OK, so today really sucks. You woke up, you noticed a couple of new hairs on your chin, your pregnancy test was negative, you tried to put on your nicest skirt for that important business meeting and it was too tight to zip, a pregnant mom with a stroller passed in front of your car as you waited at the light, and your first phone call at work was from an angry customer demanding to speak to your manager. And you're exhausted because you slept so poorly last night.
Time for a donut?
Only if you choose.
Here are some facts about binge eating.
1. It is a form of self-medication.
2. It works in the short term…but over time, it actually changes your biochemistry in such a way that it increases, not decreases, your anxiety.
3. For most women with PCOS, it's the major source of excessive carbs that throw a low GI diet completely off track. You probably don't need an extreme diet if you can get a hold of your binge eating.
4. Throwing that diet off track with binge foods only throws your hormones off even more, making those hairs grow back with a vengeance, making the skirt fit even tighter, and making you even more frustrated with yourself than you were with stroller woman and angry customer.
What to do? Remember this:
NO ONE MAKES YOU EAT. NOT YOUR DOCTOR, YOUR MOTHER, YOUR HUSBAND, YOUR BOYFRIEND, YOUR COWORKER. YOUR PREGNANCY TEST RESULTS DIDN'T MAKE YOU EAT. YOUR SCALES DIDN'T MAKE YOU EAT. YOUR PERFORMANCE REVIEW DIDN'T MAKE YOU EAT. YOU ARE THE ONE WHO MADE YOU EAT.
In all the years of counseling, I have yet to know of a single situation where anyone was held down and forced to eat donuts. It's an entirely voluntary experience.
That's not to say when you're in the middle of an anxiety attack and your brain is screaming for Doritos and nothing else seems to matter that it can seem as if the world might be throwing everything in your path to make the easier choice eating the entire bag…but like it or not, if you ate the Doritos, you are responsible for all of the steps that led up to that incident.
--Did you push your cart down the chip aisle last time you shopped, rather than heading toward the fruits and vegetables?
--Did you stop in front of the Doritos?
--Did you pick the bag up?
--Did you place them in your cart?
--Did you bring them home?
--Did you place them in a section of your home in full view to tempt you?
--Did you choose not to eat breakfast, leaving yourself hungry at an inopportune time?
Eating those Doritos is not simply about eating those Doritos. It's about engaging in a collective series of habits that eventually led to your eating the Doritos. Which one of those habits can you change to move yourself in a new and different direction?
Just as it's easier to be positive if you surround yourself with positive people, it's easier to eat healthfully if you surround yourself with healthful foods.
What can you do to break the mindless cycle?
--Shop at a grocery store in a different neighborhood where foods are organized differently so you can't go into your"zone" while you're filling your cart.
--Bring along a shopping buddy for accountability.
--Make a list of ten healthy foods to put in your cart to bring home.
--Buy enough food for a week of healthy breakfasts. When you start to crave…eat a breakfast meal as a reminder that perhaps eating breakfast at the appropriate time may have helped you to avert the cravings.
I could give you a list of 100 things you could do instead of bingeing. Bottom line remains though…if you binged, you engaged in a voluntary activity. No one made you do it.
If you need help developing your own 100 Things I Can Do To Keep From Bingeing List…that's what inCYST is really good at! Find a provider or an event somewhere and ask for help. Now you only have 99 more things to think of for your list.: )