Portion control is an easy way to trick the mind into eating less. Cutting your food into smaller pieces will not only slow you down, but also create the illusion that you're consuming more food, creating a greater feeling of fullness.
The study suggests that binge eating disorder is wired in the brain from an early age, says lead author Stuart Murray, director of the Eating Disorders Program at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.
Depression and Binge Eating
They also have higher levels of anxiety than normal-weight or obese people without BED, and higher levels of both current and lifetime major depression. Behavioral problems are also common among people with binge eating disorder. They may: Abuse alcohol or other drugs.
Lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse) is approved by the FDA to treat binge eating disorder. The drug, which is also used to treat ADHD, helps reduce the number of episodes and is the first FDA-approved medication to treat binge eating disorder.
It has been stated that, “these factors, including stress, food restriction, the presence of palatable foods, and environmental conditioning, parallel many of the precursory circumstances leading to binge eating in individuals with bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder.” (NCBI; Mathes, Brownley, Mo, & Bulik).
Compulsions often follow obsessions, which reduce anxiety. So obsessive thoughts of low self-worth, being overweight, or dieting can trigger the compulsion to eat. The more weight a person gains, the harder the person may try to diet. Dieting is often what leads to the next binge.
Then the self-sabotage starts again and you binge more. Eating binge foods feeds into low self esteem, you feel bad about how you look and the sugar and additives in the trigger food makes you feel depressed and low. Binge eating can often be linked to struggles with body image.
There are a number of different reasons why people overeat when they experience anxiety – in particular, many people tend to find themselves binging for “comfort food” when they feel worried, stressed, or anxious. Feelings of tiredness, sadness, and anger can also cause many people to turn to comfort food and overeat.
In one study, anxiety was the most frequently cited among a list of emotions that trigger binge eating, followed by sadness, tiredness, anger, and happiness (2). Keep in mind, however, that it is not only those with Binge Eating Disorder who use food to cope with anxiety.
Ghrelin. Ghrelin is essentially the opposite of leptin. It's the hunger hormone that sends a message to your hypothalamus indicating that your stomach is empty and needs food. Its main function is to increase appetite ( 23 ).
But if you regularly overeat while feeling out of control and powerless to stop, you may be suffering from binge eating disorder. Binge eating disorder is a common eating disorder where you frequently eat large amounts of food while feeling powerless to stop and extremely distressed during or after eating.
Thinking about food constantly is often an indicator that you aren't eating enough of it! Ask yourself if you've been eating consistently and adequately throughout the day—as in, three meals each day and maybe a snack or two between meals, depending on your hunger cues.
Researchers have found, however, that depression and overeating are very much linked, as some individuals use food as a coping mechanism for symptoms of depression. These individuals find that food can elevate their mood, even if it is just temporary.
When it comes to balancing food eaten with activity, there's a simple equation: energy in = energy out (in other words, calories eaten = calories burned). So, yes, it is possible to burn off food calorie for calorie with exercise.
The problem in overeating is that our brains are still set up to do something they evolved to do eons ago: Crave food like crazy and gobble it up as a matter of survival during times of scarcity.