Speaker 1: I won't lend my body outly, outweigh everything that I'm
Speaker 1: made do, won't spend my life trying to change. I'm
Speaker 1: learning to love who I am again. I'm strong, I
Speaker 1: feel free, I know who every part of me It's
Speaker 1: beautiful and then will always outwa if you feel it
Speaker 1: with your hands in the air, she's some love to
Speaker 1: the boom. I am there. Let's say good day and
Speaker 1: time did you and die out? Happy Saturday? Outweigh amy
Speaker 1: here and I am someone that has had many, many
Speaker 1: disordered behaviors when it comes to food. But today we
Speaker 1: are talking specifically about binging, which is something that I
Speaker 1: started doing as a teenager and then in my late
Speaker 1: thirties when I got into recovery. I had two questions
Speaker 1: really about binging, and one was what's the difference between
Speaker 1: binge eating and over eating? Because I really honestly didn't
Speaker 1: know the difference, and being in recovery now that I
Speaker 1: was gonna try to no longer binge anymore, what if
Speaker 1: I over eight on something? Didn't did I just binge?
Speaker 1: I didn't know how to tell the difference, And also
Speaker 1: I didn't know how to tell the difference between my
Speaker 1: lower brain and my higher brain, and I'll walk you
Speaker 1: through how eventually I got there and tools and resources
Speaker 1: that I used. And if you're new here and you
Speaker 1: haven't heard me talk about the lower brain and it
Speaker 1: being the reason that I ever started binging, it's something
Speaker 1: that really resonated with me after reading the book Brain
Speaker 1: over Binge, and in a nutshell, the lower brain is
Speaker 1: what produces the urge to binge, at least I know
Speaker 1: for sure it did with me, and then the higher
Speaker 1: brain gives us the capacity to stop acting on the urges.
Speaker 1: And through the book and a Brain over Binge course
Speaker 1: that I did, I learned how to use my higher
Speaker 1: brain to take control back from my lower brain. But
Speaker 1: in the beginning, I don't know how to hear my
Speaker 1: lower brain. I didn't know how to really pay attention
Speaker 1: to it. So that might be a question that you're
Speaker 1: having as well. And I totally recommend that you check
Speaker 1: out the book if you want to learn more. Because
Speaker 1: Katherine Hansen is the expert, not me. I can only
Speaker 1: speak to my personal experience and to some of you,
Speaker 1: I know that that's helpful, but I always want to
Speaker 1: make sure that you seek advice and care from a therapist,
Speaker 1: A doctor nutritionist or a certified health coach that specializes
Speaker 1: in eating disorders. So after I read Brain over Binge, well,
Speaker 1: actually before I read it, I knew I really wanted
Speaker 1: to stop binging. But then after I read the book,
Speaker 1: it finally felt possible because again what Katherine laid out
Speaker 1: for me, it clicked, and I started to pay attention
Speaker 1: to any excuses from my lower brain to binge because
Speaker 1: I was now aware that the excuses were coming from
Speaker 1: there and that my higher brain could be put to
Speaker 1: use to squash them, to change the channel. I love
Speaker 1: how Taylor Swift put it in her documentary when she
Speaker 1: was talking about negative body image thoughts that she would
Speaker 1: have likely from her lower brain, and then her higher
Speaker 1: brain was like, not today, changing the channel. So I
Speaker 1: knew without a doubt that those voices in my lower
Speaker 1: brain were not aligned with my higher self and what
Speaker 1: I really wanted, because what I really wanted was to
Speaker 1: not binge. But then my lower brain was trying to
Speaker 1: convince me to binge. And I was finally able to
Speaker 1: put a stop to this behavior after almost twenty five
Speaker 1: years of binging, and my goal in breaking free from
Speaker 1: binges was to start to identify the messages that my
Speaker 1: lower brain was sending me and then choosing to ignore them.
Speaker 1: And Catherine calls the messages neurological junk, not worthy of
Speaker 1: any attention. Like Taylor had shared her negative body image thoughts.
