Binge eating is a serious issue for many women.

As a holistic therapist, binge eating is something that I get asked about often.

Many women fear that they are binge eating when, in reality, it might be something else.

If this something you are worried about, this list can help you figure out if binge eating is an issue in your life.

Binge eating is not the same as emotional eating or overeating.

I am going to break down the differences between:

• binge eating
• emotional eating
• overeating

Binge Eating

If you are binge eating, you will have recurring episodes that include:

1. Eating more quickly than normal
2. Eating until uncomfortably full
3. Eating large amounts of food when you’re not physically hungry
4. Eating alone because you’d be embarrassed to eat like this in front of others
5. Feeling disgusted with yourself, depressed, and shame/guilt after overeating

Basically, bingeing is eating way more than you normally would in one sitting – secretly, quickly, and shamefully.

Binge eating is more than just overeating. It is excessive and it feels very out of control.

There are several reasons we binge eat but the most common two that I’ve seen in my work with countless women is that they are either:

– dieting or trying to lose weight OR

– eating emotionally, which turns into a binge

Another trademark of bingeing is that the binge eater will try to compensate for the binge in some way, most commonly through restrictive eating and dieting.

Sadly, this only fuels more binge eating! Round and round you go, stuck in a deeply painful cycle and thinking about food almost all the time, obsessively counting calories in your head, weighing yourself, and plotting your weight loss.

I would know – I was there myself for many years.

Emotional Eating

Emotional eating is basically your very innocent attempt at regulating your feelings.

What did you get after you left the doctor’s office when you were a little kid? A lollipop.

What did you do when you won your soccer game when you were 7? Went out for ice cream.

What do we do after a funeral? Have everyone get together for dinner.

And is anything really a celebration without a cake? There is food for all occasions and we are all deeply conditioned to eat emotionally.

This becomes problematic when any type of emotional distress:

• stress
• sadness
• anger
• jealousy
• betrayal
• loss

Those emotions can lead us to seek comfort from food rather than other healthy coping strategies, like mindfulness, connecting with friends, painting, talking to your therapist, etc.

For many of us, food feels like an old friend that is always there to give you an immediate rush of pleasure and temporary comfort.

Pleasure is a beautiful part of life, but if we seek it every time we are in pain, we will find ourselves eating emotionally and suffering consequences like weight gain, depression, isolation, and losing touch with the present moment.

Emotional eating differs from binge eating in the amount of food consumed and the way in which we eat. It’s not quite as cyclical in nature.

We also don’t always find a way to make up for eating emotionally, we usually just repeat it again the next time we are feeling out of balance. Although we might be very concerned with our eating, it is not quite as consuming as binge eating.

Overeating

The most common causes of overeating are:

1. we are not paying enough attention as we are eating
2. we waited too long to eat and now we’re famished and overdo it
3. we are really enjoying that particular meal and don’t want to stop even though we know we’ve had enough
4. we’re out to dinner/at an event and of course we’re getting appetizers, a meal, and dessert – it’s part of the experience!

Everyone overeats sometimes. As you’ve seen in the first two descriptions of binge and emotional eating, overeating is more about circumstance than it is about our body image, emotions, our overall relationship with food.

There’s no anxiety around food and if you’re a “normal eater,” you will simply wait until you are hungry again to eat your next meal.

You will not obsess over the amount of calories you just took in and try to skip upcoming meals, even if you are unhappy that you just ate too much. You’ll move on pretty quickly.

If you find yourself overeating at most meals, you are likely experiencing effects of restrictive dieting, not paying enough attention as you are eating, not satisfied by the foods you are choosing, and should check back in with yourself about your stress levels and if you are using food to cope and escape.

I hope you found this information helpful! If you want more information on how to stop binge and emotional eating, check out my mini-course on how to apply the principles of mindfulness to stop!

With gratitude,

Cina