Before you can solve a problem, you need to understand it. Binge eating is no different. Before you can take active and targeted steps to stop overeating episodes, you need to figure out the emotional process you're going through. Then, it will be just simple as it can be to put an end to it.

Understanding the Binge Eating Cycle

Binge eating involves a cycle of actions and emotions that you go through. The key is being able to break the cycle at any one point. Do that enough times and you will never binge again.

Phase 1 - Emotional trigger - Binge eating is always the result of some emotional trigger. Some of us eat when we're sad, others when stressed out, some of us out of boredom. This is what causes you to overeat. It is often a bad emotion which makes you feel like you need instant comforting.

Once that emotion appears, you get insanely hungry, often with a specific craving. The urge to eat is unbearable. One way to stop this urge is to make yourself count to 60 everytime that you feel like eating, another way is to do some physical exercises, anything to take your mind off things.

Phase 2 - Bingeing

This is when you overeat. Sometimes it's a whole day worth of calories in one sitting. The way to stop this from happening is to make sure you don't have a lot of food lying around, especially the kind you like to overeat.Clear out your kitchen and pantry and make your home a more favorable environment.

Phase 3 - Feeling bad... the cycle continues

Usually, when we stop bingeing, instead of feeling comforted, we feel rather bad. We feel that we're weak, that we've let ourselves down, and that we will be fat (or fatter) because we overate. This is an emotional trigger for yet another binge later on and not a constructive way to stop binge eating.

The way to avoid this from happening is to realize that you can't be perfect all the time. You will make mistakes and overeat on occasion, but this will improve with time as you get better at breaking the cycle. Don't be strict with yourself and you will have a much better chance to cure binge eating forever.