Resolutions Archives - Brain over Binge

Brain over Binge Holiday Resources

in Alcohol, Binge Eating, binge eating disorder, binge eating recovery, binge free life, Blog, Coaching, Cravings, eating disorder recovery, Emotions, group coaching, Habits, Health, holidays, indulging in food, Meals, motivation, Overeating, overindulging, Processed foods, Resolutions, social events, stop dieting, stop overeating, Stress, Support, Trigger Foods, Triggers, urge to purge, Weight/by Kathryn Hansen

I wanted to put together a collection of blog posts, podcast episodes, and other resources to help you overcome challenges that may come up during the holidays. I hope what I’ve included below will guide you to have a binge-free holiday season (if you celebrate), or simply help you end the year with progress toward recovery.

Below you’ll find an image link to each post/episode/resource along with a short description. You can refer back to this post whenever you need some extra help.

Whether it’s a big holiday meal, or a simple dinner at home, you may find yourself struggling to end the eating. It can be tempting to keep going back for more, and before long, you may find yourself spiraling into a binge. This free track from the Brain over Binge course will give you ideas and strategies to approach holiday meals or everyday meals with more confidence.

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T️his blog post addresses dealing with challenging conversations about food and weight that often come up during this time of year. You can learn to react differently and not let what people say interfere with what you know is best for you.

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T️his podcast episode addresses the tendency to delay recovery to a future date, which is extremely common leading up to the new year. You’ll learn why “I’ll start tomorrow…or next week…or next year” thoughts are so tempting and how you can overcome them.

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This episode addresses the tendency to link your ability to binge or not binge to the choices that you make. I want to encourage you to believe that you can choose not to binge regardless of your other holiday decisions.

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This blog post addresses the same topic as Episode 32 of the podcast (above). I wanted to include it here for those of you who would rather read than listen, and there are also a few new ideas in the blog post. The holidays are a great opportunity to teach your brain that binge eating is not an option in any situation.

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The holidays also provide many opportunities to drink alcohol, and you may wonder how that factors into recovery. In this episode, I talk about the effect that alcohol has on the higher and lower brain, and why drinking may make it more difficult to dismiss binge urges. You will learn how to make a good individual decision about whether or not to have alcohol.

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In this post, I address the tendency to give up on recovery in December and make a resolution to stop binge eating in January. I’ll help you change this harmful pattern, so that you can make progress toward freedom from binge eating now, rather than telling yourself you will start over in the new year.

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In this episode, I talk about motivation, and I also give you one of my coaching sessions that focuses on staying motivated to dismiss binge urges each day. You can use this coaching session during holidays or any day that you want to remind yourself why you want to avoid binge eating.

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This episode will help you stay on track to a binge-free life as we approach the new year. If you are going to end binge eating for good, you can’t turn back to restrictive behaviors come January. You can still focus on being healthier and improving yourself, but ensuring that you eat enough is a fundamental part of recovery.

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This blog post addresses a topic similar to what I discussed in podcast Episode 30 (above). The more reminders that dieting is not a healthy path, the better! I hope this post helps you realize that restricting your food will only lead to more problems.

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Join this interactive virtual retreat on 12/27 to end 2023 with success and prepare for a binge-free 2024. Brain over Binge Coach Julie will teach you practical and powerful mindfulness-based strategies tailored specifically toward freeing yourself from binge eating, plus provide personalized coaching!

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You can have help at your fingertips through the holidays (and beyond) with my online course. This course is self-paced and includes an app for only $18.99/month with no commitment. You’ll be able to access 8 lessons and over 120 tracks to listen to that give you the information and answers you need as you end binge eating.

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During the holidays, and whenever you need it, you can get support from Brain over Binge coach Julie and from others who are overcoming this habit. The Brain over Binge group includes a forum for daily coaching and encouragement, weekly group coaching calls, mindfulness resources, plus course access.

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You can also work on your holiday challenges (and other recovery issues) privately with Kathryn or Coach Julie. You can book a 45-minute Zoom session where you will receive help changing your thinking, uncovering what is holding you back, and getting on a path to complete freedom from binge eating.

Why Not December? Don’t Wait Until January to Stop Bingeing

in Binge Eating, Blog, course, Habits, holidays, Resolutions, urge to binge/by Kathryn Hansen

I want to help you end this year on a positive note—with progress toward recovery. Even if you’ve previously struggled with increased binge eating in December, this is your chance to do things differently, and have this month be a successful one.

