Hello and welcome to the love yourself healthy. My name is Melanie Lillis and I am an eating psychology coach. I am a certified nutritional therapist and I have my bachelor of physical and health education and I'm just so excited to be starting this podcast because I have so many topics that I want to talk about and I really feel like no one is really covering them. So it's exciting and I'm really, really, really happy that you're here listening. So I want to talk about a topic that really isn't discussed enough yet. I know so many people that suffer from this and that is binge eating. It is a seriously crippling disorder and it's one that really makes people feel as though they have failed. They don't really understand why it's happening and why they can't control it. Now, if you've ever had a binge, then you will know the intense power that comes over you. There is no stopping you from eating the foods that are in front of you. It's almost as if you're out of control and something has taken over your brain. It's a weird and a surreal feeling and I know this because I used to suffer from binge eating as well as bulimia. So I really do know this topic firsthand and what I also know is that it really doesn't have to stay this way. So if you are someone suffering from binge eating, th en I am so, so glad you've come across this podcast because I truly think this is going to help you. So I have a range of different tips, t hat I wa nt t o s hare with you guys, not only from things that I have learned throughout my studies, but also things that I have le arnt f irsthand, like through my practices and through my recovery period. So let's just start from the surface and then we can dig a little bit deeper. So I feel like you're going to get a sense of aha moments throughout the podcast and that's just going to be dependent on where you are with this disorder, and kind of where your life is. So let's start with number one, macronutrient balance. The first thing I want to suggest is that you get your diet looked at, make sure you aren't lacking in a main nutrient. If you are lacking in either of the main macros. So carbohydrates, proteins and essential fats, your brain is going to send signals of hunger, which means you're going to keep eating until you have received the nutrients that it's after. Now the problem is when we binge on foods that don't contain the nutrients you are lacking in, the binge could continue each day until it has what it needs. So I see this a lot in people who are afraid of fat or they're afraid of carbohydrates. So they lower those carbohydrates or they lower their fat intake and then it gets to the afternoon or the night and they just devour as much as they can and that is literally just the body trying to get in that main macronutrient that you are not giving it. So I can guarantee if you are restricting yourself from one of the main macronutrients and you are a binge eater, this will be the most effective place for you to start. Second I want to cover, something also just as important, which is meal timing. So I want you to have a think and have a look at the times in which you eat throughout the day. Usually we would wake up and we would have a breakfast. Some of us then would have a mid morning snack. We would then have lunch again, some of us might have an afternoon snack and then we'll have dinner. So if you are someone that skips breakfast or has maybe a small breakfast and then you have a tiny or small lunch, I will immediately presume that you are a binge eating in the nighttime. So you are actually causing your body to feel starved and therefore the binge is being brought on by the body to get the nutrients that you are depriving it of throughout the day. So around breakfast and lunch time is when our bodies are at that ultimate calorie burning capacity. And it is when we have the fastest metabolism guys make use of this. I see a lot of people that are doing intimate fasting and I have no problem with intimate fasting, but our calorie burning capacity is the biggest in the morning and lunchtime. So I don't really understand why a lot of people skip breakfast and lunch, but what I do know is is that if your meal timing is out, have a go at changing it up because if you include a breakfast in your routine and maybe just increase your lunch size just a little, this is probably going to be the key that you are looking for to stop the binge eating. So this is similar to if you're lacking in a main macro nutrient. If you are skipping meals or if you are not having a lot of meals throughout the day. When you get to nighttime, your body is semi starving so it's going to send those signals for you to eat and it's not going to stop sending those signals for you to eat until it's got the nutrients that it needs. All right. Number three, the speed at which you eat and presence. So I want to ask you this. Have a think. Are you a fast, a moderate or a slow eater? Now, if you hadn't known me a few years ago, I was a very fast eater and I suffered from a lot of digestive issues. Um, but eating fast puts your body in a low level stress response. So when we are in this stress response, we have decreased a simulation of nutrients. So the way we absorb nutrients, we have decreased calorie burning capacity. We go into some degree of digestive shutdown and our body releases the stress chemicals, insulin and cortisol, which sends signals to the brain to store weight, store fat and not build muscle. So this is a little bit off topic, but I guess similar as well. If you do suffer from digestive issues and you are a fast eater, this may be something you also want to work on. So eating fast, as we said, puts your body in a low level stress response and it also takes longer for the brain to process the food that you were eating. And therefore it's gonna continue to send signals, to tell you to