Understanding Binge Eating

Binge eating is an experience that often brings with it, feelings of shame, confusion, and a sense of isolation.  If you’re finding yourself drawn to eating a lot of food in one sitting and not understanding why you’re doing it, you’re not alone.  As someone who specializes in supporting people with binge eating, I want to share insights to help you understand why it happens, and how you can find hope and healing.

What is Binge Eating?

Classic Binge Eating is defined by two things: consuming a much larger quantity of food over an arbitrary time period than an “average” person  might eat; and experiencing a loss of control with our eating accompanied by feelings of guilt and shame.

To the outside world, binge eaters may appear to be Good Copers, who often have very responsible lives and our binge eating may be the one area in our lives where we have “permission” to be irresponsible.  In those tiny, stolen, private moments of our binge eating, we can escape from our deep inner wounds of hurt, sadness and loneliness.

At times, we may believe that other people want too much from us, and that pressure threatens to devour us, so we will in turn, fight back and “devour the world” instead.  We don’t believe that we are enough or that we have enough to give.

In a messed up way, what we hate about the world, the injustices and the inequality, becomes what we hate about our bodies, because we can’t verbalize in a constructive way, our feelings.

What you can do to support yourself:

1. Building Emotional Awareness

Practice taking a pause before you eat anything (after telling yourself you have full permission to eat anything you want in any quantity at any time) but first, a simple 20 second pause so that you can connect with yourself, your intuition and be more present to “receive” the food you are about to eat – and ideally, sit down at a table, like you would if you were at a cafe.

2. Gentle Home Routines

Create alternative, nurturing rituals.  Maybe it’s stretching, listening to calming music, and drinking a Mind-Full pot of tea, things you might actually enjoy doing.

3.  Write down your feelings

If you are aware that feelings of loneliness or anxiety or overwhelm are present when you usually reach for food, writing these down on a piece of paper and reading them outloud will go a long way to you feeling more validated and acknowledged as a person.

4. Self-Compassion First

Learning to be compassionate with ourselves can be an extraordinarily challenging thing to do, but it is essential that we learn a way that we can manage to do this.  If we practice speaking and listening to ourselves with the same kindness we’d offer a dear friend, we might be at peace a lot more often inside our own skin.

5. Seek Whole-Person Support

Underlying trauma and unresolved grief can be the root cause of a lot of our “non-understood” binge eating.  I suggest working with a professional who acknowledges they are working with a whole person, and not just a bunch of unwanted eating behaviours.

6. Sleep Hygiene Matters

Establishing regular sleep and wake times, limiting late screen time, and limiting our sugar and caffeine intake will assist us to regulate our appetite and ease excessive loads on our adrenal glands and creating calmer feelings inside more often.

7. Nutrition That Nourishes, Consistently

Restrictive dieting during the day can lead to imbalances with our natural satiety and fullness cues.  Focus on gentle and consistent incoming nourishment.  Consider finding a Health-At-Every-Size Dietitian who can support your emotional and nutritional needs without judgment.

Binge Eating Support 

From local resources like Eating Disorders Queensland and Butterfly Foundation, to my own services at Support to Stop Overeating, help is available that respects your cultural and personal values.

A Compassionate Path Forward

 Reach out, connect, and remember that your struggles are valid—and healing is absolutely within reach, right here in Brisbane.

If you’d like more guidance, resources, or a safe place to talk, connect with me here. You are never alone in this journey.