Marathon Training Insights for Binge Eating Breakthroughs

Ever wonder what running a marathon has to do with overcoming binge eating? In this powerful episode, I reveal the surprising parallels between these two challenging journeys. As I prepare for my Boston Marathon qualifying race, I'm sharing five game-changing mindset shifts that apply both to crossing the finish line and breaking free from binge eating.

You'll discover:

* Why detaching from your goals can actually help you achieve them

* The secret to turning setbacks into stepping stones

* How to build an unshakeable confidence 'bank account'

* The power of finding your 'pace partners' in recovery

Whether you're struggling with food, chasing a big dream, or simply looking to transform your mindset, this episode is packed with actionable insights and heartfelt encouragement. I share my personal stories of doubt, determination, and breakthroughs to inspire you to lace up your shoes and take the next step in your own journey.

Press play to learn how to pace yourself, persist through challenges and make progress in ways you never thought possible. Your breakthrough might be closer than you think!

Other Items and Links Referenced:

Quitting Ahead of Time

Experiences Are More Important Than Results

Post Run Reflection Video

GASP Confidence Builder Worksheet

Connect with Me:

Book a Food Freedom Session, Join the Substack community

Want to know why you struggle with food and what to do next? Start watching The Food Freedom Mini Series today. 

Transcript

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Welcome to Binge Breakthrough, the podcast designed to help you finally break through the barriers that keep you stuck, feeling out of control about food. I'm Master Certified Coach James Helker, and I want you to know that no matter how long you've been struggling or what you've tried, food freedom is possible. And I'm here to show you how. After years of therapy, eating treatment, restrictive diet, and reading all the books, I was still stuck in the onic and cycle of restricting binging until I was able to see it all from a new perspective that changed everything. Each week I will share the strategies, tools, and mindset that allowed me to overcome my decades-long battle with binge eating. Your journey to body trust starts now. Let's dive in. Hello, trusted listener. Welcome to Binge Breakthrough. I consider you a trusted listener because I trust that you are listening to this podcast for a reason. I trust that you are going to hear something today that is insightful and impactful on your journey with food. So this is race week, and I am training for the Santa Rosa Marathon, which is happening on Sunday. Now, my ultimate goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon and to run it next year when I turn 50. If you haven't been following along on my journey, this is my second attempt to qualify for Boston. And I've shared parts of my journey towards this goal in previous episodes. And I will be sure to put links to some of those previous episodes in the show notes if you want to go back and revisit and just learn a little bit more about this process. And I've heard from many of you that you enjoy these updates that I provide and that you find them helpful. So today, what I wanted to do was share what I've learned from this training cycle. As you know, if you've been following me for a while, I am a lifelong learner and I love finding opportunities to grow and to learn. And while preparing for this race, that is exactly what I did. I opened up, I figured out what I can learn, how can I grow from this experience? And while I was preparing, specifically for this race, there were some areas where I went into learning and kind of figuring things out around running form and technique. But I found myself very drawn to the mindset piece specifically of training. And the reason was this: in the beginning of this training cycle, I noticed myself having a lot of doubt. I wasn't sure if I could do it. I wasn't sure if I could achieve the time that I need to achieve. So if you're not familiar with qualifying for Boston, it requires running a qualifying marathon in a certain time. So there is a time component to this. And I found myself thinking that I couldn't, I wasn't just, I just, I wasn't sure if I could do it. And then when the challenging workouts would come, the ones where I really had to push my pace and push myself, I would be, I would find myself worried about them the night before. Am I going to be able to do it? I would struggle during the workout. And when I wasn't able to complete it, or I wasn't able to hit the paces that were prescribed for that workout, I would feel very defeated. And I was making it mean I would never be able to reach my goal. I would never be able to run this fast. I will never be able to qualify for Boston. And I did not like the way that this felt. And I knew it was up to me to change it. And I knew that the mindset would be the key thing to shift. And if I could shift what I was thinking about, how I was approaching it, it would automatically shift what I was doing in my training with my technique, with my form, and with my paces. Now, as you're listening to this, you might be wondering