it with some potato salad instead. For dessert, you eat 2-3 squares of Crunch.
At this point, you enjoy your lunch and don’t feel deprived. It’s a more satisfying meal.
Later, as you head home, you’re not obsessively fantasizing about eating a burger and tirelessly fighting the urge to eat. And here’s why:
1) You’re no longer feeling deprived, so the cravings are much less intense and not as frequent.
2) You understand nothing is off limits. If you want a burger or a piece of chocolate, you can absolutely have it!
3) You’re taking pleasure in your meals without eating uncontrollably.
There’s no willpower involved because why would you need willpower if you don’t need to abstain from anything?
When you get this right, Mondays are like Tuesdays that are like Saturdays. There are no on and off days. There’s no restriction. There’s no binge.
Helping you to release the mentality that some foods are “good” and others are “bad” is one of the main things that I address with clients in my 2-month 1-on-1 coaching program.
I also work on identifying what triggers your binges, how this behavior keeps repeating itself, and how to interrupt the pattern.
This program isn’t about having me give specific nutritional guidance (I assume that you already know quite a bit about nutrition) – we focus just on your relationship with food, thoughts, emotions and habits around food.
The goal of the program is for you to get to a place in your life where you’re able to just sit down and be happy about what you eat. You’re no longer in that cycle of overanalyzing your food, restricting your favorite things, and then going and bingeing on those things.
And that’s priceless ;)
PM me if you’re interested, and we can have a brief conversation to see if you’re a good fit for this program.
