Our clients are a constant source of inspiration to us.
Their bravery, wisdom and perseverance are truly amazing.

We’ve seen time and time again how valuable their experience is to others.
The insights they share can offer tremendous benefits for everybody involved!

Having this in mind, we’ve reached out to our recovered clients with one simple, and yet incredibly important, question:

‘What tips for recovery would you like to share with others?’

Below are the tips they’ve learned during their own recovery journey from bulimia and binge eating. Those are the lessons that can turn into guideposts for numerous other sufferers of problem eating. We hope, as do our clients, that they will inspire you to keep on going even in the darkest of times.

Use these tips as reminders that there’s always a way forward and it’s always, without an exception, worth it.

23 Tips for Binge Eating And Bulimia Recovery

1. Be active in your own recovery.

‘I had attempted recovery so many times that I was ready to give up all hope.

For 23 years, recovery was at the top of my New Year’s resolution list. For the past 23 birthdays, I blew out the candles on my birthday cake with only one wish in mind – and that wish was to be free of my eating disorder.

I finally realised that I needed to stop making promises and wishes.
I realised that I needed to stop waiting for a miracle and instead be an active participant in my own recovery.

I don’t know why it took so long.

23 years of being numb, missing out on nurturing relationships, hating myself and destroying my body. I’ve finally had enough! I wanted to live and bulimia was not living.’
Emma

3. Accept all foods.

‘One thing I’ve done is I’ve accepted ALL foods.

There are no good or bad products.

I don’t have to avoid anything when it comes to food.
All I have to do is try and eat healthier, wholesome foods most of the time. As long as I do that, having little treats here and there is absolutely fine!

Restricting your food choices is one the worst things you can do – it just sets you up for a binge further down the line.

You need to broaden your diet and stop labelling certain foods as ‘binge’ foods, hence forbidden. All food is good food if it’s consumed in moderation.’
Rose

4. Surround yourself with mentors.

‘I had so much to learn at the start of my recovery!

I remember feeling lost, confused and lonely a lot of the time, and I realised that I needed to do something about it.

The solution for me was surrounding myself with people who could show me the way forward, like my HealED Coach, my therapist and the BEST MENTOR of all – other recovered people.

If I felt sad or lost my motivation, I could turn to them for help. It made all the difference to me.’
Lilly

5. Have a structured meal plan.

‘It’s really important for me to have a meal plan.

3 meals, 3 snacks, eaten at certain hours and in a certain place.

I know that it doesn’t work for everybody – some people like to keep their days flexible.

I’m well into recovery now and I find myself enjoying flexibility as well from time to time, but having that pattern at the ready helps me to stay on track – and at the very start of my journey, I found it absolutely crucial.’
Mary

6. Clean up after a meal.

‘Cleaning up after a meal is really helpful.

I always make a point of putting away any leftovers, doing the dishes and cleaning the table. There are stacks of tupperwares in my fridge every night!

Some might have only two pieces of chicken in them, but thinking about putting them away helps me to stop myself from eating past the point of satiety.

Somehow I feel less anxious about having food inside me after I do the dishes. I hated doing it before recovery, but now I really enjoy it – and there’s an added benefit of having a clean kitchen all the time 🙂

It’s almost like I put a full stop at the end of my meal by cleaning everything up.’
Charlotte

8. Have a binge-busting strategy at hand.

‘It helps me to know exactly what I’m going to do if I experience a binge urge and to identify the situations that can trigger such urges.

For example, I tend to start feeling bingey after returning home from work in the evening, so I always think of some activity that I can occupy myself with during those tough hours.

I might read a book, or call a friend and chat for an hour, or do some knitting – and by the time I’m done, I don’t feel like bingeing anymore!

At the start of my recovery journey, I used to make a detailed schedule for myself, so that every single hour of every single day was occupied and there was no room for bingeing in my day-to-day life.

I don’t have to be so strict with myself anymore, but I doubt that I would be where I am now if I didn’t plan my time in this way during the first few months.’
Diana

10. Don’t let yourself get too hungry.

‘I found that allowing myself to get too hungry in-between meals resulted in me bingeing later on.

I had a busy schedule and eating at my pre-planned meal times wasn’t always an option.

What helped me though was having some snacks with me at all times, so that I could quickly eat something at work if the hunger got too intense.

