Reclaim Control with a Realistic Binge Eating Recovery Meal Plan

Struggling with binge eating disorder can make you feel like food is completely out of your control. In binge eating recovery, many people make the mistake of thinking they need to eat less to prevent binges, which ultimately ends up making bingeing worse. To truly regain control over your eating, you need a realistic, binge eating recovery meal plan that caters to your needs and preferences, while also removing confusion over what, when, and how much to eat. You can conquer eating disorder recovery with a meal plan that’s perfect for you!

Why you need a binge eating recovery meal plan

Break the binge-restrict cycle

Binge eating is often a direct response to restricted eating. Under-eating leaves the body starved for energy and nutrients, creating a strong physical and mental drive to seek food. When overly hungry, you are more vulnerable to binge triggers and overeating. In the aftermath of a binge, those with binge eating disorder tend to compensate by skipping or eating less at their next meal, which once again leaves them overly hungry. This is what we call the binge-restrict cycle. 

A meal plan can help break the binge-restrict cycle by ensuring that you have regular, adequate meals, thus setting you up to never get too hungry or too full.

Regulate hunger and fullness cues

The constant restricting and bingeing common to binge eating disorder can alter or suppress your natural hunger and fullness cues. Without these cues, it can be hard to tell when to eat and when to stop eating, leaving you more vulnerable to bingeing.

It is possible to get those hunger and fullness cues back! Having a meal plan that keeps you eating on a schedule can help remind your body what a normal cadence of hunger and fullness feels like throughout the day. 

Reduce impulsivity

Having a plan to purchase, prepare, and eat meals at a specific time each day greatly reduces the opportunities to miss meals or make impulsive decisions about what to eat. Many people assume that having a plan for meals requires a lot of extra time, energy, and effort– but with support from a dietitian, making and executing a meal plan can be much easier.

Habituate trigger foods

Trigger foods are foods that activate your desire to binge. It could be anything from pizza, chips, chocolate, ice cream, pie, etc. Many people with binge eating disorder attempt to restrict their access to these foods because they don’t feel they can trust themselves around them and feel guilty for eating them. Avoiding your trigger foods may work in the short term, but typically perpetuates the restrict-binge cycle in the long term, making it more likely that you’ll binge on these foods later down the road.

The process of habituation involves slowly adding your trigger foods back into your diet in ways that feel safe so you can rebuild your confidence around them. Habituation might look like packing cookies to eat with your lunch, or planning pizza night each week. Your dietitian can guide you through how to habituate even the most “emotionally charged” foods.

Ditch dieting

Dieting is a top predictor for disordered eating. Why? Because dieting involves restriction– eating fewer calories, fewer food groups, and fewer meals. And restriction fuels the binge-restrict cycle. Healing from binge eating disorder involves putting dieting and weight loss on the back-burner in favor of recovery.

Having a meal plan in place can help provide structure the way a diet might, but also ensures you’re eating frequently, eating enough, and eating all the foods you enjoy.

What are the components of a binge eating recovery meal plan?

The basics of a binge eating recovery meal plan include consistency, adequacy, balance, and variety:

Consistency

Consistency means eating regularly throughout the day to ensure that your body is fueled and you’re never getting overly hungry. It’s not uncommon for someone with binge eating disorder to skip meals and snacks earlier in the day to either make up for bingeing the day prior, or to “save up” for a binge later. Ravenous hunger makes it difficult– if not impossible– to eat slowly, mindfully, and to comfortable fullness at a meal. Thus, it’s important to eat at least 3 meals and 2-3 snacks spaced out throughout the day.

Adequacy

Adequacy means eating enough at each meal and snack so you aren’t hungry again right away. If you find that you’re eating regularly, but are getting hungry again after 30-60 minutes, you may not be eating enough food! Adequacy also means eating enough over the course of the whole day to meet your overall energy needs. How much you need to eat will be unique to you! Your dietitian can help you determine how much food your body needs.

Balance

Balance means eating foods from all the food groups at meals and snacks. Combining proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and fiber can help you feel fuller and more satisfied. Combining foods from all the foods groups has other benefits too, like balancing blood sugar and providing sustained energy.

Variety

Variety means you’re eating lots of different foods from each of the food groups– and not just “good” or “healthy” foods either! An important lesson in recovery from binge eating disorder is learning that all foods can fit into a healthful diet, and there is no need to restrict or feel guilty for eating fun foods like cookies, ice cream, pizza, etc.

Sample realistic binge eating recovery meal plans

Download a sample meal plan that incorporates consistency, adequacy, balance, and variety here. 

Let’s also remember that a truly realistic meal plan will not only meet your energy needs, but will also work with your preferences and your lifestyle. That means if you don’t like broccoli, you don’t have to eat broccoli! 

That also means that if you don’t have time to cook all your meals from scratch, your meal plan should include frozen meals, takeout meals, or meals that you get from a meal prep service.

The best meal plan is the one you can actually follow. This is why it’s important to work with a dietitian on a custom plan instead of relying on a cookie cutter version.

More ways to be successful in your binge eating recovery

• Choose an appropriate level of care from a treatment provider/facility that aligns with your clinical, emotional, and spiritual needs
• Assemble a care team of providers who specialize in eating disorders, including a dietitian, a therapist, a psychiatrist, and a medical doctor
• Establish an eating plan with contingencies so you feel confident in what, when, where, and how you are nourishing yourself each day
• Identify your support system and include them in your treatment so they may offer support, encouragement, and accountability in your home environment
• Seek out resources that encourage, educate, and inspire you in your recovery including support groups, social media accounts, books, podcasts, and more
• Keep a list of your reasons why you want to recover; add your recovery wins and accomplishments to this list over time
• Identify when you are at risk of relapse, including times of transition, high stress, or the holidays, and recruit more support during these times
• Acknowledge that slips are not slides, and slides are not failures; relapsing does not mean you cannot fully recover from your eating disorder long term