The Diet/Binge Cycle

If you’ve ever told yourself, “This time will be different,” only to end up feeling frustrated, ashamed, or out of control with food—you are not broken.You are not lacking willpower.You are responding normally to restriction.

Let’s slow this down together and look at what’s actually happening.

Here’s how the cycle often goes:

1. I feel bad about myself.

2. I would feel better if I were thinner.

3. I’ll go on a diet.

4. I lose weight and feel better—for a while.

5. One chocolate bar won’t hurt.

6. I’ve blown it now.

7. Binge or overeat.

   
   

And then the cycle starts all over again.

What’s important to understand is this:The binge is not the problem.The diet is not the solution.

The binge is a biological and psychological response to restriction—whether that restriction is physical, mental, or emotional.

When your body senses scarcity—less food, fewer calories, rigid rules—it responds by pushing you to eat more. That’s not a flaw. That’s survival.

Restriction doesn’t just mean eating less.

It can look like:

• Labeling foods as “good” or “bad”

• Saving calories for later

• Ignoring hunger

• Telling yourself you’ll “start over tomorrow”

• Eating with guilt or fear

  
  

Your body doesn’t understand diet culture—it understands safety and threat.

When food feels unsafe or limited, your body turns up the volume:

• Stronger cravings

• Preoccupation with food

• Loss of trust around eating

  
  

And when you finally eat the “forbidden” food, the brain says: Eat it all now—who knows when you’ll get it again.

That’s not lack of control.That’s restriction doing exactly what it does.

Here’s an important reframe:

Your body is so much more than what’s visible on the outside.

Health isn’t a number or a size.

Health looks like:

• Being well rested

• Eating enough

• Feeling at ease in your body

• Thinking clearly

• Having energy for your life

Your inner self and your outer self reflect each other.When you’re chronically dieting, stressed, or fighting your body, that inner tension shows up everywhere.

Healing begins when we stop trying to control our bodies and start listening to them.

Let’s talk about gentle, real-life steps you can take—no extremes, no perfection.

1. Release the comparison trap You don’t want your body to look like anyone else’s.Your body has its own history, genetics, and wisdom.Work toward acceptance before change, not after.

2. Take small risks that nourish you Do something kind for your body that isn’t about shrinking it.

• Schedule a relaxing evening

• Rest without earning it

• Use money you once spent on binge foods or diets for care—like a massage or therapy

3. Spend time with yourself Go somewhere you wouldn’t normally go alone.Take a walk. Sit with a coffee. Be present.The first relationship that needs safety and trust is the one you have with yourself.

4. Acknowledge your strengths—honestly Notice your talents, your resilience, your compassion.And when there are parts of yourself you don’t like—don’t shame them. Get curious.Ask: What do I need here? What can I learn?

If you take one thing from today, let it be this:

 Bingeing is not a personal failure.

It’s a response to restriction.

Freedom comes not from more rules—but from trust, nourishment, and compassion.

You don’t need to fix your body. You need to make peace with it.

Thank you for being here, for listening, and for choosing curiosity over criticism. You are whole—right now.