"I've Binged...Now What?" - What To Do Post-Binge

Do you feel extremely guilty after a binge?

Are you like, “WHY did I binge again? It wasn’t even that delicious after a while?”

“C’mon, I’m smarter than this!”

So you start to plan how to make up for the binge. How much exercise do you need to do? How many calories should you eat?

And you beat yourself up. Because you don’t want to let yourself off easy, right? Otherwise, you’d just do it again. There needs to be some sort of punishment!

THAT’S WHERE YOU’RE GOING WRONG!

A binge isn’t inherently a ‘bad’ thing to do. Yes, it might harm you physically and mentally long-term, but that act itself isn’t a terrible thing.

You’re not a bad person and you deserve no guilt or shame.

What a binge really is, is a sign that something isn’t quite right. I challenge you to view your next binge as just a hiccup! It’s a clue that needs to be curiously and compassionately investigated.

So instead of going into panic mode, I want you to go into detective mode!

WHAT TO DO

1. BE KIND: Flip things upside down and actually THANK yourself for bingeing. Your body was trying to help you out in a very roundabout way. For a moment, it did make you feel better!

2. GET CURIOUS: Begin to understand why you binged. Was it because you didn’t eat enough calories throughout the day? You were under-fuelled? Or were you trying to cover up an uncomfortable feeling? Like anxiety or loneliness?

3. TAKE ACTION: Next time you feel like bingeing - remind yourself of the conclusions you found last time. Maybe, before you succumb to the binge, you might need to do some breathing exercises and FEEL the emotions that you’d otherwise numb with food.

4. PRETEND NOTHING HAPPENED: This might sound near impossible at first, but I want you to start acting as if there was no binge the day after one happens. So, do indeed do the investigation after the binge. But then, the next day pretend nothing happened. Follow your normal routine. No punishment through exercise. No under-eating to make up for calories. Just back to regularly scheduled programming!

GIVE IT A TRY

These steps not only help you get to the source of the binges, but they also break that cycle of placing guilt and shame on yourself after the binge. It’s reframing it. And approaching the post-binge period with much more kindness and curiosity.

I’d LOVE to hear if these tips helped for you! Feel free to DM me on Instagram (@freewithbrid) or comment down below!

Love always,

Bríd