Binge eating disorder can affect anyone, and evidence suggests it is more common than other eating disorders.
Binge eating disorder is a recognised eating disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders and requires specialist input to allow you to regain a sense of control over your eating.
Binge Eating disorder can not only wreak havoc with your weight but also adversely affect your mood, sleep and sense of self-worth.
Does this resonate?
Do you eat much larger amounts of food than an ordinary person would where you feel a loss of control and uncomfortably full afterwards to the point of feeling sick i.e. are you bingeing?
Do you eat in secret?
Do you hide food?
Do you eat very quickly?
Do you feel ashamed and guilty after these episodes?
Do you then try to restrict after bingeing to ‘make up for all the calories’?
Do you have an ‘all or nothing’ mentality in that you believe that you have to follow your food rules perfectly and if you mess up, you feel like you’ve blown it and you may as well binge
Do you feel like food dominates your life?
Do you feel like you’ve lost touch with how to eat normally?
Do you feel like your life is out of control?
Have you noticed any of these symptoms?
Do you feel like your weight keeps going up?
Have you begun to experience other health problems as a result of the weight gain e.g. Type 2 diabetes/insulin resistance; high cholesterol, blood pressure, strain on your knees and joints/mobility problems, gynaecological concerns including menstrual, fertility problems and PCOS?
Are you struggling with gastrointestinal discomfort and bloating?
Is it affecting your self-esteem?
Is it causing anxiety and/or low mood?
Is it affecting your personal life and/or ability to work?
My role is to help you identify your own triggers to bingeing, whether it be physiological or emotional, and support you in breaking the binge cycles, normalising your eating behaviours and improve your relationship with food
Work with me
My treatment strategy for Binge Eating covers the following;
Teach you the science of the binge-restrict-binge cycle, why it is self-perpetuating, and give you tools to break the cycle
Explain the various types of binges and with the help of cutting-edge technology help you identify what type of binges you are having and identify what your triggers are
If you are having hunger binges, I will explain how optimizing blood sugar control is critical to stopping these binges and teach you when to eat, what to eat and how much to eat to optimize your blood sugar control. This will reduce the risk to binge which automatically will support you to achieve a healthy weight. This may include bespoke meal plan guidance if we feel this would be beneficial
Identify your trigger foods that lead to binges and when appropriate, once your binges have stopped, help you feel safe around them again through graded exposure techniques so that they no longer trigger binges
Many people binge to escape from feelings like anxiety, low mood and stress. If this is happening with you I will teach you how to employ better coping strategies to deal with negative emotions so that you don’t have to resort to bingeing
Sometimes people binge out of habit or opportunity and if this is happening we will use stimulus control or action response strategies to stop these binges
I will also teach you to get back in touch with your hunger and fullness cues so that you can learn to eat intuitively. This will allow you to eat freely whilst simultaneously controlling your weight effortlessly by eating when you are hungry and stopping when you feel full.
My unique approach includes:
Understanding your hopes, fears and goals
Working at your own pace and within your comfort zone
Individualised treatment programme to identify your own triggers to bingeing and create a toolbox of strategies to stop them from happening
Bespoke meal plan guidance if we agree this would be helpful honouring your dietary preferences such as veganism, allergies/intolerances or dietary requirements such as Kosher or Halal
Cutting-edge technology to help you remain accountable and receive support from me in between appointments. This is particularly helpful when trying to break the binge-purge-restrict-binge cycle
Partnering with you to overcome any obstacles
Working collaboratively with you and your treatment team (if applicable) to optimise treatment outcomes
What I don’t do:
I will never force you to do anything you are not ready to do
I don’t judge
I don’t give you a generic meal plan and expect you to follow it
I don’t just tell you what you should be eating
