Help! How do I stop binge-eating in lockdown?
Helpful tips to get you back on track
When lockdown began, a lot of us changed our eating habits. Normal routines turned upside down. We started working from home. We started spending more time with our families. We stationed ourselves perilously close to the kitchen cupboards.
To try and cope in this ‘new normal’ - and all the stress, boredom, fear, anxiety and loneliness that comes with it - a lot of us are treating ourselves more than usual. A couple (dozen) hobnobs here, a big glass of wine there.
It’s as if our brains have gone into ‘holiday-mode’ - albeit a stressful one - where we can eat whatever we want and think about the consequences later.
But now, in our four-hundredth week of lockdown, a lot of us are starting to think about the consequences. A lot of us have started thinking that we really ought to start making some urgent revisions to our current lockdown lifestyle.
To help get you started, here are a few tips from me:
1. Stop Using Food as Your Reward
Yes, you do deserve rewards and you do deserve to treat yourself. But your body deserves better rewards than sugary snacks. Are those Percy Pigs really the best reward you can think of? Instead of that magnum, why not reward yourself with a long relaxing bath? Indulge in some of those beauty products you’ve been saving since Christmas. Buy a new book. Read a magazine. Go for a walk with a friend. Your body deserves a real reward, not a quick fix.
2. Think ‘I AM’ not ‘I WILL’
The words we choose to tell ourselves are very powerful, so choose those words wisely. Saying ‘I am’ before an action is surprisingly persuasive. Think: "I am choosing to buy healthy products which I can transform into delicious food". "I am making the best choices to live in the body I deserve". "I am choosing to eat that apple over those Pringles". The choice is really yours, so make sure it’s the best one.
3. Re-establish your eating routine
With all routine thrown out of the window and all of us in the throws of a new topsy-turvy timetable, it’s easy to eat erratically. If you’re eating a bowl of pasta at 4pm because you at three hot cross buns and a slice of cheese at 11am, make regular mealtimes a priority.
4. Eat “mindfully”
What is leading you to the biscuit tin? What are you thinking about when you open that fridge door? Is it boredom? Stress? Hunger? Address the feeling before mindlessly throwing back those chocolate buttons.
5. Out of sight, out of mind
Why be cruel to yourself? Staying away from snacks which you can see requires a lot of willpower and a lot of energy. Keep snacks in hard to reach places such as the top shelf or the back of the fridge can help stop mindless snacking. It’s amazing how quickly you forget about them when you cant see them.
6. Stop impulse purchases
It is often women who are responsible for the supermarket shop (if not, lucky you!). Try re-wiring your mind on your next online shop or masked procession around Sainsbury’s. If you’re prone to picking up junk food and drinks, stop and think ‘do I really need this now?’. Ask yourself, “is this really going to get me into that new dress or am I choosing a life of elasticated waistbands and Shapers”
Count down from five to stop your brain in its tracks and help you to resist those impulse purchases.
7. Shop Sensibly
Fill your cupboards with delicious and healthy alternatives to sugary snacks. Why make your life difficult in the first place? Your body wants and needs great food. Try to buy and cook fresh, and avoid microwave meals and takeaways altogether. Anything you can't re-create in your kitchen isn't worth eating.
