Interrupt Binge Eating Thoughts
Stress and binge eating.
Many people believe that stress triggers a binge.
There are so many stresses that we deal with on a daily basis, whether it’s a demanding job, worrying about bills, providing care for our children or other people, and still trying to find time to cater to ourselves.
Seems almost impossible, doesn’t it?
Stress is not something that we have to experience. We don’t have to let stress affect us to the extent that it does.
How often have you wished that you could rid your life of certain things so that you would be stress-free and not binge. I mean, without stress there wouldn’t be a reason to binge, right? Wrong.
We have to remind ourselves that stress can only come into our lives and get us down if we let it.
Think about it - how many times have you had 15 things to check off of your to-do list and even when you have finished it all, you can still think of a million other things to add, causing you to have stress-like feelings once again? There are always going to be many things to do. It will seem endless, but here’s something to remember:
Your thinking is what creates stress.
I’ll repeat that again: Your thinking is what creates the stress in your life.
That means, simply put, that all of your tasks to get done do not cause your stress. Your stress is caused by how you allow the to-do items to affect you. It’s all in your head and has to do with how you think about these feelings.
Just the other day, I decided to take on another project. I’ll admit that I got in wayyyy over my head. When this became apparent to me, my thinking sped up to tell me the worst. “There are not enough hours in the day to complete this project on time. You won’t be able to get it completed.”
It’s sad to admit, but then I started to think quite negative about other things and totally pick out my flaws. I started to get angry with myself and I just had to get away from my laptop. It was getting to me and I needed to just step away for a minute to calm down and get my thoughts in order.
I bring this up because many people binge eat when they are stressed out. I know that my old self would have consumed all of the binge food that I could because of my feelings of overwhelment. Sometimes you just need an out. An escape. Life gets to be too much to handle.
I want to share with you a few things to practice the next time you feel stressed out to the max. I hope that it will help curb a future binge for you because you’ll be able to handle the situation in a better way.
1. Remind yourself that you are in charge of your feelings. What you think about is what you will feel. Instead of thinking about all of the many things you need to complete, which will overwhelm you, which will, in turn, cause you to have anxious feelings - Take it one step at a time and think good thoughts. Get rid of any stressful or angry thoughts that will just fuel you to start experiencing those feelings.
2. Get in tune with yourself. Pay attention to how you are feeling and what emotions are running their your mind. If you start feeling anxious because your mind is sifting through all of the tasks you need to complete that day, remind yourself to focus on only one task at a time, instead of grouping them all together. After all, you aren’t Superman and can only do one thing at a time. Remind yourself of that.
3. Interrupt your bad thoughts. When you find yourself thinking thoughts that are overwhelming, stop those thoughts in their tracks! Learn to break the cycle. Tell yourself that you are taking it one step at a time and you feel good about that. Focusing on what you are able to do in a calm manner will resonate within you and help you to be more productive for any siutation.
4. Moderation. Don’t be like me and take on too many projects that you can’t handle. Instead of rushing into something, really think it through. Ask yourself if you have enough free time or if you will be burning the candles at both ends. It’s all about moderation.
Back to my story - After doing these steps, I realized that I am not going to let anything affect my mood. I am taking the project one step at a time and it’s a lot easier to deal with. I don’t feel overwhelmed; actually I feel quite good!
Don’t let stress fuel you to binge. Practice these steps and see if you can prevent a binge from happening! Good luck!