If you’ve ever been on a diet, odds are you’ve had an encounter with overeating or binge eating. Maybe it’s devouring a bag of chips, going back for a second helping of dinner, revisiting the pantry for more snacks, or eating in secret to finally feel satisfied. Whatever it looks like, the aftermath is usually the same: guilt, shame, a wave of anxiety, and a feeling of failure. Maybe the thought “Why can’t you just stick to your diet?” crosses your mind. And maybe a second one follows: “Tomorrow you’ll eat less to make up for tonight.” And the cycle continues.
This cycle is often called the restrict-binge cycle, and it’s as common as rain in springtime. Bingeing is the body’s predictable response to deprivation, so for anyone with even a little history of dieting, overeating or bingeing is bound to happen at some point.
When someone reaches out to me about feeling out of control around food, one of the first things I ask is, “Are you restricting any foods? Are you on a diet?” The answer is almost always yes.
Let’s unpack what binge eating and overeating actually are, why they happen, and how to move forward.
Binge eating vs. overeating
Binge eating means eating an amount of food that’s clearly larger than most people would eat in a similar time and situation, along with a feeling that you’ve lost control. You might eat faster than usual, keep going past uncomfortably full, or eat when you aren’t hungry. Many people binge alone or in secret and feel shame, disgust, or guilt afterward. Some describe it as an out of body experience, like they’re not in the driver’s seat.
Overeating means eating past the point of fullness, and everyone does it. Sometimes you just miss the fullness mark, because no one is a perfect eater. Sometimes you choose to keep going because the moment calls for it: birthday cake after a full dinner, or a second scoop of your grandma’s potato casserole because you only get it once a year and it’s that good. With overeating, you’re usually aware of what’s happening and can stop if you want to, although a history of dieting can make that harder.
There’s a useful concept called interoceptive awareness, which is your ability to sense what’s happening inside your body. Noticing hunger, a headache, or needing to pee are all examples. Years of dieting can dull this awareness around hunger and fullness. Getting it back takes some trial and error, and overeating is often part of the learning process.
Bingeing doesn’t automatically mean binge eating disorder
Binge eating disorder (BED) is diagnosed when binges happen at least once a week for three months, cause real distress, and aren’t regularly followed by compensating behaviors like purging or overexercising. You can binge sometimes without having BED, and you can be uncomfortably full without it being a binge.
If you think you might have BED, that’s worth talking through with a dietitian or therapist who specializes in eating disorders. It’s common and very treatable.
Why it happens
Our culture doesn’t make this any easier. We’re told we should feel satisfied with a small portion. Mention how little you eat and people will praise you and ask for your secret. But when that “willpower” turns into a pint of ice cream, a box of cookies, and a bag of Cheetos after dinner, the pride quickly becomes a shameful secret. Or maybe it’s quieter, like bingeing on “healthy treats” or concoctions that vaguely resemble dessert (mashed banana with cocoa powder, peanut butter, and granola). Maybe it’s the only satisfying thing in the house: an entire jar of peanut butter.
A binge can also be subjective. If you have a history of dieting, eating two cookies can feel like a binge simply because it breaks a food rule. It’s probably a very reasonable amount, but the guilt shows up anyway.
So why does this happen? Most often, it comes down to two kinds of restriction: physical and mental. When your body doesn’t get the food it needs, it will make up for it eventually. The same goes for mental restriction, like wanting a brownie and convincing yourself an apple will do. Think of a pendulum. When we restrict, we swing to one side, and when that becomes too much for the body or mind, we swing right back into a binge.
“But I’m not restricting, I’m just eating healthy!”
Healthy foods don’t always satisfy, and many “clean eating” plans cut out so many things (gluten, dairy, sugar) that there isn’t enough left to keep you full and energized. Any kind of deprivation tends to put a binge right around the corner.
Restriction isn’t the whole story for everyone, though. Bingeing can also be a way to cope with stress, loneliness, trauma, or feelings that seem like too much to sit with. If that sounds familiar, it doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong. It means food has been doing a big job for you, and it makes sense to get support for whatever it’s been helping you carry.
Either way, there’s no shame in your body doing what it needs to do. When it’s been short on energy, asking loudly for more food is a pretty smart survival strategy.
If you’re on a GLP-1
GLP-1 medications can quiet hunger and the urge to binge, and for a lot of people that feels like relief. But if the restriction and food rules are still in place, those patterns often come back if the dose changes or the medication stops. Working on your relationship with food while you’re on the medication can make that transition much smoother.
How to move forward
The goal is to get out of the restrict-binge cycle. If you don’t respond to a binge with an extreme, the pendulum won’t swing so far the other way. That means sitting with the discomfort and anxiety after a binge instead of planning how to “make up for it.” It’s hard, and it’s what eventually gets you to steadier ground.
Give yourself unconditional permission to eat, knowing your body might go overboard for a while. It will feel messy, because your body is catching up on foods that were off limits for a long time. It’s learning to trust that you won’t deprive it again.
Instead of trying to undo the damage, keep moving forward. Eat regularly, respond to your hunger, and eat what your body is asking for, even when that feels harder than dieting. The more consistently you eat enough, the less chaotic eating feels, and the more you’ll actually enjoy food.
Over time, you’ll get more in tune with your body because you’re not running on empty. You’ll notice that eating past fullness doesn’t feel great, and passing on food will start to feel natural when you just don’t want it. A well-fed body doesn’t need to grab extra food when it trusts that more is coming.
Binges will become less frequent. They won’t last forever. In the meantime, treat each one as information about what your body needs.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to start, you’re not alone. I’d love to help. You can learn more about how I work with binge eating.
