Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is a condition that makes you lose control while eating and leads to large food consumption. About 40% of individuals with Binge Eating Disorder gain weight and develop obesity, found research. You can lose binge weight in most cases, but how many days does it take to lose binge weight?
It takes about 3 days to lose binge weight and go back to your normal weight. In addition, the number of days to lose binge weight depends on how different what you binge on is from your regular diet, your fitness and activity level, and how you respond to the binge. And, if you are overweight, it might take longer to lose the water weight.
Read on to find out how you can prevent binge eating and how you can quickly get back to your normal weight after binge eating.
See also: 14 Reasons Why Weight Training Is Really Important For Weight Loss.
Table of Contents
What is Binge Eating?
Binge eating is when you eat a substantial amount of food in a short amount of time and feel you can’t control how much or what you are eating.
We all overeat from time to time, like having seconds or thirds of a holiday meal. However, for some people, excessive overeating becomes a habit and crosses the line to binge-eating disorder. If you binge regularly eat—at least once a week for 3 months—you may have a binge eating disorder.
Characteristics of Binge Eating:
- Repeated episodes of eating large quantities of food (often very quickly and leading to the point of discomfort)
- A feeling of a loss of control throughout the binge
- Feeling shame, guilt, or distress afterward.
- Not regularly using unhealthy compensatory measures (e.g.purging) to counter the binge eating.
Does Binge Eating Make You Lose Weight?
Binge eating will not make you lose weight, but you will gain weight directly in proportion to the number of calories overeaten.
Other issues related to binging a lot, especially several days in a row, are the physical damages that can follow, such as constipation, stomach pain, stomach bursts (very dangerous), and food intoxication from overeating something.
In addition, binging is likely to leave you unhappy after, and it is better to try and fight the binge urges. If it’s tough to avoid binges, it’s best to avoid trigger foods and not have them at home.
One of the best ways to know if you are going to gain weight or not is by calculating the number of calories. Here’s a calorie calculator to help you determine your daily calorie needs.
See also: Will Swimming Give You Abs? ( Find Out Here)
How to Recover From Bings Eating?
Below are the best ways to recover from binge eating:
1- Live By The 90/10 Rule
The idea is that 90% of the time, you aim to eat only a healthy diet and eat anything you want 10% of the time (in moderation). I would recommend you discuss with a dietician a diet that suits you best.
Do you remember all these times you see someone of healthy weight, or even very thin, “binge” in your presence at dinner, a birthday party, or a night out?
You might think that this is not fair because they can eat anything and not gain as if that was how they ate all the time. The truth is that most of us operate on the 90/10 rule.
2- Relax; this, too, Will Pass!
Another way to recover from binging is by not beating yourself up for this blunder and going back to your diet. Try to laugh at it; otherwise, it will make you sad.
The best thing you can do after a binge is simply to forgive yourself, pick yourself up, and continue on your journey.
A binge doesn’t have to derail you as long as you just get right back on the wagon. A binge becomes a problem when you beat yourself up and think you have royally screwed things up.
The weight you gain while binging is only temporary so long as you go right back to your diet. It helps if you are getting some daily exercise.
See also: Crossfit Vs Gym: Which One Should You Choose?
3- Drink a Lot of Water
Drinking a lot of water after binge eating will help, and if you stay well hydrated, binge weight would go back down faster.
I recommend you drink lots of water (and I do mean lots) and consume what you would typically eat, and your binge weight will come back down soon enough.
Aim to drink about 3 liters ( 101.45 ounces) of water a day. If you don’t go to the bathroom once in 4 hours, you are not drinking enough.
In addition, I would suggest drinking lots of fluid and green tea to
- Flush out all that sodium you ingested.
- Help your metabolism speed up a little.
See also: The 27 Things You Can Do Right Now to Increase Metabolism (Backed by Science)
4- Clean up Your Diet
Clean up your diet with a lot of fruits and veggies. For example, berries, melons, cantaloupe, and watermelons are full of water, which will keep you full.
Adopt healthy eating and develop lifelong and healthy habits, including exercising and taking care of your body.
In addition, find an eating plan, such as mindful eating, that will help prevent binges.
5- Practicing Mindful Eating
Take the time just to eat calmly and develop a routine of eating fruits and veggies.
When you eat, feel the taste and the emotion you experience while eating it. It will help you realize when you need to stop eating.
6- Get Physical Activities
Exercise is great at speeding up weight loss.
- Running, walking, or jogging are excellent to start with.
- Do you have a stationary bike or a real one?
- Exercise and yoga are an excellent combination.
- Daily Walk will help increases your metabolism and reduces stress which many times is the cause of binge eating.
See also: 7 Helpful and Effective Yoga Props and How to Use Them.
7- Stop Eating Trigger Foods
Worth asking yourself what triggers you to binge eat.
- Generally, are you feeling deprived?
- Are you feeling stressed? Bored?
- Are there specific scenarios that trigger you to binge eat?
It would be good to notice what triggers you to binge eat and then find an alternative behavior to help you be more in control.
In addition, plan forward with fresh vegetables and lean protein, and stay away from recreational sugar. Drink lots of water and avoid drinking alcohol.
You need to break the binge eating cycle, but you have to set yourself up for success.
Focus on your health and fitness goals, have all trigger foods out of your house, and set yourself a plan to succeed. In addition, keep yourself busy and do not give in to binge urges.
Also, try to find the right balance. Do not eat too little or have a very restricted diet. It is essential to know that it is unhealthy to eliminate certain food groups from your diet. While it is also necessary to reduce consumption, elimination can cause certain deficiencies.
I would also recommend you read The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg to help you adopt healthy and long-term habits.
8- Do NOT Let Yourself be Sleep-Deprived
Good sleep offers several benefits to your physical and emotional health. Lack of sleep can affect your appetite, your mood, and your eating behaviors.
There are significant associations between sleep problems and binge eating, as found in a 2012 study.
Tips On How To Improve Your Sleep:
- Consistently set sleep and wake times.
- Understand how sleep affects your mood.
- Modify your morning behaviors.
- Ask for professional help if needed.
Wrapping Up
Overall, it takes about 1 to 3 days to lose binge weight, and there is nothing healthy about restricting or binging. Your goal is not to get skinny but to get healthy – both mentally and physically. And here’s how you can achieve this:
- Eat normal-sized meals.
- Eat a normal amount of calories.
- Eat until gentle fullness.
- Stop stuffing my body during binges.