Binge Eating and Self Esteem: Are
You a Victim or a Victor?
By Nancy Mure
It’s one of those days when Murphy’s Law
is in full effect. You walk in the door and
check your mail: more bills. Instinctively,
you make your way to the refrigerator, open
the door and search for "a little something"
to eat. You spy a box of your favorite cookies,
grab one and take a bite. The sweetness of
the cookie evokes feelings of calmer, happier
times. You savor the cookie, swallow it, then
reach for another and before you know it,
you’ve finished the entire box. "Well, now
I’ve done it." you tell yourself, "I’ve ruined
my diet and the day is now a complete waste".
Your eye shifts to the leftover chocolate
cake sitting pretty on the kitchen counter
and you help yourself to a slice. Again, you
delight in every bite but the dark, rich chocolate
flavor leaves you wanting more. You cut another
slice, then another, until the cake is gone.
Feeling uncomfortably full, guilty and disgusted
you berate yourself and create an all too
familiar "promise" to begin anew. Sound familiar?
This is the pattern of a binge eater.
Binge eating Disorder is described
by Health.com, as a "disorder which is
a newly recognized condition that probably
affects millions of Americans. People
with binge eating disorder frequently
eat large amounts of food while feeling
a loss of control over their eating. This
disorder is different from binge-purge
syndrome (bulimia nervosa) because people
with binge eating disorder usually do
not purge afterward by vomiting or using
laxatives."
Separately, The American Heritage® Dictionary
of the English Language, Fourth Edition,
defines a Binge as, "A period of unrestrained,
immoderate self-indulgence" and a Disorder
as "An ailment that affects the function
of mind or body: eating disorders and
substance abuse." Exactly just how long
of a "period" are we talking about: a
moment, an hour or an entire day of eating?
Today, it seems, everything has a "term"
or is labeled as an "ism" or "disorder".
Way back when, the Blues were just the
Blues, but today it’s a diagnosis of Dysthymic
Disorder, which is a form of mild depression.
What gives? I mean, what’s the harm in
a few extra cookies and a slab of cake
when you’re having a bad day or the Blues?
There isn’t much harm in it, until it
becomes a pattern.
How and why does a moment of sustenance
sensitivity turn into a full blown binge
eating disorder? There is an underlying
psychological reason for it: Low self-esteem.
In a November, 2001 article about "The
Costs and Causes of Low Self-esteem",
Self-esteem is defined as "a generalized
feeling about the self, and the view that
it is the sum of a set of judgments about
one's value, worthiness, and competence."
Therefore, low self-esteem could be defined
as the opposite: generalized negative,
feelings and judgments about the self.
Additionally, low self-esteem is the number
one underlying cause for most other psychological
maladjustments such as anxiety, obesity,
and addiction; it is also a risk factor
for suicide attempts, depression, teen
pregnancy and victimization by others.
As far as I know, low self-esteem isn’t
its own ‘ism’ or disorder just yet.
Whether accompanying emotions are happy,
sad, angry, bored, anxious or lonely,
when they are coupled with a lack of belief
in one’s self it’s an easy excuse, in
this case, to reach for food. Very often
the after effects of an eating binge:
guilt, self-loathing and just generally
feeling bad about one’s self can lead
to false self-promises which in turn fuel
the vicious cycle of a binge eater. Here
are seven tips to make you feel good about
yourself and eating again:
1) Will you be a Victim or a Victor?
The choice is yours. Discontinuing any
behavior begins with making a decision,
so start off by knowing you have a choice.
The bottom line is this: if you decide
that you are worthy of good things and
good feelings then you shall have them.
Decide that you will not be guided by
disappointments in your life but rather,
achievements and you shall succeed. Decide
to become healthy, and you shall be healthy.
Decide to become happy, and you shall
be happy.
2) Get a Life......Coach! When you want to
become adept at a sport such as tennis,
baseball, football or running you turn
to a coach. It’s the same thing when you
want to make better life decisions. Unlike
therapy and more like a kick in the pants,
a Coach is available to help people succeed.
Patrick Wanis, Author, Human Behavior
Therapist, Hypnotist and Life and Fitness
Coach suggests in his new book, "Get What
you Want" that if one changes their inner
world and beliefs about themselves that
they will change their outer world. He
states that "True personal power begins
when we can control our inner world, when
we can control the way we react, think
and feel to what happens outside of us.
