Stop Binge Eating At Night With This Simple Mind-hack

Are you tired of not being able to stop yourself from binge eating at night? In this blog, I am going to explain a psychological model that you can use to understand and change your binge eating behaviour easily. Remember, you are not alone in being frustrated for doing this and not understanding why.

I used this tool to stop myself from reaching out for food at night. I was struggling to lose weight for years and had a negative self-image about myself and a negative mindset about food and health in general.

Reaching for food late at night was a negative habit that very often felt like a setback that ruined what was, up till then, a good day of eating mindfully. Because, let's face it, when you do this, you are more than likely not making great food choices either.

The other consequence of this is that I would feel upset with myself for doing this, and this then added to my negative self-talk as I blamed myself for not being better. As many of you know, this cycle of constantly battling with yourself does nothing to help you improve your relationship with food. So, for me, this is something I really wanted to improve, and this model I will explain to you made me think about my behaviour in a new way.

There can be many reasons why you want to binge eat at night. Maybe you haven't eaten healthy food all day, and your body is deprived of micronutrients and craving real food so that when evening comes, you want more food. Or maybe you got addicted to Ultra Processed Foods, which can really mess up your satiety feedback loop, and you have this urge to eat just because you are addicted to UPFs. Or maybe you did everything right but just developed a pattern of behaviour that keeps you in a vicious cycle of binge eating at night.

You can also watch this video on my YouTube channel.

So, first, let me explain the theory behind the tool we are going to use. I just quickly wanted to explain why I am explaining the theory. If I did something or followed something, I really would be asking questions about why I should do it that way. I just don't like to blindly follow advice without knowing the backstory behind it. Knowing why you do some exercises and knowing the theory can help you take that exercise more seriously and have a more meaningful approach to it.

The Hot Cross Bun model

The tool I am using is developed based on one of the foundational tools used in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), the Hot Cross Bun model. The Hot Cross Bun model is a simple yet powerful tool used in CBT to help individuals understand how their thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and behaviours are interconnected. The Hot Cross Bun model can be particularly effective in addressing binge eating behaviour by illustrating how changing thoughts can significantly impact behaviour. How the Hot Cross Bun Model Works:

Thoughts

Thoughts are the ideas, beliefs, and interpretations we have about ourselves, others, and the world around us. These can be conscious or unconscious and greatly influence our emotions and behaviours.

Identifying triggering thoughts: The model helps individuals recognise the specific thoughts that often precede binge eating episodes. For example, a common thought might be "I've already eaten too much, I might as well keep going".

Challenging unhelpful thoughts: Once identified, these thoughts can be examined and challenged. Using cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) techniques, individuals can learn to "catch" these thoughts, "check" their validity, and "change" them to more balanced, helpful alternatives.

Replacing with balanced thoughts: For instance, the thought "I've blown my diet, so I might as well binge" could be replaced with "One slip-up doesn't ruin everything. I can get back on track with my next meal."

Emotions

Emotions are subjective experiences that arise in response to certain situations or thoughts. Understanding the link between thoughts and emotions is crucial in CBT, as it helps individuals recognise how their interpretations of events can impact their emotional responses.

Observing emotional changes: As thoughts become more balanced, individuals often experience a shift in emotions. Feelings of guilt, shame, or anxiety that typically accompany binge eating may decrease.

Physical Sensations

Physical sensations refer to the bodily experiences that accompany our thoughts and emotions. These can include tension, butterflies in the stomach, rapid heartbeat, sweating, or any other physiological response.

Noticing physical sensations: With changed thoughts and emotions, physical sensations associated with the urge to binge (like tension or stomach discomfort) may also lessen.

Behaviours

Behaviours encompass the actions we take in response to our thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations.

Altering behaviour: The combination of more balanced thoughts, reduced negative emotions, and decreased physical urges can lead to a change in behaviour. Instead of bingeing, the individual might choose a healthier coping mechanism or eating pattern.

Reinforcing positive cycles: As healthier behaviours are practised, they reinforce more positive thoughts and emotions, creating a virtuous cycle that supports recovery from binge eating.

When I did research, read loads of books, and watched podcasts on psychology, I found that everybody talks about theory or what we should do, but very few people talk about how to do it. Just saying "just do it" doesn't work. How many times have I said I would do something, but when the time came, I just didn't?

So, I strongly believe that you must have a plan in place before you go and reach for food. Because if you have to make a decision at the moment when you already have those thoughts of reaching for food, and you have feelings associated with this pattern of behaviour; it will be very hard to say no to yourself. Sometimes, we just don't have that inner voice to say no to ourselves.

So, what is the plan and tool?

To implement this, what I want you to do is to ask yourself these three questions. You can write these questions down, or you can download the PDF here and store it on your phone. You can also place these questions somewhere, in the areas where you store your food and reach for food.

Am I helping myself here, or am I sabotaging myself? (Thoughts)

This question is just having an honest conversation with yourself. It's like you are parenting yourself in a way. The point of this question is to try to interrupt the pattern by just simply asking ourselves and being accountable so that we can change our thoughts. If we can change our thoughts, our feelings and behaviour might change.

Will this action help me to achieve my health goals? (Behaviour)

This question is about challenging your behaviour. Here, we are questioning our behaviour and whether this behaviour is aligned with my long-term goals. We want to remind ourselves that small daily actions lead to big results. If we keep doing the same thing every day, we will have the same results, but if we change our behaviour, our results will also change and lead to desired health goal outcomes. Just say to yourself, 'If I do different things, I will get different results'.

How would I feel about myself tomorrow if I did eat this food and if I didn't? (Feelings)

In this question, we are talking about and exploring our feelings. When trying to lose weight or improve our health, we want to maintain that positive mindset because it makes it easier to stick to your diet when you are positive rather than feeling that it is a struggle and frustration. It also makes you think about the very near future; you are going to imagine that positive feeling you will have about yourself the next day when you think back to how you resisted the urge to binge eat.

You take a minute to realise that your behaviour in the evening will affect how you feel about yourself the next morning. So, it is important to reinforce that positivity towards yourself, and if you will be able to say no to yourself the day before, you will gain more confidence about yourself and maybe surprise yourself and be like oh wow, I was able to say no to myself. How cool is that? The more confidence you gain, the more you can rely on yourself and trust your decisions.

You can also find a link to a downloadable PDF here. Share this blog with your family and friends if you know that they struggle with binge eating at night.

I have more strategies on how to manage your weight loss journey and information on the mind and body connection in the My Mind section of the My BMB program. I would love to help. Remember, your body, your mind is your business.