Speaker 1: You may have all kinds of thoughts that could equal
Speaker 1: neurological junk, but I'm talking about the ones that creep
Speaker 1: in to possibly lead you to a binge. And in
Speaker 1: order to dismiss these urges as a neurological junk, I
Speaker 1: had to learn again how to recognize them. So I'm
Speaker 1: going to share with you some examples that I legit
Speaker 1: had in my own head, so that way you can
Speaker 1: maybe start to identify them. If this is a journey
Speaker 1: you're going to go on and you want to use
Speaker 1: this tool to hopefully get you into recovery and on
Speaker 1: the other side. So some examples would be, you know,
Speaker 1: like just how the cookies. You can always start a
Speaker 1: diet tomorrow for like it's a very popular one. If
Speaker 1: your brain is ever telling you, okay, fine, who cares,
Speaker 1: just do it tomorrow, or you've been really good lately,
Speaker 1: you deserve to do whatever you want, or so what
Speaker 1: if you binge, it's not that big of a deal,
Speaker 1: and like, that's your lower brain, because guess what, it
Speaker 1: is a big deal because you don't want to be
Speaker 1: doing it anymore, at least I didn't. And so those
Speaker 1: are some examples of neurological junk that was coming from
Speaker 1: my lower brain. And once I was aware that that
Speaker 1: wasn't coming from my higher self, they're easier and easier
Speaker 1: to spot. And this that's just three examples right there.
Speaker 1: My brain would come up with all kinds of reasons
Speaker 1: under the sun, so you just got to identify them.
Speaker 1: And so I would encourage you to make a list
Speaker 1: of the reasons that pop up in your head to
Speaker 1: binge and it might be helpful to write them down
Speaker 1: and look them over. And then the next time you
Speaker 1: hear that voice in your head, if one of those
Speaker 1: excuses pops up, you'll know, oh, yeah, this is just
Speaker 1: my lower brain trying to get me to do what
Speaker 1: I've always done. And you're going to give into the urge,
Speaker 1: because that's what it's been good at, convincing you to
Speaker 1: give into the urge. However, the good news is you're
Speaker 1: in charge. It was so empowering when I learned, oh,
Speaker 1: a higher part of me can be in charge of
Speaker 1: this low vibe situation that's happening in my lower brain.
Speaker 1: My lower brain can absolutely give me the urge to
Speaker 1: eat all at once, but it can't physically make me
Speaker 1: go do it. That choice is always up to me.
Speaker 1: Choice is up to me, it's up to you, it's
Speaker 1: up to us. So really we just have to start
Speaker 1: by learning to recognize the voices and the words that
Speaker 1: hook us. Have you ever been in a relationship where
Speaker 1: sometimes you end up doing the dance and you're in
Speaker 1: a pattern, it's a toxic relationship. There's hooks, there's hooks
Speaker 1: that lure you in to do the dance. Well, your
Speaker 1: lower brain has you figured out and it will hook
Speaker 1: you and the next thing you know, you'll be doing
Speaker 1: the dance and having a binge. So again, journal out
Speaker 1: those lower brain voices. What is it telling you, those words?
Speaker 1: What are the hooks, and that way you can be
Speaker 1: on the lookout for them. Now for the other question
Speaker 1: I was talking about in the beginning, like what's the
Speaker 1: difference between over eating and binge eating? I went through
Speaker 1: a series of questions early on in recovery, because what
Speaker 1: if I did want to eat too much, or what
Speaker 1: if it was Thanksgiving, and I really wanted to joy something.
Speaker 1: I didn't want to spiral into shame for binging or
Speaker 1: not being in recovery like I thought I was. And
Speaker 1: even if I were to slip or have any kind
Speaker 1: of moment, I hope I don't have the shame. I
Speaker 1: hope I can just acknowledge it and pick back up
Speaker 1: and start again with my higher brain and keep on
Speaker 1: that that neuropathway of building that muscle. So one of
Speaker 1: the questions you can ask yourself, which I'll go through
Speaker 1: a list of them, and if you answer yes to
Speaker 1: two or more of these questions, then it could equal
Speaker 1: a binge eating disorder. But again you're gonna want to
Speaker 1: talk to an expert. But if you're just over eating
Speaker 1: and think that you're binging, it may not be that severe.
Speaker 1: It might just mean that you're enjoying food because there's
Speaker 1: a difference. One of the things that was a major
Speaker 1: indicator for me was the zoning out while eating. So
Speaker 1: that's the first question I'll ask is have you ever
Speaker 1: experienced loss of control when you're eating? I feel like
Speaker 1: this is the most obvious thing for me. When I
Speaker 1: was in a bench, it was almost like I was
Speaker 1: a zombie or in a trance like I blacked out
Speaker 1: and for an hour, I just ate all this food
Speaker 1: and then snap, I would wake up and there would
Speaker 1: be like boxes and rappers and stuff in the fridge
Speaker 1: and stuff from the pantry, and I would just stare
Speaker 1: at me like, oh my gosh, I can't believe I
Speaker 1: just ate all of that. So if you answer yes
Speaker 1: to this, then make note of that. And then there's
Speaker 1: the physical pain, like have you ever had physical pain
Speaker 1: after eating? And most people that have binged before have
Speaker 1: a binge eating disorder often eat to the point of
Speaker 1: feeling totally uncomfortable, where it's painfully full. And for me,
Speaker 1: that's why it personally lead to a purge type situation.
