You Are Not “Weak" : Breaking Free from the Binge-Restrict Cycle
Written by CCTC Staff Writer
The story is as old as diets themselves: You’re “good” all day. You deny all foods deemed “bad”, stick to a (usually outrageously unsustainable) meal plan, and go home proud of yourself.
Then you get in the door, and you’re absolutely famished. Maybe you have an unsatisfying dinner, or you think: “One treat, then that’s it.”
But it isn’t. One snack leads to a full on binge, and after, you’re not sure what went wrong. You had been “good” all day, and now feel an overwhelming sense of guilt. You come to the conclusion almost immediately, mostly because diet culture has already force fed you the answer:
“I am weak,” you think. “I didn’t have enough willpower.”
And then, perhaps even more common:
“I’ll start again. I’ll be good from now on. No more binging.”
For those with binge eating disorder, you already know how it goes: You restrict the next day, then come home and do the same thing all over again. This combination of events happens over and over again. This happens so often, and to so many people, that it has a clinical term: “the binge-restrict cycle.”
It may seem endless, but there is a way out of the cycle, and this article will tell you how.
A Complete Breakdown of the Binge-Restrict Cycle
The binge-restrict cycle, and binge eating disorder in general, is the result of both physiological and psychological processes. The cycle can start at any of these points, but we’ll start with the following:
Binge: Some event triggers a binge. This can be anything from stress to extreme hunger to the desire to numb yourself emotionally.
Emotional Backlash: Binging causes feelings of shame, guilt, and self-loathing. Post-binge, emotions are running high and, naturally, you don’t want to experience them again.
Determination to “Do Better”: To try and make sure you never feel those feelings again, you decide that you’ll “never binge again.”
Restriction: As part of the determination to never binge again, you restrict later on. This is both to “balance out” the large quantity of food you’ve just had, and to bring back a sense of control that you have lost during a binge.
Binge (Again): After a period of restriction, hunger and some trigger will cause you to binge again.
Practical Tips to Stop the Binge-Restrict Cycle
The two biggest factors here are physical hunger and negative emotions. So, to stop the cycle of binging and restricting, we have to focus on these two.
Stop restricting yourself.
It’s not easy to stop restricting after a binge — you’re feeling incredibly full, and incredibly guilty for being so full. Know that this is a normal reaction, and one you have to fight.
Make sure you eat the next meal.
“Stop restricting forever” is an unrealistic goal when you have binge eating disorder and are stuck in the binge-restrict cycle.
Like many other actions you can take to get out of the grips of an eating disorder, start small. Make sure you show up for the next meal. Plan what you’re going to eat, at what time, and get someone in your support system to hold you accountable for that next meal, if you need it.
Plan out your meals and snacks.
Instead of having next to nothing for an entire day and setting yourself up for a binge at night, plan out your day’s food intake so that it fits a regular eating schedule. You should eat every few hours. And each day you should be consuming an adequate amount of food for your personal needs. Consistently fueling your body every three to four hours keeps that extreme, binge-triggering hunger from taking over.
For more advice on nutrition in eating disorder recovery, click here.
Recognize that foods are not good or bad. And include them in your day.
One of the biggest lies spread by diet culture is that some foods are “good” and some are “bad.” Foods like chocolate, and food groups like carbs, are cast out as “bad” and diet culture tells you that you should consume them as little as possible.
This sets some foods up as fear foods and/or temptation foods. When you are told you’re not allowed to have something you want, you start to become consumed by the thought of this food. This is a common reason why people binge on certain foods.
A big step towards freedom from obsessing about food is to realize that food is just food. There is no morality when it comes to food. All foods have value, whether nutritionally or mentally, and all foods should be treated equally. This means honoring your cravings by including them in your daily meals and snacks. This takes away the power your binge foods hold over you.
If you don’t yet trust yourself to have an entire container of a binge food at home, buy a smaller version of it. Build up to having a regular sized amount of a binge food in your cabinet. For example: If you know you binge on cookies, and are too afraid to have them in the house, start by bringing home a small package of them. Get used to having just a few, just to satisfy your craving.
Once you get used to feeling satisfied after a few cookies, and begin to trust yourself around binge foods, you can start bringing home regular sized packages.
Know your triggers…
Not everyone has the same triggers. Once you identify yours, you can work to remove the ones you can, and cope with those you can’t. Replace your trigger situations with something more conducive to recovery. Common trigger situations include:
Late night snacking, usually due to hunger or boredom.
If you know you binge late at night, you can avoid this by simply shifting your bedtime. Once you’ve had a full day of eating regularly, and honoring your cravings, you can go to sleep satisfied. Getting to bed earlier has many other benefits too, including emotion regulation and proper hormone functioning.
Related: Not sure if you’re getting quality sleep? Click here to learn how to get there.
Zoning out in front of the TV, or other form of numbing out.
Lots of people like to wind down with some TV, or watching videos on their phones. But many with binge eating disorder use it, and food, to numb themselves.
Try to replace these situations with a mindful walk, coloring, or other self care activity. If you are feeling heightened emotions, use skills learned in therapy to manage those emotions without leaning on destructive behaviors.
(If you are dead set on watching TV, do something else with your hands while watching — try knitting, kneading silly putty, or folding clothes.)
Stressful situations.
It might be a negative performance review at work. A failed test. A fight with a loved one. Whatever the situation, you find yourself looking for an outlet for all that stress and anxiety.
This is another time when you need to use some coping skills you’ve learned in binge eating disorder treatment. Cognitive behavioral skills like thought reframing and journaling can help you think through situations and act (or don’t act) accordingly.
Show yourself compassion.
This is possibly more important than not restricting and removing triggers. Guilt, shame and anxiety fuel restriction. Restriction fuels the binge. Stop the guilt in its tracks, and you’ll have a much easier time having that next meal.
Know that you will almost certainly slip. You will probably not be able to get out of the binge-restrict cycle the first time you try to. And that’s okay. It’s normal. It’s normal to get into the binge-restrict cycle, and it’s normal to have difficulty getting out of it.
Practice forgiving yourself when you do slip up. Keep from using negative talk after a binge. Work on reframing your thoughts in these situations. For example, replace: “I am a failure and always will be” with, “I have experienced a setback. It’s not a reflection of who I am.”
Remember: The binge-restrict cycle is not forever. You can get out of it.
Practicing the tips laid out in this article, and engaging in binge eating disorder treatment if needed, will help you get out of the cycle. This is not forever.
If you or someone you love is suffering from an eating disorder, take the first step today and talk to talk to someone about recovery or simply learn more about the eating disorder recovery programs we offer.