When I was a binge eater, the final weeks before the new year usually included my worst binges. I’d often have thoughts like…

“I can’t stop binge eating now, there is too much tempting food this time of year.”

“I’m too busy with the holidays to even bother with recovery.”

“I will binge all I want through the end of the month, and then quit on January 1st.”

Why December Seems Like a Binge Eating Opportunity

Telling myself I’d quit at the start of the new year seemed to give me a pass in December—to binge as much as my lower brain wanted. That primitive part of my brain seemed to view the days leading up to January 1st as a non-stop binge opportunity. At the time, I didn’t understand how my lower brain worked, and I thought my binge urges were expressing my true desires. I also thought that I was emotionally broken and “needed” to binge to cope with the holidays. So, I went along with my lower brain—all the while telling myself that I’d leave binge eating in the past once January arrived.

What I didn’t know was that my lower brain was repeating a habitual and predictable pattern that’s common in binge eaters (and really in anyone with a destructive habit). I’ll call it the “one last time” rut, and when binge eaters get in this rut, they repeatedly promise that each binge will be their last and promise to quit afterward. I explain this pattern in detail in Episode 14: Overcome “One Last Time” Thoughts to Quit Binge Eating.

However, in December—instead of telling yourself it’s your “last binge”—you may start telling yourself that it’s your “last year of bingeing.” You tell yourself that after December, you’ll be done for the rest of your life, so these are the final weeks of being caught up in the binge eating habit.

Because you feel committed to quitting on January 1st, you might stop any attempts to curb your binge eating at the end of the year. You may allow your lower brain’s desire for the temporary pleasure of binges to completely run the show. You end up feeling awful from the binges in the December, but when you remember that you’ll quit in January, you see no point in even trying to stop now. You just accept that you’re going to keep bingeing until the clock strikes midnight and marks a new year—and a new you.

January Doesn’t Erase Your Binge Eating Habit

During all of the years of my binge eating, January 1st always came with a sense of dread. I wondered if I could really quit, and felt confused and frustrated that my desire to binge was still the same on New Year’s Day that it had been on New Year’s Eve. In December, it was comforting to believe that a new year would bring a swift recovery; but looking back, my resolutions usually only served as excuses to binge prior to the resolution’s start date. If I told myself I was quitting tomorrow, next week, next year; it gave me reason to binge today, this week, this year.

On January 1st or shortly thereafter, I began to resent the new year—because of the struggle of trying to avoid binges. I often wished it was December again, when I felt like I could just binge without even considering quitting, even though I knew December had been miserable. Until 2005, nothing I tried to help myself quit had worked, and I always found myself binge eating again by about January 5th.

In Brain over Binge, I talked about that first New Year’s Eve when I didn’t have to make a resolution to stop binge eating. I wasn’t with family or friends or at a party—I was simply alone with my thoughts, watching others ring in the new year on television. It was a wonderful feeling knowing that the next year would be different—that I wouldn’t just binge again a few days, and that I’d never have to resolve to quit binge eating again, because I was already done.

Do December Differently

No matter what your thoughts are saying now in December, your binge eating habit will not suddenly disappear come January 1st. The lower brain has no regard for time, and it will send urges automatically no matter what day or year it is. You will not suddenly gain the ability to avoid binges, unless you support yourself in learning how to do that.

You don’t want to spend another December being miserable, promising yourself you will do better in January. You can do better now. You can learn to recognize all of those faulty brain messages that drive you toward binge eating and stop believing them. You can stop believing thoughts that say it somehow makes sense to binge through this month. You know that it doesn’t make sense, and you can absolutely break this cycle.

Just think of how amazing you’ll feel if you gain control of your binge eating before the new year, before the start of your typical resolution. Challenge yourself to do something different this year—break the pattern and stop waiting until later for freedom from binge eating.

To help you along the way, I’ve created a free, 31-day resource (the Brain over Binge Inspiration Booklet) to keep you motivated and focused on recovery. The booklet contains 31 daily messages to help you develop consistency and reinforce the Brain over Binge concepts. You can download it to use this month and any time you need extra encouragement.

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Get more support to gain control of binge eating now:

Brain over Binge Course – Self-paced online lessons (plus an app) for only $18.99/month. Includes over 120 tracks to listen to that give you the information and answers you need as you end binge eating.

