To end binge eating, you need to sit in discomfort

Ending binge eating often means learning to tolerate discomfort instead of escaping it with food. The “discomfort” can take many forms:

• Physical: the urge to binge can feel almost unbearable, like an itch you have to scratch.
• Emotional: stress, loneliness, anger, boredom, or shame that you want to numb.
• Mental: the obsessive thoughts about food, the pressure of “I need it NOW.”

Binge eating offers temporary relief from that discomfort, but it reinforces the cycle. Breaking it requires practicing sitting with the urge or feeling and discovering: “I can survive this without binging.”

Some ways people build that tolerance:

• Urge surfing: noticing the craving like a wave that rises and falls — not fighting it, just riding it out.
• Delay strategy: telling yourself, “I’ll wait 10 minutes and check in again,” which weakens the automatic reaction.
• Naming the feeling: instead of “I need food,” saying “I’m anxious/lonely/bored.” Naming often softens the power of the urge.
• Self-soothing alternatives: journaling, stretching, calling someone, or even just sitting quietly with deep breaths.

The first few times sitting in discomfort can feel really hard, but over time your brain learns that the urge will pass — and you don’t need to binge to survive it.