It seems so simple, but it works wonders!’
Julia

11. Be patient.

‘Change can be slow.
Change can be difficult.
Change requires constant follow-ups and it may take longer than you’ve expected, so patience is absolutely key to your recovery!

My best advice would be to foster patience in your recovery process.

Your eating problems didn’t develop overnight, so it’ll probably take longer than that to free yourself from them.

Take things slowly, don’t rush the process and discover a pace that fits your needs best.’
Geri

12. Discover a sense of serenity.

‘With all of the chaos that goes on in our minds and bodies, we must have a source of serenity in our lives.

I’m a very artistic, hands-on person, so things like knitting, crocheting or painting do wonders for me.

It allows me to just step outside of all that’s going on around me and focus on myself for a moment.

Simply sitting outside, taking a walk or doing a crossword helps too.’
Kayla

13. Get enough sleep.

‘Most people need 7-8 hours of sleep every night in order to feel rested and energetic.

I find that getting enough sleep lowers my stress levels and reduces the intensity of my binge urges, so I always make sure to have a proper rest.

It has helped me tremendously!’
Monique

14. Make eating an intimate affair.

‘What helps me is turning every meal into an intimate affair.

I like to prepare my food very beautifully, play some ambient music in the background and really focus on what I’m eating – the taste, the flavour, the texture (as opposed to mindlessly scarfing the food down in a binge trance!).

I also love to eat whole foods.

Whole foods are foods in their most natural state – apples, avocados, almonds, onions, garlic, olive oil, strawberries… YUM!

Knowing that your food is nutritious (and naturally low-cal!) makes you feel so much better about what you’re putting into your body.’
Denise

16. Commit to eating regular, balanced meals.

‘I honestly believe that the sooner you commit to eating regular, balanced meals, the sooner you’re going to experience the amazing benefits that recovery can offer.

The best time to start eating nutritious meals is definitely now.

I’ve been doing my best to have some carbohydrates, fat and protein in every single meal that I consume ever since the first day of my recovery.

It was a big step and a scary challenge at first, but striving for food balance is definitely one of the main reasons behind my success.’
Vicky

17. Find a hobby!

‘Bingeing and purging used to take up A LOT of my free time, so when that ritual was gone, I had no idea what to do with all of the extra hours in my day that I suddenly acquired!

I knew, however, that I needed to occupy myself with healthy and productive activities instead.

I use jogging, writing and knitting as time fillers now.

Jogging provides me with a physical release, writing helps me sort through my feelings, and knitting relaxes my mind.

Some people meditate. Some do yoga. Some sing or dance.

Whatever your new hobby is, make sure that you love it because you’ll be doing lots of it!’
Hannah

18. Remember that every binge urge will peak, then fade.

‘What goes up must come down, right?

Whenever I have a bite of my trigger food and find myself yearning to eat another 20 servings, I remind myself that if I just wait this binge urge out, it’ll ultimately disappear.

I don’t have to give in to it, and neither do you.’
Paula

Olivia

20. You can start over every minute of every day.

‘When you do give in to your urges, don’t write that day, or even that afternoon, off. So what if you slipped up? That doesn’t mean it’s all over! Get back on the horse and just keep going.

Take all of that anger, sadness, guilt and pain that you’re feeling right now, and convert it into a fighting spirit!

Don’t let a little slip-up hold you back.

Don’t beat yourself up, don’t obsess over it, don’t punish yourself.

You’re allowed to wipe the slate clean every minute of every day, and then concentrate on the now.’
Linda

21. Know your triggers.

‘If triggers get in your way, write them down. Think about them, analyse them and figure out a way to deal with them in a healthy manner.

I’ve learned that it’s best to fight your triggers by REALLY getting to know them.

Recovery is a personal journey where you get to figure out who you are and how you operate.

Be self-aware and embrace YOU – fears, triggers and struggles included.’
Rebecca

22. Do yoga.

‘I feel grateful to my eating disorder in a way, just because it allowed me to discover the pleasures of yoga!

It has given me so much more than I ever thought possible. I’ve found inner peace, healing, acceptance and love there.

Meditation and mindfulness also helped with my anxiety – I’m much less likely to binge now that I’m feeling calm and relaxed.

It’s been a huge turning point in my recovery and I recommend yoga to everybody who’s willing to listen to me!’
Tiffany

A warm welcome from Ali and Richard

We’re so excited to have you here.

