Episode 13. Today's episode is all about binge eating and emotional eating. What is it, why do we do it, and how to stop.

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Can You Relate to This?

You've eaten "well" all day. You had a sensible breakfast with lean protein, a salad for lunch, and an portioned out handful of almonds mid-afternoon. You sat down to dinner and had a "normal" amount, enough to fit in your calorie limit for the day. You are feeling good.

But then, for whatever reason you at a little extra -- Most likely because you are a human being who isn't programmed to eat an exact amount of calories.

Maybe someone offered you an extra roll and you ate it without thinking or maybe you got up and had a second portion of food.

Whatever the reason, your immediate automatic thought is "Well, I screwed up, might as well enjoy the night" and you proceed to have a lot more food until you are incredibly full. You feel out of control and frustrated with yourself. You beat yourself up and resolve to get "back on track" tomorrow.

Sound familiar?

What Binge Eating Does to Our Sense of Self

Binge eating can feel incredibly hopeless and overwhelming.

It can feel like you have zero control and destroy your self-confidence.

Today's post will go over what binge eating is, the causes of binge eating, how it's different than (and at times similar to) emotional eating, and most importantly what to do about it.

What is Binge Eating?

Technical Definition of a Binge Episode

Binge eating's technical definition according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) is eating:

* Eating, in a discrete period of time (e.g., within any 2-hour period), 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 (e.g., a feeling that one cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is eating)

The binge eating episodes also need to be associated with at least three of the following:

* Eating much more rapidly than normal* Eating until feeling uncomfortably full* Eating large amounts of food when not feeling physically hungry* Eating alone because of feeling embarrassed by how much one is eating* Feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed, or very guilty afterwards

What is Binge Eating Disorder

To meet criteria for binge eating disorder, you must have had at least 1 binge episode once per week for at least 3 months.

There are other circumstances were you might not meet criteria for binge eating disorder but still have an eating pattern that you are distressed about.

Some examples of this includes:

* If you experience binge eating and are distressed by this, but it occurs less often than once a week.* If you feel out of control with your eating, but you don't eat an amount that is "definitely larger" than what others might eat in a similar circumstances (e.g., you eat 3 small cookies, but feel out of control and guilty afterwards).

In these cases, assuming your symptoms are not better characterized in another disorder or category,