8 ways to stop binge eating on the weekend.

I was just checking through our emails and Facebook messages and found this one from the lovely Jodie, who says:

“I know you guys love food too, so how do you avoid those things you love? I eat really well during the week then come the weekend when there's no routine to the day. I find myself bingeing on chocolate!! Others in the house refuse to give it up so it's always around.

I binge and then hate myself for it afterwards. I just wish I had the strength to never go there.”

What a great question and a great indication of how similar we all are!

So I replied to Jodie, but I think this problem (and our solution) are best shared.

So here goes, in dot point format.

Point 1

Don’t hate yourself.  The only cure for hating yourself on the weekend is more chocolate.  More chocolate = more hate.  Take out the hate and you don’t need the chocolate.

Point 2

Make the Healthy Junk chocolate.  It tastes like the chemical crapola, but if you binge on the Healthy Junk chocolate, you’ll poo it all out.  And it’s not a sore guts poo at all.  Because it’s based on coconut. it just slides on through the digestive system.

Point 3

Instead of thinking about what you can’t have, think about what you can have.  Or what you can’t do if you eat the junk.

This may seem like a cliche point, but it’s helped us many times when we’re out at a cafe on a Sunday - just list the things you would want to do after you eat (run, swim, surf, ride a bike, gardening, etc.)  Eating junk makes you lazy. Eating clean, delicious nutritious salads and juices and smoothies make you energetic!

Point 4

If you have people in your house who refuse to give up the junk, it’s OK. Just watch them eat it for a little while. Watching someone eat junk food is like watching someone masturbate in public. It’s disturbing and disgusting. I’ve never seen anyone eat junk well. Observe them for a bit, you’ll see that creepy distant look on their face and they’re not eating, they’re rubbing that stuff on their mouths. Lips greasy and slippery, jaw going as fast as possible. More, more, more - shovel that shit in you disgusting pig.

LOL. I went a little far with the description there and I’m sorry if you take offense, but save your hate comments until you’ve actually watched someone eat junk food without participating in it yourself. You’ll be shocked. Like the first time you’re sober amongst a bunch of drunks. I did that nearly 10 years ago and haven’t been able to touch a drink since then!

Point 5

Have a current goal or purpose (losing weight is not a goal, it is a result). We do our athletic stuff on the weekend. It’s really really hard to justify a block of chocolate when you know you’ve got to don the lycra the next weekend. Book into some events, pay the cash - just parting with $80 for a run has an instant effect on your eating habits. Instant.  Try it.

Point 6

Have a routine for the weekend. As teenagers we just wanted to bludge around on the weekend proving to the world that we lived by our own rules! But one day we grew up and realised that doing that didn’t serve us too well anymore. So we began to plan our weekends, have a routine. Don’t be fooled into thinking that fun happens when you have nothing to do. Nothing happens when you have nothing to do. Plan your fun.  Plan your activities, even for the simple result that you’ll get them done, and that you’re not a pimply faced attitude ridden teenager anymore.

Point 7

Keep busy. Eating is the simplest cure for boredom - so do something else. We clean our house on a Sunday. It sounds boring, but it keeps us from mindless eating and come Monday, we’ve got a clean house to start the week (very exciting with all these kids!).

Point 8

Finally, it’s OK to be hungry. Whoever told us that being hungry was bad for us was probably selling food. Hungry people achieve more. Look at animals. A hungry dog is a busy animal. A dog that has been fed just sleeps. Don’t be the sleepy dog. Be the hungry dog. Don’t eat till your gut stretches. Eat enough that you don’t starve and that’s it. People ask us how we managed to write 7 books in just over a year with 4 kids and 3 businesses? You too will amaze yourself with how efficient you are when you are hungry.

If you are still not convinced, try this. “Dinner is ready, but you can’t eat it until you’ve cleaned the kitchen”.  A 30 minute job becomes a 5 minute job like magic.  Boom!

Please use the comments, I’d love to hear your thoughts or suggestions!

-Julius