what does marathon training have to do with binge eating recovery? Or even if you are listening to this and you are not a binge eater, binge eating is not something that you do, what does it have to do with becoming a more calm, connected, and confident eater? And as I've gone through this process and really looking at what have I learned in this training cycle, I've realized that the mindset shifts that I have learned and that I've put into place, they are directly applicable to creating more calm, creating more confidence, and creating more connection with food. Both of these journeys require persistence, self-compassion, and an openness to face challenges head on. Especially when we're talking about specifically overcoming binge eating. It requires persistence, it requires self-compassion and an openness to face challenges head on. So, what I wanted to do today is share the five key lessons that I have learned in this training cycle and how they apply to both marathon training and recovery from binge eating. And if binge eating isn't your thing and you're listening to this, think about your own journey with food. All right. So here is the number one lesson: have a goal, but don't be attached to it. So for my marathon, my goal is to run a three-hour and 45-minute race, my finishing time to be a 345 and also to qualify for Boston. Now, I really don't even know what time specifically it will take for me to qualify for Boston. I will link in the show notes an article that I wrote on my Substack that really talks about my journey to Boston, why this even goal of qualifying for Boston is important to me and what it means. How do you even qualify for Boston? What does that mean? I will put a link to that in the show notes. So if you're wanting to know more about this, you can hear more or read more about it. So I have a goal. It's 345 and qualifying for the Boston Marathon. But here is the crucial part. I am not attached to this outcome. What it means to not be attached to the outcome is to know that I will be okay if I don't reach the goal. So my goal, my real goal is to do everything that I can on that day, to see what is possible for me on that day and to give it my best. I don't know if I'm going to achieve the time that I would love to achieve, but I know that I'm ready to try. I also know if for whatever reason, because lots of things can happen during a marathon, if for whatever reason I don't reach that goal, I will not make it mean that I've failed. So how does this apply to binge eating or recovery from binge eating? Maybe you might aim to incorporate a new coping strategy instead of turning to food when stressed. So this is a great goal or intention to have, but the true achievement lies in your willingness to experiment and to learn about yourself each day. If you find yourself binging, despite your goal, to turn towards other strategies, try something else in that moment, it doesn't mean that you've failed. During my really challenging workouts, when I would notice the doubt creeping in and I would be wondering, can I do this? Or it would sound more like I don't think I can do it. I would remind myself, I would have this internal dialogue saying, you're okay. Let's see what you can do. And even if you don't make it, even if you don't hit this time or this pace or this goal, you are amazing. Look at what you're doing. Let's just see what's possible today. So this for you might sound like in recovery, you might tell yourself, I'm noticing the urge to binge right now. I'm noticing the urge to get up or go somewhere and eat a lot of food. And that's okay. It's just a feeling. It's not a command. I can sit with this discomfort and let it pass. I can ask myself, what do I really need right now? All right. So that's number one. Have a goal, but don't be attached to it. Number two, commit to the process, not the outcome. So in my training, I committed to doing everything possible to give myself the best outcome. I do have a goal for an outcome, but I'm not committed to that time. It is my goal, but the commitment means I'm committed to the process, everything possible. So this means for my training, it means following my coach's plan. It means prioritizing my key workouts. It means focusing on rest, focusing on recovery, focusing on my fueling, my nutrition, my hydration, and getting support through this process. Now, in binge eating recovery, it's not about achieving perfection overnight. It's about committing to the daily practices that support who you want to become as an eater. This might include having regular meals, eating intentionally and mindfully with presence and connection. It might include regular processes to regulate your nervous system, journaling or reaching out for support when you're struggling. What are the things day to day that you are committed to doing? So, for example, in my training, I focused on learning something from each key workout. Now, this doesn't mean every single workout I was trying to find something out of it, but the key workouts, the ones that I knew were going to push me, were going to be challenging, were going to stretch my capabilities. I focused on learning something from each of them. So in recovery for you, you might focus on learning something