Have you ever panicked that sometimes go on a MAD FOOD BINGE?

That for days you will try to ‘diet’ or ‘eat well’, watching your calorie intake and exercising a lot and then after a few days, you will quite literally like Bruce Bogtrotter in Matilda…..

GORGE YOUR WAY THROUGH ‘NAUGHTY’ FOOD?

There is a SCIENCE behind this.

Food restriction and excessive exercise leads to a decline of glycogen.

This is a type of ENERGY STORAGE.

This means that your body metabolizes glucose (energy) abnormally and causes severely low levels of blood sugar.

This can cause headaches, slow thinking and mood changes.

In the long term this can even lead to diabetes or liver failure.

When your body enters hypoglycemia (very low levels of blood sugar), it needs the ENERGY to restore your body to normal function.

Hence, why you BINGE.

The only way to STOP this, is to eat NORMALLY.

To not have ‘dieting’ days.

To not have ‘under eating’ days.

To not have ‘over exercise’ days.

But eat the food your body needs and requires in order to function.

If you eat a little bit more one day, don’t starve yourself the next day, eat normally as your body requires and everything evens out.

Quite recently, I have been very unwell.

(NO WAY! YOU HAVE NOT MENTIONED THIS BEFORE IN PREVIOUS BLOG POSTS)

So I am pretty much sitting around, house bound doing zero exercise.

Now in the past, this would not have sat well with me (heh, pun)

I would have under eaten because of the lack of exercise or body movement.

When this is when my body needs fuel to repair the most.

And at the glimpse of feeling better, I would have forced my body to exercise.

When this is the time my body needs rest to repair.

I have been eating more than I usually would doing zero exercise.

Eating 3 meals and snacks in between.

Eating when I’m actually hungry.

Have I gained LOADS OF WEIGHT?

Has ANYTHING BAD HAPPENED?

No.

Nothing has changed.

Because I’ve eaten when I’m hungry and given my body the FUEL it needs to repair.

The worst thing that can happen to you is NOT WEIGHT GAIN.

Beauty comes in ALL SHAPES and SIZES.

When you LISTEN to your body,

Your body naturally evens out at the body weight it NEEDS to be at.

And what you gain is happiness, health and a fully functioning body.

Breaking out of the starve, binge cycle is HARD.

Not even just for people with eating disorders but people who engage in DIET culture.

When you stop DEMONIZING food,

Making some days ‘TREAT DAYS’,

And treat your body with the LOVE and RESPECT it deserves EVERY DAY,

You will break free of the cycle,

And happiness ensues.

I was one of those people who NEVER bought CHOCOLATE.

Because I knew that if I bought a bar, I would not be able to stop eating it and eating it.

I would under eat and over exercise during the week and then PANIC that on the weekend when I let the rules loosen, I would binge. I would eat and eat and eat and EAT.

Why?

Because my body was hungry.

It had gone into hypoglycemia.

I would experience headaches, fatigue and word slurring during the week.

Sometimes it would sound like I was drunk purely because my body was not getting the amount of energy it required.

I would be short tempered and exhausted.

Then on the weekend, my brain would work better. I would eat more but would not be able to stop.

This is a perfect example of the STARVE BINGE CYCLE.

I now eat CHOCOLATE whenever the BLOODY HELL I WANT.

When my body wants it, I eat it.

I listen to my body and my body works like it should

(Except at the moment. Damn you GLANDULAR FEVER)

Chocolate is no longer worrying to me because it is something I can eat whenever I like.

I finish eating it when I am full and satiated.

Because I’ve broken free of the starve binge cycle.

This has taken years, but let me tell you, freedom is so much more beautiful than being ‘thin’.

I encourage you today to make small steps to break free of this.

Diet culture is DESTROYING.

These meal replacement shakes and juices and pills and bars are not FEEDING your body.

They are not treating your body with the love and respect it deserves.

Listen to your body,

Listen to your stomach,

Break free of the cycle and the binges will reduce.

Trust your body,

Trust your stomach,

Your body will even out at the WEIGHT it needs to be.

This may not be the BODY WEIGHT you expect,

But it is BEAUTIFUL,

It is YOU.

It’s how your body will work to it’s full capacity.

For those of you readers, who are suffering with eating disorders,

Remember what you gain, with the extra weight gained.

For those of you who engage in diet culture,

Break free.

In the words of Laura Phelan (of Phelan Well),

‘When you stop trying to shrink yourself, you will finally feel free to show up to life in a bigger way.’

I love CHEESE.

For someone who has been lactose intolerant for YEARS, me and cheese are TUMULTUOUS LOVERS.

And now I’m vegan, I’m finding new creative ways of making things CHEEZY and delicious.

Would I have eaten a cheesy pasta in the middle of the week in the past?

HELL NO!

I’ve made a super simple Cheezy Marmite Pasta.

Full of b vitamins, iron and magnesium.

Nutritional yeast has a cheesy flavour but is packed full of so much nutritious goodness.

What I want to show you today is how simple, straight forward and cheap it is to NOURISH your body.

Marmite is not to everyone’s taste.

But then neither am I (LOLOLOL)

Cheezy Marmite Pasta

Serves: Two

What you’ll need:

• 110g wholewheat pasta
• 1 tbsp of marmite
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 4 tbsp of nutritional yeast
• 30g of vegan cheeze
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• Vegetables of your choosing (I used courgette, mushrooms, spinach and asparagus)

How to make it:

• Finely chop garlic and grate vegan cheeze.
• Start boiling pasta in salted boiling water over a medium heat.
• With a touch of olive oil, saute chopped vegetables over a low heat.
• In a small bowl, mix marmite with olive oil.
• When vegetables have fried for 5 minutes, add nutritional yeast and toss round the pan.
• Add the marmite and olive oil, saute further adding the vegan cheeze.
• Drain pasta and add to the frying pan until all vegan cheeze is melted and all pasta and vegetables is coated.
• Serve and top with more nutritional yeast. EnJOY nourishing your body with the love it deserves.

Listen to your body,

Break free from the binge starve cycle,

And see how much you gain in life,

Much love,

Joy xx