4 Essential Strategies to Stop Binge Eating for Good (My Personal Story)

The Innovative Therapist

"I know what I need to do to [stop binge eating/emotional eating], I'm just not doing it." If I had a dollar for every time a client said that to me, I'd be a very rich woman. I'm here to tell you, all the knowledge in the world probably won't be enough. I should know. I got my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology studying weight management and binge eating. And even after all of that, I couldn't solve my own binge eating and what I thought of as my "weight issue." As I was binge eating and gaining weight, my internal dialogue sounded like... "I know what I need to do, I'm just not doing it." "There must be something wrong with me." Now I know the truth. The truth is there's something wrong with the system. Are you ready to stop binge eating permanently? If you feel: Out of control or ashamed of your binge eating, emotional eating, or your weight, and Are ready to take action with things that will actually help you stop the cycle... This post is for you. Hey there. I'm Shawn Hondorp. I'm a clinical psychologist and I've studied the psychology of eating behavior since 2008. In this post, I review the key things that helped me and so many of my clients stop binge eating permanently. F*ck Coping, Start Healing I recently learned of a book called F*ck Coping Start Healing. It's about healing from anxiety (I haven't actually read it yet). But I love the title. Don't you? At this point in my life, I'm very tired of quick fixes or surface-level strategies. During my 13 years of struggle with binge eating, I spent years trying surface-level strategies that left me frustrated and exhausted. I had many periods of what the medical field would call "remission." During these periods, which lasted weeks or sometimes months, I wouldn't binge at all, or I would do so rarely. Or I would only feel slightly out of control. There was even a period of a little over a year where I felt really at peace with food and myself after I lost weight with Weight Watchers. I thought I was "cured." But it never lasted. Skipping the Band-Aid Solutions We may be able to help someone who is abusing alcohol to stop drinking temporarily by putting them in a rehab center or by removing all alcohol from their home and taking away their keys. But is that going to lead to long-term change? Probably not. We need to understand the root cause of the drinking to prevent it from happening again. It's Normal to Want the Quick Fix The desire for the quick fix makes perfect sense. Of course, you want to do things that help you feel good now. Our brains are biologically wired to avoid pain and seek comfort. When it comes to eating struggles, all of the following offer temporary relief from pain: Eating a big bowl of Lucky Charms and watching Bridgerton on Netflix Skipping a meal because we are busy at work, and secretly thinking "Good, hopefully, I will lose some weight" and feeling in control Planning a next diet or fitness effort Vulnerability is Courage in You, and Weakness in Me Do you ever read what others write online and think, "Wow that's brave, but I could never do that." If so, I have been where you are. Back in 2009, I was deep in my binge eating disorder shame spiral. No one knew how much I was struggling. And I wanted to keep it that way. I was going to solve this dang problem myself if it was the last thing I did. And, once I solved it, then maybe I'd share my story. Ready to Break the Binge Eating Cycle for Good? Ready to stop avoiding and break the binge eating cycle for good? The first step is to disrupt the cycle. My free practical guide has 23 positive ideas for things to do instead of eating. Don't worry, you won't find the standard diet culture BS advice (take a walk, have some water!) Take the first step to finally stop binge eating and grab my free practical guide today!