Stop Binge Eating—Now!

by
Michael Collins
 Table of Contents

1. Introduction ..................................................... 2

2. Checklist For Binge Eating Disorder .................11

3. Easy Does It…But Just Do It ............................. 17

4. Addiction and Craving and Willpower, Oh My! . 27

5. Abstinence ...................................................... 36

6. Withdrawals .................................................... 43

7. Food Plan For Recovery ...................................54

8. Journaling: A Tool For Success ........................70

9. Body Image ...................................................... 73

10. Self-Care and Exercise: Working Out and

Working Within ............................................... 76

11. Meditation ....................................................... 85

12. You Can’t Do This Alone: Support Groups ........ 89

13. Conclusion ....................................................... 93

1
 Introduction

Congratulations! You’ve just taken the first step in the

process of helping yourself out of the binge eating prison you
have been trapped in for years or even decades. It takes a lot
of courage to look this, or any, disorder in the face and make
a commitment to recover. We hope that within this e-book
you will find understanding, compassion, guidance, and,
most of all, hope. Please take comfort in the fact that you are
not alone.

We take our stewardship of BingeEating.com very seriously

and strive to offer everyone who visits our website the very
best information, community, and support to assist people
like you in the process of gaining
control over food and your life.
Having been there ourselves, we
know exactly how you feel. We are
not a boot camp. We are not a
diet. We are not a fad. We are here
to bring you cutting-edge
information and support for a
disorder that is causing immense

2
pain worldwide.

You’ve already taken the first step by seeking out help. This
e-book is intended to give you an understanding of BED and
walk you through the process of recovery. We want you to
live a happy and fulfilled life, free from the physical and
emotional chains of binge eating, and we can help you
achieve this goal.

My Story

It all started with caffeine….

I remember working in restaurants and bars to pay my way

through college, and as the bartender, all the employees had
to come through me to get their drinks. I started to notice a
strange phenomena: it
didn’t matter if it was the 16
year old busboy or the 60
year old cook—the folks that
drank the most caffeine
developed dark circles
under their eyes. And it was

3
relative as to amount. The people with the largest habits had
the darkest circles under their eyes.

That awareness began a lifetime of personal exploration into

the substances we put into our bodies. It led to my personal
recovery from alcohol and drug addiction (another book—
currently in the works), sugar, flour, and wheat dependency,
and even a few more.

Even though I never developed a weight issue, I used flour

and sugar just like I used drugs. When I got clean from
alcohol and drugs, I turned to these sweet products and
comfort foods to fill the emptiness inside me which had
nothing to do with physical hunger. I remember eating
7,000-10,000 or more calories in one sitting almost every
night. I “passed out” on the couch, was left feeling tired,
groggy, and foggy the next day, and I hid and hoarded food
all the time, afraid of running out of my “stash.” Early in my
recovery I started to notice that caffeine and sugar were
present at a lot of the support groups. Every meeting and
every event was a sugar and caffeine smorgasboard. And
then I noticed that all the new folks started to pack on what
is commonly called in college “the freshman 15.”

4
Addiction professionals will tell you about “substituting one
drug for another,” and it seemed very obvious to me that
everyone was substituting sugar and caffeine for their drugs
of choice. The obvious also happened, and that is the
freshman 15 got much larger for many, many folks. When I
would talk about sugar, flour, wheat, and caffeine, people
took to calling me the “weird addiction” specialist.

As my recovery advanced, I eventually quit caffeine and then

sugar and then flour and wheat much in the way I describe
here in the book. The only difference was, even though I was
surrounded by addiction-savvy people, my journey was
pretty much alone.

The one thing that cemented my beliefs in this subject was

the pregnancy of my wife and the birth of my children—
identical twin boys. By some miracle my wife had bought
into my beliefs and vowed with me not to eat sugar, flour, or
wheat or ingest caffeine during the pregnancy. Then we
raised the boys without these substances for the first six
years of their lives. After that, about once a month, we would

5
allow them to eat it at other people’s birthdays but never at
home. Yes, it was crazy hard convincing and educating
family members, school officials, and babysitters, but I
believe with all my heart that it created much healthier
children.

6
I believe that one day, in the advancement of human history,
200 years from now we will look back and say things like
“Did you know they used to give sugar to children?” Much
like we say now “Did you know they used to put cocaine in
Coca cola?” If you want to read all about the science behind
it, check out Dr. Lustig’s YouTube video, Sugar: The Bitter
Truth or his book Fat Chance.

For most of history people have come together as a

community or tribe to pass on information and provide
support in order to tackle things that we “know” but can’t
seem to “do” without help. This e-book and BingeEating.com
serve to continue that tradition. I hope you’ll join us so that
we can help each other to change your life and the lives of the
millions of people affected by this terrible disease: binge
eating and sugar/flour/wheat addiction.

It’s Official: the DMS-5 Definition of Binge Eating

Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is defined by the American

Psychiatric Association as being characterized by:

7
 “…episodes of binge eating in which [the person]
consume[s] very large quantities of food in a brief
period and feel out of control during the binge.
Unlike people with bulimia nervosa, they do not
try to get rid of the food by inducing vomiting or
by using other unsafe practices such as fasting or
laxative abuse. The binge eating is chronic and
can lead to serious health complications,
particularly severe obesity, diabetes,
hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.”

BED is now an official diagnosis in the DSM-5 (Diagnostic

and Statistical
Manual of Mental
Disorders), the
guide that
psychiatrists and
psychologists use to
define and diagnose
illnesses. Added in
May 2013, this is the official “rule book” for the industry and
the inclusion of BED is important because it puts everyone

8
on the same page, so to speak, when diagnosing and treating
BED.

It took over two decades and 1,000 published research

papers, but BED is now considered a valid and legitimate
disorder. Because of this official recognition, many insurance
and health care providers now offer coverage for the
treatment of BED. This is wonderful news!

BED is the most common eating disorder in the U.S.,

affecting 3.5% of adult women, 2% of men and up to 1.6% of
adolescents. We think the actual numbers are much higher,
but let’s stick with the professionals’ numbers. It affects
African-Americans and Caucasians equally and the disorder
seems to be both physical and psychiatric.

Not everyone who is obese has BED, but a common affliction

for those with BED is obesity (2/3 of people with BED are
obese), as well as high levels of anxiety and depression that
can last a lifetime.

9
Is This You? Common Scenarios of the Binge Eater

Though related, binge eating

is not just overeating, having
cravings now and again,
indulging in dessert during
the holidays or on special
occasions, or eating too much
when you are hungry.

The typical binge eater is very

similar to the alcoholic in that
once she’s had the first
“drink” (cookie, donut, chip,
etc.) she spirals out of control
and can’t stop until the whole thing is gone. She may sneak
into the kitchen in the middle of the night to devour an
entire carton of ice cream while standing up in the light of
the refrigerator. She is usually plotting out her next
rendezvous with her food of choice, including which store or
café she will stop at to stock up. She may turn down invites
from people, go home early to seek comfort in a bag of

10
cookies, or feel resentful of people who can stop eating after
one piece, handful, or bite.

This cycle repeats itself again and again, with vicious bouts of
guilt, self-hatred, despair, and hopelessness. The binge eater
may or may not promise herself that this time will really be
the last time, but because of her powerlessness over this
condition, it never is—even as she gains weight, suffers from
health problems, or damages relationships.

Binge eating is compulsive and it’s emotional.

Checklist For Binge Eating Disorder

Everyone occasionally overeats—especially during the

holidays, when they’re under stress, or in social situations.
But consuming large quantities of food or being overweight
does not necessarily make you a binge eater.

Professionals agree that in order to be diagnosed as a binge

eater, a person has to exhibit the symptoms listed below at
least once a week for more than three months:

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1. Overwhelming feelings that you cannot control what you
are eating or how much you are eating
2. Recurring incidents of eating very large amounts of food in
one sitting
3. Eating much faster than you normally would (in front of
other people)
4. Eating to the point where you are uncomfortably full
5. Eating an excessive amount of food even though you don’t
feel hungry physically
6. Recurring incidents of eating alone due to embarrassment
at the amount of food you are eating
7. Overwhelming feelings of shame, guilt, disgust or
depression because of what you have just done
8. Massive variations in your weight
9. Low or no self-esteem
10. Noticeable decrease in sexual energy/desire
11. The desire to try various diets

If any of these symptoms apply to you, please do not feel bad.