You’ve found a community of like-minded people who are open to discovering that real change is possible.

This program has transformed the lives of so many people and I’m confident that you can benefit from it as well.

If you suffer from binge eating, bulimia or any other form of problem eating, you know how much control it can hold over your life.

Eating food fills you with simultaneous feelings of pleasure, guilt, dread and shame. Somehow you can just eat, eat and eat, without ever reaching the point where you feel truly satisfied. Afterwards you worry about weight gain and berate yourself for lacking control.

You feel hopeless, stuck and doubtful if anything can ever change.

We’ll be your guides throughout the program. (Ali and Richy)

We’ve been coaching sufferers of bulimia and binge eating disorder since 2007. We’ve also published two successful books, “The Bulimia Help Method” and “The Binge Code”. They have some of the best reviews within their field and an incredible 96% approval rating on Amazon.com.

We come from a holistic background. We’re both qualified yoga instructors, so we understand the importance of focusing on the physical aspects of eating issues, and not just the mental ones.

We also have a team of professional coaches on board, including nutritionists, doctors and even an Olympic weightlifting champion!

We honestly believe that the journey we’re about to embark on together is going to change your life for the better.

Don’t wait any longer. You’ve waited long enough. The time for a healthier, happier and more balanced you is NOW.

Let’s get started shall we?
To begin lets see how this program works.

Let’s start with the big picture.

What is this program all about?
How does it work?
And why should I even care?

So, what’s this all about?

If this program could be summed up in just one word, that word would definitely be “BALANCE”.

Your cravings for sugary foods, your binge urges, your excess weight… All of this is your body’s way of telling you that you’re off balance.

The goal of this program is to help you get your balance back.

• A balanced body doesn’t want to hold on to excess weight.
• A balanced body doesn’t want to binge on food.
• A balanced body houses a happy, healthy mind.

Regaining your balance will enable you to tune into your body and make intelligent, intuitive decisions about the kinds of food that are right for you (we call this balanced eating).

• You’ll feel more confident, relaxed and in control around food.
• You’ll feel more in control of your life.
• You’ll improve your sense of overall well-being.

So let’s look into this idea of balance a little closer. The first thing we will look at it is…

How did I get out of balance?

Our body loves being in balance (homeostasis). Our body has its own internal regulators that are designed to maintain balance.

When we are hot, our bodies sweat to cool down, when we need energy, we feel hunger, when we need to rest we feel tired.

The problem is that most of us are chronically out of touch with our own bodies.

We spend all day running from one task to the next.
We spend hours trapped in our own heads.
We ignore how our bodies feel.
We follow diets that tell us when and what to eat, instead of listening to our own hunger.
We ignore weariness and just drink another cup of coffee.
Some of us ignore the very fact that we have a body which is crying out for help!

By continuously ignoring the needs of your body, you weaken your connection to it.
The subtle communication signals between you and your body start to disappear.
You don’t feel these subtle signals of hunger, stress, physical fatigue and emotional exhaustion anymore.

And so we lose our balance by losing touch with our natural bodily regulators.

What happens when I’m disconnected from my own body?

When we’re out of touch with our bodies, balance turns into a distant memory.

• You stop feeling genuine hunger.
• You overeat, you undereat, you become chronically stressed, you get burnt-out.
• You become physically malnourished and emotionally drained.
• You experience binge urges, panic attacks and chronic pains.
• You feel empty, hungry for meaning, lonely, restless and completely lost.

Think of it this way…

It’s like being a tightrope walker in a circus.

Tightrope walkers rely on small, subtle signals from their bodies to know if they’re off balance or not. They are constantly tuning into their bodies, listening to their biofeedback and adjusting their position in order to maintain balance. This enables them to achieve the amazing feat of walking on a rope.

If those subtle bodily signals were to disappear, the tightrope walker would come crashing to the ground. Think of yourself as that tightrope walker, and the rope as your health.

No bodily signals, no balance – and off you fall.

So how do I regain my balance?

To regain your balance, you need to get back in touch with your body.
Once you do that, you’ll be able to use its signals to ensure that you stay balanced.
If you keep listening to your body, you can avoid being too hungry, too stressed or too emotionally exhausted.

See the HealED Roadmap to see exactly how you can do this.

I’m feeling sceptical about this.

I’m sure you do.

