Where do you eat? || How to cure binge eating #6

Worth in Progesss's How to cure binge eating article series is drawing to a close, but before we can call it a day, there are two more things to cover. Today, in the second to last installment of the series, we shall talk about the effect your eating location could have on your eating habits and on the tendency to eat more than enough. Make sure to check out the other articles once you've finished reading this one; they can be accessed from the WIP home page.

It seems common that people who tend to binge eat do it because something else is distracting them and they don't even notice they're overeating. That something is often a television, or other type of screen showing some type of video - a TV series or a movie, for example. You sit comfortably on your couch, watching that awesome Dwayne Johnson action splendor, munching on chips, popcorn, ice cream, candy, sweet potatoes, chocolate cake, cabbage, brownies, unicorns and leprechauns. You might stop for a moment, but hey, your hand is already greasy, you cannot just lay it anywhere, so you put it back into the goodie bag.

Then the credits roll, and you notice how nasty your body feels, triggering your mind to feel awful as well.

Solution? Don't eat while watching a movie. In fact, don't eat in the TV room at all. Concentrate all your meals in a specific place for eating, say, the dining room, by the dining table. After all, that's what a dining table is for. Eating. And if you can't have all your meals in your dining room - for example, if you're at work during lunchtime - eat your lunch at a restaurant or if you bring your own lunch, eat it at the breakroom. This way you can concentrate on the act of eating your meal when you eat it, and nothing distracts you so you can focus on how your stomach (and body in general) feels as you eat. (Except perhaps your chatty coworkers; try to eat alone if you can.)

Set specific places for eating, and stick to them, even for small and quick meals. The likelihood to overeat or fall for unplanned snacking decreases significantly.

RK