The Thanksgiving turkey dinner seems to invite you, like a charming waiter, to sample the all-you-can-eat buffet sitting at your table. Resistance is futile for most people, but for binge eaters, the temptation makes the holiday experience less than enjoyable.
"For people who are already having trouble, the holidays can be a really bad time," says CU-Â鶹¹ÙÍø Psychology Professor Linda Craighead. "The food is there. ItÂ’s usually particularly well done and tasty. And itÂ’s hard enough for anyone to resist holiday food, much less someone who is having a problem with binge eating."
Craighead says that people concerned with appearance and weight loss often comprise the binge-eating population. Strict dieting lowers the bodyÂ’s caloric intake, causing the body to signal that it wants to eat. Others resort to bingeing to make themselves feel better.
"Binge eating is particularly a problem in populations who are trying to lose weight and that is mostly women," she says.
Avoiding overzealous dieting is one way to avoid binge eating, as is looking for alternative ways to make yourself feel better, she says.
"ItÂ’s not inappropriate to use food occasionally, but you need to have some other ways," says Craighead. She encourages women to stop focusing on how they look and recognize that appearance is only part of who they are.