Awareness is the first step to finding a solution to any
problem in life. The fact that you are reading this e-book
shows that you are a smart individual who cares enough
about yourself to take responsibility for and seek positive
change in your life. You are much more than merely a group

12
of symptoms, so go easy on yourself as you continue reading
this book. Compassion for yourself is just as important as
courage; in fact, they are synonymous.

To better assess if you qualify for this disorder, take the

binge eating quiz here.

The Lies That Binge Eaters Tell Themselves

Like anyone suffering from a disorder over which they have

no control, people with BED have a constant script that runs
through their head on a loop that criticizes, scolds, and

13
humiliates them. That inner voice causes them to binge eat
just to shut it up, but that moment of relief is fleeting—and
the pleasure in eating usually has more to do with quieting
the internal monologue than the food itself. Most, if not all,
of what this inner critic is telling you is a big pack of lies.

Here are the most common lies that binge eaters tell
themselves:

 Binge eating will make me feel better.

 This is the last time.
 Since I can hide it from other people, it’s not really a big
deal.

14
  As long as I only binge eat on the weekends, it’s not out
of control.
 I just did XYZ—I deserve to celebrate!
 I’ll start that diet/exercise program tomorrow.
 I’ll exercise for two hours to compensate for the box of
donuts I just ate.
 I am only loveable at a certain weight/nobody loves
me/I’m completely unlovable.
 If I can’t have a perfect relationship with food then it’s
not worth even trying.
 Since I don’t binge eat all the time, my eating disorder
isn’t really that bad.
 I just need to have stronger will power.
 Something is very wrong with me.
 I’m a failure.
 I have a successful career, so this means that I don’t
have a real problem.

The Long-Term Risks of Binge Eating

Many people over-satiate themselves now and again—we all

know that uncomfortable feeling of eating too much—but
regularly doing this long-term puts you at risk for health

15
problems. According to the National Eating Disorders
Association (NEDA), some of the physical consequences of
binge eating are:

 high blood pressure

 high cholesterol
 heart disease
 type 2 diabetes
 gallbladder disease
 sleep apnea or insomnia
 edema
 kidney disease
 degenerative arthritis
 infertility
 some types of cancer
 irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
 fibromyalgia

The good news is that the sooner you get help, the better
your chances of recovery.

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Easy Does It…But Do It

As you read this e-book, I want you to be kind to yourself.

We find that binge eaters are remarkably hard on
themselves. Really hard. In fact, downright mean. One thing
we have found, time and time again, is that "beating yourself
up" (yes, a medical term) is of absolutely no help. Look at it
this way: if beating yourself up worked, you’d be A-OK right
now.

The thing to keep in mind is that you didn't get here in one
day and you won't walk out of here tomorrow. But if you
make a personal commitment to caring for yourself first and
foremost, then you stand a
much better chance of
recovering than if you
constantly berate yourself.

Beating yourself up stops

today.

17
Binge Eaters Are Extremely Hard on Themselves

People who suffer from BED tend to be unusually hard on

themselves. This is not only very destructive, but may in fact
have been a catalyst for this symptomatic behavior in the
first place. Self-care is just as important as discipline—
maybe even more so—because you won’t overcome any
disorder if you can’t care for and about yourself in every way.

Later in this e-book we will be instructing you to do small,

kind things for yourself. At first they will seem ridiculous
(you might even feel like that Saturday Night Live character
Stuart Smalley!). But here’s the key: do them anyway. Self-
care is the core, the very foundation, of helping yourself walk
through and out of this hell and it can not be
underestimated. Just as your destructive behavior developed
over time, you’ll need to be patient as you practice being kind
to yourself.

We can’t stress enough that BED is a grave disorder and

needs to be taken seriously. What follows is a comprehensive
plan to change behavior that could kill you. It’s that serious.
This plan may sound daunting or frightening, but countless
others have faced the same challenge and been victorious.

18
You can do it, too! You’ll have to do the work, and it won’t
always be easy, but it is possible and it is imperative for your
health—physically and emotionally.

You’ve already cleared the first hurdle by reading this e-book

so far, so give yourself a pat on the back for that. As far as
we’re concerned, you are already beginning to triumph over
your disorder.

19
Why Beating Yourself Up Doesn’t Work

“God, you’re so stupid!”

“What a big, fat loser you are.”

“You never do anything right.”

“Do you know how grotesque you look right now?”

“No wonder no one loves you.”

Do these phrases sound terrible to you? Of course they do!

And yet we say them to ourselves all the time. If our friends
treated us the way we treat ourselves, chances are we would
walk away from them. So the next time you berate yourself,
listen to the words your inner critic is saying and then
imagine saying the exact same thing to your best friend. Isn’t
that a heartbreaking image? In many cases, it would even be
considered verbal abuse.

So why are we so willing to treat ourselves this way?

20
Believe it or not, this inner critic is just doing what it believes
is necessary to protect us and ensure that we are safe. It
comes down to basic survival skills in the face of danger—or
in many cases, perceived danger. The biological “fight or
flight” response that we feel when threatened (whether the
threat is real or imaginary) is designed to ignore the pain,
danger or risk of death and do what is necessary to motivate
us into surviving at any costs.

But just as beating someone else up, physically or

emotionally, never works, beating ourselves up is also futile.
Let me repeat this very important concept: if beating
yourself up
actually worked,
you’d have
stopped binge
eating years
ago.

Beating yourself
up never works.

21
Contrary Action: Being Easy on Yourself

So if beating ourselves up isn’t the answer, what is? Simple:

loving ourselves. Having compassion for ourselves.
Understanding that we have simply been doing the best that
we could given the circumstances—and by circumstances, we
mean not fully comprehending the severity of our disorder
and not having a place to seek help.

Contrary action is any action that is, quite simply, different

from what you’d normally do. The idea behind this concept is
that you have
been making
decisions from
the part of your
mind that is
unhealthy, so if
you want to make
healthy choices,
you can’t rely on this part of your mind. You must allow your
mind to make its default choice, and then do the opposite.
And yes, it will feel unnatural and uncomfortable and wrong.
At first. But eventually, as you get used to this new dynamic,

22
making healthy choices will become second nature to you
and feel more comfortable.

The first contrary action we are going to ask you to perform

is to be easy on yourself. Give yourself some slack. Be proud
that you have sought help. Take a deep breath.

Being Easy on Yourself Isn’t a Free Pass To Not Do

the Work

Many people cannot fathom being easy on themselves

because doing so feels like they’re not taking their situation
seriously. They’re afraid that they or, more importantly,
others will assume that they are condoning their binge
eating.

So let’s be clear here. Being easy on yourself isn’t a free pass.

It doesn’t mean that you don’t take this disorder seriously. It
doesn’t mean that you get to avoid doing the work. It doesn’t
mean you condone your behavior and invite more of the
same into your life.

23
Being easy on yourself just means that you are human, you
deserve to be loved, and you get to practice compassion for
this vastly serious disorder from which you are suffering.

Awareness, Acceptance, Action

Chances are, if you have tried to stop binge eating and were
unsuccessful at it, it’s because you attempted to jump
straight to the solution. You may have thrown out all the
tempting food in your kitchen. You likely went on a diet. You
might have even tried socializing only with people for whom
food wasn’t a problem. You bribed yourself with a reward if
you managed to not binge eat for a week.

But before you even think about the solution, you must be
truly and fully aware of the problem. Otherwise you’re just in
denial, and being in denial makes you susceptible to being
sucked back into the problem again. Being fully aware of the
issue means understanding how you came to binge eat in the
first place, what’s going on at a deeper level (binge eating is
not really about food), and truly grasping the consequences
of your disorder.

24
Only when we’ve become sincerely aware of our situation can
we move on to acceptance. This concept is often a difficult
one to embrace because, as we mentioned earlier, most
people mistake accepting a situation for condoning it. Let’s
clear this up right now. To condone is to approve of
something that is considered wrong and allow it to continue.
To accept something is simply to agree with reality. All we’re
asking you to do is to agree with reality, which may sound
something like: “I am a binge eater” or “I have an unhealthy
relationship to food.”