from it, could be each meal, it could be each snack, or it could be what are those meals or those snacks that are really challenging for me? Can I focus on learning something from those? If breakfast is super easy for you, we don't have to focus on learning something every single time you eat. I'm not focused on learning something every time I go out and run. But those ones that I know push were going to push me and were going to challenge what I thought was capable. I focused on learning something there. So this can sound like what worked well? What was challenging? And how can I apply this knowledge moving forward? So that's number two, commit to the process, not the outcome. Number three, find balance and variety in what you do. So early in this training cycle, my coach identified that I didn't have enough variation in my running paces. What was happening is that I was doing my easy runs too fast, which left me fatigued. It left fatigued and fatigue in my body. And then I wasn't able to hit my faster paces in the key workouts. So what we really started working on was making my easy runs much easier, really slowing down and letting them be easy. In my mind, I was afraid, oh, well, if I run so slow, I'm afraid I'm just always going to want to run slow. Now that's not how it works, but that's what my mind was thinking and why I wasn't allowing myself to run slower. But what happened was that when I really allowed myself to let those easy runs be easy, I had the energy to run the faster runs faster and hit those paces in those key workouts. Now, this applies directly to binge eating recovery because often we think that more restriction or more rigid rules will lead to faster progress. That's kind of like me thinking, oh, well, if I just run faster all the time, I'll get faster. If I just take all of these things out of my diet and I'm more rigid and restrictive in my eating, I'll get where I want to get faster. But in reality, this approach often leads to burnout and to binging because you've restricted so much, it's not sustainable. Your body isn't able to just keep that rigidity and that restriction going all the time. I have a number of podcasts on restriction if you want to go back and revisit any of those. Balance is so important. Incorporating all foods that feel good in your body is key. So in recovery, this might look like allowing all foods in moderation rather than labeling certain foods as good or bad. It could mean balancing your focus between not only what you eat, your nutrition, but also your emotional well-being, your nervous system regulation, and other aspects of your life, looking at all aspects of your life rather than just focusing on what you eat and how much you weigh. That's number three. Find balance and variety in what you do. Number four, find support from people who are doing what you want to do. So early in this training cycle, I got to thinking about what had worked for me last time when I was running faster. And this was years ago, five years ago, before I had a pretty bad cycling accident where I fractured my pelvis. I've spent a long time recovering from that injury and recovering from the fracture. And now I'm to a place where I'm ready to push my body and my paces again. And when I reflected back on that, I was like, oh, I was running with people who were faster than me. And when we first started that process, I didn't think I was worthy of running with them. And I didn't think that I could keep up, but I kept going. And it was really helpful for me. So when I remembered that, I was like, oh, I can do that this time. I reached out to my local running group and I asked for help. And I had a few people raise their hands and I ended up running with several different friends over this training cycle. And here's what was so amazing about it. They taught me things that I could not have known on my own. Some would give me advice. They would tell me things that they think about while they're running, when things get really hard. They might give me tips on form or breathing or posture or mindset. Some would simply give me encouragement. And when it would get hard, I could borrow their nervous system regulation. I could see they were calm and it reminded me that I could be too. I know I was able to push harder in those key workouts with other people than I would have been able to on my own. I actually have a friend who's also doing this race. And originally we thought we'd be able to train a lot together. But we have different coaches with different approaches. And our key workouts didn't really line up very well. But we didn't make that mean, oh, forget it. Now we can't encourage each other. We can't be in this together. We've made it work. We've encouraged each other. We've met up for some of our easy runs and we're still part of this shared goal and this shared experience, even if we're not doing as much together as we thought we would be. So how might this apply to binge eating recovery? Surrounding yourself with supportive people is key, particularly people who understand what it's like, who have been where you are, who maybe are just a little bit further on the journey with you, or they're just on the journey with you. So this could mean joining a support