Speaker 1: And I feel like anytime I've just been over eating,
Speaker 1: it might be a little uncomfortable or painful, but I'm
Speaker 1: not ing to that point of painfully full and complete
Speaker 1: discomfort to where I need to figure something out. So
Speaker 1: that's another question you can ask yourself, do you experience
Speaker 1: physical pain? If you answer yes to that, make note
Speaker 1: of it. Do you eat in secrecy in private to
Speaker 1: try to eat alone? Do you buy food in private?
Speaker 1: I used to do that all the time. I would
Speaker 1: make sure no one even knew that I bought the food.
Speaker 1: I would go buy the food, eat the food, throw
Speaker 1: away the food before anybody in my house ever knew
Speaker 1: it was there. And I would have other foods hidden. Uh,
Speaker 1: And a lot of it was just in secrecy. And
Speaker 1: then I felt shame and I was embarrassed for how
Speaker 1: much I was eating and overeating. It might happen while
Speaker 1: you're with other people. You maybe don't have as much
Speaker 1: embarrassment around it. You may even overeat at a restaurant
Speaker 1: when you're out with your friends, might again feel a
Speaker 1: little uncomfortable, like, oh, but that's the difference there. If
Speaker 1: you're doing stuff in secrecy and you're saying yes to
Speaker 1: that that question, make note of that. How do you
Speaker 1: feel after a binge episode or an over eating episode,
Speaker 1: if you're trying to tell the difference. If you have
Speaker 1: feelings of shame, guilt, you're completely disgusted with yourself, because
Speaker 1: that's how I would feel about myself, then that might
Speaker 1: be a sign of binge eating, because when you overeat,
Speaker 1: you might feel a little bit guilty about it, but
Speaker 1: it's not consuming your mind and you're having a mental
Speaker 1: breakdown over it. I used to get a little depressed afterwards,
Speaker 1: and I had some anxiety about it because I, again,
Speaker 1: how am I going to get rid of this? What
Speaker 1: am I gonna do? I don't feel good. I've got
Speaker 1: to purge, and I would try to figure that out,
Speaker 1: and then I would often just take a shower and
Speaker 1: then try to go to bed and pass out and
Speaker 1: sleep for as long as I could. So, how do
Speaker 1: you feel after you're eating? And if it's the mental anguish,
Speaker 1: then it could be leaning more towards binge eating disorder.
Speaker 1: So if it's a yes to that, please make note
Speaker 1: of that. Another question you can ask yourself is do
Speaker 1: you consume amounts of food that you or others might
Speaker 1: describe as excessive? So it makes me think of, you
Speaker 1: know again, holidays, Thanksgiving, birthday parties, celebrations. Everyone over eats
Speaker 1: every once in a while, and we know what that
Speaker 1: feels like to consume that large meal. But for those
Speaker 1: with a binge eating disorder, the consumption of large amounts
Speaker 1: of food happens at least once a week or more.
Speaker 1: And that was pretty much my pattern. I. I sometimes
Speaker 1: could maybe go a couple of weeks without having a
Speaker 1: solid binge situation, depending on what I had going on.
Speaker 1: But if your answer is yes to that, then make
Speaker 1: note of it. And of all those questions that I
Speaker 1: shared again, if you answered yes to two or more
Speaker 1: of them, then you definitely might want to consider getting
Speaker 1: proper help and support. So those are just some some
Speaker 1: things to consider if you are dealing with binge eating.
Speaker 1: And I just want you to know that you're not alone.
Speaker 1: You have nothing to be ashamed of, and I want
Speaker 1: you to know that there is hope, and I hope
Speaker 1: that the right resources are shown to you, the right
Speaker 1: people are put into your life to offer you that
Speaker 1: comfort and care that you need and and will help
Speaker 1: point you in the right direction to get you, get
Speaker 1: you the healing that you deserve. You deserve to live
Speaker 1: in your higher brain. You deserve to be of your
Speaker 1: highest self. You deserve that life, you are worthy of it,
Speaker 1: and your brain does not have to be consumed by
Speaker 1: neurological junk. There is another way. So hopefully this was
Speaker 1: helpful to some of you, and I will see you
Speaker 1: here um on four Things podcast on Tuesday for the
Speaker 1: fifth Thing with Cat and then next Thursday for for
Speaker 1: four Things, and then if you're only an Our Way listener,
Speaker 1: then I will see you next Saturday. Okay bye h