Once we’re aware of our problem and accept that we have

this problem, only then can we effectively take the actions
necessary to solve
the problem.

Acceptance
Always Precedes
Change

A final word on
acceptance. It is a fundamental truth that acceptance always
precedes change. Being able to accept yourself, your
struggles, your past, your emotions, and your setbacks—not

25
to mention your successes, your future, your self-worth, and
your happiness—is the key that unlocks the door to recovery.
Stop fighting yourself. Stop fighting reality. Accept and love
yourself just the way you are, even when it seems ridiculous,
uncomfortable, and counter-intuitive. In fact, especially
when it seems ridiculous, uncomfortable, and counter-
intuitive.

Always Check with Your Doctor First

Before starting any physical change (diet, exercise), always

check with your doctor first to ensure that any existing or
potential health problems aren’t triggered. The Mayo Clinic
suggests checking with your doctor if any of the following
apply:

 You have heart disease.

 You have asthma or lung disease.
 You have diabetes or kidney disease.
 You have arthritis.

26
 Addiction and Craving and Willpower, Oh My!

We at BingeEating.com believe that BED is a biochemical

dependency that cannot be controlled my willpower alone.
Goodness knows we have all tried! But food addiction is very
similar to drug addiction. Just like opiates lead to chemical
addictions in the brain, ingesting sugar, flour, and wheat in
all its forms triggers our bodies to crave more.

Biochemical means characterized by, produced by, or

involving chemical reactions in living organisms such as the
brain. Those who suffer from BED experience physical

27
cravings, mental obsession, and a distortion of basic instincts
and will.

There is a lot of scientific proof related to these cravings, but

since we’re trying to keep this e-book short and sweet (if
you’ll pardon the pun), we’re going to focus more on
solutions you can implement to overcome these cravings.
And, yes, you can overcome them!

Addiction: No One Wants To Admit To This Ugly

Word

Before we move on, we need to stop and address a simple yet

powerful word: addiction. When you think of an addict,
chances are you picture someone hooked on heroin or crack,
needle punctures up and down their arms, living in squalor
or maybe on the streets, selling anything (including their
body) to get that next hit.

With this idea of the addict, it’s easy to see why no one would
want to admit to being one themselves. But addiction covers
a much greater spectrum of addictive substances and
behaviors. According to the American Society of Addiction
Medicine:

28
 Addiction is characterized by inability to
consistently abstain, impairment in behavioral
control, craving, diminished recognition of
significant problems with one’s behaviors and
interpersonal relationships, and a dysfunctional
emotional response. Like other chronic diseases,
addiction often involves cycles of relapse and
remission. Without treatment or engagement in
recovery activities, addiction is progressive and
can result in disability or premature death.

You can be
addicted to food,
alcohol, drugs,
people, work,
exercise, sex,
gambling,
shopping, social
media—and so on.
In short,
addiction simply refers to a behavior over which you have no
control.

29
The Power of Sugar, Flour, and Wheat

Did you know that flour turns to sugar in your stomach?

That’s why sugar and flour (and wheat, which is ground to
make flour) are pretty much the same when it comes to
cravings. Sugar does not just contribute to weight gain; its
effects go much deeper than that.

Sugar, flour, and

wheat are very
powerful
psychoactive
drugs that wreak
havoc on the body
and alter how we feel and behave—in the same way that
more “powerful” drugs like alcohol and cocaine do. The
problem is that people never tie together the idea of sugar,
flour, and wheat being “psychoactive.” They just can’t seem
to put them in the same category with drugs. Even though
we’ve all experienced the “sugar rush” or “sugar high” we still
don’t think of ourselves as abusers of drugs when we overeat
sugar, flour or wheat.

30
There is plenty of research, like that done at the University of
Florida, showing that certain foods, such as those that
contain sugar, create the same responses in the brain’s
dopamine receptors as alcohol and other addictive
substances. In addition, it states that sugar actually
surpasses cocaine as a reward.

Intuitively, we all know that, but what kicks in is the number

one symptom of addiction: denial. Who wants to admit that
they are a drug addict and their drug of choice is food (or at
least highly processed and refined foods)? Many recovered
drug and alcohol addicts have said that it was harder to get
off sugar, flour, and wheat than it was to get off drugs and
alcohol.

Think about that for a minute.

Does that give you an idea of just how powerful the draw is to
use these substances?

Just know that it’s not your fault. Sugar, flour, and wheat
have been in our food system long before you were even
born. But armed with the information in this e-book, on our
website, or any other source of help, now that you’re aware of

31
the power of these substances, you need to take steps to help
yourself.

Cravings

A craving is a powerful desire for something. Research

indicates that pretty much 100% of women and 70% of men
have regular food cravings.

People who are not binge eaters may tell you that your
cravings are all in your head, but in fact cravings are very
real, biological responses. Three regions in the brain—the
hippocampus, insula, and caudate—are responsible for
cravings and
tend to be
stronger than
the brain’s
reward center.

When you’re
stressed or
anxious or otherwise upset, this is the moment when your
craving for emotionally-satisfying foods kicks in. During

32
your food binge your anxiety and stress seem to melt away—
hence the strong “reward” factor.
Consuming sugar, flour, and wheat raises serotonin, one of
our body’s natural chemicals that maintains mood balance
and has a calming effect.

Volume As a Trigger

Later on in this e-book we will get to a healthy food plan for

recovery, but please keep in mind that large volumes of food,
even on the food plan, can trigger cravings. In other words,
eating large amounts of food causes a change in one of the
brain’s chemicals, dopamine, which activates an appetite for
the very food that stimulated the dopamine level in the first
place.

In order to treat food addiction—or any addiction, actually—

you must change your lifestyle. For us it means not only
changing the foods that we eat but also the amount that we
eat.

33
The Myth of Willpower

Many people who suffer from BED (or any other form of
addiction) have probably bemoaned the fact that if only they
had more willpower, they could overcome their dependency
on food.

But willpower is not the problem.

When it comes to binge eating, nobody has enough

willpower to stop it once and for all. Roy Baumeister, a
Florida State University psychologist, and New York Times
science columnist John Tierney wrote a book called
Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Strength in which
they show that willpower is a form of mental energy that is
fueled by glucose.

What this means is that your crumbling resolve is not a

figment of your imagination or evidence that you are lazy; it
means that after you deplete your glucose reserve your
ability to control your actions, emotions, and choices
becomes weak. Hence succumbing to temptation and making
poor decisions. To quote Tierney: “We call it the dieter’s

34
catch-22: in order to not eat, you need willpower. But in
order to have willpower you need to eat.”

Dependency Can’t Be Controlled By Willpower

Alone

Since willpower is a
finite resource that
inevitably becomes
depleted, when we
put all our
addiction-stopping
eggs into the
willpower basket, we
are just setting ourselves up to fail. And no amount of
willpower can make you put the carton of ice cream down if
you are getting something out of it—which everyone with an
addiction is.

Louise Hay distills addiction down to the belief that we’re

not good enough. Any type of compulsive behavior is a
means of running away from all those painful,
uncomfortable, and frightening feelings that are tumbling
around inside of us. We binge eat to numb these feelings,

35
and then the binge eating itself serves as a distraction from
examining and dealing with the feelings.

In other words, we have a need to binge eat.

It is only by acknowledging and then releasing the need that

we can recover.

Abstinence

First, let us clarify exactly

what we mean by abstinence.
Abstinence is, in this case, a
complete avoidance of sugar,
flour, and wheat—those
substances that we
constantly crave in our addiction. Avoiding these things may
seem daunting, but once you begin to change your habits and
experience the positive consequences as a result, you will
find that abstinence gets easier.

There are two basic ways to recover from binge eating:

incrementally or completely. In the first strategy you
gradually give up trigger foods, and in the second you go cold

36
turkey and give up all trigger foods. We at BingeEating.com
subscribe to the second model of abstinence, because we
believe that giving up only some foods will still trigger
cravings and cause you to either binge on another food or
increase the volume of your remaining trigger foods. If you
don’t cut out all your addictive foods you won’t be able to
sustain abstinence from any of them.

