15 Things to Do Instead of Bingeing

When you are on the verge of a binge, or you feel like you are about to finish a bag of chips… that you just opened… it can be helpful to have a go-to list of things to do instead of eating.

“One of the best things you can do if you feel like you are about to overeat or binge is to remove yourself from whatever environment you are in at the time,” says Dr. David Sarwer, member of the Penn Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery Program and Director of the Stunkard Weight Management Program. “If you can distract yourself with another activity for 20 to 30 minutes, the urge to binge may disappear.”

Here are 15 things you can do if you feel a binge coming on. Some of these are obvious, but sometimes it's helpful to have them written down.

1. Go for a walk.
2. Write in your weight-loss blog.
3. Check the mail.
4. Call someone special like a friend, parent or spouse.
5. Clean something.
6. Weed your garden.
7. Drink a glass of water.
8. Challenge yourself to see how long you can hold a plank position.
9. Log on to Pinterest and get some visual inspiration from Penn’s Weight-Loss Tip Board.
10. Clean out your closet.
11. Remind yourself how far you’ve come.
12. Remind yourself how a binge makes you feel.
13. Say a prayer or meditate.
14. Write an email.
15. Share your status with your friends on Facebook, or join Penn Weight Loss on Facebook for support.

Lose Weight at Penn Medicine

Learn about medical weight loss in Philadelphia, and the Penn Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery Program at a free information session about weight-loss surgery in Philadelphia.

There, you will hear about your weight-loss surgery options, and how Penn can help you lose weight and get healthy for good.

Register for a free information session today.

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Are You a Binge Eater?

David Sarwer, PhD, director of clinical services at the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders and member of the Penn Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery team, explains binge eating.

It seems simple. You want to lose weight. You stick with your meal plan, exercise and drink plenty of water. Then, when you get home from work, you have an uncontrollable urge to eat everything in sight. You give in and before you know it, you’ve eaten an entire bag of chips and a box of cookies.

You might claim it’s a rare occurrence, but the fact is that this happens at least a couple of times each week. You feel hopeless and ashamed, however, you are not alone.

While most people overeat from time to time, binge eating — as it is called — affects a large number of people. Triggered by anything from stress to sadness, or even happiness, binge eaters usually try to maintain an appearance of healthy eating. But, when they are alone, they begin eating all the things they’ve been denying themselves – and sometimes, cannot stop until they have a “food high” or even pass out.

Most people will overeat from time to time. The difference between binge eating and overeating is that many binge eaters use food to help them deal with feelings of anxiety, sadness or loneliness.

Signs of binge eating 

Here are some common symptoms of someone with a binge eating disorder:

• Eats large amounts of food when not physically hungry. 
• Eats much faster than normal. 
• Eats until the point of feeling uncomfortably full. 
• Often eats alone because of shame or embarrassment. 
• Has feelings of depression, disgust, or guilt after eating. 
• Has a history of marked weight fluctuations. 

When we are working with individuals who binge eat, we first try to help them eat appropriate sized meals and snacks throughout the day and so they don’t become overly hungry. Once we help normalize their eating behaviors, we often address the underlying emotional issues that trigger the binge eating and help individuals find a more appropriate way to deal with those emotions.

Before someone has weight-loss surgery at Penn, they go through a complete psychological evaluation that looks for the presence of emotional eating as well as binge eating. Someone with an untreated binge eating disorder is thought to be at increased risk to gain back the weight they lose through surgery.

Penn also has weight-loss surgery support groups to help those who have had bariatric surgery at Penn stay on track and continue to lead healthy lifestyles.

Penn Can Help

If you’d like more information about weight-loss surgery at Penn, please join a free information session to learn more about how Penn can help you lose weight and get control over binge eating.

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