On eating to recover

Do you think you "overeat?"

Most people who think they "eat too much" (binge eaters and/or "overeaters") bristle at the concept of eating MORE food to overcome their disordered eating behaviors.

I certainly did.

I understood why "underweight" people, or people who consistently ate at a calorie deficit, might need to eat more food in order to stabilize. That made sense to me.

But me?? No way.

First, let's define "dieting." Dieting refers to any form of controlling your food, whether by macros of food (think Paleo, Keto, or rigid clean eating), amount of food (think calorie counting), or timing of food (think intermittent fasting).

Dieting refers to any type of rules and restrictions that you place on your eating, EVEN IF YOU ARE A "NORMAL" WEIGHT, OR ABOVE A NORMAL WEIGHT.

If you are dieting, you are restricting. No matter what. 

Even if you end up eating allll the foods that you restrict when you binge, you are dieting. There is a huge emotional component at play here that is as much a part of the restriction process as the physical piece. 

Chronic dieting--which almost all "overeaters" partake in because they are always desperately trying to control their weight with yet more control--IS RESTRICTION. 

In order to overcome disordered eating, food must be eaten freely. It is the first step, and it works, but there is really no getting around it.

Trust me, I tried.

For years, I was  D E S P A R A T E to recover. I would have done anything. I people are out there, wishing the same. I see you.