Group Coaching – Get help from coach Julie and support from others who are overcoming this habit. Includes a forum that is open 24/7, group coaching calls, mindfulness resources, plus course access.

One-on-one Coaching – Book a 45-minute private session with coach Julie or Kathryn. We will help you change your thinking, uncover what is holding you back, and get on a path to complete freedom from food issues.

Fasting & Binge Eating: Not So Fast (Post from Gillian Riley)

in Anorexia, Binge Eating, Blog, Body Image, Calories, Dieting, fasting, Food Addiction, Habits, Health, Overeating, Resolutions, Starvation, Weight, weight loss, yo-yo dieting/by Kathryn Hansen

It seems that fasting has become the new standard of dieting, and also a central focus of the health community as well. Like most diets, it’s presented as the answer (or at least a partial solution) to many health and weight issues, and even as a potential solution for binge eating. I’m sure you know more than one person in your life who is on a fasting-type diet. I also know that fasting can be portrayed as “not a diet at all,” but as a lifestyle and way of eating that’s “more in line with how our bodies are designed.” These are complex issues, and although I would not make an overarching statement that binge eaters or recovered binge eaters can never fast under any circumstances, I think there are many compelling reasons not to.

I get a lot of questions about fasting and binge eating recovery, so I want to share a guest post from Gillian Riley, who has great advice on this topic. Gillian is the author of Ditching Diets, which I recommend on the FAQ page of this website, and I also cited Gillian’s work in my second book, the Brain over Binge Recovery Guide. You can read more about Gillian Riley in her bio at the end of this post. As you read, know that Gillian doesn’t write specifically for binge eaters, but for anyone who struggles with poor eating habits, yo-yo dieting, and overeating. However, what she says is also applicable to those of you who binge, and I hope you find her well-informed guest post helpful.

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NOT SO FAST (by Gillian Riley)

When it was published in 2013, I bought a copy of the bestseller The Fast Diet to see what it was all about. In case you don’t know, it was published as a result of the interest in the BBC Horizon documentary about Intermittent Fasting (IF), written by the program presenter Dr Michael Mosley and journalist Mimi Spencer.

I believe that fasting is beneficial, but not necessarily advisable for everyone, so I wanted to read the book to discover new information and research, but also, I was curious to see if it contained any words of caution. There are words of caution about fasting; a paragraph on page 124 warns those with Type 1 diabetes not too fast, those with an eating disorder, children, and those who are already very slim. And anyone with any medical condition should consult a doctor first.

If you bought a copy of my book, Eating Less, between 1998 and the first half of 2005, you’ve got an edition that contains a chapter on fasting once a week. As well as instructions on how to fast in a non-addictive way, I describe some good reasons not too fast. In later editions, I took out all mention of fasting, partly because people weren’t paying any attention to those reasons. Perhaps it’s time now to put them back in (if I could) but here’s how they appeared in those first editions of Eating Less:

It’s not a good idea to fast if you are desperate to lose weight, or if you have a history of anorexia or bulimia.
It’s not a good idea to fast if you have a tendency to overeat either before or after a fast.
It’s not a good idea to fast if you go on a fast as a way to take control of your overeating.
It’s not a good idea to fast if you are not in the best of health, if you’re coming down with an illness or recovering from one, or if you suffer from a condition such as diabetes or hypoglycemia.
It’s not a good idea to fast if you don’t normally eat a high-quality diet at other times.

This has some similarity with Mosley and Spencer’s cautions, but also some differences. In particular, my caution not to fast if you don’t normally eat high-quality food would seem to contradict their advice to “eat what you like most of the time”. However, Mosley and Spencer say,

“You could pig out on your non-fast days…but you won’t do that. In all likelihood, you’ll remain gently, intuitively attentive to your calorie intake, almost without noticing. Similarly, you may find yourself naturally favouring healthier foods once your palate is modified by your occasional fasts. So yes, eat freely, forbid nothing, but trust your body to say ‘when’.”

So they seem to be saying that it’s fine to eat anything at all on non-fast days, but once you’ve started fasting you’ll end up eating healthy food anyway.

Now, I’m a great advocate of an if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it approach to everything, so if IF works for you, that’s wonderful. But all too often people struggle with such advice – and they blame themselves. They conclude, “for everybody else, fasting two days a week is not only fairly straightforward, but also sorts out all the rest of their crazy eating on the other five days. What’s wrong with me that I can’t even begin to do this?”

