I keep getting stuck in the same binge and restrict cycle. I’ll eat way too much, feel guilty, and decide I need to be extremely strict the next day. That usually works for a little while, then I get overly hungry and end up binging again.
The hardest part is that I know restricting is probably making it worse, but eating normally after a binge feels almost impossible. I start thinking I need to “make up for it,” and the whole cycle starts over. I’m trying to focus on regular meals instead of punishment, but the guilt gets loud.
Has anyone found a practical first step that helped interrupt this pattern?
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Robert, the “make up for it” thought can be really convincing, but for me the most useful first step was treating the next meal as ordinary rather than trying to compensate. Not perfect or especially healthy, just a normal meal at a predictable time. Waiting until I felt I had earned food only made the hunger and guilt louder.
I found it helped to decide in advance what the next meal would be, before the guilt had much say. If I slipped, I tried to avoid turning it into a full-day judgment about myself. Have you tried planning just the next meal, instead of worrying about fixing the whole pattern at once?
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Planning only the next meal sounds much more manageable than trying to fix everything at once. I tend to turn one overeating episode into a verdict on the whole day, so the idea of keeping it ordinary might help stop that spiral.
I’m curious how you handled the guilt when you sat down for that next meal. Did you use a specific reminder, or was it mostly repeating the plan and eating at the scheduled time even when it felt wrong?