4: Overcoming Binge Eating Disorder and PCOS

Important question:

Do you ever feel like you don’t have control of your eating?

Today’s guest on the podcast, Amanda, knows a thing or two about how that feels.  She not only shares with us her story of her struggle with PCOS, but also very generously shares her experiences with Binge Eating Disorder (BED)

The reason I asked Amanda to come on the podcast with me is because women with PCOS are hugely over-represented in the disordered eating stats, especially when it comes to binge eating disorder and bulimia.  

And part of the problem is that we don’t hear that other people struggle with this too.

Heck, I hadn’t even heard of binge eating disorder until a couple of years ago.   

There isn’t a one-size fits all approach to overcoming BED, or PCOS.  

But hearing someone else’s story, may resonate with you.

For Amanda, a huge part of her journey was developing compassion for herself.

As Amanda says “Self compassion is truly a gift, it is something that you and only you can offer to yourself”, and while simple, it doesn’t come obvious to most of us.  

It’s this self compassion that set Amanda up so well to join us in The PCOS Protocol. One of the important topics we discuss in the protocol is the psychological component of your health journey.  And for many of us, this is getting out of the ‘dieting’ cycle and mindset.

We don’t expect to be perfect when starting a new job or sport, but for some reason we expect absolute perfection when it comes to changing our health.  One ‘slip up’ can leave us feeling like we’ve ‘ruined it all’ and eating the entire pantry, which leads to self- deprecating talk, and in some cases, a pattern of binge eating and restriction.

Amanda shares with us her journey to developing self compassion and how this has helped her with making health changes.  

Highlights and key takeaways:

• Our experience with weight and dieting as a young child/ teenager can set patterns for us as adults.
• What is binge eating disorder
• Binge eating disorder is physiological and psychological
• Insulin can have cause major blood sugar swings which can make us crave high sugar and carbohydrate foods- it’s not just your ‘lack of self control’
• Get hold of your inner critic- they are not you!
• Self compassion is not ‘woo-woo’- it’s something you deserve, you can offer yourself every
• A specialist binge eating disorder counsellor/ psychologist is important,  as is getting on top of your blood sugar rollercoaster.

*Please note: Unfortunately, we no longer have the PDF’s and resources as mentioned in this podcast episode. Sorry about that!
For further resources and help, you can learn about your PCOS drivers and the best lifestyle changes that can support you in The PCOS protocol. Click here to see more and enrol.