In the past, I opened up about an eating disorder that I dealt with for many years. What started off as a bad relationship with food and guilt towards eating turned into a constant need to reject whatever I consumed.
In order to put off a skinny and health conscious image of myself, I did the exact opposite by hiding my unhealthy habits behind doors. When I felt comfortable enough to write an article coming clean about my binging and purging habits, I honestly felt I was in a better place and in control.
Fast forward a few weeks after a few LSU game days spent drinking beer and late nights relying on three for fifteen medium pizza deals from Hungry Howie's and my weight fluctuations and negative body images started to creep up again. Along with the negativity and disgust I felt every time I knew I was eating something that constituted as "bad for me," came the memories of the relief I would feel each time I ended a meal with a quick trip to the bathroom to force it back up my throat and out of my body.
If you've ever dealt with an eating disorder or recently began to have negative thoughts surrounding throwing up your food after meals, it's helpful to know you aren't alone. Whenever the negativity starts to take control of my eating habits again, these are the five tips I follow to avoid binging and purging.
1. Talk to someone.
It's not the easiest thing to admit or even the most comfortable to talk about, but talking to someone and finding a strong support system turned out to be one of the best things for recovering from my bout of bulimia. After I told my mom and best friend, it made it easier to come to them anytime I felt the need to purge and I found comfort in their distractions and support.
2. Leave the toxic space.
The majority of the time I find myself wanting to take a quick trip to the bathroom to throw up comes from moments when I'm sitting alone in my room or within an environment that I can easily convince myself no one will notice my quick trip to the bathroom to vomit. The first thirty minutes after you've purged or eaten a meal that you feel "guilty" about are the most important to avoid these urges. Get out. Go for a walk. Get in the car and drive with the windows down. Give yourself time to get away and clear your headspace.
3. Keep the foods that trigger you out of the house.
Captain Crunch. In the days where I used purging as a backup plan to guilty eating, I would eat an entire box of Captain Crunch Berries in one sitting. Now, I avoid the cereal aisle and when I have an intense craving, only buy the individual single serve boxes so that I won't feel compelled to inhale the sugary treat in one take. It's important to know what foods are safe and what foods trigger your binging and purging habits and to avoid easy access to the latter.
4. Plan meals in advance.
I don't mean meal prep in the sense of counting calories and making all of your food for the week. For me, that led to more issues with my guilty response to eating. If I planned my meals in advance and still found myself hungry after, I would treat eating further as a punishment and immediately trigger the thoughts of vomiting. Instead, I use my mornings to create a general outline of what I want and need to eat in order to have a healthy and productive day. I find myself feeling less guilt if I stray from a daily meal prep plan than a week long one.
5. Remind yourself why you stopped in the first place.
Aside from needing food to survive, there are other health risks that result from a lifestyle spent repeatedly throwing up. When I was purging at a minimum of twice a day, I noticed how my eyes would water and sting constantly. I found myself low on energy and never really reaching my goal of weight loss and a "skinnier" appearance.
Other side effects include tears in your esophagus, bloating and a hormonal imbalance that could make it hard to conceive. The acidity of stomach acid causes tooth decay and sore, swollen throats.
Whatever the body image goals, food is not your enemy. It's important to remember that whatever the body image goals, binging and purging is not the answer to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
