Believe it or not, there is ONE primary cause at the root of binge eating. And if you know what it is, you can stop binge eating for good.

After several years of helping thousands of women free themselves from binge and emotional eating, I’ve noticed a lot of confusion about the root cause of the issue. And with this post, I hope to clear that up for you once and for all!

At Beating Binge Eating, my team and I have discovered what lies at the heart of it all…and what we’ve found might surprise you, especially if you’ve ever sought out professional help or guidance.

Some practitioners and therapists claim that binges are strictly an emotional problem. But when you take that into the context of treating the problem, what’s the underlying message?

It makes it sound as though you need to heal ALL of your emotional wounds first, and only then can you be free of binge eating.

Honestly, I don’t believe that you have to have everything all figured out and healed to stop binge eating and I’ve seen this proven in my own life and with all the women we’ve served.

Now I’m not knocking therapy or deep healing work, in fact we do a lot of inner work in our program, but what I am saying is that I don’t believe that you have to be in a perfect zen-like state 24/7, free of emotional issues, with a perfectly balanced life to stop binge eating.

But that seems to be the idea in some professional circles (whether it was intended or not). And what makes that idea even more detrimental is the label that so often comes with it: “disordered.”

It carries it an implication that somehow you’re broken. That you need fixing. And that idea that can make you feel stuck right where you are and hopeless instead of helping you break free.

Now, let me be clear about one thing: if you have health conditions, trauma in your past, emotional issues that you need to work through, or just feel like you want support…don’t hesitate to seek professional help, under any circumstances.

But what I am saying is that there’s more to binge and emotional eating than the emotions alone.

You see, emotions, past traumas, and other triggers can set off those urges to binge. But you have to have that urge to binge in the first place to binge at all.

Which brings me to the ultimate cause of binge eating. It’s more than an emotion.

The pattern that establishes itself in your brain with your eating and urges.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Emotional triggers are a factor. But at the heart of it all is an urge to binge in your brain. It’s an urge based on a pattern that establishes itself in the survival-based area of your brain.

I recognize that emotional triggers are a factor. But we take it a step further with our clients. We help them condition their brains so that they never have the urge to binge again by breaking the link in the brain that attaches emotions to eating, and breaking the pattern in the brain that drives you to binge.

The key to breaking the pattern of binge and emotional eating is to get your brain on your side and it is SO POSSIBLE!

Pretty amazing, right?

So how does it all work, what role does the brain play specifically, and how do you take on binge and emotional eating in an effective and holistic way?

Let’s talk about that right now!

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There’s a lot of potential emotional triggers for binge eating. But the triggers only awaken the urge. The urge itself comes from a pattern that established itself in your brain over time.

How does that happen? Here’s a simple analogy…

Imagine a grassy field without any pathways cut through it. Then someone trudges through the field, cutting through the grass and forging a new path. Then she follows that same path again at a later time. And then again after that.

Before too long, it becomes the proverbial “well-beaten path.” Not to mention the path of least resistance. And it’s the path that your brain starts following regularly and without question.

So that pattern is sitting there in your brain, waiting to be set off and one of the most significant triggers that primes your brain for that urge to binge regardless of emotions is restriction…

I’m talking about forcing yourself to stick to a diet. Restricting what you eat. Whether you’re cutting out food groups or merely trying to “eat healthy,” telling yourself NO, dieting, or even mentally and emotionally judging your food choices or obsessing about what to eat, how to eat etc is the number one trigger for binge-eating tendencies!

And you’re likely aware that behind every diet rule or restriction is a deeper cause. You’re not just saying NO to certain foods. You’re heaping on the judgment, fear, shame, and criticism of both your body and your food choices.

That’s what flips that “urge-to-binge switch” in your brain to the ON position. And before you know it, that binge pattern has you going full-speed ahead.

This is a phenomenon that we call “wired to binge.” It’s triggering that binge tendency in your brain, the part of the brain that is fixated on survival. The part of the brain that has nothing to do with the real YOU.

So how do you get to the heart of the problem and stop these urges for good?

First things first. Your body needs to be out of what we call “survival mode.” It needs to be assured that it’ll receive the nourishment it needs and on a regular basis. So believe it or not, eating adequately is where the process begins.

Then we take it a step deeper.

Once your body is free of that urge-to-binge survival mode, the next step is reclaiming your power with food. That means separating the real you from your urge to binge.

How does that work?

When you’re adequately nourished and out of the survival-based stress mode, you might find some emotional energy left behind. Emotions that need to be worked through and released.

This brings us to the next step: uncoupling your emotional triggers from that urge to binge. This is where a lot of the deeper work is done, and it’s an intensely powerful step.

Now, let’s get back to the emotions themselves for a minute. Some practitioners and therapists claim that binge eating is only an emotional thing. But over the years we’ve discovered that emotions play a huge part, but if there wasn’t a pattern engrained in the brain to binge when those emotions kicked off then the binge eating would not be an issue.

So handling the emotions makes a huge difference, but it doesn’t address the root of the problem…and that’s the pattern in the brain that drives the urge to binge.

And if you think about it, that’s actually good news! Why?

Because no matter who you are, you’ll never be able to eliminate all the triggering emotions from your life. And if you’re depending on having a perfectly balanced emotional state 24/7 before you can free yourself from urges to binge, you’ll likely be disappointed.

But if you can put space between yourself and that urge to binge, you’ll find TRUE freedom for yourself.

For example, stressful situations in my life used to send me on a quest to scour the kitchen cabinets for anything I could find.

But now, when I feel those emotional triggers kicking in, I don’t fall victim to the urge to binge. And it’s not because I’ve mastered every stress-relief or meditation technique, either!

It’s because I’ve uncoupled the urge to binge from my emotional triggers. I’ve broken the link in my brain that caused the urge to binge in the first place.

And the best news of all is that you can do it, too!

The primary cause of binge eating is physiological. It’s a neurological pattern that forms in the irrational part of your brain, and it’s only concern is survival.

But here’s the truth: those patterns don’t mean that you’re broken. You’re not “disordered,” no matter what a therapist might have told you.

And you don’t have to allow food or any other external force control you.

With the right steps, you can defuse the triggers, take your power back, and break that urge to binge pattern in your brain for good. So that no matter what emotional triggers come your way, you won’t be reaching for a bag of chips to solve them!

You can do this. And I want to help!

Click the image below where I’ve got a special gift for you! We call them, “Craving Cards”, and they’re one of our most popular tools!

If you ever feel night time cravings, sugar cravings, the urge to just say “screw it I’m going to start my diet over tomorrow”, or like you need a little body confidence pick me up… 

Just grab a card, go through the prompts, and shift it instantly!

Click the image above and let me know where to send them!

You’ll also get mini demo video training sessions for each card where I share how to use the cards and some of my best tips for food freedom forever!

With our Craving Cards and Demo Series… 

You’ll learn how to stop cravings in their tracks, feel confident, and get back your power, fast! 

Love,
Brittany

PS: Want the exact freedom and ease with our foods that myself and thousands of our clients get to experience?

In our Beating Binge Eating Blueprint (BBEB), I show you how to make this happen in just 8 weeks!

Many of our students have seen a DRASTIC difference in as little as a few days!

It’s our signature program, and up until recently, it was $3000 or more to join.

For now, you can get it as a part of our Food Freedom Collection for practically free by clicking the image below!

There is no catch…every resource I’ve created for food freedom and body confidence will land straight in your if you just click that image below and let me know where to send it!