Struggling With Food? Don’t Give Up

This post was written by Gia Marson, Ed.D.

If you’ve tried diets and cleanses that haven’t worked, you’re not alone. That’s because the only thing fad-based eating and restricting offers is false hope.

Here is the truth: Binge eating disorder will impact 8 percent of American adults at some point in their lifetime, and approximately half of the risk for developing it is associated with genetics. Yet, most people who are struggling with loss-of-control eating don’t seek help.

To make matters worse, conversations about overcoming binge eating disorder, emotional eating, mindless eating, and compulsive eating can exacerbate feelings of isolation and hopelessness.

The myths that do more harm than good

At home, in gyms, and even at doctor’s offices, relief from binge eating is often all about weight loss instead of health, satisfying relationships, and happiness. These pseudo-scientific discussions may inadvertently increase shame and stigma rather than increasing openness and healing. Against this backdrop is an ever-expanding diet industry that survives because failure is built into the system.

But there is good reason to be optimistic!

If you are experiencing difficulty with binge eating, emotional eating, mindless eating, or compulsive eating—or you’re sliding back from your road of recovery—messages of hope from those who have recovered from binge eating are shared below.

Lasting recovery is possible

While binge eating disorder impacts nearly 6 million people, it also has very good recovery rates for those who seek out science-backed help. And the same effective tools can work for those who binge eat less frequently or eat mindlessly, compulsively, or emotionally.

Like thousands of other individuals have successfully done, you too can make a positive impact in your life by intentionally changing your thoughts, emotions, personal relationships, food restrictions and rules, environment, and activities.

Stories from real people who’ve recovered

If you are sitting on the fence about whether to give recovery a try, take a few minutes to read anonymous messages of hope from people who have fully recovered. Their stories were offered as a contribution to our book, The Binge Eating Prevention Workbook: An Eight-Week Individualized Program to Overcome Compulsive Eating and Make Peace with Food.

And, best of all, their changes led to lasting recovery and a healthy relationship with food.

I am 37 years old, and I did not stop binge eating until I was 35. Don’t waste as many years as I did being miserable. Trust yourself that you are worth being healthy. Find a reason to change your life for the better. Find ways to get out of your head. Make choices that serve your strength. You deserve that.

I did not believe a total recovery was possible for me. But I made changes that I hated, and I kept making them. My confidence grew in my ability to break my rituals and be uncomfortable. In time, I found myself really wanting to change.

Because people had let me down at some point, I didn’t trust them to meet my needs and instead used food. Being able to need things from others, whether they meet that need or not, has freed me of relying only on myself and food for support.

Are you in any way restricting? It wasn’t until I realized I had that mindset and then let go of all restrictions that I was actually able to stop the disorder.

When I first stopped compulsive eating, I let myself be sad—maybe for the first time in my life. It was horrible and hard, and I thought I was going crazy because I didn’t even know why I was sad. I truly didn’t think I was hiding my feelings by having an eating disorder, but once I let myself have that terrible month of sadness, it all went away.

I am an elite athlete. I spend an incredible amount of time training and have dedicated my life to that. I had to finally get binge eating out of my life. I learned tools to manage the feelings I was numbing. I opened up to people: my boss, my team. It was terrifying. The more I spoke about it, the stronger I became. The love and care of the people around me saved my life.

Changing my behaviors was the catalyst to recovery for me. Breaking my habits allowed me “normal” experiences that were more social than my private, isolated eating rituals. Sometimes “normal” eating made me uncomfortable, but it built my confidence that I could do it and be okay.

Understanding the role that emotional eating played in my life and getting at the underlying issues beyond food and eating was crucial.

Develop self-empathy and compassion, just as you would for any child you meet. Learn understanding and compassion for that judgmental, lost warrior, one minute at a time.

It was a daily struggle to fight my eating rituals and maintain the behavior changes that I knew were good for me, but every success became a moment I could look to later to remind me of my strength. Eventually, I could go through the motions of healthy eating enough to believe that I could really sustain it.

How to change your relationship with food

When we began writing The Binge Eating Prevention Workbook, we were on a mission to be helpful. We wanted to offer a way out of food battles for anyone ready for change and for those contemplating it. Here is just some of what you’ll find in our book:

• Our step-by-step eight-week plan grounded in psychological science, with effective tools and practices to put them to use
• An individualized self-help format that offers an opportunity to heal from home because we understand it can be difficult to talk about food struggles in-person
• Strategies for how to cope well with emotions (including anxiety, sadness, stress, and anger)
• A nonjudgmental approach that spreads compassion since the research shows that most people get better when they apply what works
• Some honest, inspiring advice from people who have fully recovered from their eating disorders—we call them “experts by experience”

A new way of eating is possible for you.

Whether you buy our book or reach out for in-person help from a dietitian, therapist, or medical doctor, we hope these personal stories of success plant the seed of change. When you’re ready, choose your strategy, and begin the journey out of panic with food and into peace.

©2020 Dr. Gia Marson Inc. All rights reserved.