If you have struggled with binge eating for any amount of time you have probably had in your mind an amount of food you think you “should” eat.
AND on top of that if you have dieted you probably are very familiar with let’s say how many calories are in 3 oreos.
This mentality can be the hardest to break when trying to leave restriction in the past because once you know how many calories, macros, points or serving sizes you “should” have you will see it like that for a while. The problem is a number does not accurately depict how much your body needs physically or mentally when trying to gain back body trust.
What is important to keep in mind is how restriction is fueling your binge eating. The restrictive mentality that started from dieting has put a wedge between your mind and your body. You essentially have been ignoring your body signals and fighting your own biology trying to keep you alive and thriving.
The problem then lies in the fact that your body does not know the difference between a diet and a famine. When it feels restricted especially if it was drastically at any period of time, it feels this need to fight back to get enough and then to store in fear of another famine. The body does this by creating this obsession with food and drive to eat, leading to you feeling out of control in a binge.
To get past this we need to give our body unconditional permission to eat so it does not feel restricted (and does not have to fear another diet.)
This restriction includes portioning out your food AND it includes the thoughts of “I shouldn’t be eating this much.”
First things first, these portions were not created for you and even if you are trying to go off of some number that’s calculated it is important to remember that our body’s are a lot more complicated than a simple equation and has different needs at different times.
So if you are struggling to get past the mentality of how much you “should” or “shouldn’t” be eating. Start by asking yourself some questions:
Why am I only “allowed” to eat this much? What is telling me that?
How are these thoughts serving me?
How does my body feel physically? Do I want more?
How does my body feel mentally? Do I want more?
Then paying close attention to the specific thoughts going through your head causing the guilt you might feel after. Work on questioning those thoughts. Remember that one meal is not going to drastically change anything.
If there are certain foods that you struggle with more than others, work on adding them unconditionally at very normal times not at a time when you would normally binge.
If you feel like you just can’t get those portions out of your mind and are struggling to get past the guilt afterwards, you’re not alone. I work with clients all of the time on this very specific thing. If you want to finally find peace with food and learn to eat intuitively, reach out! I would love to help you reach your goals!
