Overeating Disorder Recovery

Eating disorders, like anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating disorder (overeating disorder) can be fatal without treatment. Recovery from overeating disorder and other eating disorders is possible.

Tips for Overeating Disorder Recovery

Seek professional help.

Overeating disorder can coexist with anxiety and mood disorders. You may struggle with poor body image, negative self-worth, and low self-esteem. The compulsive behavior tricks you into believing you lack self-control and are helpless. This is not true. The first step is to seek professional help.

One option is to contact our office at Plano Christian Counseling to schedule an appointment with a license counselor.

Stay away from the scale.

We can become obsessed with the numbers on the scale. If you struggle with body dysmorphia, poor body image, or low self-esteem, you may need to avoid the scale until you are well into recovery. The number on the scale is simply a number that relates to gravitational pull. It does not consider how much muscle you gain in your workouts, fluid retention, or any other factor.

If you are a woman, your weight may fluctuate throughout your cycle, weighing more on the days leading up to your period and during the week of ovulation. Consider using a tape measure to track the lost inches and smaller clothing sizes instead of the scale.

Identify negative self-talk.

How do you talk to yourself? Are your words worse than you would say to others? We are often harder on ourselves than we are on others. Critical and negative self-talk belittles your motivation and self-esteem. The negative thoughts you hear may be echoes from words spoken over you in the past. You need to learn to let those words go. A counselor can help you identify and reframe those thoughts.

Work on getting healthier.

Although it is important to know the number on the scale or your clothing size, tracking your progress and focusing on getting healthier is more helpful. Instead of waking up and heading for the scale, track your healthy habits.

For example, you could track the healthy meals for the day, the amount of water you drink, what activity you do, and how much sleep you got last night. These healthy habits accumulate over time and eventually, you will see a change without reverting to dieting, which can trigger overeating disorder.

Reset the body’s hunger cues.

When you struggle with overeating disorder, you can become numb to your body’s hunger cues. You may find yourself grazing all day. Try to eat appropriately sized meals about every three to four hours or directed by your nutritionist. This keeps your blood sugar stable but also allows your stomach to digest the last meal and absorb the nutrients.

Work your resistance muscle.

When you deny yourself something, it can make you feel uncomfortable. The urge to overeat can be strong. For example, you may know that you are not hungry as you just ate a reasonably size meal. However, the smell of the leftover chicken or the sight of pie, or the stress of not meeting a deadline, might weigh in on your thoughts and behavior.

When you resist the urge to binge, you work your brain’s resistance “muscle.” The more you resist, the stronger your motivation and willpower will grow. Eventually, the urges will dissipate and come less often.

Next Steps

If you struggle with overeating disorder, reach out to our office at Plano Christian Counseling today to schedule a counseling session with a counselor in Plano, Texas specializing in eating disorders. Your counselor can assist you in identifying triggers and adopting new behaviors and patterns of thinking to help you through recovery. Give us a call today.