You can binge and still lose weight

If your diet is fairly strict chances are you’re going to binge now and then. But it doesn’t have to knock you off course.

Sometimes the allure of the sweet trolly is too much!

While I don’t recommend bingeing as it sets us up for the merry-go-round of fasting and feasting I am a pragmatist. I know that a strict diet has a reverse side to it - the binge. It’s inevitable. Some days it just gets too much. You’re fed up - ha! - of going without. The sacrifices get you down. The invitations declined; the hand over your glass as you’ve had your meagre allowance of one small glass of wine. And no dessert thanks.

So we’re going to binge occasionally. Or have what I call an “eating day”. When I just need to eat more than I usually allow myself. These days aren’t planned. They usually happen after I’ve been very strict for several days, cutting my calories back as much as I can. Then my body seems to say, GIVE ME FOOD! So I give it food. I restrict it to one day. How much damage can one day only do? The risk with letting yourself go one day is that you keep on letting it go and then comes the wretched feeling of defeat, remorse and self hatred. It is really important to try to avoid those feelings if you can. To accept you’re human. You will err. We all do. The binge isn’t the problem. It’s what you do after it.

After the binge

I won’t go into details about the binge. We all know what ours are like. Let’s not dwell on how many calories were consumed or how the red mist hit so hard you didn’t taste what you shoved into your mouth at rapid speed. What to do after is what matters most.

* First, and most important, do not, do not, do NOT beat yourself up about it. You are human. It happens. It’s inevitable.

* Next whatever else you do it’s vital you don’t starve yourself after a binge. That sets up the merry-go-round of feast and famine. Where you’re always dieting or bingeing. Just go back on your diet. Go back to whatever calorie or food allowance you’ve given yourself

* Same as not starving after a binge don’t go crazy trying to exercise it all off. By all means do whatever you do that you enjoy but do it for that reason. Don’t ever see exercise as a punishment. A brisk 30-minute walk will burn a few calories off but much more importantly it’ll make you feel good. So do it for that reason.

* Don’t decline invitations out. You’ll feel wretched if you work on the principle that dieting means no social life. Yes a social life inevitably involves food or if not food then drink and drink is empty calories that also make you feel hungry. Eat before going out so you avoid strong hunger pangs after drinking alcohol. If socialising means eating go with it and rather than starve it off the following day, just accept your loss will be slower for a while. It’s better to do that than try to starve off calories gained from a meal out.

* Rather than starve yourself after a big meal out why not diet just a bit more strictly in the lead-up to it? Don’t go mad. Don’t starve. But cut back a few calories a day. Just 100 will do. That way you’ll save up a bit to “spend” on a big night out. I always do this is in the run-up to Christmas, birthdays, holidays etc. It also helps to shrink your appetite so you want less on a big occasion

* If your diet is very strict your appetite will decline and you’ll find it difficult to over eat too much. It becomes self regulating. So a binge becomes less of an issue.

* Set days for when you let yourself go a bit. For me I go with the flow when I’m feeling hungry and finding it very difficult to stick to the diet. But you may find planning a binge works for you. It gives you something to look forward to. A day when you can eat all those lovely things you adore but deny yourself the rest of the time. Maybe once a week? At the weekend say. Once every few weeks is better but find what works for you.

* If you keep bingeing it may be that your diet is too strict. If you let up a bit, let yourself eat a bit more, the urge to binge may go away. It’s fine to take longer to lose the weight. It doesn’t have to be done in just a few months. Especially important you let yourself have snacks and treats so you don’t feel too deprived. It’s the feeling of deprivation that can lead us to binge.

In conclusion, yes it’s best not to binge nor to starve. But we’re humans. We’re creatures of habit and we need and love routine. But we also long to break out sometimes, go mad, be different. Stop being “good” all the time. A binge is the inevitable side effect of a strict diet. Accept this and you’ll find it easier to get back on your diet afterwards.