We believe that when it comes to food addiction (and that’s

what binge eating is), moderation always fails. That’s like a
sober alcoholic trying to drink socially. It’s a recipe for
disaster.

What To Expect

Because of the catch-22 nature of cravings (binge eating

triggers dopamine which in turn triggers binge eating), it is
very likely that you will have to abstain from sugar, flour,
and wheat for the long-term. For anyone with a dependency
on a substance that provides such emotional “relief” this can
seem as though you are being asked to cut off a leg. This is
the reaction of the addict. But if you think about the life you
desire—a happy, healthy life free from the rollercoaster of
binge eating and the inevitable feelings of disgust, despair,

37
and shame—a sugar-, flour-, and wheat-free life won’t seem
as scary.

The benefits of sugar, flour, and wheat abstinence are vast:

Natural weight loss – Cutting out sugar, flour, and wheat

will automatically cause natural weight loss. Why? These
foods stimulate the production of insulin, which is a
hormone made by the pancreas that regulates glucose levels.
Insulin controls how the body uses the fat that comes from
the food we ingest, and when insulin levels are low, the body
has an easier time accessing the stored fat and burning it to
provide energy.

38
Decreased health risks – Abstaining from sugar, flour,
and wheat will lower your risk of health problems, such as
diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high
cholesterol, and a host of other health problems as listed in
the earlier section The Long-Term Risks of Binge Eating.

Improved immune system – Eating just one teaspoon of

sugar suppresses the immune system for up to five hours. A
weakened immune system puts us at risk of illness including
infectious diseases, allergies, and the common cold.

Self-love – Abstinence is about more than just food; it is an

emotional and spiritual journey and a means to a rich inner
life of confidence, peace, and happiness.

Mental sharpness – We all know that feeling of being in a

sugar fog or sugar hangover after a binge. Your thinking is
fuzzy, you feel sleepy, you become bloated, gassy,
constipated, your head pounds, and your emotions swing like
a monkey on a branch. Avoiding sugar, flour, and wheat
clears this up, making you mentally sharper and thus better
able to perform daily tasks which involve thinking.

39
Self-control – Binge eating, as we’ve mentioned before, is
not really about the food; it’s about our self-worth. Practicing
abstinence will help you become more patient with yourself
as you learn not to act out with food, but rather deal with
whatever is really going on in that moment.

Cravings Will Subside With Abstinence

Cravings occur when your body begins to detox from sugar,

flour, and wheat. Since you’ve been consuming these things
for a long time, your body has built up a dependency. You
will need to have a period of abstinence from sugar in order
to release the compulsion to use it again. After a week or two
your cravings for sugar will begin to dissipate, and the longer
you abstain the easier it will be. Just take it one day at a time
and those hardcore physical cravings will no longer be part
of your everyday life.

To help yourself establish a binge-eating-free lifestyle, it’s

extremely helpful (crucial, for some people) to avoid places
and situations that involve sugar, flour, wheat or any of your
other trigger foods, and surround yourself with people and
places that are sugar-, flour-, and wheat-free. For example, if
you crave dessert after dinner, you may want to reach out to

40
a friend or go for a walk after your evening meal. If you
always go to the movies with friends who “have to have”
sweets, try going with
other friends who can
support your sugar-,
flour-, and wheat-free
commitment.

Just remember that at

first your cravings will
cause you a lot of
discomfort, then the
discomfort will come and go, and finally your discomfort will
diminish and eventually disappear entirely. It’s only normal
for addicts to want to feel great immediately, but
unfortunately that’s not how it works. Remember, it took
years for your body and your mind to become addicted to
binge eating, so it will take some time to reverse this
addiction.

41
The Importance of Beginning, Nurturing, Guarding,
and Loving Abstinence

We cannot emphasize enough how important it is to learn to

love your abstinence. Not just be abstinent, but truly love it.
Just because you have been able to successfully stop binge
eating does not necessarily mean that your binging days are
over. If you’re abstaining from sugar, flour, and wheat but
quietly (or not so quietly) resenting the fact that you “have
to,” your risk of relapse will always be right around the
corner. And, as the previous section on cravings showed, one
relapse can trigger a nose-dive right back into binge eating.

But if you are willing to begin your abstinence, nurture it like

it’s a newborn baby, guard it with the same determination
that you hid your binge eating, and love it with everything
you’ve got, then you will find that your chance of relapsing is
greatly decreased. So long as you are serious about, and
seriously in love with, abstaining from sugar, flour, and
wheat, happiness will be your lifelong companion.

42
 Withdrawals

Many books on how to stop binge eating, and even, sadly,

some counselors, seem to pay little attention to the process
of withdrawal. Once you cut out sugar, flour, and wheat (or
any addictive substance), your physical and emotional
attachment to them is not going to disappear overnight. The
body goes through a period of detoxification as it rids the
system of every last trace of these toxic substances.

But once you get over the initial hump through abstinence,
you will begin to feel so much better and you will be on your
way to having your BED under control.

43
Binge eating will no longer control you.

What To Expect with Withdrawals

If you’ve ever tried to stop eating sugar, you know the

consequences you go through, from headaches to cold-like
symptoms. Those effects are indicative of just how powerful
sugar is on your system, both physically and emotionally.

Withdrawal symptoms from these substances include:

 hunger (this is not real hunger, it’s emotional hunger)

 headache
 faster heartbeat
 lethargy, low energy, tired all the time
 mood swings
 anger
 anxiety, depression,
 sadness or grief over the loss of this substance
 digestive problems such as diarrhea or cramps
 insomnia

44
  cold or flu-like symptoms such as chills, sweating,
runny nose, watery eyes

Depending on various factors—such as how long you’ve been

eating these foods, how frequently you’ve binged, and your
personal health—these withdrawal symptoms could last a
few weeks or a few months, but as long as you stick with it,
eventually the withdrawal symptoms go away—along with
your craving for these substances.

If natural weight loss is a benefit of cutting out sugar, flour,

and wheat, then why can’t we just wake up one day and say:
“That’s it! For thirty days I will eat no wheat and no flour and
no sugar!”—and then keep our promise to ourselves?

In most aspects of our lives we function and perform tasks

that we don’t love but we do anyway because we’re adults
and we know they’re our responsibility. But when it comes to
not using sugar, flour, and wheat it’s obvious by the growing
obesity epidemic that we aren’t able to say we are going to
quit and then actually do it.

Why is that?

45
Most people can’t do that simple exercise because of
cravings. What are sugar cravings? Simple. Sugar
withdrawals. It’s
your body
wanting to re-
ingest its poison.

The first day you

go off sugar,
flour, and wheat
the cravings aren’t too bad. But if you are like most people,
within two or three days you will be a basket case. (Yes, that
is a medical term!) You will literally not be able to function
well. You’ll likely experience all manner of the withdrawal
symptoms listed above. In short, you will not be fun to be
around.

I know this is going to scare some people off and I’m okay
with that. You’ll be back when you’re ready.

How To Cope With Withdrawals

The answer to that million-dollar question “So how do I stop

sugar cravings?” is abstinence. Pure and simple. You need to

46
have a period of abstinence from sugar, flour, and wheat in
order for the compulsion to use it again to be released.
Words like “compulsion” might be difficult to accept at first,
but if you’re reading this e-book then you’re clearly ready
and open-minded enough to face it.

You need to string together a week or more of sugar-, flour-,

and wheat-free living in order to allow the sugar cravings to
dissipate. Keep in mind that it will take much longer than a
week to overcome the urge to use sugar all together, but the
hardcore physical cravings will not be a part of your everyday
life if you can commit to this initial period of abstinence.

We have found that people need to do two things to get

through this initial detox, as well as the first few months of
abstinence, and go on to a happier, healthier, and (as a
result) thinner life.

One: you need information. With all the confusing and

often conflicting information out there, you need to be able
to separate fact from fiction. Addiction and health are two of
the most confusing topics out there for the average person.

