How Do You Stick to Your Food Plan? (hint: maybe you don’t?)
Aug 17, 2023Recently, my Facebook group has grown with new members who are just beginning to explore intuitive eating and body neutral concepts. One of the questions I received stood out because I know so many of you will relate:
“How did you stick to your plan to quit binge eating? I do good for a few days then go crazy again. I need to do this because my health is really starting to suffer but I feel like even that’s not a big enough motivator to not give in. I’ve tried slowly eliminating trigger foods and going on full-blown diets. Nothing is beating my urge for junk. It runs my life. I think about it all day until it happens.”
If this resonates, know that you’re not alone. My answers may at first feel counterintuitive, even impossible. I felt the same way when I first encountered these ideas — and I rejected them. But ultimately, this shift in perspective was the path that freed me.
- Reconsider the “Plan” Mindset
The very idea of a “plan” sets us up in a black-and-white relationship with food: on or off, success or failure. And black-and-white thinking fuels binge eating.
Recovery isn’t about sticking to another plan. It’s about deconstructing the rules that provoke rebellion in the first place. Instead of adding more rules, it’s about undoing.
- Reconsider the Logic & Willpower Mindset
Binge eating isn’t a rational choice. It comes from a primal part of the brain designed to protect you from scarcity. That’s why it feels like a hijacking.
Telling yourself you “should” stop — even for reasons like health — adds shame, and shame is fuel for binges. Willpower and pressure don’t end the cycle. Addressing the scarcity and fear underneath does.
- Reconsider the Restriction Mindset
The cultural story is that bingeing comes from too much. So the obvious answer seems to be less. Less food, less access, less permission.
But paradoxically, true moderation comes from freedom of choice. The more you restrict, the more the rebel inside pushes back. The more you allow, the less urgency there is to “get it while you can.”
- Reconsider the Pathology of “Junk Food”
We’ve been taught to divide food into “good” and “bad,” with “junk food” at the bottom of the pile. That judgment alone makes it more appealing to binge on.
Is “junk food” less nutritious? Often, yes. Will you feel great if it’s all you eat? Probably not. But it does have a place in a balanced life. Removing the judgment is often the first step in calming the compulsion.
- Reconsider Body Goals
Most of us learned that weight must be tightly controlled — that being over a certain size makes us bad, unworthy, or unsafe. That belief alone drives disordered behavior.
In truth, bodies come in diverse shapes and sizes. We all need different amounts of food. Every body deserves respect. The obsession with controlling weight has created far more harm than the weight itself.
Final Thoughts
Binge eating recovery isn’t about sticking to a stricter plan, doubling down on willpower, or getting your “health motivation” high enough. It’s about questioning the rules, beliefs, and judgments that keep you trapped in the cycle.
👉 If this speaks to you and you want support on your own path out of binge eating, [subscribe here] for more reflections and tools — or learn more about working with me 1:1.
