by Stephen Bartlay

While many people are aware of what food binging is all about, some may not be aware that binge eating is divided into two groups.

1. Binging and Purging (This is where food is consumed followed by self-induced vomiting.)

2. Binging without Purging (There is no induced vomiting.)

We will be addressing the second type of binging in this article (no purging). This problem is more common than many realize as some 3% of adults suffer from this disorder.

Binging is an even greater problem for obese adults. If we limit ourselves to this population only, we find the percentages increase to as high as ten to fifteen percent. So as you might expect, binging is much more of a problem for obese people.

Researchers have found that dieting often acts as a trigger for binging. This is not surprising since binging is often closely related to emotional stress. For some people, binging is a form of self medicating-an attempt to reduce levels of frustration and anxiety. Now consider that dieting is quite stressful.

Food used in this way matches exactly the definition of an addiction. A common characteristic of addictions is a circle of relief and pain.

We binge because we feel bad, then we feel bad because we binged. The sufferer ends up caught on a treadmill with no off switch. This is a state of affairs that can be truly devastating.

And around and around we go.

If you or someone you care about is a chronic binger, realize these important points:

1. You/they may not be able to cope with this problem without outside help.

2. Professional help is available.

If you are going to tackle the binging problem on your own, here are some actions that have proved effective for others.

1. Avoid very low calorie diets. These tend to create much more stress. Target losing no more than one to two pounds per week.

2. To make your diet more enjoyable and reduce stress, budget two hundred calories a day for foods that you really like.

3. Do not allow yourself to go longer than four hours without food.

4. Work on more of less. Four to six smaller meals a day will go a long way to easing the urge to binge.

5. Research shows that the body likes a schedule. Design a time table and do your best to stick to it.

Exercise, some form of sports, meditation and other such activities can help to reduce the effects of stress. Another approach is reframing. In this approach, you learn to view events differently so that in the end, you don’t have the same emotional response. In other words, you can learn to view the world in a non-stressful manner.

About the Author:
Plagued with a lazy metabolism from birth, uncovering the mysteries of effective weight loss is Stephen Bartlay’s passion. One of his focuses is how to stop binge eating. If binging haunts you, check out the information at http://WhyWeight.info/BingeBusters.

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