Reading time: 3 mins, 30 secs How familiar are you with the “normalising” process in binge eating recovery? It’s the practice of not only allowing yourself the foods you tend to restrict (and later binge on) but repeatedly having them in your home and incorporating them into your meals and snacks. The normalising process is all about creating a feeling of safety and peace around these foods, and a deep knowing that if you truly want them, you can have them. When you trust this, binge urges (linked to food restrictions) no longer have a reason to exist and so naturally drop away. Although I stopped binge eating about 3 years ago now (🙌), I’m still in the process of normalising some foods, or at least making sure that I really, truly feel no tension around certain types. (You don’t tend to unravel years and years of disordered eating patterns overnight - though I do believe it can happen!) And I’ve noticed some things shift for me over the last couple of months or so… Firstly, pizza (which I held a lot of judgements around) used to be a big binge food for me. I’d try really hard to eat “healthily”, tirelessly making all my food from scratch, but a few days later, I’d find myself compulsively ordering Pizza Hut takeaway on my way home from work. It became a somewhat expensive habit! Instant noodles were a similar one. Now I LOVE noodles but again they weren’t something I’d allow myself to have at home and enjoy when I wanted. And so they became another of my “go-to” savoury binge foods and I’d often end up down the noodle aisle in Tesco of an evening. So to make sure that I feel completely at ease in my relationships with pizza and noodles (and don’t find myself slipping back into old habits), about a year ago I decided to have a pizza night and a noodle night every week! And it worked incredibly well… I’d buy a frozen pizza in my weekly food shop to enjoy after work and before heading out to the roller disco as my “fun Friday treat”. And the noodles I’d have on an evening when I knew I’d be tired and grateful not to have to cook properly, although I’d almost always made a side of greens to go with them. This continued most weeks until recently when I was writing my shopping list and noticed that I had no desire for noodles that week. There was no want, but also no “but I have to have it” tension. And so I simply planned something else to eat for that evening. Then a couple of weeks ago I was eating my Friday night pizza and halfway through thought “nah, I’m done with this” and just stopped eating it. I noticed that I was going through the motions and was actually bored of pizza. Again there was no desire, but also no deeper, underlying pull. I know right now that these two foods are truly “normalised” for me. They no longer have a hold over me because I know and trust that I can eat them whenever I want and that I will again eat them whenever I want (which I doubt will be before too long)! I wanted to share this little story to show you that no matter how crazy you feel around certain foods and no matter how much you binge on them, you can gradually, with compassion and awareness find peace with them. If you recognise that at least some of your binges are driven by diets and other food restrictions but have no idea where to start with normalising these foods, my mini-course Breaking the Cycle might be for you. During the course, you’ll get clear on the ways you’ve been restricting foods, identify the foods that have the greatest hold over you and begin this normalising process in a way that is created to help you feel safe and supported throughout. All the information about Breaking the Cycle is here , including options with 1-1 support if you feel you need that too. And if you have any questions about the mini-course, feel free to email me lucy@bingefreeandworthy.com

Reading / watching time: 21 mins This month's Q&A video is around the topic of connection (which is one of my favourites!) and comes from Aga with the question “ I’ve been binge eating for over 20 years and at this point feel like I’m completely disconnected from my body all of the time. How can I start connecting to it?”. In this video, we get into: Understanding the ways you’ve disconnected from your body The underlying reasons for this disconnection The question you can ask yourself in any moment to begin reconnecting Four simple practices to help bring you back into your body

Reading time: 3 mins While spending time with loved ones recently, someone commented how a particular female celebrity had “such good legs”. A few years ago this comment would have thrown my mind into a downward spiral, making it mean something about me and my own legs. 2014 Lucy’s thoughts would probably have sounded like; “My legs look so short and dumpy compared to hers… I could never wear what she’s wearing… My cellulite would be on full view… God my thighs have gotten wide… I wonder what their training routine is like… I’ll Google it… Maybe if I cut my carbs and get stricter with my workouts my legs will look more toned… Urgh, summer’s not that far off, I should have started this weeks ago…" And the underlying feeling would have been “I’m not good enough”. However, in that moment I noticed how far my mindset had shifted and the comment seemed such an abstract thing to hear. It’s hard to explain, but it just seemed a strange thing to say and I wanted to ask “what do you mean by good?”. Of course, I understand that they were pointing out and praising her physical appearance. Her legs ARE beautiful and attractive! I want to be clear that I’m not saying that beauty and attractiveness are wrong in any way. To be able to see and admire beauty in its many, many forms is a wonderful thing. I’m saying that when you’re secure within your own worth, someone else’s beauty doesn’t have to change how you feel about yourself. From this place, you don’t get thrown into a state of judgement, food restrictions and over-exercising that just reinforces your binge eating patterns every time you come across someone who has a “good body”. Instead, you can see how they’re just another being, like you, living out this human experience as best as they can. And that’s a far more freeing and compassionate place to live from. What does having “good legs” mean to you? My loved one’s comment also got me thinking about how “good legs” could mean something so different to each of us anyway… When my disordered eating was at its worst, I was running most evenings, pounding the London pavements so hard I gave myself knee pain for years to come. My legs may have been a little slimmer and more toned at that time, but my knees hurt and it affected both my work and the things I enjoyed doing. (I was also deeply insecure, anxious and bingeing every night. So, not great.) These days, my legs are larger and softer - yes. But they’re also strong and my knees are pain free. My legs allow me to enjoy long walks, to have fun on my roller skates, to dig veg patches on the allotment, to connect to myself during my yoga practice, to stand (and dance!) for hours seeing my favourite bands play… From that sense, I would say that I love my legs and couldn’t ask much more from them! So, what does having “good legs” really mean to you? And what do your legs allow you to do that you’re grateful for? If this resonates with you and you can see how this more accepting relationship with your body will support your binge eating recovery but it feels a long way off, my 1-1 coaching might be for you. A large focus in my work is to help you really connect to your innate self worth and a sense of safety so that binge urges no longer have a role to play and can simply drop away. You can find out more about Binge Free & Worthy 1-1 Coaching here.

In this video, I answer the question “How can I lose weight in a healthy and responsible manner?” from the perspective of binge eating recovery.

Explore the definitions of ‘binge eating’ and ‘compulsive eating’, how they differ and which term best reflects your experiences with food.

Here’s a personal story to help you get out of your own way and seek support in your binge eating recovery.

Binge eating recovery for your spirit. A short read from Lucy Newport. Learn more.

A sweet and simple practice to help you reconnect to yourself when eating. Learn more.