Changing Beliefs, Changing Habits Part 3

I grouped the following beliefs together, because my experience with food allergies taught me that what I believed about the food, not the food itself, influenced my binges. After each irrational belief I will describe what helped me change that belief and/or list my new belief.

IB Eating certain foods will make me binge.

After I learned which foods caused painful allergic or celiac reactions, I easily abstained from those foods. I wanted to believe my allergy foods had 'triggered' my binges. So I believed abstaining from those foods would eliminate my binges. After I began to binge on non allergic or 'safe' foods, I considered whether my BELIEFS about those foods, rather than the specific foods, motivated my binges. For example, I believed certain 'binge' foods were 'safe', but also less nutritional than other foods. So I felt conflicted about whether I 'should' eat those tasty, safe, but less nutritional foods. That conflict influenced me to sometimes binge and sometimes responsibly eat those foods. So my new belief became: My BELIEFS about certain foods influence my choice to binge on those foods.

IB I can't keep my 'binge foods' in the house, because I will always overeat or binge eat them.

Because the presence of certain foods doesn't make me binge, I can choose whether or not to eat any food responsibly. So my new belief became: I can CHOOSE to either abstain from a food or responsibly eat that food when I'm hungry and stop eating when I feel satisfied.

IB I binge, because I am bulimic.

Labels like 'bulimia', 'anorexia', 'binge eating disorder', or 'orthorexia' only describe symptoms or behaviors. Those labels do not explain why someone chooses those behaviors or how to change those behaviors. Those labels may be useful for mental health center billing purposes. However those labels don't help individuals change their disordered eating habits. So my new belief is: I binge because (1) I will not allow myself to eat certain foods 'normally' (within the boundaries of hunger and satisfaction), or (2) I choose to ignore physical hunger/satisfaction cues in order to comfort myself or distract myself from painful emotions or (3) I want to reward myself by eating my 'forbidden' foods when I feel deprived.

IB I binge because I have food allergies (which I believed until I started bingeing on my 'safe' or nonallergenic foods).

As mentioned under "Eating certain foods make me binge", after I was diagnosed with food allergies, I easily abstained from those foods, because I was so glad to learn what caused my gut pain and how to prevent that pain. I read theories about food allergies causing cravings and binge eating and believed I would never binge again UNTIL I started bingeing on my 'safe' nonallergen dessert foods. Then I realized what I BELIEVED about the foods, not the ingredients of the foods, influenced my decision to binge. If I believed the foods caused pain, I could easily abstain. If I could eat a food without painful reactions, but I believed the food was NOT as healthy as other foods, I went back and forth about whether I 'should' eat the food or whether I should eat a 'healthier' food than the one I wanted. Those conflicting feelings made me sometimes eat those foods moderately, sometimes binge on them after feeling guilty about wanting to eat an unhealthy food, and sometimes abstain from them (especially after I binge ate all of the food and didn't buy more). So my new belief became: My BELEIFS about certain foods influence me to binge eat those foods.

IB I must eat low calorie foods to compensate for regular binges during which I eat waaay too many calories.

Eating low calorie foods may not satisfy my hunger or keep me unhungry very long. Then I may overeat those foods in order to get enough nutrition to feel satisfied. That overeating can feel so uncomfortably that I may continue to overeat to distract myself from the discomfort or guilt about overeating. So restricting myself to 'low calorie' foods can backfire, because I may consume even great amounts (and more total calories) from low calorie foods, than I would consume with a smaller amount of higher calorie or high fat foods. Feeling unsatisfied or chronically hungry after eating only low calorie foods can also influence future binges. So my new belief is: Rather than try to compensate for overeating or bingeing, choosing to eat foods that will satisfy my hunger and keep me unhungry for long periods will prevent future binges.

In my next post I will list my irrational beliefs about purging and bingeing followed by purging and describe how I replaced those beliefs.