It is quite common to binge and then feel bad. You might feel guilty. It is quite a task to get over this and get back to normal. Recovering from such an episode can take a toll on you. In anorexia, binge eating recovery is very hard.

When you binge, you feel helpless. You feel as if you have no control over what you are doing. It gives you quick satisfaction and makes you happy for a little while. It kind of works well to boost your ego. You can deal with the emotions you are running away from. However, this relief and happiness go down quickly. In other words, binging helps for a very short period.

You soon start getting hyper and seek ways to compensate for the binging. You might regret what you have done and start looking out for ways to get over it.

 

Let’s first understand what is recovery from binge eating. Recover is to get back to normal. It means regaining what you have lost. The process of returning to normal or trying to come back to what was before is called recovery.

So, when you fall ill or sick, you lose certain things. For example, you might lose certain minerals or vitamins when you have a stomach bug. To feel better, you need to kill the germs in your stomach. Additionally, you need to regain these lost nutrients. So, you “recover” when you get back these nutrients.

Similarly, recovery from binge eating means you go back to normal. You go back to your routine food habits or diet. It does not mean making up for overeating by staying hungry or not eating anything for the rest of the day or the next day.

Very frequently, we do not know what to do after we binge. We are not sure how much time it takes for us to get normal, i.e., how long is the recovery time. Firstly, there is no such thing as a perfect recovery time. You recover from binge-eating when you.

• go back to your normal food habits
• stop obsessing or worrying about eating too much
• eat clean and healthy food
• do not feel guilty and sad
• start working on yourself to overcome binge-eating

The minute you get over what you have done and start focusing on the future, you start moving towards binge-eating recovery. Any step, no matter how small, you take towards getting better is the start of your recovery.

Should I Eat After a Binge?​

Absolutely! Staying hungry or not eating is not going to help. Rather if you stay hungry or skip a meal, you will get more hungry later and end up eating more. You are likely to binge eat again.

In fact, the faster you go back to your routine diet plan and eat the way you normally eat, the faster you will recover.

The best thing to do after a binge is to try to get back to normal. Some foods will help you to recover from binge-eating faster. Try to include these foods in your routine diet as well.

• Yogurt
• Nuts
• Oatmeal
• Proteins-egg, chicken, beans, lentils
• Vegetables—Spinach, broccoli
• Fruits—oranges, peaches, raspberries, banana
• Green tea or peppermint tea

How to Bounce Back After Binge Eating?​

As you go back to your normal food habits after a binge, there are a few tips you should follow that will help you to recover faster and stop you from binging again.

1. Plan your meals carefully. If you plan in advance what you are going to eat throughout the day, then you can have a balanced meal. You will then also be able to manage time from your schedule to cook at home. Home-cooked meals are much healthier. So, try to cook at home using fresh ingredients.
2. Watch your portion size. While recovering from binge eating, it is necessary to watch how much you are eating and not just what you are eating. Manage your portion size to eat just enough without overeating.
3. Keep proper time gap between two meals. Don’t have a very long time gap between your meals.
4. Never skip a meal.
5. Try to eat to a fixed time every day. This will ensure that you eat regularly. Also, your body will start giving you hunger cues at specific times only. You won’t then feel hungry at odd times such as late at night when you are more likely to binge.
6. Focus on food – Do not do anything else like surf the phone while eating.
7. Snack, but have a healthy snack.
8. Drink lots of water regularly.
9. Get good sleep. 8 hours of sleep is necessary for proper mental and physical functioning.
10. Exercise and meditate daily
11. Deal with the underlying emotions that make you binge eat in the first place.
12. Get help from family and friends. Binge eating recovery can be difficult. Having the support of family and friends will make the journey easier.

Will a Cleanse or Detox Help​

A very strict or restrictive diet is not recommended after a binge as it might cause harm to you. When you are recovering from binge eating, give your body time to self-heal. Let your body adjust on its own.

You can go on a cleanse or detox diet after a few weeks. But be careful when you do such a diet. Don’t go to very bad extremes. Start this diet gradually and with the guidance of a professional. A dietician for instance will be able to guide you about which diet will suit you the best. He/she will study your body type and food habits along with your medical history. Only then, they will recommend a diet that will be effective for you.

So, in short, do not start any extreme diet immediately after a binge, and do not start any detox diet on your own.

Recovering from binge eating is quite hard. However, if you are suffering from Anorexia, then this task becomes even more difficult. In Anorexia, a person is extremely scared of gaining weight. She has severe body image issues. In other words, she feels that she is fat, does not look good, and needs to reduce weight. When in reality, most people with this disorder have very low body weight. They are very thin and are suffering from malnutrition because they don’t eat.

In Anorexia recovery, binge eating is seen quite frequently. As the person has starved themselves for years, while recovering they might binge eat on certain foods such as sweets, fried foods, chips, etc. Because their body has been deprived of these foods for so long, they get binging urges.

It might look like a person is jumping from Anorexia to a binge eating disorder because of these frequent binges. However, that’s not true. These binge eating sprees are just your body responding to your changed food habits. Now that you are eating more, the body also asks for more. Almost like the body is trying to make up for the long starvation it has gone through.

What to Do About Binge Eating In Anorexia Recovery?​

• Don’t worry or stress about binge eating or the impulses to binge eat
• Accept that is natural to feel these binging urges
• Don’t try to compensate for binging
• Do not starve or stop eating after a binge
• Go back to the diet which you are following for Anorexia recovery
• Give your body time to adjust naturally
• Get help from a professional if you get too upset or binge a lot

Recovering from Anorexia or any other eating disorder is hard in itself. Focus on getting better and follow your doctor’s or therapist’s advice correctly. Do not try anything without their approval.

In summary, binge eating recovery is to go back to your normal eating pattern. The faster you go back to what you were doing before the binge, the faster you will “recover”. Focus on eating healthy and developing good food habits.