Cutting The Cycle

December 07, 2005

We must have something that causes us the desire to eat sweets—especially to binge.

When we cut out the binging and sweet eating, we’re sort of cutting off the top of the tree. It may not solve the underlying problems, but it certainly draws attention to them. Cutting out sweets is like laying off the cashiers at a fast food chain. It stops everything. It removes the connection between us and the degenerative cycle.

You can’t deal with the roots of your addiction if you can’t see the roots. Since I’ve been off sweets for a while, my current behavior is to simply eat more. Lately I’ve been working on eating less, although it’s hard since I’m often quite hungry.

The last time I wanted to binge was Sunday night. I noticed a repetitive thought pattern of telling myself it would be the last time. I promised myself that, if I binged, I’d start fresh on Monday by eating right and getting fit.

I ended up eating toast, apples, and a stir fry, but no sugar! The next time I feel the need to binge I’m going to pay close attention to the events that brought me to that state of wanting to stuff myself. Perhaps I’ll write it all down.

To surmise:
There is something else happening in our lives to cause us to want to binge. It’s not that we just like sweet snacks. Just about everybody likes something sweet. It seems to me that binging usually follows (or is part of) some kind of perceived failure or self deprecation.