What do Butch Cassidy and Laffy Taffy have to do with you and binge eating? Keep listening!

Welcome to The Done Bingeing Podcast. This is the place to hear about how you can pair the emerging brain science about why you binge with powerful life coaching to help you stop. If you want to explore an evidence-based, non-clinical approach to end binge eating, you’re in the right place. 

It’s time to free yourself. You have more power than you know. To find out more, go to www.holdingthespace.co and click Programs.

And now, your host, Internal-Family-Systems-Level-3-Trained and Master-Coach-Certified Martha Ayim.

Hello and welcome back!

Spring holidays such as Easter, Passover, and Ramadan have ended. For many who struggle with bingeing, holidays like these can have us showing up one way in front of our loved ones—happy and carefree—and another way with ourselves—afraid and trapped. And the aftermath can last for weeks.

And that’s what we’re talking about in this episode—how sometimes our bingeing can worsen or come back around the holidays and around the holiday food.

On my road to recovery, I sometimes had weeks or months when I didn’t binge. And sometimes all it took to slide back into bingeing was a holiday meal. 

For example, a slip back could begin at Easter dinner. I’d feel like I couldn’t stay eating at the table long enough and like I couldn’t leave the food on the table fast enough.

As I sat there, I’d try to distract myself from the food by focusing deeply on the conversation. But then, inevitably, someone would ask if I wanted more stuffing. And, of course, I did. In that moment . . . it was bye, bye self-control.

Perhaps you’ve experienced similar holiday moments.

Maybe you’ve slipped extra helpings of nuts under the table in a move Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid would have envied. Then, your cousin leans over and whispers, “You know I can see you, right?”

Been there, my friend. I’ve been caught too.

Maybe you’ve tried to hide your eating during a fast by pretending to go for a walk. Really, though, you’re off to the corner store for a carton of banana Laffy Taffy. The coast was clear until you bumped into your fasting neighbor on the way back. And no one was laughing then.

I feel you my friend. I’ve had run-ins too.

In moments like these it can feel so challenging even amid holidays where we celebrate with those we love. And it can stay a challenge even after the holidays pass.

You are not alone. 

One of the great honors of being a coach is meeting, listening to and supporting binge eaters—one brilliant, stunning human after another—so many of whom live with guilt, depression, and shame about their struggle with food.

Feelings like these are so much a part of the binge eating experience that they’re included in the diagnostic criteria for binge eating disorder in DSM-5, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Binge eating can feel like a deeply shameful secret that no one can know about, even like a statement of our character and personhood. And this can leave us feeling isolated and making it harder to look for help.

Have you ever looked up how to stop bingeing in a private browser, hoping there could be no trace of your search?

Ever worried about someone finding this kick-ass podcast on your phone? If so, you’re in good company—one of my clients said she got a privacy screen for her phone so her boyfriend couldn’t tell she was listening to my episodes.

It’s counterintuitive when we feel shame and guilt to hear that binge eating actually makes a lot of sense. In fact, if we’re open to exploring what lies beneath the bingeing with enough compassion, we may learn how it’s been a way of coping with difficult experiences, and this can be the way through to learning healthier ways to be with ourselves when life gets hard.

If you feel guilt, embarrassment, or shame about bingeing, you might find it difficult to look for support.

But I promise you that when a safe place is created to truly understand why we binge, the shame and blame ease away. And that makes the journey to healing binge eating so much easier.

So if you’re experiencing any holiday hangover, I wish you that ease, and I send you so much love.

That’s it for Episode 73. Thank you for listening! I rarely have space for new private clients, but a few spots have opened up. If you’re ready to invest in one-to-one coaching to help heal bingeing eating, sign up for a free 30-minute consultation today. Go to https://holdingthespace.as.me/free30 now. I’d love to see you on my calendar!

Thanks for listening to The Done Bingeing Podcast.

Martha has the highest-level training in both the evidence-based Internal Family Systems approach and in life coaching, and she’s available to help you stop bingeing. You can learn more about her programs by going to www.holdingthespace.co and clicking Programs.

Stay tuned for the next episode on freeing yourself from binge eating and creating the life you want.