TRICK #9: How To Help Keep Yourself From Binging

Over the past few months, I have noticed a trend when I binge. I, personally, have realized that I tend to binge when I am not satisfied. I have gone to the soup kitchen to try to save on money and later that night, I went on a little binging spree.

I now realize that I binge when I cannot eat something that I desire. Sometimes I will crave a certain type of food. Sometimes I will crave some form of protein or meat. When I cannot find any in the house, I start to eat other food, but when I eat the other foods, I'm binging. I will eat my original intended amount many times over because I have a craving that I cannot satisfy.

Realize and acknowledge what your frequent cravings are. Make sure that you have some form of it in the house as often as possible. Better yet, if you can keep a small amount of it in the house as often as possible, you may be able to keep from eating too much. For example, sometimes I may crave a salty carb. but instead of eating an entire "Family Size" bag of potato chips, I might try to keep a smaller bag. Or, if these work for you, buy the 100-calorie packs or buy a box of small bags. This may give you the satisfaction of having eaten enough to satisfy your craving; and in addition, this may give you the satisfaction of looking into the bag and seeing nothing but crumbs, but not consuming as many calories as with a large bag of food. I bring this up because many Americans will eat a meal in such a way that they do not stop eating until there is nothing on the plate. I'm going to guess that the same idea may also apply for snacks; not just meals.

CONCLUSION:
Make sure that you can satisfy your cravings; if you have a difficult time with portion control, try buying smaller containers of the same food, if you think that may be helpful to prevent yourself from overeating.