And yes, the outer world does affect our
inner world but the greatest news, the
secret, is that our inner world also affects
our outer world, what we experience and
create in our life. When we master our
mind and inner world, we master and shape
our outer world."
3) If you are the active type, consider
a fitness plan. Begin by finding the right
Fitness/Weight-loss plan to suit your
personality. There are actually fitness/weight
loss programs that encourage binge eating.
That’s right - your eyes are not playing
tricks on you. Fitness programs such as
the Body for Life Plan, for example, allow
folks a free-day, one day week to eat
what ever you want, provided you put in
the work. The idea behind this is that
the body, after dieting and exercising
can be tricked into a type of "starvation
mode" which would slow down the metabolism
and actually hinder a person’s weight
loss efforts. Having a day of over-eating
tricks the body into not thinking it is
starving. This plan is clever because
it eliminates the guilt issue. Seeing
the positive results of such a plan can
only increase the likelihood of success
and will bolster self-esteem.
4) Keep self-promises. Why make a promise
to yourself only to put it off? Honoring
self-promises shows love and respect for
you. Keep the promises small and realistic
and believe that you are worth the follow-through
and with every promise you keep, you will
further develop your self worth.
5) Find a metaphor and create a story.
Discover a way to remind yourself of how
you visualize your success by temporarily
creating a story and disassociating yourself
from the issue. This may allow you to
experience more empathetic feelings by
providing a clarity you may not have had
before. For example, consider the metaphor
of a caterpillar that fears the change
to butterfly. Understanding the caterpillar’s
fear of becoming a butterfly and how it
tries to control the change by eating
less may uncover major underlying food
issues.
6) Remember, you are not alone. It didn’t
take the recent smash hit documentary,
Super Size Me by Morton Spurlock, to enlighten
us that all of America has an eating problem.
Well, maybe it did. Sadly, our appetites
have somehow become directly proportionate
to the extra large helpings we’ve become
accustomed to. In a recent CDC report
entitled "Overweight and Obesity - Contributing
Factors" it states that "People may be
eating more during a meal or snack because
of larger portion sizes. This results
in increased calorie consumption. If the
body does not burn off the extra calories
consumed from larger portions, fast food,
or soft drinks, weight gain can occur."
Therefore, it should be no surprise that
a basic meal can leave us with the same,
full, disgusted, feeling as an eating
binge. A good thing to do to gain a better
perspective on healthier relationships
with food is to learn about how other
cultures like Japan, Italy and France
for example, feel about food.
7) Embrace food. Food isn’t meant to
isolate, it is meant to bring people together.
By developing an appreciation of food,
you will discover there is more than just
the hand-to-mouth motion of eating. Once
you will learn to savor, identify and
appreciate a food’s ingredients you’ll
develop a respect and deeper love of food.
So if you have favorite foods enlighten
yourself: learn about the food’s history,
its ingredients or its health benefits.
My advice: take cooking classes. Cooking
is a great way to explore and discover
new foods. By learning to prepare foods,
we also learn how they are meant to be
served and enjoyed. Education does something
wonderful for food in the eyes of a binge
eater because food is no longer perceived
as a daunting monster but rather as something
to be respected and embraced.
A final word: if binge eating incidents
are perceived as an issue to be dealt
with rather than a disorder to be cured,
especially where low self-esteem is involved,
most episodes can be conquered by simply
recognizing issues, changing behaviors
and making choices. What may begin as
a love affair with food, can and will
easily morph into something entirely different
when low self-esteem is an underlying
factor. This despondent relationship with
food can become a coping mechanism, or
a short term fix to control emotions and
gain control over one’s life. I’m here
to tell you, this doesn’t have to be the
case. We control food. Food does not control
us.
I found a clever quote online by a guy
named Jose B. Cabajar, which said "Forgiving
one's self is self-acceptance." In the
event that a binge is eminent, forgive
yourself once it’s over and move on. If
you understand that setbacks are the backbones
of breakthroughs, and you choose to outwit
your low self-esteem you will become a
victor, a champion of the one person who
means so much to you - yourself.
Written by Nancy S. Mure, bestselling
Author of The Caterpillar that Wouldn't
Change, a very short story about never
giving up. http://www.nancysmure.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nancy_Mure