47
As we stated at the beginning of this e-book, we take BED
very seriously and strive to provide the very best information
and support for this disorder that is causing immense pain
worldwide, and to help people like you to gain control over
binge eating and thus your life. We’ve been there ourselves,
so we know exactly how you feel.

Two: you need support. In order to beat an addiction or

issue that has plagued you for years, you cannot do it alone.
Support groups are often looked upon as havens for weak
people who can’t do it themselves, can’t “pull themselves up
by their
bootstraps,” and
can’t “just stop”
like all the people
around them are
telling them to do.

But the evidence of

success for people
helping others do
anything is well

48
documented throughout history. We humans are a social
bunch. We need each other and we act and react better when
we are in a group setting.

One of the biggest common denominators among people

who are successful—at anything, not just stopping binge
eating—is that they never did it alone. They always had
support, whether it was a mentor, a friend, a therapist, a 12-
step program, or any other form of assistance and
encouragement. (More on this later.)

Remember, your attachment to sugar, flour, and wheat is

emotional and won’t disappear after one day of abstinence.
Please be patient with and kind to yourself, and enlist
whichever type of support works best for you.

Day-by-day Outline of Walking Through and

Managing Withdrawal

If you're 100% ready, willing, and open, I’m going to walk

you through sugar, flour, and wheat withdrawal (and make
no mistake—that is exactly what it is). The hardest part will
be that first week or ten days.

49
A quick note about caffeine before we get started. Anything
with caffeine in it is just going to trigger you. About 99% of
caffeinated products also have sugar in it (or used with it). So
I would suggest that you take one week to quit caffeine
before you attempt quitting sugar, flour, and wheat.

If you attempt it while going through sugar/flour/wheat

withdrawal, you're going to confuse the detox symptoms
with the withdrawal symptoms and be unable to identify
each for the future. Plus the resulting physical condition of
doing both at the same time is just too hard.

Work schedule: I always suggest that if you can’t take a

week off during this withdrawal process then start on a
Friday. The first day of going off sugar, flour, and wheat
won’t be so bad, and then you’ll have the weekend.

Family: You will need to prepare them because you’re not

going to be yourself. Try to plan this for a time when your
obligations in general are at their lowest. We want you to be
able to rest a lot.

Food preparation: Be prepared!! Throw out absolutely

everything with sugar, flour, and wheat in it. Have the foods

50
you can eat on hand, and have lots of them. While I do
believe that some people are triggered by volume of food,
eating a little more of non-sugar/flour/wheat items during
withdrawals is fine.

Make this your priority: The most important thing to do,

one day at a time, is not ingest sugar, flour or wheat. Take
short walks every day and rest. A lot. Your body needs it—
badly.

Day 1: Grace period. You may have a small headache near

the end of the day and feel a little tired.

Days 2-7: I’m not going to lie to you. These days will likely
be tough. You are going to feel depressed. But remember—
for the majority of folks this is a physical, and not
psychological, reaction to not eating sugar/flour/wheat as
your adrenals and serotonin uptake mechanisms rest and
begin to heal.

Flu symptoms: It’s going to feel like you have the flu. You
do not have the flu and please do not take any flu medicine.
It will only prolong the withdrawals. Drink plenty of water.

51
Night sweats: Not all folks have night sweats but if you do,
just know that it is purely physical and not a sign of some
dire illness. It will pass.

Hunger: Most people think that their stomach growls,

literally makes noises, when they feel an empty feeling and a
“need” to eat. One of the “symptoms” of withdrawals is going
to be crazy, insane, insatiable hunger in your stomach. Just
try and remember that it’s not true hunger but a withdrawal
reaction. That’s why I’m okay with a little bit of volume
during the first week. Eat what you want of quality veggies
and meats, but please don’t binge on real sweet fruit.

Week 2: During the second week, you’ll start to feel better

physical rather quickly. You’ll start to think, “I got this.”
While confidence is good, overconfidence is deadly. Stick
with the food plan. Begin to measure your portions and start
to get in a rhythm with your schedule.

Emotional recovery: By week two, if not earlier, you are

going notice feelings of all kinds that just seem to be
overwhelming you. And they all are going feel like they are
hitting you at once.

52
This is a critical time for you and your recovery.

I personally believe that sugar, flour, and wheat are not foods
at all but very powerful psychoactive drugs. Where I see the
biggest failure rate is the inability to accept the idea that we
have been using these substances to manage our emotions
our whole lives
and that without it
we need to learn
new methods.

You life will

continue. Your
stressors will
continue. All your
relationships will
continue. What
won’t continue is
your go-to stress reliever, your go-to escape method, and
your go-to mind number.

We need to find new ways to deal with the ups and downs of
life. As you’ll see in the exercise section, exercise is not for
weight loss, it’s a positive method to deal with stress.

53
Weeks 3 and 4: Physically you’ll feel much better, but
many folks have a tough time emotionally. Stick to your and
start working on building your support system. You are going
feel overwhelmed. Please don’t use these feelings as an
excuse to find another substitute for chemically managing
your emotions.

The third and fourth weeks are very, very important because
while the main physical withdrawal symptoms are gone, the
re-learning of emotional sobriety is ever present. These
weeks will be modeling your life moving forward.

If you feel you’d like a mentoring program or would like to

work with me personally please send me an email at Michael
(at) BingeEating.com.

Food Plan For Recovery

An essential part of your recovery from binge eating is

having a solid, healthy food plan in place as you eliminate
sugar, flour, and wheat from your diet. The foundation of the

54
 food plan is the
most important
step in obtaining
abstinence, and it
is imperative that
we follow our plan
for the amounts we
eat and how often,
which we will get to in a bit.

Eating healthy foods and cutting out toxic ones affects the
mind in a positive way, meaning that sound nutritional
habits will aid you in gaining control over the insanity of this
disease.

Once you begin following the plan you may be tempted to

deviate—even just a teensy bit—or give yourself a “well-
deserved” cheat day. Please keep in mind that the tendency
to rationalize is part of an addict’s thinking, so you’ll need to
summon up a little extra strength and courage to win over
these temptations, and trust that these are proven guidelines
that have helped countless others who have been there just
like you. It worked for us, and it will work for you.

55
Benefits of Following the Food Plan

You’re going to see a lot of food in the coming pages, so

please keep in mind that, even if you’re on the food plan,
these foods can trigger cravings as well. The food plan is not
a diet; dieting doesn’t help food addiction. In order to treat
food addiction—any addiction, actually—you must change
your lifestyle.

For us it means changing the foods that we eat, the way that
we eat them, and the amount that we eat. The guidelines for
men, women and children vary, so there is no one, across-
the-board plan for everyone to follow.

These are just some of the benefits you’ll discover when you
follow the food plan:

1. Develop healthy eating habits

2. Reduce/eliminate cravings for sugar, flour, and wheat
3. Clear the body and mind of chemicals that inhibit
healthy and positive thinking
4. Heal our internal organs that may have been damaged
by binge eating abuse
5. Enable our bodies to operate at optimal levels

56
 6. Stabilize blood sugar levels and metabolism to prevent
triggering cravings and binges
7. Gain self-confidence, which lowers our desire to
sabotage ourselves

NSFW: No Sugar, Flour or Wheat

Ok, you now know that you need to abstain from sugar, flour,
and wheat, but what does that mean exactly?

Sugar. Do you have any idea how many different types of

sugar there are? Check out this list (in alphabetical order):

 Ace-K
 Acesulfame-k (Sunette, Sweet and Safe, Sweet One)
 Aguamiel
 Alcohol
 Alitame
 Amasake
 Artificial Sweeteners such as Equal, Sweet ‘n Low,
Splenda, etc. (Please note: All diet sodas have artificial
sweeteners, which are now known to create cravings
similar to sugar.)