If you’ve tried to overcome your eating issues in the past and were unsuccessful, you may very well doubt if recovery is even possible. You might think that it can work for other people, but not for you.

Because of the diversity of success stories that we’ve had the pleasure of witnessing over the past decade, we can tell you without a doubt that NO ONE is beyond help.
There is no such thing as being too weak or too broken to break free from binge eating.

You CAN recover.
You can get over this.
You CAN get your life back.

You can live a life that is completely free from any urges to eat vast quantities of food.

It doesn’t matter if you binge on food once a week or multiple times a day. It doesn’t matter if you’re overweight, underweight or normal weight. If you tend to lose control around food, you’re in the right place. This program has been designed for YOU.
Let HealED become your blueprint for success!

What steps do you need to take to overcome binge eating and bulimia?
How do you get from point A to point B?

Below is the HealED Habits Road Map.

It’s based on a process that we’ve developed over the period of 10 years of working with clients who struggle with eating issues.

This Road Map uses the power of habits to bring about lasting change.

The HealED Habits Road Map

Here is what you need to know.

When it comes to breaking free from problem eating, it’s not just about one thing. One tool or technique doesn’t cut the mustard. It’s not a one-size-fits-all. Because of that the HealED Habits system is modular. You’re free to choose the modules that are relevant to you. It presents a broad spectrum of strategies that strengthen each other.

You get to choose your own path here.
You get to do it your way.

1. Everyone starts at the same place (Stage 1).
2. Everyone has the same destination (Stage 3).
3. But you can choose your own modules in-between. (Stage 2 modules)

Let’s explore each one of those stages further.

Stage 1

Everyone starts here.
This stage is all about your fundamental recovery skills. It undoes the damage that your eating disorder or dieting has done to your body.

A lot of problem eaters tend to be so chronically out of touch with their bodies that they’re unable to feel any subtle sensations.
They feel ravishing binge urges instead of subtle hunger signals.
They become so numb to any subtle emotions that it’s as though they’re walking in a fog.
If you’re one of those people, you need to go through a repair phase to help your body regain its balance.

This stage will help you to:

• Reduce your binge cravings.
• Introduce some stability into your daily life.
• Teach your body to respond to, process and be satisfied with normal food portions.
• Build a solid foundation for going through with the rest of the program.

In this stage, we focus on 4 core habits:

I recommend working on these habits in the above order.

It’s incredibly important to address the physical aspects of recovery first. Read our guide on how diets lead to eating disorders to get an understanding of why we approach it this way. To put it simply, this approach ensures that you get the most bang for your buck. You notice the results quicker and they’re much more impressive.

Make sure that you’ve covered all of these core habits before moving on with the program.
Some people experience a MASSIVE reduction in their binge urges after completing this phase!

Stage 2:

After you’ve completed the Stage 1, you can move on to Stage 2 of the HealED Habits program.
In this stage, we address multiple aspects of recovery. This is where the program gets personal. You’re welcome to pick and choose the modules that are relevant to you.

Here are the modules in this phase:

Module: Peace with Food

For many of us, food is a battleground and hunger is the enemy. If your life revolves around strict diet rules, restriction and black-and-white thinking, this module will help you to make peace with food.

Module: Body Awareness

Start to trust, understand and feel confident in your body.

These modules are a great place to get started. We will be adding more modules and habits in future.

We hope that you’re excited to go on this journey with us! We’ll stay with you every step of the way, providing you with tips, tools and strategies to help supercharge your journey towards real and lasting freedom from eating issues.

What’s the problem?

If you’re a problem eater, hunger can turn into your worst enemy. What is a completely natural and non-threatening bodily signal for many others might seem erratic, confusing and overwhelming for you.

Sometimes you might experience hunger that is completely ravishing. At other times, you may not feel hungry for hours, or even days, on end.

Being out of touch with your internal hunger and satiety cues can force you to rely on artificial external cues, such as diet plans, calorie counting, or bingeing and purging.

You might also find yourself eating for emotional reasons. Not feeling physical hunger often causes people to use food as a psychological crutch.

After a while of disregarding your bodily signals, it can become difficult for you to figure out how much you should eat.

Instead of mild, natural hunger, you might only experience powerful binge urges.

Okay, what’s the solution?

In order to recover from problem eating, we need to get back in touch with our natural, balanced hunger.

Before we can fully trust our hunger again, we need to become aware of it and get comfortable with how it feels. We need to explore and learn as much as we can about our own personal hunger.

