This week, I wanna jam on another top cause for binge eating – self punishment. This is another one of those vicious cycles, because you may binge eat to punish yourself, and then self punishment perpetuates binge eating.
 
I covered this topic in my latest YouTube video, which you can view here:
 

 
Let’s dive into this topic…so, first thing’s first:
 
You can’t shame your way there.
 
You cannot shame your way out of binge eating, or shame your way to health and happiness. I really want you to take a look at: what are the rules that you’re creating that are keeping you stuck?
 
Because here’s the thing…you create rules because you don’t trust yourself. I am super familiar with this. When I was battling food and my body, I created all kinds of rules: I can only eat during certain hours, no sugar Monday-Friday, etc. Please hear me when I say this:
 
You CANNOT diet AND trust yourself at the same time.
 

 
And I get it, you diet because of fear – fear of gaining weight, fear of not being loved, the list can go on and on, but you don’t need to listen to that fear. If you don’t give it meaning or leverage, it’s simply just a thought. It’s not actually rooted in truth.
 
How much do you trust yourself?
 
You really need to take inventory of your level of self-trust. And if you find that it’s pretty low, or maybe altogether non-existent, that’s okay. The only way to build trust is through action. You need to release rules and restrictions, listen to your body, and heal.
 
Figure out where else you’re restricting in your life. Do you restrict fun, play, love, adventure? When we restrict food, we often restrict in other facets of our life. When you restrict, it’s because you’re not allowing yourself to experience a sensation, and this is a form of self punishment.
 
Stop hating yourself.
 
You need to acknowledge and accept all parts of yourself–even the parts you hate–to transcend and transform. You cannot hate or shame your way to happiness. You need to feel in order to heal. Pay attention to the parts of you that need to be healed. Your body is giving you hints about these parts through anxiety, stress, pain, etc. Ignoring this information will only cause more binge eating.
 
Here’s my ninja strategy for how I was able to release self punishment and move into a place of self love:
 

 
Look at where you punish yourself, and ask why.
 
Get curious. Why are you choosing suffering over happiness? So often, we don’t transform because we stay stuck in a structured sense of self, but you can move into a more fluid sense of self by questioning everything.
 
What would the highest, best, and most authentic version of yourself do?
 
When you allow and develop felt senses of self love and compassion, the need to punish yourself will dissipate. Then, you will be able to truly operate from a place of love, not fear.