57
 Artificial flavors (some)
 Aspartame/Nutrasweet
 Barley malt
 Cane juice/Evaporated cane juice
 Caramel coloring
 Concentrated fruit juice
 Corn sweetener
 Cyclamates
 Date paste/syrup
 Dextrin
 Dried/dehydrated fruit
 Extracts
 Fat substitutes made from concentrated fruit paste
 Fructooligosaccharides (FOS)
 Fruit flavorings (some)
 Glucoamine/glucosamine
 Glycerine
 Honey
 Jaggery
 Licorice root powder
 Light, lite or low sugar products
 Malted barley

58
 Maltodextrins
 Malts
 Molasses/black strap molasses
 “Natural” flavors (some)
 “Natural” sweeteners
 Nectars
 Neotame
 Olestra (made from sucrose)
 Raisin juice, paste or syrup
 Rice malt, sugar or syrup
 Rice sweeteners
 Saccharin
 Sorghum
 Stevia
 Sucanat (evaporated cane juice)
 Sucraryl
 Sugars: apple sugar, Barbados sugar, bark sugar, beet
sugar, brown sugar, cane sugar, caramel sugars,
confectioner’s sugar, date sugar, grape sugar, invert
sugar, milled sugar, “natural” sugar, powdered sugar,
raw sugar, turbinado sugar, unrefined sugar, etc.
 Syrups: agave, barley, brown rice, corn, date, high-
fructose corn, maple, raising, yinnie (rice), etc.

59
  Vanillin
 Whey (as an additive)
 Xantham gum

And anything with the following suffixes contains sugar:

 -ides: monosodium glycerides, olyglycerides,

saccharides, trisaccharides, diglycerides, disaccharides,
glycerides, monoglycerides, onosaccharides, etc.
 -ol: carbitol, glucitol, glycol, hexitol, inversol, maltitol,
mannitol, sorbitol, xylitol, etc.
 -ose: colorose, dextrose, fructose, galactose, glucose,
lactose, levulose, mannose, polydextrose, polytose,
ribose, sucralose, sucrose, tagatose, zylose

Flour. As you might recall, flour turns to sugar in your

stomach.

 Beans, vegetables, nuts or grains that are ground into

flour, meal or powder
 Guar gum
 Starches

60
Wheat. This is a cereal plant that is ground up to make
flour.

 Bran (if made from wheat)

 Bulgar
 Cracked wheat
 Durun wheat
 Gluten
 Kamut
 Red wheat/red spring wheat
 Seitan (made from wheat protein, gluten)
 Semolina
 Spelt
 Triticale (a wheat/rye hybrid)
 Wheat berries
 Wheat flakes
 Wheat germ
 Whole-grain wheat
 Winter wheat

It’s a really good idea to get into the habit of checking labels
for lists of ingredients, as you may find other names for
sugar, flour, and wheat. Please be aware that some products

61
contain sugar naturally, so make sure you’re checking the
ingredients list and not the nutrition facts, which will list
sugars naturally contained in such ingredients as fruits and
vegetables. The more informed you are about what you need
to avoid, the easier it will be to know what to look for.

Food Plan: How Much and How Often

This food plan is a guide that has worked for tens of

thousands of people when incorporated with the other
suggestions in this e-book. Notice we said “guide,” not magic
wand. Please keep in mind that anyone jumping in and
following a food plan when they are not also immersed in the
inner work such as therapy, 12-steps, or other support
groups will likely find that the food plan will only be a
temporary measure. It’s difficult implementing a new
lifestyle (such as a new way of eating) without support and
resources and like-minded people with whom to share your
struggles.

Breakfast Lunch Dinner Snack

(4 hours (5 hours (4 hours
later) later) later)

62
1 protein 1 protein 1 protein 1 dairy or 2
oz. protein
1 dairy 1 cooked 1 cooked 1 fruit
vegetable vegetable
1 fruit 1 fresh 1 fresh
vegetable vegetable
1 grain or ½ daily oil 1 grain or
starchy starchy
vegetable vegetable
Men: add 1 ½ daily oil
fruit or 1
grain or 1
starchy
vegetable

Getting your BED under control and being on the road to

recovery is about all foods and beverages. Here we provide a
list of appropriate protein, vegetable, starch, dairy,
condiment, fat, grain and beverage choices.

Protein:
beef 4 oz.
chicken 4 oz.
dried beans 1 c.

63
 cooked
2
eggs
medium
fish 4 oz.
hot dogs(not sugar
4 oz.
cured)
lamb 4 oz.
pork 4 oz.
shellfish 4 oz.
turkey 4 oz.
veal 4 oz.
Vegetables - 1 cup of any of
vegetarian protein
6 oz.
(tofu, tempeh) the following:

artichoke mushroom
asparagus okra
bamboo shoots onions
beans (yellow
peppers
or green)
bok choy pimentos
beets radishes
broccoli rhubarb
Brussels
romaine
sprouts
cabbage rutabaga
carrots sauerkraut
snow pea
cauliflower
pods
celery spinach
summer
chicory
squash

64
Chinese
Swiss chard
cabbage
cucumber tomatoes
dill pickles turnips
vegetable
eggplant
juice
endive water cress
escarole
greens *

*beet, collard, dandelion, kale, all types of lettuce, mustard,

any sprouts (no wheat grass)

Note – tomato juice or vegetable cocktail juice without sugar

may be used as a cooked vegetable substitute. 1 cup juice =1
cup cooked vegetables.

Fruits:
apple 1 medium
apple juice 1/2 c.
applesauce 1/2 c.
apricots 3 medium
berries 1 c.
citrus juice 1 c.
cantaloupe 1/2 (6" dia.)
cherries 1 c.
cranberry juice 1 c.
fruit cocktail 1 c.
grapefruit 1/2 large
grapes 1 c.

65
honeydew 1/4 (7" dia.)
Kiwi 3 small
2 small/
lemons, limes
1 large
2 small/
nectarines
1 large
orange 1 large
peach 1 large
pear 1 large
pineapple 1 c.
pineapple juice 1/2 c.
plums 3 med.
prune juice 1/2 c.
tangerine 2 small
watermelon 1 c.

Starches:
baked potato 1 small (6
(white) oz.)
Beans (lima, navy, 1/2 c.
all dried beans) cooked
corn 1 med.
1/2 c.
corn (kernel)
cooked
mashed potatoes
1/2 c.
(white)
mashed yams 1/2 c.
parsnips 1/2 c.
peas, dried 1/2 c.

66
peas, green 1/2 c.
pumpkin 1/2 c.
1 small (6
sweet potato
oz.)
squash* 1/2 c.

* acorn, butternut, Hubbard, winter and spaghetti squash

Dairy:
buttermilk 1 c.
low-fat or non-fat
1/2 c.
ricotta cheese
milk (skim or 1 %) 1 c.
low-fat cottage cheese 1/2 c.
low or non-fat yogurt 1 c.
unsweetened soy
1 c.
beverage

Note – if you are dairy sensitive, eliminate dairy and

substitute 2 oz. of any type of protein. Also, dairy may be
used as a protein.

Condiments - Any spice or sauce that is sugar-free,

alcohol-free or wheat-free including, but not limited to,
mustard, tamari, salsa, non-fat yogurt, lemon juice, etc.
Limit spice and condiment use to the levels recommended in

67
recipes or no more than 1 teaspoon per day of any one spice
and no more than two tablespoons per day of any one sauce.

Fat - Women choose one and men choose two from the
following:

oil (olive,
1 tablespoon
coconut)
butter 1 tablespoon
mayonnaise 1 tablespoon
salad
dressing
(without
sugar,
2 tablespoons
artificial
sweetener,
or corn
syrup)

Grains - 1 cup of any of the following, measured after

cooking:
amaranth grits
barley millet
oat
brown rice
bran*
oatmeal
buckwheat
+
Cereals: quinoa

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 3 rice
puffed cakes
brown rice =1
serving
cream of
puffed corn
rye
puffed
rye
millet

*(1/2 c. raw=1 c. cooked)

+Non-wheat, sugar-free, dry cereal

Beverages – Suggested drinks are water, carbonated

water, herbal tea, decaffeinated coffee or decaffeinated tea.

Clear soup (without sugar) is permitted before lunch or

dinner.

Tomato juice or vegetable cocktail juice without sugar may

be used as a cooked vegetable substitute. 1 cup juice =1 cup
cooked vegetables.

Please note: All diet sodas have artificial sweeteners, which

are now known to create cravings similar to sugar.

