Mikey Moon's health and fitness column: How to beat binge eating

This is something I deal with quite a lot actually.

Clients, especially new ones, usually come to me and say they are fine during the day or during the week, but in the evening or at the weekend, they can’t stop eating.

For some people, this is a true problem and one for which they should seek help from a counsellor or someone more qualified than myself.

The majority don’t have a binge eating disorder – they overly snack of an evening and at the weekend. This could be because of a few things:

Lack of routine: During the week, you are usually at work and maybe you are back in the office now, which makes sticking to a routine quite easy.

When it comes to the weekend, you are off-kilter. You have more free time than you did, you have meals out with friends, hangovers, all the social stuff which causes you to overeat in large quantities.

Boredom: Night comes, the kids are in bed, you’ve finished work, but it’s too early for you to go to bed yet.

So you sit down, watch TV and suddenly the fridge starts calling. Boredom eating is a massive thing and usually happens later in an evening.

Eating too little: The majority of people binge eat in an evening because they are not eating enough during the day.

This usually happens when a client is on a diet, or has a shallow processed diet

Here are a few little things you can do to work on this.

Set a routine at the weekend: Try to get up at a reasonable time, set your day out, and when eating out, make a conscious effort not to be excessive.

Find a hobby to cure your boredom: It doesn’t have to be anything strenuous, just occupy your mind a little.

Read, do a jigsaw, play a game, do something to occupy yourself and stop that boredom hunger.

Eat enough during the day so you don’t binge at night: Know your numbers, they will be higher than you think and stick to them.

Eat a nutrient-dense meal to fill you up before bed, including lots of vegetables and a good source of protein.

Try to put these three into action and see how you get on.

Fortitude Fitness is on the Poulton Industrial Estate, Beacon Road. Visit www.fortitudefit.co.uk for more details.

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