The cause of compulsive eating disorder in children

Compulsive eating may feel like a disorder sometimes.

I was just talking to someone who said the hardest part about weight loss was ...

Being ‘compelled to eat a ton of food by my stomach even though I didn’t want to’

I wanted to write this piece to give this person some insight ...

And to help them realize they aren’t alone.

And that their is a path of healing, a yoga of weight loss.

So in this lil article I dive into:

• The definition of compulsive eating disorder
• The root cause of compulsive eating in children and limiting beliefs
• Seeing food in non-binary terms
• The ultimate solution is eating anything you want to

The definition of Compulsive Eating Disorder:

So there is some debate in the newest psychotherapy manual about the definition of Compulsive Eating Disorder versus Binge Eating Disorder. Here’s an excellent article you can read here if you want to learn more about it.

However, no matter the definition there are common signs. These signs include:

• Eating faster than usual
• Eating past the point of fullness
• Eating when not physically hungry
• Eating alone or in secret
• Feeling upset or guilty after overeating
• Feeling that you are abnormal

Now the definition of compulsive eating disorder, from my perspective, is merely the severity of these symptoms.

Many people have these symptoms who aren’t even overweight! Yet they report such severity of feeling upset that they might have a disorder.

Other people who do struggle with weight may find they simply have mild effects of compulsive eating and don’t feel they have a disorder.

The point is ...

It doesn’t matter so much about the definition.

It matters how much compulsive eating effects you.

With that being said, let’s dive into the root causes of compulsive eating in children.

Compulsive Eating in Children

Simply put, compulsive eating stems from a belief that you won’t get enough food.

Therefore, you must stuff yourself because you don’t know if you will starve.

This might sound weird ...

Because in Western society there is almost too much food!

But our emotional selves, our inner children, are much different.

In dieting culture, you constantly restrict yourself and tell your inner kid ‘NO’ to certain types of food:

• Like NO, you can’t have that hotdog at the ballgame because you ate too much beforehand
• Like NO, you can’t have that halloween candy because it has too much sugary

And every time you say NO to your hunger, your hunger (or your inner kid, I use hunger and inner kid pretty synonymous) thinks that food is unpredictable.

What does your hunger do?

Well, it tries to keep you alive by overeating.

Because your hunger is soooo powerful, it literally compels you to overeat.

So the root cause of compulsive eating is this emotional feeling that food is scarce and unpredictable.

Often times this pattern started in childhood.

And the key to breaking this pattern is what I call Weight Loss Enlightenment.

Weight Loss Enlightenment is a few different things.

• You pay attention to your hunger so you know if you feel like food is ‘scarce’. When food feels scarce you will automatically eat a ton more than you should. So tuning into your body is a huge part of WLE.
• WLE is also about limiting beliefs. Because if you don’t trust your hunger enough, then will constantly be restricting your hunger as a part of some diet. When you restrict your hunger, then you’ll inevitable end up sending a signal to your hunger that food is scarce and the cycle will repeat itself. So you need to work the limiting belief that you can’t trust your hunger.

You need to practice the ‘yoga of weight loss’ to regain trust in your hunger.

So gaining trust back in your hunger is how you heal this whole cycle.

And gaining your trust back can be done!

So compulsive eating ...

It's probably better not to think of compulsive eating as a disorder...

But rather simply a lack of trust in your hunger.

For now, just start paying attention to when you feel like food is scarce.

Because the ultimate goal ...

Is to see food in non-binary terms.

This means you can trust yourself to eat anything...

Because your emotional reaction to food is the same.

Food is no longer good or bad. It's just food.

Huge realization!!!!

Yet the ultimate realization is realizing...

Unconditional eating.

You trust your hunger so much that you allow yourself to eat anything without guilt.

As Dr. Jamie Long says, "Intuitive Eating is based on the premise that our body instinctively knows how to nourish itself and maintain a healthy weight. That becoming more connected to our biological hunger and fullness cues is a far more effective way to attain health, rather than following a strict diet."

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