It’s like reconnecting with a long-lost friend.
The connection is still there – it’s just that it’s been neglected for a while.

If you want to rebuild your friendship with your own body and its natural instincts, you have to nourish that connection. You have to listen to your body’s needs and you have to respect those needs.

The good news is that the first step in this process is relatively easy.

All you need to do is start paying attention to your hunger cues.
The more attention you pay to your natural hunger cues, the easier they’ll be to notice.

In time, once your hunger signals have been fully restored, you’ll be able to use them to decide what, when and how much you should eat.
You’ll be able to trust them and let them guide your natural food choices.

Pick a new habit

Choose a new habit to work on from the list below. Learn more about habits here.

Helpful tips

Keep in mind that daily hunger fluctuations are completely natural and normal. As you begin to get back in touch with your hunger, you might notice that it fluctuates all the time. For no apparent reason, you may feel only slightly hungry one day, yet completely ravenous the next. Your body is very complex and its hunger levels depend on numerous factors, such as:

• Exercise and other physical activities.
• Your previous food choices.
• A woman’s menstrual cycle.
• Genetics.
• Amount of muscle.
• Metabolism.
• Amount and quality of sleep.
• Alcohol consumption.
• Mood and stress.
• Drugs and medicines.

Sometimes there are no obvious reasons for day-to-day hunger fluctuations. Nevertheless, we must accept that changes in hunger levels are normal and trust that our body knows best.

If you’re still learning to trust your hunger again, this can be scary. You may feel greedy or out of control, while in reality your hunger is absolutely normal. Try and remember that there’s nothing for you to be afraid of. 

What’s the problem?

The funny thing about those of us who have issues with food is that even though we spend hours every day obsessing about food, the last thing our minds want to think about when we finally do sit down for a meal is… well, the meal in front of us.

It’s as though one part of us wants us to eat and enjoy it, while the other one doesn’t and forces us to zone out.

If you’re a problem eater, a part of your mind is likely to feel guilty about eating. We don’t want to think about the food we’re consuming. We want to forget all of those diet rules that we may be breaking.

We end up eating in a trance.
We lose the ability to be present while eating.
We lose the ability to feel our own natural hunger and satiety signals.
Diets set up rules around food and disconnect people even further from their own experiences of hunger and fullness.

This, of course, leads to further problems.

If we stop feeling genuine hunger, we tend to eat for emotional reasons. We seek comfort and a temporary escape from loneliness, stress or boredom in food. This leads to further overeating.

Okay, what’s the solution?

The solution is to introduce some peaceful presence into our eating habits.

The best way to achieve this is to try and start eating mindfully.

Mindful eating might help you to get back in touch with those subtle sensations of hunger and satiety.

It can also bring a sense of balance into every aspect of how you eat – and, eventually, how you live.

Pick a new habit

Choose a new habit to work on from the list below. Learn more about habits here.

Helpful tips

Tips for slowing down

• If slowing down is a struggle, try using a timer. When you’re done eating, see how many minutes have gone by. Voilà – you have a baseline for improvement! Now do your best to finish your meal one minute later the next day. Keep doing that for two weeks and you’ll slow your pace of eating down by nearly 15 minutes!
• Alternatively, try and set a minimum number of chews per bite. It might seem a little bit strange at first, but stick with it for a few days and see if it helps you to slow down.
• Avoid getting too hungry in-between meals. If you’re feeling absolutely ravenous, eating slowly is likely to be much harder.
• If there’s a slow eater with you during meal times, try to follow their pace of eating to give yourself an idea of a natural, healthy eating speed (children or very chatty people are ideal candidates!).

Tips for eating with awareness

• It might be helpful for you to have a designated eating place. Sitting down at a table, with nothing but your plate and a glass of water or a cup of tea before you, is pretty much perfect. It allows you to tell your mind, loud and clear, that this is where you eat food. As a result, once you’re finished eating your meal, it’s much easier to just stand up and leave the food behind.
• If you find it hard to let go of stress, try lighting a candle or playing some music. You’ll send a clear signal to your brain, telling it that the food battle is over. So sit down, remove all distractions and do your best to make it pleasant.
• Try and avoid multitasking during your meals. Don’t look at your mobile device, your computer or your TV. Instead, look at the food. Enjoy the beauty of the thing you’re about to eat.
• The old adage which says that “the banquet is in the first bite” couldn’t be more true. Depending on the food and the level of hunger, it takes three to six bites for most people to notice a decrease in flavour and satisfaction. It doesn’t mean that you should stop eating after the first six bites, but it might encourage you to savour your food to the fullest.

