Why Do You Feel Guilty After Binge Eating?

Binge eating involves eating a large quantity of food in a short space of time and is usually an indication that you are not happy. When you're feeling low you just want something to give you a lift and make you feel better about life. Food offers you an opportunity to forget your problems temporarily, as all your attention is given over to eating. You may savour every mouthful or simply cram as much food as you possibly can into your mouth. Either way, you have to finish eating at some point and it is only then that you realise what you've done.

You become aware of just how many calories you have consumed and start to panic about the implications for your weight. If you regularly binge eat, you may have a problem with your weight, anyway, and, unfortunately, there is often a link between being overweight, low self-esteem and binge eating. Being overweight can undermine your confidence and you may decide to simply give into the temptation of food when you stop caring about your health and appearance, even though you know eating is merely going to exacerbate the situation.

When you binge eat, it is generally done in private, because you don't want anyone else to know that sometimes you are unable to control how much you eat. Everyone else may come to the conclusion that you're simply very greedy without taking into account the emotional relationship you have with food. You shouldn't have to explain yourself to anyone and nor do you want to, so that it becomes easier to hide the fact you binge eat. Even when you live with other people, you may simply wait until everyone is out to indulge yourself.

Everyone has certain expectations of how you should behave and, clearly, bingeing on food is not generally regarded as acceptable, which is why you are left with feelings of shame once you have binged. You may be inclined to hide the evidence, covering empty wrappers with other items of rubbish and replacing any food you have gorged yourself on. It is just more convenient to avoid dealing with the issues that are fuelling your binge eating, so that you continue to binge eat, watching your waistline expanding as a result.

Although you can pretend binge eating makes you feel content, in actual fact you're usually overwhelmed by guilt after a binge. You know such behaviour is not considered normal and you worry about how binge eating is affecting your weight and your health, but can't admit that you have a problem. Binge eating isn't just about being greedy, but that is what you believe everyone else thinks, which is why it is such a difficult problem to deal with.