I was doing some research and learned something interesting: that intermittent fasting and binge eating is the newest cycle of binging, meaning that many are thinking that fasting will help them lose weight but the reason they are overweight is because they are binge eaters.

The problem with this is ... well, it's not a problem, there are several problems!

First of all, going about weight loss in this way will not help you actually lose weight and keep it off. Why? Because when you're overweight because you're a binge eater and the method that you're attempting to lose weight only intensifies your binge eating and cycles of binging, then in my personal opinion you're moving into crazy town.

Yes, I said it: crazy town.

Forcing yourself to fast, which is going to lead to obsessing about food, watching the clock, waiting until the clock strikes zero and you're off to the races binging on anything you can find. This is not only going to stop you from reaching a healthy weight and maintaining it for life, but it's also going to drive you deeper into a fat mindset.

A fat mindset is a mindset grounded in Fear Attracting Thoughts (F.A.T.). Just consider this simple question: how many fears are driving you to binge eat? What about the simple fear of "I'm missing out" or "I'll never get to eat ABC again if I start a diet or fast so I'd better eat all of ABC that I can buy in the entire grocery store now!!"

The bad news is the mindset of a binge eater does not lead to permanent weight loss.

The good news is that you CAN get a weight loss mindset and then you'll be able to stop binge eating, stop trying crazy non-lifestyle weight loss fads and just plain and simple, learn how to live a healthy lifestyle without struggle to lose weight and keep it off.

Does it make sense to you that if you could just live a healthy lifestyle without it being any big deal, that then you'd be able to lose weight and keep it off?

NOTE: a healthy lifestyle means you eat only when physically hungry, you stop eating when physically full (not stuffed), you eat foods that work best in your body to release the fat, and you do all of this without struggle while feeling fantastic about yourself. The opposite of a healthy lifestyle is doing fad diets (like intermittent fasting) for the sole purpose of losing weight while struggling to stick with it and obsessing about food which ends up leading to binge eating with an intensity that increases the longer you avoid healing the root of the eating disorder.

Intermittent Fasting and Binge Eating: The New Binging Cycle

So intermittent fasting and binge eating are the newest cycle of binging, according to what I've learned in my research. It's really a problem for binge eaters who are trying to lose weight by using intermittent fasting.

Say what? Well yeah, it actually makes sense, on two levels: one being that from a practical, human level, if you allow yourself to get overly hungry then it's obviously super easy to binge eat on anything you can find once the clock winds down to zero and your fasting period is done for the moment.

I know for myself that if I allow myself to go beyond the point of physical hunger until I get to the place where I'm famished then I can easily eat anything that is available especially anything unhealthy such as highly processed food. I suggest to my coaching clients to pay attention to their physical hunger, to fuel their body based on their physical hunger, and not allow themselves to get to the "famished level".