What’s the problem?

We always desire what we can’t have. It’s human nature. If you tell a child that they can play with any toy except the red truck, guess what toy they’ll want to play with?
The same happens with food.

Restricting any type of food is, without a doubt, one of the leading causes of eating issues. Even if we forbid ourselves access to only one food group (for example, carbohydrates or fat), sooner or later it results in overeating.

So why do we still limit our access to certain products?

It’s because after years of food restriction, diets and disordered thinking, we’ve been left with the notion that certain foods are “good” and “safe”, while others are “bad” and “fattening”.

Every diet comes with its own set of rules and things we should or shouldn’t eat.
Eat this, don’t eat that.
Eat that before 7 PM every second Tuesday.

We hear messages like “carbs make you fat!” .
We get lost, confused, frightened, afraid to eat anything in case it causes our bodies to expand like balloons.

We want to eat healthily, we really do, so we try our best to follow these rules.
But it’s too hard, too strict, too controlled.
We miss those tasty foods that we don’t allow ourselves to eat.
We feel miserable and deprived.

Eventually, we give in and eat something “forbidden”.
We break a rule.
We feel weak, ashamed and guilty.
These feelings often cause us to lose control and binge – which makes the guilt even worse.

And so a simple act of breaking a food rule (which shouldn’t be a rule in the first place!) can snowball into a day-long binge fest.

Okay, what’s the solution?

Not allowing ourselves to eat food we enjoy leads to deprivation – and deprivation makes us miserable and prone to bingeing.

We need to acknowledge that these foods are important to us.

By depriving ourselves of these foods, we’re denying a large part of our own being.

The truth is that all foods have a place in a healthy, balanced diet.
That’s right! ALL FOODS.

The quality of your food intake is best assessed by looking at the overall picture.
It’s all about balance, variety and developing a non-restrictive, non-judgemental attitude towards food.

But if I allow myself to eat my “restricted” foods, won’t I just end up bingeing on them?

By allowing yourself to eat all foods, you’ll gradually remove the anxiety, guilt and fear associated with certain products.

By confronting this fear, you’ll expose it as fake. These foods will quickly lose the sense of dread that is attached to them.

If you can eat something every day, you tend not to crave it as strongly anymore.

Eventually, a piece of chocolate could be as exciting as an apple.

Pick a new habit

Choose a new habit to work on from the list below. Learn more about habits here.

Helpful tips

• If you’re worried that exposing yourself to “restricted” food can lead to a binge, try and eat it when you’re at your best both mentally and physically – perhaps when you’ve eaten a well-balanced breakfast or feel relaxed and well-rested.
• You can also try and think about this in reverse. When would it not be safe for you to eat those foods? Perhaps when you’re tired? When your period is due? When you’ve had a stressful day at work? When you’ve been restricting?
• If you tend to binge in the evening, it’s probably a good idea to avoid any “restricted” foods at that time of day – at least until you’re feeling stronger and more confident.
• Use positive affirmations when thinking about “restricted” food. Try and repeat: “Food is just food. It can’t make me fat just because I eat a serving.”
• Throw away any leftovers after eating if you’re tempted to binge on them.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for support. Call a friend and let them know that you’re struggling if you feel like you’re about to binge. Our HealED Coaching Service works great for situations like that as well. You can always reach out to your personal recovery coach and receive guidance and emotional help.

What’s the problem?

It turns out that being low or deficient in certain micronutrients — vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants — can lead to you craving everything from cheese and steak to chocolate and curly fries.

Your insatiable hunger and frequent binge cravings may very well be a sign of nutrient deficiency.

It’s usually caused by:

• Eating food that’s lacking in nutrients (like fast or overly processed food).
• Cutting out whole macronutrient groups, such as carbohydrates, from your diet.
• Choosing the same familiar, safe foods over and over again.
• Being overstressed, overworked and just overdoing it in general.

If your food is lacking in adequate nutrition, feeling properly satisfied after eating is next to impossible.

