Do you find yourself being “good” all day with your eating? Then night time comes, the cravings hit, you binge eat everything in sight and now you’ve completely “blown your diet”?
As an Intuitive Eating Dietitian, I see many people struggling with overeating or binge eating at night.
In fact, most clients that start working with me have these struggles. And guess what? I see a similar pattern in each and every one of these individuals.
The good news? Once we identify that binge eating pattern we are able to strategize to overcome it together. More often than not, binge eating significantly decreases.
Stick around to learn more about binge eating and how to avoid binge eating at night!
What is binge eating?
Binge eating occurs when an individual eats a large amount of food in a short period of time, also often referred to as overeating. As per the DSM-5, binge eating is characterized by both of the following:
Eating, in a discrete period of time (e.g., within any 2-hour period), an amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat in a similar period of time under similar circumstances
The sense of lack of control over eating during the episode (e.g., a feeling that one cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is eating)
Binge eating is NOT the same as binge eating disorder (BED), rather it is just one piece. You can experience episodes of binge eating without having BED.
If you’re struggling with binge eating disorder, I highly recommend you seek out the opinion of a medical provider to discuss treatment options. Feel free to check out the national eating disorder information center for more information.
Why do I binge eat at night?
There are various reasons as to why you may binge eat at night. However the top reasons I see are restriction and emotional eating.
Binge eating at night due to restriction
There are two different ways restriction may be leading to binge eating at night and you may not even be aware that you’re doing this.
First one, physical restriction. You’re simply not eating enough. Most of my clients that come to me struggling with binge eating or overeating actually aren’t eating enough.
If you’re skipping meals and snacks or just simply not eating enough, or eating satisfying enough meals and snacks, it’s no surprise that you’re binge eating at night.
You may think you’re eating enough because you don’t feel hungry during the day, but chances are you’re not currently in a place where you can rely on your body’s cues to judge how much you need to eat at a given meal or on a given day. You can thank diet culture for this one.
It’s also quite common for people to engage in fasting after a binge which only further fuels the binge restrict cycle.
The second kind of restriction, mental. If you perceive a certain food as bad, something that you shouldn’t eat and you can’t trust yourself around it. This alone is enough to heighten your cravings, cause you to start obsessing about food and drive those binge eating episodes.
Binge eating at night due to emotional eating
Let me first start by saying that restricting food can feel very emotional, which may lead you to believe you’re an emotional eater when in fact you’re just a restricted eater.
That being said, emotional eating is also a real thing. It can actually be a very normal and healthy thing, but sometimes it can also get out of hand.
If you have unmet emotional needs, it can be easy to turn to food to soothe these emotions or distract from them. Whether that be anger, grief, stress or boredom.
Why do I binge eat sweets?
If you find yourself binge eating a particular food, such as sweets, my guess is that this is a food you have been restricted from in the past.
Whether by your parents when you were growing up, by a specific diet plan you followed, or simply by yourself because you learnt such food was “bad” or “caused weight gain.”
I was talking to a woman at the beach the other day. She mentioned that when she was a kid she wasn’t allowed to have candy and because of this, she told herself that once she grew up she would eat candy all of the time, and so she does.
This is very clearly the result of a child that was restricted from these foods once upon a time. Trust me when I say, restriction has the opposite effect as to what you’re led to believe it does.
Negative impacts of binge eating
Of course there are many negative side effects that come along with binge eating at night (or any time), which is why you’re here in the first place. You want to stop binge eating at night so you can prevent some of these negative side effects from occurring.
Here are some of the negative impacts of binge eating (take note of the ones you’ve experienced yourself):
Gastrointestinal issues (bloating, discomfort and other digestive problems)
Feelings of food guilt and shame
Weight cycling and weight gain over time
Eating disorder (including binge eating disorder)
Social isolation
Poorer mental health
Other chronic health issues
How to avoid binge eating at night
1. Stop restricting
I know what you’re thinking, “if I stop restricting myself, I'll eat anything and everything in sight and I'll never stop.” This may be true initially OR if you go in with absolutely no strategy other than this one piece alone.
If you’re currently restricting yourself from certain foods, whether that be physically, mentally or both. It would probably be a good idea to get the support of a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor to help you move away from this is a less chaotic, and healthier way.
Feel free to check out my services here, as I am both a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor and Registered Dietitian.
If you’re not ready to get support yet, the main thing you can take away from this point is to eat regular meals and snacks daily. Don’t skip meals and don’t ignore your hunger.
2. Find other coping mechanisms
There’s not necessarily anything wrong with eating for emotional purposes. However, if food is your ONLY coping mechanism it can become quite problematic.
Your best bet is to create a tool-kit of coping mechanisms that you can refer to as you experience all of the emotions of life. Here are some ideas to get you started:
Go for a walk
Call a friend
Watch your favorite TV show
Hit up your favorite fitness class
Cuddle with your pet
Get a massage
Listen to music or a podcast
3. Eat meals and snacks that satisfy
If your meals and snacks aren’t satisfying you’re going to constantly be left longing for more. There are 2 key pieces to ensure satisfaction:
1. Make sure you enjoy the taste
.
2. Include a balance of macronutrients
Each macronutrient (carbohydrates, protein and fat) all have a different purpose. The two things they have in common are that they all contribute towards total energy and they all play a role in satisfaction in their own way.
That being said, one macronutrient on it’s own, typically won’t provide the physical satisfaction that your body needs, so if physical satisfaction is one of your goals, be sure to include a mixture!
4. Reflect & learn from past binge eating episodes
This is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Oftentimes after experiencing a binge eating episode many individuals will sit in shame, guilt and regret. There is absolutely no benefit in doing this and likely won’t lead to less binge eating episodes in the future.
What I recommend doing instead is approaching the situation free of judgment. Recognize that you ate too much and consider how you feel physically. Typically eating too much does not feel great physically.
This realization alone, should be extremely helpful moving forward and preventing future binge eating episodes, which brings me to my next point.
5. Focus on how you want to feel
Focusing on how you want to feel is extremely powerful. Think about it this way, most often when a person decides whether or not they should eat, or how much of something they should eat, they are only considering how it may impact their body size due to weight gain fear.
For many reasons, this is a terrible thing to focus on, but most importantly, you don’t see the immediate impacts on a certain food or amount of food on your weight, so it’s easy enough to ignore.
Whereas, if you focus on how you want to feel after eating, now that is an immediate effect. For that reason, you are a lot more likely to make the best choice for yourself at that moment.
6. Get started with intuitive eating
Intuitive eating will cover all of the previous tips I mentioned. It’s the approach I use with all of my clients and overcoming binge eating at night is just one of the MANY positive outcomes seen with intuitive eating.
Need further help on how to avoid binge eating at night? Want to get started on your intuitive eating journey? Check out my services and apply to work with me today!
How to avoid binge eating at night summed up
Well there you have it. By now you should have a good idea of what binge eating is, what may be causing it and how to start overcoming it.
Still have questions? Feel free to reach out to me personally or leave a comment below :)
Disclaimer: This does not substitute individualized advice from a Registered Dietitian, mental health professional or medical advice from another health provider. If you are struggling with binge eating or disordered eating I recommend seeking out your own individualized advice and support from a professional.
