Understanding what drives your binge eating behaviour

If I were to ask you why do you binge eat? Whats the reason for it?

You might say, “I binge eat because it helps me numb unwanted emotions” or ” it gives me a sense of comfort” or because “I’m anxious and stressed”,  or “I have no idea why I binge eat, I just feel like I MUST do it”

But, 
What if I were to say to you, there was one unified reason behind all of those, 

And that reason is quite simply…

Habits.

Here at the Binge Code we believe that UNHELPFUL HABITS are driving your binge eating behaviour. 

Watch the video below to learn more… 

1. Watch the video below to learn how habits are whats drive your binge eating behaviour

So the big take away from is, is that habits are really the main driver behind our binge eating behaviours.

There are two main types of habits that do this.

1. Unhelpful habits to change our state (how we feel)
2. Unhelpful eating habits.

So how do we from these habits?

Well, eating food feels good.

Research has proven that eating certain foods, especially those with high sugar and fat combinations (e.g. ice cream, chocolate, doughnuts, cakes, and pies) produce “feel good” chemicals like serotonin and other endorphins in our brains.

When your brain learns that something feels good, part of your brain says “oh, that feels good! Do that some more!” so you can keep that good feeling going.

So your brain lays down this memory.

“Oh next time you want to feel good, you should eat some ice cream!”

Now you start to associate ice cream with feeling good.

And this is when the habitual craving starts.

Now, whenever you’ve had a rough day or a fight with your partner and you don’t feel so great, your brain remembers… “oh, yeah, eating ice-cream made me feel better!”

And this leads to a craving and urge to eat ice-cream. By eating the ice-cream you ingrain the habit deeper.

Why does this happen?

Habits come from the automatic unthinking part of your brain,.

They’re just automatic reactions. They don’t think.

They don’t see the long term results.

The big take away is…

What’s tricky about habit loops is that the more you practice these behaviors, the more automatic they become. Over time, you’re not even consciously choosing these actions anymore. 

It looks like a chain reaction, where one action triggers another and you might find yourself bingeing on food, without really understanding why,

The good news is we know from lab studies and personal experience is that it’s never too late to break a habit. And that’s exactly what we are going to do in the Binge Code Program

 

So let's explore habits a bit deeper...

So lets go a little deeper down the rabbit hole. Let’s explore how Unhelpful Eating Habits might leads us to binge eat. 

The first of these we are going to explore is how, our Unhelpful Eating Habits can lead to a POWERFUL binge trigger we call Primal Hunger. 

2. How our unhelpful eating habits can lead to a POWERFUL binge trigger called Primal Hunger

So the big take away from this video is that Primal Hunger can play a massive role in driving your binge eating behaviour. 

So what causes Primal Hunger?

Well the No 1 reason for experiencing Primal hunger is Under-eating. So this can include unhelpful eating habits such as

  • Restricting when you eat,
  • Restricting the types of food you eat
  • Restricting how much you eat
  • Eating food lacking nutrition

So, restrictive diets, detoxes, fasting, purging your food can all trigger primal hunger. 

In the video we explore the Ancel Keyes Semi Starvation Study. If you want to read more about it, here is a great write up.

This study proves that: 

The effects of starvation are incredibly similar to that of eating disorders (polivy. J & c.p Herman 1976).

And that:

Many of the symptoms that might have been thought to be specific to anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are actually the results of starvation (pirke & ploog, 1987).

Side effects of under-eating include: 

1. Extremely powerful urges to binge on food (Primal Hunger) 

Just like holding your breath creates massive urges to breathe, restricting your food causes massive, scary, powerful urges to eat lots of food.

2. Powerful cravings for foods rich in sugar and fats

Your body wants calories so it craves sugary fatty food. Chocolate and cheesecake have never looked so good!

3. An increased taste response to sugar

Where normally too much sugar tastes sickeningly sweet, now it seems we never reach the point where it isn’t desirable.

4. An insatiable appetite

We lose the ability to feel satisfied and this can be really scary.

Where normally we would feel too full, now it seems like we are able to eat and eat and eat and never feel satisfied.

5. Food obsession

Food is all you can think about. In your car to and from work, while studying, watching TV, or chatting to friends. You may even have food dreams.

6. Cravings for Stimulants

As your energy levels plummet, you turn to stimulants such as coffee, tea, and diet sodas to keep you going and as a defence against “giving into food”. (What you really need is food energy!).

3. How our unhelpful eating habits can lead to a DEPRIVATION and over-eating

So there is one more area we need to explore that could be driving our binge eating behaviour and that is DEPRIVATION. 

Watch the video below to learn more. 

So there you have it. 

Feeling of deprivation due to food rules and diet plans can be a big binge trigger. 

Nobody likes feeling deprived. 

And the BIG TAKE AWAY here is…

Any diet that demands you give up your favorite foods is not only ridiculous but unsustainable. 

Also, here is a link to a more detailed write up on the Milkshake Study mentioned in the video.