Food as a Movie Rental: A Restriction- Binge Cycle

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Hi Everyone! A brief chat with a coworker gave me a great analogy on a binge /restrict cycle.

I thought I would just hop on and share this short little story today. I work with clients a lot who struggle with food. First, they might go through periods of restriction (dieting) and then that all too often results in a binge.

That is not the client’s fault. Restriction sets us up for bingeing. Whether it’s food overall or one food in general.

Another way to think about it is in terms of a movie rental: I was talking with a colleague earlier this week. She mentioned that her family had rented a movie that her kids wanted to watch. Since they only had it for 48 hours, they watched it over and over during this time frame.

I’ve never been to this colleague’s house, but my guess is that they have more than one movie at home that her kids either weren’t in the mood for or have grown tired of.

That is exactly what it is like to go through a restriction/ binge cycle.

Or sometimes it’s the reverse. We call that a “last supper mentality” – better eat all of these Oreos now, because as of tomorrow, I will never eat Oreos again.

Then, life happens, our body rebels against our forced semistarvation, and we “break our diet.” Well, I went over my calories for today, so I guess I might as well finish this ice cream in the fridge.

It’s a pendulum swinging back and forth. Or a Newton’s Cradle (look it up if you’re not sure what I’m talking about.)

Usually, the further we pull to one side, the further we will go in the opposite direction.

What this does is create distrust with our body. That’s not great. If we can learn to tune in to what our body is telling us, we can take power away from food. This creates a much more stable food relationship.

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