keep eating until it's figured out kind of what's going on. So I'm sure everyone out there has heard someone say it takes 20 minutes for you to feel full. And this is absolutely right. The brain is amazing and it's complex, but it also needs relaxation and presence. So please slow down, savour your meal, taste the flavours and chew more. It should be like an essential experience. Enjoy your meal and slow down. So on a similar wavelength here, being present when you eat is also something that can influence your body. The same kind of way that fast eating does. So I want you to think about a time which may has effected you. It may has not. I'm going to say it may though. You've been sitting watching TV and you've got a bag of chips. Next minute you look down and you've eaten the whole packet without realizing I have done that with cookies. So again, when the brain is distracted, it can take a longer time to process what you were eating and therefore it's going to keep sending these signals for you to keep eating until it's caught up. So I feel like slowing down and being presence is definitely something that goes hand in hand when it comes to eating. I really want you to start practicing this each day. So if you are a binge eater, you'll also get some bonus side effects for selling down and being present. You'll get a faster metabolism, you'll get a faster calorie burning capacity and increased digestion and you will decrease your stress chemicals. So this is kind of a win-win on every front. Alright, so if you are a binge eater, I am highly, highly, highly suggesting that you need to address the surface issues first. So those above three issues that we just went through, please look at them first. And if you don't have any issues with those, then this might mean that you do need to work a bit deeper. If this is you, I want you to ask yourself some questions and also write down the answers. Doing this will just help you get a better understanding of what's going on. I want to ask, did anything in particular happen when the binge started? Did you start a new job? Start fighting with your boyfriend? Is there an event coming up? When are you most likely to binge eat? Is it whenever you try to stick to a diet after you've seen a certain friend around that time of the month? Maybe it's getting closer to summer and I want to know how does the binge make you feel? Do you feel satisfied after a binge? Do you feel sad, confused? What happens to you in this time? What is being brought up emotionally by you? And I want you to not only to write down the answers, but I also want you to feel the emotions. I feel what happens after the binge and throughout the binge. I really want everyone to realize something our bodies are always seeking balance. So it's constantly working to keep us level. In some cases, binge-eating can be a way of balancing out areas where you're in tight control. So I want you to think of any areas in your life, any at all that you might be in tight control. Write these things down as well. It might be relationships, it might be school, it could be work, it could be money, it could be diet. The binge eating may actually be a way of telling you to let go and relax a little. As I said, our bodies always want balance. So if you're in really tight control of one area, the binge eating is trying to level you out, okay? But it's also trying to tell you something. We cannot control every situation and let me tell you, it takes a shitload of energy to do so. So instead of wasting all this energy, trying to control what everyone else is doing or trying to control every aspect of what you are doing, I want you to learn to let go. If you can't let go, I want you to play with different strategies that assist you in the process of letting go. Maybe this means you need to do more meditation. Maybe it means you need to let your boyfriend go out on that. Boys night and just trust that everything will be fine. Maybe it means that you can have pleasurable foods in your diet without getting fat and by including this sneaky treat here and there, it just allows you to feel happier and more relaxed. Yeah. It allows you to let go. In order to binge, we must be in a stress response. I want to repeat that. In order to binge, the body must be in a stress response. You cannot binge unless you are in this fight or flight state. Remember, decrease digestion, decreased metabolism, increase of our stress, chemicals, insulin, cortisol, so relax a little. You can't binge if you're in the relaxation response, it's physically impossible. If you have binged, you know how out of control it is? You know that you have no say in what's happening. You are just devouring food. The more that we can relax and let go, the less likely we are to binge. Now, a binge is always a message. Okay? It's a symptom for other areas in our life that need focus and that's kind of beautiful as well. A binge isn't something that is a burden. A binge is trying to tell us something. It's getting your attention. Have a think. What might it be telling you? You are not weak and you're not alone. Please know that you just need to do a little bit of self reflection and get to know yourself a little bit more. The more questions we ask ourselves, the better understanding we have of what's happening and where our focus needs to be. So guys and gals, I really hope this has helped someone in way look at and just approach their binge eating from a different perspective. I really want you to learn what your binge is trying to tell you because as I said, there is always a divine message. I really look forward to doing more podcasts for everyone. I'm going to be covering so many different health topics and giving you a completely different perspective. So if you have enjoyed this, please let me know. I look forward to doing more podcasts. Woo. All right. Bye everyone.