Do you struggle with depression and binge eating? Or maybe you’ve struggled with depression in the past and now you struggle with binge eating? The truth is that 75% of people who struggle with binge eating also struggle with depression. Since this is something that comes up a lot in our community, I wanted to jam on it this week. I also did a YouTube video on this concept, that you can view below:
The first thing I want you to know if you deal with binge eating and depression is that you are not alone. Depression is very socially isolating, and if you suffer from it, it’s likely that you don’t want to tell anyone. Just know that there are other people struggling with the same issues as you.
When it comes to this painful combination, it’s important to remember that acceptance will allow you to transform. Despite the fact that being depressed and using food as a drug is an emotionally hurtful place to be in, fighting it will only make it worse. In order to transcend this pain, you must accept it. Ask yourself:
“Can I accept where I'm at right now?”
You don’t need to love your struggle, or think it’s great, you just need to simply accept it. Rather than using food to numb out, can you just be with it and just feel it? When you fight emotions/sadness/pain, it is activated even more. This is why we have a tendency to avoid these painful feelings and disconnect.
Instead, settle into your body and allowed yourself to feel the pain. Notice how it shifts or changes. See how it affects your binging behaviors.
Another trick when you’re feeling weighed down by this combo is to try reverse action. So say if you wake up one day, feeling super depressed and awful, and all you want to do is stay in bed. Instead, do the opposite. Go out for a walk in beautiful nature, or go and spend some time with a dear friend.
Finally, a method that has helped so many women in my community when it comes to binge eating and depression is to speak the pain out loud.
When we’re in that painful, sticky state, we feel awful, we think about it and stress about it constantly. Instead, speak it out loud. It can go something like this…
”Right now, I feel so anxious. I feel it in my gut. I feel it in my throat. I’m sweating and can’t sit still.”
Vocalize your pain without making meaning out of it. Just let it be. Everything you feel and experience is part of being human. Observe what you’re feeling, speak it out loud, and ask yourself if you can you fully accept that expression of yourself. I’m telling you…it’s acceptance of what is that ultimately leads to epic transformation.
