Control binge-eating from day one

I have always been a disciplined and a very discriminating eater, thanks to the way my mother raised me. However, I have also had my weak moments, and still do, sometimes…

There are many who eat whatever comes their way at any time, without being aware of what they are doing. You are here because you can see that you have an issue - and that’s a great starting point.

These guidelines are for everyone, whether you are overweight or not – remember, just because you are not ‘fat’ does not mean you don’t need to become disciplined and discriminating towards food.

General principles:

1. Don’t keep junk food at home - you can’t eat what’s not available. Don’t go shopping when you are hungry!
2. Simply don’t eat any food from outside - eat only home-made food. Highly processed food creates massive disturbances in your body chemistry. It has excessive amounts of salt and sugar and will make you go hunting for more soon.
3. Start your day with nuts: almonds soaked overnight (peeled), walnuts and cashews. They take time to digest and keep you feeling full for a long time. They release energy in a stable manner over a long period of time.
4. Have some home-made curds for breakfast. Store bought plain organic yogurt with live cultures is a compromise, but still better than nothing. Please don’t have it chilled. In the West yogurt starter cultures are easily available.
5. Have a big portion of vegetables or lentils or paneer for lunch, along with a big portion of salad (it should be about 50-50). Salad should be consumed before the main meal.
6. Always have (seasonal and local) fruit at home. Eat it in good amounts - I usually have it around 10 am, in between breakfast and lunch. If you are starting on your journey of intermittent fasting, you can replace your evening snacks and full meal with fruit around 4 pm.
7. Get early morning sunlight and spend at least two hours outdoors every day with your bare feet on the ground. Take your laptop and work sitting on a park bench.
8. Have 1 tablespoon of (ideally home made) ghee from A2 cows raised organically in the morning. You might feel a remarkable change - your body will not ask to be fed at random times.
9. Track how much, what and when you eat for one month in this food diary. This exercise itself will bring positive changes in your behavior.

If you are a parent of small children, you still have the opportunity to inculcate good eating values in them. If you do this job well, they will have less likelihood of binge eating (and other self-destructive behaviour) during times of stress.