The COVID-19 virus that’s sweeping the country has a lot of people on edge. Some want a quick resolution, while some have managed to take it as good as they could. These people are, by far, among the luckier ones who can take the stress brought about by the pandemic.
Some aren’t as lucky, though. These people have developed different types and levels of stress-related mental health problems, and those aren’t to be taken lightly, nor are they easily treated. One of these is binge eating; to be fair, this is a problem associated with normal stress from work and other situations. Some even seek doctors specializing in binge eating recovery treatment to get help in overcoming their problems.
People who experience these can expect to eat huge amounts of food even when not hungry. It could lead to physical problems, which could also lead to more stress. Here’s what you can do to break away from this vicious cycle.
Crash Diets Doesn’t Help
For people experiencing binge eating, any diet can be the diet that finally helps them break free. There are many diet plans already available on the Internet today, but just how sure are you that it’ll work for you as it is intended?
The danger is very real that, instead of helping your binge eating, it could instead bring your disorder to a level that is very hard to cure. It’s best to ask a physician before starting a diet plan, as most fad diets tend to fail.
Moderation of food is still a good way to control your binge eating and other alternatives like eating fruits and other unprocessed food.
Don’t Skip Meals
Creating a regular schedule where you can eat is a big help in solving your binge eating problems. This won’t work, however, if you habitually skip meals for whatever reason.
Skipping meals never helps, considering that they have the opposite effect of making you hungrier and go for a binge instead. One large meal per day is better, according to studies, instead of eating three meals per day.
There’s another study where people were found to have adhered to a regular eating pattern. The result? They had a better chance at decreased tendencies to binge eat.
Be Mindful with Your Body
There are lots of techniques that you can use to reduce your tendency to overeat. One of those is to be mindful and learn to listen to your body. It doesn’t mean literal listening; rather, it’s learning how to pay attention to what you’re feeling at the moment.
This requires a lot of patience and discipline. When you’re mindful of your body, you know when you’re actually feeling hungry or when you’re not. There are some meditative practices to help you get better at this. More importantly, it also teaches you to become patient about other things, like decisions and other important things to consider.
Do Other Activities You Can Complete
There are lots of activities you can do to avoid thinking about eating. If you’ve got something you can do that you can get lost in, then that’s an activity that can help you avoid binge eating.
What can you do that will help you focus instead of eating something? If you’re a gamer, you could play games instead of eating. The same goes for exercise and other activities outside of work. If you’re having fun with that, then do that instead of eating.
You could always fall back on your old habits, that’s true. But if you’ve got something that can distract you from that, then it’s better than having nothing to do at all.
Don’t Be Too Hard on Yourself
While we’re stressed out because of the uncertainty COVID-19 brings, most of it is because we’re too hard on ourselves. A trick to avoiding over-eating is to remember to be kind to yourself. You’re human too, and it’s only natural to feel what you feel.
Give in to your cravings, but don’t give in too much to them. There’s a thin line between thinking you shouldn’t eat food and giving in to food without discipline.
Binge eating can also stem from a lack of focus, hopelessness, and searching for an outlet to let our fears out. You should try to explore activities that can ease your stress and help you achieve discipline over overeating at the same time. If you’ve got something to do that helps in this, you won’t have problems going on a binge. Take the necessary steps to protect your health.