Can Intuitive Eating Heal Binge Eating?
Short answer? Yes. Long answer? It’s complex (obviously). But I’ll try to break it down in a way that makes sense.
here are some common beliefs about healing binge eating with intuitive eating:
“If I’m not rigid about my eating habits, I will binge every time.”
“Without a structure and routine, I feel thrown off and can’t eat intuitively.”
“Intuitive eating can’t happen if your hunger/fullness cues are thrown off, and binge eating distorts your hunger/fullness cues.”
“Something has to happen in between binge eating and intuitive eating.”
“It’s easy to overindulge in all the options available when starting intuitive eating and binge eating happens instead.”
“Intuitive eating just gives me permission to ‘give into’ and ‘allow’ my binges.”
Relatable? I bet! Hopefully that goes to show you’re not alone.
And, even when you’re experiencing or thinking about those things, intuitive eating is still an incredible approach to stop binge eating and to heal your relationship with food. One of the biggest misconceptions about intuitive eating is that intuitive eating is something you either do, or do not do. Either you are fully listening to your body and always honoring your cravings, or you’re not. That makes it feel like you’re “succeeding” or “failing” at intuitive eating with no in-between. Of course you would think that intuitive eating isn’t accessible from binge eating! It’s not a flip of a switch that you turn on and BAM, you’re an intuitive eater. It’s a practice and a process.
If you’re currently binge eating, that practice and process is going to look a little different than someone who’s not. In fact, even compared to someone else struggling with binge eating, your experience is likely going to be very different because you are you.
yes, something does have to happen before you can go from binge eating to feeling comfortable with intuitive eating: you’ve gotta practice.
That practice is going to involve giving yourself unconditional permission to eat all foods and doing emotional work to find healthy coping mechanisms for deeper healing. You can’t have one or the other. Doing the emotional work but not the behavioral work will make you feel like you “need structure.” Doing the behavioral work but not the emotional work will make you feel like you are “allowing” or “enabling” the binges.
Lastly, it’s important to acknowledge that practicing intuitive eating for the first time will likely feel uncomfortable. You might feel like you’re “messing up,” or that the options feel so overwhelming that binges happen as a result. It might take a while and some intentional consistent eating to re-familiarize yourself with your hunger and fullness cues. All of that is the process of intuitive eating. It’s a practice, not a destination. It just gets easier with time and soon will become second nature.
the practice is embracing being imperfect - being human.
If you’re looking for next steps in healing from binge eating or chronic dieting, I would absolutely love to work with you.
This information does not replace medical advice or guidance from a registered dietitian or licensed therapist!