Holiday Binge Eating Recovery

If you’re here I am assuming that the holidays didn’t go so well for you in terms of food. Well, me neither. 

Despite my best attempts, I binged and purged and managed to gain 7lbs in 8 days. 

Oof. 

However, since being back (it’s been 4 days so far) I have bounced back, lost most of that weight (most of it was due to water and sodium retention from bingeing carbs and sugar), and gotten back on track with my eating plan. 

I know that it can be hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, especially when you are in the thick of any disordered eating behaviors. But I am here to tell you that you can in fact bounce back. Below, I will list some of my suggestions for recovering from any holiday bingeing. 

1. GET JUNK FOOD OUT OF THE HOUSE.

If you have binged before, you probably already know that it’s a LOT harder to break your binge habits after you’ve already started. 

You binge, 

Then, because you just flooded your brain with dopamine from eating high sugar high fat foods, you get a bingers high,

You crash.

Maybe you purge, 

You feel bad about it, 

You get depressed and irritated because you binged,

And then your body CRAVES those foods, more than before. 

A vicious cycle for sure.

My best advice for recovery is to get those binge foods OUT OF THE HOUSE. 

Throw away (or give away) those extra Christmas cookies that are lying around. 

Get rid of the ice cream in the freezer. 

Maybe grandma made cinnamon rolls, sorry grandma, your recovery is important, these need to go. 

You know what you binge on. 

Get it out. 

2. Get back on track. 

I felt absolutely awful about myself on the plane ride home. I was emotionally dysregulated because of the binge eating. My mind was foggy and I was tired. I hadn’t been sleeping well because I felt sick at night from bingeing on too much food. 

I decided that I was going to fast the day I was coming home, so I could at least feel a little better about myself. Well, to no one’s surprise, I got off the plane and binged when I got home. 

Don’t make my same mistake. Fasting is not the answer. 

The next day, I planned to eat 3 solid meals. And what do you know, I didn’t binge. In fact that was the start of me getting back on track. 

My message to you here is, even if you feel bad about yourself, it’s important to just eat normally. This will help break your bingeing cycle more quickly than attempting to fast or jumping on some ridiculous diet will.  

3. Drink lots of water

You probably did not drink very much water when you binged. Do you ever notice that your pee is foggy after a series of binges? This is because you are likely dehydrated and/or you have eaten excess minerals that your body is having a hard time processing. Not to mention, thirst can sometimes be mistaken as hunger. Do yourself a favor and drink lots of water, aim for a gallon a day, your body needs it. 

4. Start moving

   
   

Exercise is the best medicine. You may feel sluggish and tired but it’s important to get your blood flowing. Bingeing food can send you into a depressed state. Get outside and at least go for a walk. Even 10 minutes of exercise has been shown to improve mood and help with mental health. 

5. Forgive yourself and reflect

There is no point in beating yourself up for the food you ate over the holidays. The deed is done. The best thing you can do for yourself now is focus your energy on how you can recover. This includes completing the steps above, as well as reflecting on your holiday binge(s). Write down why you think you binged and what you would change for next time in order to prevent bingeing the next holiday season. 

I’ll give an example of mine below: 

1. I remember the day that my holiday binge cycle started. I had already not been eating the best since I got there, but had not had a full blown binge yet. I would grab a few cookies here and there and wasn’t sticking strictly to my meal plan. On this particular day I had planned to get back on track and eat my usual meals. We ended up going out for lunch and I had fries with my meal, which was more than I had planned to eat. I got home, already feeling bad about myself, and ended up bingeing on cookies and cinnamon rolls and then threw up. To prevent this in the future, obviously I could have not eaten fries with my meal. I could also have done something that made me feel better when I got home from lunch, instead of worse. I knew I was upset because of the fries and I could have gone for a walk or planned something to do with my brother. I could have read or watched some TV. I could have let someone know that I was not in the best state of mind. Anything except isolate and eat food (which is what I did). 

2. This day was the turning point that STARTED my binge cycle. Unfortunately I spiraled and engaged in more disordered eating behaviors the rest of the trip. In order to nip this in the bud in the future, I will prepare breakfast and lunch for the day after a binge. This way when I wake up and feel the undeniable urge to binge, there will be healthy food ready for me to eat. I will also tell someone that I am struggling with food. Eating disorders thrive in silence, and telling someone that I am struggling will hopefully assist in stopping my spiral.