The act of overeating; eating in excess of one's hunger or physiological need, is something that the majority of the population engages in from time to time.  The rate of occurrence, types and amounts of food eaten, reasons behind the occurrence and feelings experienced afterwards all play an important part in determining whether the overeating is "normal" human behavior, or cause for concern.  If you simply overeat while dining out for a special occasion or at a party every once in a while because the food "tastes too good to stop", you are probably just experiencing a basic human instinct to overeat.  If you are one of the millions of people that have eaten a few too many Buffalo wings during the Super Bowl because they were simply amazing, you are not alone.  Almost everyone has had an experience like this one, leading to a night of feeling "stuffed".  You may experience stomach pains and discomfort but those feelings pass after a few hours or so.  This is a "normal" occurrence and as long as your overall lifestyle is healthy, this one night of over-indulgence won't harm you.  You may be able to avoid a situation like this one by eating more slowly and allowing your stomach to communicate with your brain that you don't need more food, which actually may take up to 20 minutes! Perhaps try to be aware of how much you are consuming and avoid grazing through snacks and appetizers.  With these simple tricks, you are free to continue your healthy lifestyle and easily avoid the discomfort of overeating.

If you find yourself eating an entire bag of potato chips or pint of ice cream whenever you have a very stressful day at work or fight with a close friend, you may be experiencing emotional overeating.  This is often characterized by eating comfort foods, whether you are hungry or not, in larger-than-normal quantities due to a certain emotion you are feeling or situation you just experienced.  Some common emotions that trigger overeating are stress, anxiety, depression, anger, sadness, boredom, and many more.  These emotions are known as "triggers" and many people often rely on their comfort foods in order to cope and get through the situation.  After the overeating, you may find yourself feeling guilty about how much you just ate which then can lead to more negative feelings.  In order to break the cycle, you should speak with a Registered Dietitian who will help you identify your triggers as well as learn some alternative coping techniques to get through an emotional situation.  Some examples may be to go for a walk, take a bubble bath, talk to a friend or family member, or watch one of your favorite movies.  Over time, you and your dietitian will together discuss how you can redirect your emotions towards other activities and avoid emotional overeating.

If you find yourself eating large quantities of food uncontrollably in a short amount of time, if you eat this food in secret and often feel embarassed over the amount of food you have eaten, you may have a Binge Eating Disorder (BED).  You may find yourself leaving the office two or three times per week to eat four slices of pizza, a hamburger, and a cupcake during your one hour lunch break, or on you way home after your day.  The characteristics of Binge Eating Disorder are secretly, frequently and uncontrollably eating large quantities of food in a short period of time.  This usually occurs after a "trigger" is experienced, as explained in the emotional overeating section, or after eating one "forbidden" food, and often occurs without any feelings of actual hunger.  The binge usually leads to feelings of guilt, lack of control, and very often feelings of low self esteem/depression.  There are many health risks associated with long-term Binge Eatingg Disorder such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, gallbladder disease and diabetes mellitus.  If you struggle with characteristics of BED, speak with one of our Registered Dietitians who specialize in treatment of BED and start receiving the help you need.  Our Registered Dietitians will help ensure that your daily eating plan supports your life and needs in order to help you prevent the physiological triggers for binges.  We will also work with you to help identify when the binges are likely to occur, how to redirect your energy and emotions in order to avoid the binges, and how to cope with the after-effects if a binge does occur.  Over time you will be able to manage Binge Eating Disorder once you start training yourself to eat effectively throughout your daily life and also learn alternative ways of dealing with emotional situations without food.