Stephen O’Rahilly, Professor of Clinical Biochemistry and Medicine at Cambridge University, has a great way of putting it:

“People talk about feeling full, but that’s not actually what they are feeling, as the stomach capacity is huge. The feeling of fullness, usually generated in the brain, is a response not to food volume, but to nutrients. The gastrointestinal tract registers the contents of food we consume, then produces different ‘anti-eating’ hormones, which travel to the brain and trigger a feeling of fullness.”

So even if you’re consuming enough calories, you may still experience severe binge cravings. They’re your body’s way of crying out for what it needs. Mere bulk (such as eating four packets of rice cakes) isn’t capable of providing a feeling of real satiety and satisfaction. Only adequate nutrition can do that.

Okay, what’s the solution?

The solution here is to eat a wider variety of real food.

Real food is loaded with important nutrients. Real food is packed full of vitamins, minerals, probiotics, protein, carbohydrates and fat – or, in short, everything that you need to satisfy and nourish your healing body and dramatically reduce those binge cravings.

Here are some handy examples of real foods that can provide you with the three main macronutrients:

1. Protein:

• Grass-fed beef.
• Chicken.
• Lamb.
• Wild salmon.

2. Complex carbohydrates:

• Asparagus.
• Broccoli.
• Carrot.
• Kale.
• Sweet Potato.
• Other vegetables and fruit.

3. Healthy fat:

• Olive oil.
• Coconut oil.
• Avocado.

Pick a new habit

Choose a new habit to work on from the list below. Learn more about habits here.

Helpful tips

• Keep it simple. It doesn’t matter if a head of broccoli has more nutrition than a carrot. There’s no need to worry about specific nutritional values. Just focus on eating more real food. By doing so, you’ll naturally start making more balanced choices.
• If you’re stuck for ideas, think about the types of food that your grandmother or great-grandmother would have eaten and use that as a guideline.

What’s the problem?

When you binge on food, chances are you don’t binge on salad. You binge on muffins, pies, sweets, fizzy drinks, donuts – or, in other words, refined carbohydrates.

Why does that happen?

Well, first and foremost, refined carbohydrates are a very appealing source of energy, so your body is naturally drawn towards them.

However, what perpetuates the cycle of bingeing is the ability of refined carbohydrates to cause a sudden rise in your blood sugar levels.

Here’s how it works:

1. After being consumed, refined carbohydrates are quickly broken down into simple sugars, which cause your blood sugar levels to rise.
2. High levels of sugar are toxic to your cells, so in an attempt to help you, your body releases insulin, which pulls this sugar from your blood.
3. However, insulin is too good at its job: instead of helping your blood sugar levels to go back to normal, it sends them plummeting to levels that are too low.
4. When there’s not enough sugar in your blood, your brain sends out powerful signals that direct you to binge on huge quantities of carbohydrate-rich foods.
5. As you give in to these natural cravings, a new binge leads to a new blood sugar crash – which leads to another binge, which leads to another crash… Soon enough you find yourself trapped in a seemingly never-ending roller coaster of sugar highs and sugar lows.

This natural survival mechanism is biologically predetermined.

So how do you know if your blood sugar levels are unstable?
Here are some of the symptoms:

• Intense sugar cravings.
• Energy dips (especially after meals or late in the afternoon).
• Lightheadedness, dizziness, being jittery or shaky.
• Anxiety or agitation.
• Brain fog and having difficulty concentrating.
• Extreme hunger.

Okay, what’s the solution?

The best way to stabilise your blood sugar levels is to ensure that each meal (and preferably each snack) has a balanced combination of the three primary macronutrients. These macronutrients are complex carbohydrates, protein and fat.

Balancing your meals in this way will help your body to:

1. slow down the absorption of glucose into the bloodstream;
2. prevent intense sugar highs and rapid crashes;
3. slow down the process of digestion, so that you can feel fuller for longer and absorb more nutrition from food.

How to do it

You should begin the process of learning how to eat in a balanced way by ensuring that each of your meals is made up of 50% carbohydrates, 25% protein and 25% fat (in terms of calories, not volume).

Think of it as a simple 2/1/1 ratio.

Here are some examples of balanced meals that contain all of the three macronutrients:

• Half a plate of rice and broccoli, one quarter of chicken and one quarter of avocado.
• Half a plate of whole-grain pasta, one quarter of fish and one quarter of cream-based sauce.
• Half a plate of baked potato and vegetables, and half of roasted meat with gravy.
• Half a plate of fresh salad and half of cheese omelette.

