IS IT POSSIBLE TO GAIN WEIGHT BY BINGE EATING ON ‘HEALTHY’ FOODS?

Yes.

The simple fact is - if you are consuming more calories than your body uses, you will gain weight. More on the nuances of the Energy Balance equation here.

So if you are binge eating, let’s say, on 2,000 calories of hummus with carrots - and still eating 3 meals in a day - then you will very likely surpass your calorie limit and gain weight. 

A few differences with binge eating on healthy foods:

• Your body expends more energy by digesting unprocessed foods like fruits, nuts, and veggies. Meaning that the calories on the pack (e.g. 1,500 calories of nuts), won’t necessarily be the amount of calories that you absorb as your body will expend energy to break down that food.

You might only absorb 1,200 calories. Whereas with a food that’s already been highly processed in a factory like crisps - your body doesn’t need to put in as much effort to break down this food in digestion. So the 1,400 calories of those 1,500 calories of crisps might be absorbed.

• Typically healthier foods are often low-calorie-density, high-volume foods meaning that it ‘feels’ like you are eating a lot of food because your plate is so full, but actually it’s not a huge amount of calories. A full plate of broccoli will fill you up, but it will be much less calories than a plate full of pasta. This means that it can be more difficult to binge on some types of healthy foods in extremely high quantities. 

However!

Oftentimes, the ‘healthy’ food reported to me by clients are actually quite calorie-dense like peanut butter and energy bars. 

There was a time when I would binge on a 1kg bucket of peanut butter within a few days - and repeat this over and over. It was the fastest I had ever gained weight in my life! 

So while binge eating on healthy foods may sometimes prevent as fast weight gain as ‘unhealthy’ foods - you certainly can still gain weight - just like I did! 

Remember: if you’re over-eating consistently, you will gain weight. 

IS IT BAD TO BINGE HEALTHY FOODS?

Once or twice isn't the worst thing in the world, but regularly binge eating healthy food is not ideal for your physical and mental health. Remember that a healthy diet isn't just about the type of food you eat, it's about the eating the right amount of food on average. 

Consistently over-eating can put unnecessary pressure on your body, increasing body fat, causing sluggishness, low energy, gastrointestinal problems and more. 

STOP BINGE EATING HEALTHY FOOD

The treatment for binge eating healthy food vs. 'unhealthy' food is the same - we must address the root cause. Usually a mix of emotional issues, physical and mental restriction, and habit. 

If you’d like more help to stop binge-eating from someone who has been there and got out - take a look at my signature food freedom course, the 30 Day Reboot, that you can start today. 

With Love,

Brid