69
 Journaling: A Tool For Success

Journaling is a great tool for success from binge eating or

any other type of addiction or compulsion, because it enables
us to shine a light
on our deepest,
darkest thoughts.
Shame hides in
the darkness, so
when we throw
that floodlight on
it, it has nowhere
to go. It cannot have the same hold on us when it has been
exposed.

Journaling is like therapy, only instead of telling someone

else, you’re telling yourself via a notebook. It allows you to
take those sometimes cryptic or nebulous thoughts and focus
them into concrete words. Journaling is also a effective way
to track your progress, motivate and inspire you, and
possibly even reduce your chances of relapse.

Further benefits of journaling include: clarity, learning more

about yourself, gaining insight about what’s going on, an

70
outlet for stress, increasing accountability, and reminding
yourself how far you’ve come.

The Importance of Rigorous Honesty

Here’s the key, though. The difference between successful

people and the ones who fail is that the people who were able
to stay off sugar didn’t only record what they ate, they
recorded how they felt when they ate it.

I would like to encourage you to do the same. I’ve even

created an easy, printable PDF template to get you started:
you can download your food journal page here.
If you’re honest in your journaling, you will start to see a very
distinct pattern in your feelings and in your use of sugar. My
successful clients always start to find out things like:

“Felt down and anxious before three slices of cake, but after
and during—just for a few minutes—I felt right with the
world. Then I crashed again and it was even worse.”

“Ate 8oz broiled salmon and 8oz broccoli, felt the same
before and after.”

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“I can’t believe I ate a one pound bag of M&Ms, but the stress
of work melted away.”

“The cravings for chocolate don’t seem to hit me on the

weekends.”

And so on and so forth.

This is a simple system, requiring just a 99¢ notebook, but it

has changed many lives for the better. There is no need to
change your eating patterns just yet; simply record your food
intake honestly.

Remember to record not just your food, but also your

feelings. How did you feel before binging? What did your
mind tell you about what you were eating and why you were
eating it? And how did you feel afterwards?

Journal like this for one month and then review it. I think
you will find that, without a shadow of a doubt, you use food
(and particularly sugar) to manage your emotions, if only for
a few brief moments.

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This task requires that you be very honest with yourself.
Remember that no one but you ever needs to read what you
wrote, so if you
find yourself
being anything
less than honest
in your notebook,
ask yourself who
you are trying to
fool.

The people who

succeed, stay
close to sugar
free, and reach their goal weight are rigorously honest in this
process of uncovering their feelings around the use of this
drug. Remember, there is no need to change your eating
patterns just yet. We have to change the way that we think
about sugar, and the change in diet will just happen—almost
like magic.
Body Image

Recovering from BED will be much easier if you can learn to

accept your body at every stage of the process. Your journey

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will not only be easier, but more pleasant, too, if you
surround yourself with people who are traveling the same
path. Just the sheer act of talking to a like-minded fellow on
the phone or meeting them for coffee will provide relief, even
if only for that moment, from your thoughts of shame or self
criticism of your body.

Acceptance At All Weights

This is so much easier said than done, especially with the

media bombarding us with societal expectations of what we
should look like in order to be okay/lovable/accepted. Most
of these images we see are, for the most part, unattainable.

But this is not just an external problem; our internal

thoughts about our bodies are often our worst enemy. Even
people who are considered physically attractive can suffer
from negative body image. There are a lot of emotional
components to how we feel about our bodies and those
emotions can be triggered by external forces.

Here are some external forces that can cause negative body
image and BED:

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  Being bullied and/or teased as a child or mistreated as
an adult
 Loneliness
 Experiencing prejudice or discrimination because of
your weight, body size or lifestyle
 Being shamed by others
 Being stared at or teased for your weight (whether too
heavy or too thin)
 Getting bypassed for a promotion and/or raise because
of your weight
 Media and societal pressure regarding obesity and
placing too much value on being thin

Part of the recovery process, and what we will help you with,
is learning to love the body you are in, no matter what size
or shape you are. We are all beautiful beings and we are all
okay/lovable/acceptable just as we are.

We realize that learning to love the body we have is easier

said than done and it does take practice, so that is why we
encourage you to join others who are on the same journey.

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 Self-Care and Exercise: Working Out and Working

Within

Self-Care

Practicing self-care is the antidote to negative self-talk, poor

body image, and inability to take action (or taking the
“wrong” action). It is such a simple concept that it can be
easy to overlook it.

While you are fighting the good fight to overcome sugar,

flour, and wheat cravings and recover from BED, it is

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imperative that you balance your work with a little play,
a.k.a. self-care. Since the effects of this disorder tend to be in
the realm of self-loathing, being kind to yourself—even if it
seems frivolous—is an important part of the plan. And bear
this in mind: what might feel like a frivolity to you is usually
a necessity to someone without BED, so perhaps a change in
your perspective about yourself is in order. There are a lot of
different ways you can take care of yourself and some of
them may surprise you, but, trust us, they really work.

So this is where I tell you to go get a massage.

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Your entire being is saying: I don't need a massage, I need to
lose X amount of weight, or I need to stop binging!

I hear you. Now go get a massage.

Self-care is defined, quite simply, as being kind to yourself.

You do this mostly with self-talk but also, as I'm about to
show you, in performing little acts of kindness that you have
been putting off or that you’ve been doing for others instead
of yourself.

Examples of Self-Care

 Treat yourself to a massage

 Get a mani-pedi
 Buy yourself an affordable gift, something that makes
you smile
 Spend an afternoon with the kids in the pool
 Unplug from your phone and computer and relax with a
new book
 Do a kind deed for someone else
 Volunteer at a local charity
 Take your neighbor’s dog for a walk

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  Take a walk on the beach with a friend you haven’t seen
in a long time
 Join a dance class
 Learn how to play an instrument
 Take an art class
 Spend the afternoon at a museum
 Join a gym and set attainable goals for yourself to get in
shape (works physically and mentally)
 Tackle a project you’ve been putting off, such as
organizing a closet, cleaning out the garage, or donating
old clothes to Goodwill

If you can spend just 50% of the day saying kind things like
"It's been a good day, I've stayed on my food plan and I went
in the pool with the kids" instead of "I'm such a loser, I'll
never be able to quit sugar," then you are well on your way to
recovering from BED.

Exercise: It’s Not What You Think

Exercise is for managing your emotions first, not for physical

health and certainly not for weight loss.

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What the heck does that mean?

Obviously, a by-product of exercise is weight loss, but it’s

important to stop the binging first, and understanding the
role that exercise really plays in stopping it is key.

Exercise does not just affect the body, it affects your mental
and emotional state, too. Regular exercise can relieve stress,
decrease depression and anxiety, improve your sleep, and
boost your mood.

We want you to think about exercise in terms of healing your

adrenal glands, your serotonin uptake processes, and all the

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ways the body feels good naturally. After years of abuse and
artificial activation, these mechanisms are simply beat to
hell. They can’t function as God or nature intended.

How Exercise Helps in Recovering From Binge

Eating

Exercise will heal these mechanisms, albeit slowly. The key

here is, as the Nike slogan goes, “Just do it.” Just let go of the
idea of burning calories or losing weight for now. What you
want to do is heal the parts of your body that keep forcing
you to use the substances you know you need to quit.

Here’s how regular exercise can help you:

 Boosts your mood – Exercise releases endorphins,

which are a group of hormones in your brain that give
you energy and make you feel good. As well as helping
to relieve depression and anxiety, regular exercise may
also help prevent you from relapsing.
 Increases self-esteem – Regular activity is
something you do for yourself, so it can positively affect

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 your sense of self-worth as you feel a sense of
achievement.
 Improves sleep – It doesn’t take much exercise to
start improving your sleep. If you exercise at night,
choose moderate, stretching exercises such as walking
or yoga.
 Increases energy – To give yourself a boost of
energy, start your morning off with even a few minutes
of exercise. Daily exercise also strengthens your
immune system.
 Allows you to cope better – Exercise is helpful in
dealing with life’s stresses in a healthy way, instead of
resorting to binge eating (or any other addiction), which
makes you feel worse.

How to Create a Realistic Exercise Plan

To enjoy the benefits of exercise, you don’t need to turn into

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Just 30 minutes of moderate
exercise five times a week ought to do it, or even breaking it
down into two 15-minute or three 10-minute exercise
sessions will do. The point is to do something and do it
regularly.