Maybe it’s not that fasting isn’t a good idea, but that there are other important steps for you to take first. To return to my cautions:

It’s not a good idea to fast if you are desperate to lose weight, or if you have a history of anorexia or bulimia. Note that both authors of The Fast Diet took on fasting entirely for health reasons. The health benefits of fasting – such as dipping into ketosis from time to time and the fascinating process of autophagy – are well established (1, 2). There’s also impressive research showing a beneficial impact on brain health (3). But Mosley and Spencer seem oblivious to the fact that many people will be motivated to fast primarily to improve their appearance, and this makes a massive difference.
It’s not a good idea to fast if you have a tendency to overeat either before or after a fast – and – It’s not a good idea to fast if you go on a fast as a way to take control of your overeating. It’s clear that neither of the authors have ever had an addictive relationship with food – what many people call ‘food issues’. The research they cite on the success of IF from the University of Chicago studied just 16 obese people over 10 weeks. (4) I’m sure you know of people who complied with various protocols for at least 10 weeks and then regained their weight in the longer term. They were able to ‘be good’ and ‘follow the rules’ for a while, but this simply doesn’t last for the majority. I’m not saying that fasting is a bad idea; I’m saying it might not provide a complete and permanent solution for everyone who generally overeats.
It’s not a good idea to fast if you are not in the best of health, if you’re coming down with an illness or recovering from one, or if you suffer from a condition such as diabetes or hypoglycemia. I’m no expert on these health issues, but I’m not at all sure that fasting is good for those with Type 2 diabetes and especially hypoglycemia. This is why those with diabetes are exempt from fasting on religious occasions such as Ramadan.
It’s not a good idea to fast if you don’t normally eat a high-quality diet at other times. This of course depends on what you call a high-quality diet, but my view would be low on the starchy carbohydrates such as grain-based foods and sugars. It’s important for your body to be very well nourished through eating the most nutrient-dense foods, so that it doesn’t go into ‘scarcity mode’ during a fast. In addition, fasting works much better in every way if your body has developed the ability to burn fat for energy, rather than only carbohydrate. If you normally burn only carbohydrate, you may struggle much more with hunger and low energy during a fast. (5)

I’ll add that if you exercise a great deal, if you regularly sleep badly, and/or if you are under quite a bit of stress, these also mean that fasting may not be right for you at the present time.

I suspect all this is sounding a bit negative, and the last thing I want to do is to dissuade you from fasting if it’s going to work for you. By all means give it a try. Notice and manage your addictive desire to eat and you can certainly find that it fits in very well with everything you’ve learned in my books and webinars.

The Fast Diet does advise against fasting for those with an eating disorder, and I agree with this. I’d take it further, though, because there are a great many people who have a tendency towards disordered eating who would do well to sort that out first, before considering a fast of any kind.

BIO

Gillian Riley is an author and webinar host who has been teaching her course on “Taking Control of Overeating” since 1997, at first in groups in London, England, and for the past three years online.
Her clients describe themselves as yo-yo dieters or ex-dieters. Instead of recommending what, how much and when to eat, Gillian teaches how to develop an entirely new attitude towards food, eating and weight loss. This way of thinking turns the diet mentality on its head, leading to a sustainable control of overeating.
Details on her free introductory webinars and one-week free trial of the membership site – starting January 26, 2020 – can be found at: https://eatinglessonline.com
NOTES

1. “Targeting insulin inhibition as a metabolic therapy in advanced cancer.” Fine EJ, Segal-Isaacson CJ et al (2012) Nutrition 28(10):1028-35
2. “The effects of calorie restriction on autophagy.” Chung KW, Chung HY (2019) Nutrients Dec 2;11(12)
3. “Meal size and frequency affect neuronal plasticity and vulnerability to disease: cellular and molecular mechanisms.” Mattson MP, Duan W, Guo Z (2003) Journal of Neurochemistry 84(3):417-31
4. “Dietary and physical activity adaptations to alternate day modified fasting: implications for optimal weight loss.” Klempel MC, Bhutani S et al (2010) Nutrition Journal 9:35
5. “Effects of a high-protein ketogenic diet on hunger, appetite, and weight loss in obese men feeding ad libitum.” Johnstone AM, Horgan GW et al (2008) American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 87:44-55