Pick a new habit

Choose a new habit to work on from the list below. Learn more about habits here.

Helpful tips

• Eggs are a great source of protein. Try adding some eggs to your breakfast or other main meals.
• Have some balanced snacks on hand in case you encounter an unexpected binge urge or can’t have your main meal on time.
• Don’t obsess over these macronutrients. You may be tempted to measure out and weigh your food, you may want to count calories or try and find out the exact amount of carbohydrates, protein and fat in your meals, but this is simply not necessary. On the contrary, it can do more harm than good! All you need to do is be aware of an approximate ratio of these macronutrients in your meals to be able to move forward.

What’s the problem?

This is a big one. Not eating enough food is one of the leading causes of problem eating.

This is because thousands of us undereat on a daily basis – and, as sad as that is, a lot of us do it on purpose.

In an effort to restrict our food intake, we skip breakfast.
Then we have a light lunch and do our very best to avoid snacking throughout the day.

Once evening comes, we’re absolutely famished. This is when our bodies usually give in to our natural cravings and we suddenly find ourselves eating everything that we can get our hands on.

This is simply how our bodies work. They need food to survive and they fight us when we try to deprive them of nutrition.

Restrictive diets just don’t work. It’s a fact. They lead to weight gain and episodes of binge eating. When food is restricted throughout the day, bingeing becomes much more frequent. And the stricter this food restriction is, the stronger the binge urges grow in response.

These urges are biological. It’s how our bodies react to prolonged hunger.

It’s an instinctive response and has nothing to do with our psychological state.

If the healthiest, happiest person on the planet restricted their food intake, they would make themselves susceptible to powerful binge urges too.

Even minor undereating over a period of a few days can lead to bingeing. It’s no surprise then that weeks or months of intense dieting frequently result in serious eating issues.

Okay, what’s the solution?

The solution is to stop restricting.
You need to eat enough food to satisfy your biological requirements.

Now you’re probably wondering how much food the average person requires to get them through the day. Most guidelines state that the number of calories that a person should consume daily is 2,000.

However, it turns out that it isn’t that simple after all.

In 1993, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was originally going to state that the recommended number of daily calories for one person was 2,350. However, its officials then decided that this number was too cumbersome.

To make things simpler, a recommendation of 2,000 calories was adopted instead. That’s 350 calories, or one whole meal, less than the original calculation!

Recent research suggests that the original number was an underestimation as well.

Modern experiments have revealed that both women and men (who are moderately active and within a healthy weight range) expend around 2400 and 3050 calories per day respectively.

That’s a huge difference compared to the number that the FDA, along with so many others, is using!

The truth is that numerous factors affect the amount of food that your body requires.

These factors include age, height, weight, activity level, metabolic health and several others.

As a result, it’s nearly impossible to calculate how many calories you will digest, absorb and use up during the day.

That’s why calorie counting isn’t effective.

The best way to ensure that you’re eating enough is learning to listen to the natural signals that your body is sending you. And for these signals to get through to you, you first have to stop restricting your food intake.

Pick a new habit

Choose a new habit to work on from the list below. Learn more about habits here.

Helpful tips

• If you’re physically active, you may need to increase your calorie intake even further. Depending on your activity level, eating 2,500, 3,000 or even more calories every day might be completely natural – and indeed essential – for you.
• If you start feeling full too early on in your meals, consider limiting drinks during meal times. It goes without saying that keeping yourself hydrated is still extremely important, but many people find that drinking during meals reduces the overall capacity of their stomachs and causes them to feel too full.
• If you have problems with purging, try and stick to foods that you feel comfortable eating. You can tackle your trigger foods once you’re ready to do that, but it’s important to take it one step at a time for now.
• Don’t panic if you notice your weight fluctuating a little during this period – it’s completely normal and is usually caused by temporary bloating. However, if a slightly bigger number on the scale can trigger you to binge, purge or engage in other unhealthy behaviours, avoid weighing yourself for the time being.
• If you’re severely underweight and/or tend to consume less than 1,000 calories a day, you have to be very cautious when increasing your calorie intake. Your body might not be used to consuming a healthy amount of calories and it can be very dangerous for you to start eating bigger portions too quickly. Please consult a doctor before going forward with your recovery.

Ready to move on?