How A Dietitian Can Help You With Bingeing and Purging
You’ve struggled with bingeing and purging for a long time. You’ve tried every solution you can think of, but these only seem to make the bingeing and purging worse.
Struggling with bingeing, binge eating behaviors, and purging can be extremely exhausting. You feel isolated in your struggles and discouraged. You feel embarrassed because of your bingeing and purging behaviors, and you can’t seem to find the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s important for you to know that a life free-from bingeing and purging is possible for you. No matter how long you’ve been struggling, how often you binge or purge, or whether you’ve received a psychiatric diagnosis or not, you can recover from bingeing and purging and mend your relationship with food.
What is bingeing?
According to the National Eating Disorders Association, a bingeing episode is defined as:
“Eating, in a discrete period of time, an amount of food that is definitely larger than what most people would eat in a similar period of time under similar circumstances”
“A sense of lack of control over eating during the episode”
What is purging?
Purging is the act of expelling food from the body in an attempt to un-do the act of eating or sometimes bingeing. Purging can exist in different forms including:
Vomiting
Laxatives
Enemas
Caffeine or diuretics
Excessive exercise
Individuals tend to purge as a way to physically and morally absolve something they perceive as wrong, including the act of eating, overeating or bingeing.
What causes bingeing and purging?
Each person’s reason for bingeing and purging will be unique. In other words, there isn’t one singular reason why someone might begin bingeing or purging. Rather, there are trends that can predispose people to bingeing and purging behaviors.
Some individuals that are at an increased risk for bingeing and purging, include individuals who:
Frequently diet or attempt to lose weight
Identify as perfectionists and/or people pleasers
Have family members who frequently diet or attempt to lose weight, or have a history of an eating disorder
Participate in sports or extracurricular activities where weight and physical appearance are prioritized
Have experienced trauma
Struggle with other co-existing mental health conditions, such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, etc.
A bingeing episode can cause feelings of embarrassment, shame, and guilt. To absolve this guilt and compensate for bingeing behaviors and bingeing episodes, purging can occur. Regardless of what form of purging you use or don’t use, all forms of purging are harmful to your health and deserve attention.
Another common reason that you may experience binge eating and then purging is if you engage in food restriction and/or not getting enough energy from food. Not allowing yourself to have certain foods or food groups puts your mind into a “last supper mentality” and increases your brain’s fixation on food. As a result, you experience strong and intense cravings and an increased appetite which leads to binge eating.
Restriction leads to binge eating, and bingeing leads to purging. It’s an endless cycle that perpetuates itself.
How can a dietitian help you stop bingeing and purging?
There is so much misinformation on how to stop bingeing and purging, and it’s normal to feel overwhelmed and at a loss for what to do. Navigating recovery can feel daunting, scary, and impossible to do by yourself. You deserve support in your healing journey, and a dietitian can be that support you’ve been looking for!
Anti-diet and eating disorder dietitians, such as the dietitians at Bravespace Nutrition, help you:
Identify your root causes of bingeing and purging and uncover the “why”
Understand binge eating as a consequence of restriction
Identify emotional triggers that induce bingeing and purging episodes and find the connection to how it may help you regulate your nervous system
Learn how to eat intuitively, nourish your body, and end the dieting cycle
Reduce frequency of bingeing and purging episodes
Understand how bingeing and purging may have benefitted you at one point in your life
Help you identify coping mechanisms after a binge that reduce episodes of purging
Heal your relationship with your body and challenge internal weight stigma and fatphobia
Challenge diet and wellness culture ideals and myths
Practice consistent and adequate nutrition that leaves you feeling satisfied
Reduce anxiety around certain foods or food groups
Most importantly, a dietitian will help you get back in the driver’s seat of your life. Bingeing and purging can make you feel completely out of control of your life, but mending your relationship with food and your body means living a life where you are in-control! Our anti-diet dietitians will provide you with consistent care and support from a nonjudgmental, caring perspective. We want the best for you, and we want you to live a life free from the constraints of bingeing and purging. Our primary goal is to help you feel seen, supported, and heard. We understand that it takes time to heal your relationship with food. We want you to know that binge-free and purge-free life is possible for you!
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Are you struggling with bingeing and purging, feeling trapped in a relentless cycle?
Bravespace Nutrition is here to provide you with the help and support you need to break free from the grip of an eating disorder or disordered eating! Our team of compassionate and experienced eating disorder dietitians understands the complexities of your struggle and is committed to guiding you towards a healthier relationship with food and your body. With their specialized knowledge in the field of eating disorders, they will empower you with the tools and strategies necessary to overcome bingeing and purging behaviors. Take the first step towards healing and recovery today. Reach out to Bravespace Nutrition in Seattle, Washington, and let our dedicated eating disorder dietitians guide you towards a brighter, healthier future. Together, we can help you break free from the destructive cycle of bingeing and purging, paving the way to a life filled with self-compassion, balance, and genuine joy.