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If you’re new to exercise or it’s been a while, start with 5- or
10-minute period and then slowly increase your time. It may
feel as though you don’t have the energy to do anything, but
here’s the catch-22: the more you exercise, the more energy
it’ll give you. So the key, as we’ve said before, is to just do it
as best you can. We promise you that if you keep at it on a
regular schedule, you will feel the benefits as listed above.

Write it down on your calendar so that it becomes a must-do

task, rather than an extracurricular activity that you may or
may not get to by the end of the day. Choose a time when you
know you have the best chance of committing, such as first
thing in the morning or on your lunch break or right before
dinner.

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Some suggestions for moderate exercise:

 walking
 yoga
 swimming
 cycling
 dancing (in the privacy of your home!)
 low-impact aerobics
 rebounding (on a mini trampoline)
 tennis or badminton
 playing catch with a friend or your dog
 Frisbee
 household chores like raking leaves/mowing the
lawn/vacuuming/washing the car

My favorite exercise is walking, but sometimes people are

even embarrassed to do that. I would recommend, if you are
serious, to gather the courage, find a workout buddy, and
hold each other accountable. Maybe even visit structured
classes of some sort together.

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We think the tiny shift in the way you view the exercise and
the reasons you are doing it in the first place can really
launch your recovery from binge eating. Exercise is more
important than you think and much more important for
recovery from binge eating disorder than for burning
calories.
Meditation

Meditation is all the rage these days with Fortune 500

companies, the Healthcare Industry, our public schools
systems, colleges and universities, and even tech companies
like Google, Apple, and
Facebook.

We try to steer clear of

advising people on their
spiritual life here at
BingeEating.com, but we do believe it is a necessary part of
recovery and one you should cultivate, however it fits into
your life. It definitely brings us much peace and comfort, and
that intangible thing that we need to move forward.

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Benefits of Meditation

Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years and is a

very useful tool for cultivating relaxation and a calm mind, as
well as for getting know and trust yourself. Meditating will
help you learn that you don’t have to listen to all that
negative self-talk that echoes around your head all day but
rather focus on the things that are important.

The benefits of meditation include:

 Gaining a new perspective on stressful situations

 Building skills to manage your stress
 Increasing self-awareness
 Focusing on the present
 Reducing negative emotions
 Calming anxiety
 Relieving depression
 Lowering blood pressure
 Easing pain
 Improving sleep

I literally can’t describe to you in words the benefits that a

solid meditation practice has brought to my life. There is just

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a calmness that I feel, even in the face of what seems
impossible.

If it’s time to change your life by changing the way you eat,
then it’s time to work on the mind and the thoughts that got
you here. A solid meditation practice can get you to your
goals quicker.

How To Meditate

Meditation is very simple: you just sit quietly and focus your
attention away from your thoughts, generally on your
breathing. There are many different ways to meditate, such
as:

 Guided meditation – where you visualize images of

places or scenarios that you find relaxing. Generally this is
easiest when you are guided by a teacher or tape.
 Mantra meditation – where you repeat a word or
phrase to prevent distracting thoughts. This can also be
done by following a tape.
 Mindfulness or breath meditation – where you
practice increased awareness by focusing on your

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 breathing. When thoughts or emotions come up, you
simply acknowledge them and let them go.
 Transcendental meditation – where you repeat a
personally assigned mantra, such as a word, sound or
phrase, in a specific way by a certified teacher. This
usually costs a fee.

Mindfulness or breath meditation is probably the easiest to

get going on right away. Choose a time, generally first thing
in the morning or last thing at night, close your eyes, and sit
comfortably for anywhere from 5-20 minutes (or longer, but
it’s best to start small). That’s it. You’ll find that your mind
races and jumps and thinks and shouts and sings and
provokes, etc. Your only job is to continue to sit there until
your time is up. Every time a thought comes into your head,
just gently pull your mind back to focus on your breathing.

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 You Can’t Do This Alone: Support Groups

No one wants to go through recovery alone, and that’s okay

to admit because, the truth is, you can’t do it alone. Human
beings are herd animals. We thrive in groups. We belong in
groups. And we are our own worst enemies. If we could do
this alone we already would have, right?

I can hear what you’re probably saying now: “But I don’t

want to go to meetings, I hate those stupid meetings!” Okay.
We’re cool with that. But you do have to find someone, at
least one person, who understands exactly where you are,
what you are doing to yourself, and your plan to walk out of

89
it. You have to be honest with this person and honest with
yourself.

Family and friends are great, but they’ve been around you for
awhile and know you as you are; they’re used to you that way
and, quite frankly, most people don’t like change. They might
not be as supportive as you’d like them to be, or need them to
be. And that’s not something to blame them for; it’s just the
nature of most relationships. You also might not be as open
to being honest with them.

So it’s up to you to find the support of people who can be

objective, who will not be afraid to be honest with you, who
will call you on your BS if they need to, whom you can be
totally honest with and not be afraid of being judged. Most of
all, they need to understand your disorder. If your family
and friends don’t share your disorder, they’re less likely to
“get it” and therefore less likely to be able to help you.

Successful People Never Do It Alone

Whether a person is successful financially, in their career, as

new parents, or health-wise, they all lean on a support group
of some kind. Even the big names like Steve Jobs, Oprah,

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and Donald Trump. That’s how they get to the top of their
game. They built a team of experts, advisors, and others with
whom they can get guidance, advice, feedback, and
encouragement. Richard Branson, entrepreneur and founder
of Virgin Group, has said that the reason he’s successful is
because of his team.

A Word On 12-Step Programs

But back to 12-step programs. They can be an integral part of

your recovery. Our opinion about 12-step programs is based
on 30 years of attendance at meetings worldwide. Having a
support group and a program to follow is essential. You may
be aware of OA (Overeaters Anonymous), which is the

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largest of these programs. OA does not have a defined eating
plan and its members get to “name their own abstinence.”
Many people in OA define their abstinence as we do and we
believe abstinence as we have defined it is critical to your
success.

But we’d like to recommend two other 12-step programs that

do define abstinence in the same way we do: one is FAA
(Food Addicts Anonymous) and the other is Food Addicts in
Recovery.

The thing I like about these two groups (and OA) are the
telephone meetings. Around the clock you can just pick up
the phone and listen. You don't have to say anything, just
listen and see if you can relate.

It doesn’t matter what form of support you get, as long as

you reach out to a safe group or therapist to guide you in
your journey. There are many ways to succeed, but doing it
alone is not one of them.

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 Conclusion

I’ve been asked what I hope you, the reader, will get from
this e-book. The answer is two things. One is hope. I hope
that I have been able to shine the light on this issue just
enough for you to feel that there is a possibility that you, too,
can be successful in ending your binge eating, and that you
can see a clear path to serenity and peace around food, a
path that others have taken successfully and one you can also
travel.

The second thing, and the one I take most seriously as the
steward of the site BingeEating.com, is that I want you know,
deep in your being, that you are not alone. It is well known
that folks like us are “isolators” and that we tend to hide our
eating and so we tend to hide ourselves. Until now our entire
life has been spent in a prison of isolation and the cure is
simply to reverse that pattern of isolation. We were not born
with it. Humans are herd animals. We thrive and grow, live
and love with others.

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It is also well known that one of the cures, if not the primary
one, for these types of maladies are mutual aid societies.
Groups of like-kind, like-minded people banding together to
support each other on the journey. I want you to know that
you have that here. As we grow this site many more
resources will be set into place for you to meet with others on
this same journey.

Your feedback is incredibly valuable to me and I really wish

you, the very small percentage of folks who read this e-book
all the way through, would send me your feedback. Anything
really. I have tough skin. I can take criticism and critique as
long as it’s positive and would help the site serve others.

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Tell me what you need or would like to see. We are in this
together and I see this site as yours with me as the steward.
If you’ve ever thought that you could or would want to help
others once you’ve begun to heal from binge eating, then
you’ve come to the right place. Honestly, that’s what we’re all
about. Send me your comments to Michael (at) BingeEating.com

Be well,
Michael

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