Nutrition: how to stop the binge-restrict cycle?

​Have you ever found yourself in this perpetual cycle of overly-restricting yourself and binge eating?
 
Do you ever feel like you’re not in control of your nutrition and food-related choices?
 
Have you ever found yourself finishing a diet, only to then binge, and start the next one?
 
If that’s the case, then read on. Today, we’ll go over what you should do to break the cycle once and for all.

The Binge-Restrict Cycle – What It Is And Why Does It Occur?
 
People often find themselves in this binge-purge cycle without an idea of how they got there and how to get out. 
 
The truth is, there could be many reasons why that happens, but perhaps the most common one has to do with restrictive diets. You see, ‘going on a diet’ is by far the most popular choice for weight loss.
 
The problem is, diets are restrictive and unsustainable. Sure, you can follow it for a while, but almost everyone gets to the point of, “I’m so tired and hungry. I want to treat myself, and I don’t care about the consequences.”
 
What happens then is familiar to most of us:
 
Binge eating, gaining all of the weight back, and essentially going back to square one. Then, we feel guilty and disappointed with ourselves, so we start dieting again.
 
How to Break Away From This Cursed Cycle Once And For All
 
This is certainly easier said than done. But, with the right tactics and mindset, you can make genuine progress and put your nutrition on the right track.
 
1. Realize That You’re Only Hurting Yourself
 
Falling into a binge-restrict cycle only serves to hinder your long-term fitness progress. What’s more, it creates an unhealthy relationship with food and leads to emotional eating and binge episodes.
 
Plus, this constant weight loss and gain harm your metabolic and psychological health, which itself makes it much more difficult for you to get back to normal.
 
The first step to a more productive relationship with food is to realize that you’re only hurting yourself.
 
2. Stop Measuring Your Scale Weight For a While
 
Here’s the thing about scale weight measurements:
 
When done correctly, they can give us valuable data. But, if you find that you become obsessed with the number, it might be a good idea to stop measuring for a while.

This is because even if you decide to stop dieting for a while, you might panic at the first sight of weight gain and quickly revert to restrictions.
 
3. Get Away From The Mindset Of, “I’m On A Diet”
 
When it comes to nutrition, most people have two modes: on and off a diet.
 
The problem with that is, we often use dieting as a means of tricking ourselves that we are making some progress. When on a diet, we are productive, healthy, and fit. When we are off a diet, we are unproductive, unhealthy, and fat.
 
But, by solely relying on dieting to make ourselves feel useful and productive, we sabotage our long-term development. So, instead, get away from the mindset of “I’m on a diet.” or “I’m off the diet.” Work on building better habits and stop looking at your nutrition through that binary lense.
 
4. Take A Break From Social Media
 
We often don’t think about it, but social media can wreak havoc on our psychology, confidence, and expectations.
 
Comparing yourself to other people on social media (especially fitness models and athletes) is nothing but counterproductive and can easily throw you into a perpetual binge-purge cycle.
 
So, one of the best things you can do to start building a better relationship with food and set realistic standards for yourself is to limit your exposure to social media.