group. It could be working with a coach or a therapist who specializes in eating disorders. It could be connecting with others, joining a community somehow with others who are on a similar journey. And just like I borrowed my running partner's calm when workouts get tough, you can borrow the recovery mindset of those who are further along in their journey. Their belief in recovery can help strengthen your own. And when you're surrounded by other people, you're able to tap into the power of co-regulation. And this will allow you to do more than you could do on your own because you can borrow their calm and their belief when you don't have it for yourself. Now, if you're like, I could never be in a group, there's no way I could even think about that for myself. You can do this with one other person. It does not have to be a group. You may over time decide you want to join a group, or you may decide now, I would love to be around other people. What feels like it would be supportive to you and where you are right now? All right, number five, envision and collect confidence and minimize failure. So through this process of learning and growing, I learned about treating confidence like a bank account. You make deposits over time as you acknowledge progress and success. So in my training, each completed workout, especially those key workouts, but all of the completed workouts became deposits in my confidence bank. And in binge eating recovery, in your goal of becoming more calm, connected, and confident with food, every small win is a confidence deposit. This could be honoring your hunger. It could be trying a fear food. It could be using a coping strategy instead of binging, or simply showing yourself compassion after a hard day. Now, here's something else that was really important. There were no failed workouts in my training. There was always some progress to be found. It was actually really fun. I started sharing my own progress and reflections with my cultivate group coaching clients. I would create videos right after my challenging workouts. I would be driving home and I would create a video to kind of just talk through how I had navigated the experience. It was so helpful for me, and I know it was helpful for them too. I actually recently just shared one of these videos inside my Substack Insider Community. If you want to check it out, I'll post a link to the show notes. If you want to see what is that video like, what, you know, what I wonder what she had to say. Now, similarly, In recovery, there are no failures, only learning experiences. Even if you binge, even if you have a moment with food that does not really line up with who you want to be as an eater, you can always find some area of progress or something that you learned that will help you moving forward. And the last thing that I learned is that when you're working towards a goal, it ends up showing up in every area of your life. So much of what I was learning in my journey, I was able to bring to my coaching clients. We talk about how to handle really challenging things, how to have those internal conversations when things get hard, and how to regulate your nervous system. So my invitation to you is to take something you've heard here within what I've learned in this training cycle and apply it to your own journey with food. Whether it's dropping attachment to perfection, whether it's working on daily habits that support what you want for yourself, whether it's finding balance instead of the all or nothing thinking, seeking support or building confidence. Know that you are capable of change. Anything is possible for you. If you feel called to reach a goal right now, whether it's to become more calm, connected, and confident around food or some other goal that's on your heart, there is a reason. Find the support that you need and go after that goal. And even if the journey doesn't look exactly like you imagined, you will learn so much about yourself in the process. Now, if you want any support in applying these mindset shifts to your binge eating recovery journey or your journey with food at all, I'm here to help. You can schedule a food freedom session with me, or you can join our community on Substack, where you will find more insight, more resources. You will find a community of people who are doing this work that you can join. You can find links for both of these in the show notes. Now, I also want you to know the journey to accomplishing any goal is not always easy. And it is definitely not always linear. You're gonna get a glimpse next week of the not so easy part in next week's episode, where we're gonna dive into the topic of overwhelm. And yes, I will for sure do a follow-up episode to share how the marathon went. All right, that's what I have for you today. Now remember, you are stronger than you think, and you are never alone in this journey. I'll see you next time. Thank you for listening to Binge Breakthrough. If you want to understand why you feel out of control with food sometimes, I've created just the thing for you. Discover the number one reason why and get three things you can do today. Visit binge breakthrough.com forward slash quiz, and you'll have your answer and your next step with minutes.com forward slash quiz.