Restriction is Not Better Than Binging
I cannot tell you the number of humans that I have spoken to who feel one way about the act of restriction and another way about binging.
Other ways this might show up... In glorifying “perfect“ eating, in suggesting that our bodies are not trustworthy, that our bodies must be managed, and that there is one way to do this eating, living, practicing selfcare, but not leaning towards a self-indulgent thing.
What an ENORMOUS lie.
I have a deep disdain for the reverence of one eating disorder behavior and the shame associated with another.
Binge eating disorder is a restrictive eating disorder.
Binge eating and binge eating disorder can affect humans who live in small bodies and in large bodies. Binge eating is not unique to one age group, one ethnicity, one gender, one socioeconomic class, or one racial group. Binge eating disorder is the most common eating disorder. And its inclusion in the DSM has made the incidence of breast cancer lower than the incidence of eating disorders.
This is not about self control.
This is not about self control.
This is not about self control.
This is not about self control.
Restricting in an effort to minimize the effect of a binge only leads to further binging.
I think it’s very important to recognize the mechanisms that support our utilization of food as a means of navigating the planet. For many of my clients, food has been THE way to cope in times where other skills were unavailable. And perhaps, in this moment, you are finding this method of interacting with food to be calming, soothing, supportive. Brilliant.
This is not shameful, this is resourceful.
Let’s stop idealizing one eating disorder behavior in lieu of another.
Suffering is suffering.
