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10 Tips to Overcome Binge Eating & Establish Strong Boundaries

10 Tips to Overcome Binge Eating & Establish Strong Boundaries 1080 1080 Paula

This time of the year many people are searching for answers on how to get free from the battle of struggling with emotional and binge eating. I would like to talk you about what I have learned from my twenty plus year battle. If we ever want to make progress in this area, we need to learn the importance of setting boundaries to help us overcome these behaviors.

Let’s first address that everyone’s healing journey is unique. Let’s not compare our journey to someone else’s or beat ourself up because we don’t like where we are. It’s important to prioritize self-love and compassion when working on healing this area of your life. In this blog I will be sharing steps I took in my journey and point out key components I felt were missing in traditional weight-loss programs.

I’m a firm believer that we need God to help us and give us daily strength. If you’re a Christian, we can call on the Holy Spirit to comfort us and to give us strength. It’s a balance between eating healthy and healing our heart. Today I’m going to provide 10 tips to help you overcome binge eating and establish strong boundaries in your life.

1. Your Journey is Your Journey

You have to stop comparing your starting point to somebody else’s finish line, because we all have a different life experience.

2. Approach Your Journey With Self Compassion and Self-love

If you do not approach your healing journey with self-compassion and self-love, you’re already setting yourself up to self-sabotage. We all have a certain amount of energy each day that we can give out. It’s very important to examine our schedules daily.

3. When You People Please and Ignore Your Own Needs, You Will Stay Stuck

You have to identify areas in your life that you are people pleasing and ignoring your own needs. In reality, you need to ask yourself, where am I allowing my time and energy to go? Taking care of our mental health is so important.

4. Write Your Top Five Priorities

What are the most important tasks and things that you should be doing in this season of your life? Once you have identified those top five, I would encourage you to at least get to the top three everyday.

5. Reduce Stress

Look at the things in your life that are causing you stress. Some stressful things we can’t avoid, but others we need to let go of. For example, trying to control other people.

6. Staying Tied to Toxic People Will Not Help Your Emotional Binge Eating Behavior

This was a really hard one for me because there were so many people that I love. But when I really got deep into my healing of emotional binge eating, I started to recognize a pattern that every time I felt stress it lead me to the pantry.

7. Sit With Your Emotions and Any Tension You Are Feeling

We all have triggers from the past. One thing that I want you to understand is that sitting with those emotions is so important. They are actually trying to tell you something. Whether you need to rest or you might be feeling emotional because trauma is working itself through the body. It takes practice but it is so important to sit with being uncomfortable and listen to what your body is telling you.

8. Healing Your Nervous System

During times of stress, our body functions in a fight or flight state. This causes chronic stress and makes your nervous system dysregulated. Look for simple strategies to center yourself when feeling out of control, like deep breathing, journaling, sticking to a bedtime routine, or getting out in nature.

9. Find a Sustainable Plan

Most of us have heard slow and steady wins the race and it’s 100% true. Quick fixes will always fail us. We have to find something that we can do for the rest of our lives. Let this be a year where you create lifelong healthy habits.

10. If You Fail or Fall Down Get Back Up and Keep Trying

It doesn’t matter how many times you fail. It just matters how many times you’re willing to get up and keep trying until you succeed.

If you or someone you know is on the journey to recover from childhood trauma, I encourage you to check out my resources.

Letting Go 7 Day Devotional on the You Version App
Cross Addicted Book by Paula
Instagram
P.R.E.T.T.Y. Podcast
YouTube Channel

Clean Out Your Closet: Healing from the Inside Out

Clean Out Your Closet: Healing from the Inside Out 1080 1080 Paula

Recently I attended a speaker’s training and while I was there, I had a truly life-changing experience. We learned about the significance of repentance and removing barriers that hinder our relationship with God. Taking time away from distractions and noise to sit quietly with the Lord allows us to truly examine our hearts.

Sometimes in life you have to go backwards in order to go forward. Let me explain…

Along my journey of healing from childhood trauma, I discovered the importance of cleaning out my closet. I’m not talking about the closets in my home, but the internal closet in my heart and mind. I’m talking about making space for God to bring healing from the inside out.

Examining the Heart

I can’t stress enough the importance of self-reflection as an essential step towards healing. And it’s something that doesn’t have to be difficult. We just have to learn to listen to ourself and trust how we are feeling and if something needs to be addressed, we learn to take action.

Focusing on Inner Healing

Everywhere we look in today’s society we see an obsession with external appearances. I personally used to live behind a mask, always striving for outward perfection while in actuality, feeling broken on the inside. The exhaustion of keeping this up led me to a breaking point where I finally realized the necessity of pursuing inner healing – cleaning out my closet.

I had to be intentional about prioritizing my spiritual well-being and cultivating a right relationship with the Lord.

The Power of Vulnerability

True intimacy with our Father requires openness and honesty. We need to allow Him into every aspect of our lives – the deepest corners of the darkest “closets” in our hearts. Through breaking free from shame and guilt, I have learned to share my struggles and secrets with God.
By leaning into my pain instead of hiding it away, I was able to surrender my mask and find true healing and freedom.

I encourage you to allow yourself to be vulnerable before God. Lay it all out. Only then can you genuinely recognize his love and goodness as your heavenly Father. Shame and condemnation only hinder our growth – it’s time to get them out of your closet!

I’m telling you there is transformative power in a right relationship with Jesus – paving the way for true freedom and a life lived authentically. Embrace with me the message of the Simple Gospel and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you on your own, personal journeys of healing from the inside out.

To hear more on this topic, you can listen to my podcast here.

If you or someone you know is on the journey to recover from childhood trauma, I encourage you to check out my resources.

Letting Go 7 Day Devotional on the You Version App
Cross Addicted Book by Paula
Instagram
P.R.E.T.T.Y. Podcast
YouTube Channel

HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT THERAPIST

How To Find The Right Therapist

How To Find The Right Therapist 1080 1080 Paula

What if I told you that nobody can do the work for you or nobody is coming to rescue you. That sounds hopeless and depressing, but it’s really some hard truth I had to learn…

You have to take the steps to find the support and accountability that you need.

A huge step is finding the right therapist. Let’s break down some of the excuses, I hear from a lot of  people.

What if I don’t have insurance?

Many therapists use what’s called a sliding scale. This means that you are charged an amount based on your current income or financial situation. This becomes a much more realistic option for those who may not be able to afford counseling. Here is what I know. Keep searching. Keep praying. I know that God will lead you to the right counselor. And He will always provide in ways you many least expect it.

There were seasons of my life when God brought me therapists that would literally work for free. You got to get past your excuses that nothing will ever work.

How Do I Choose?

If you do have insurance, look for the counselors that will accept your insurance plan. Read through their bios.

Here are some things to consider:
📌 Do they work with your specific issue?
📌 How many years have they been in practice?
📌 Are you comfortable with a younger person, older person, male or female?

Ask for referrals from friends, churches, or organizations.

Visit focusonthefamily.com – they have a referral list of counselors that you can review. From what I’ve heard, Focus on the Family has done an intense background check on every one of their recommended therapists on the list.

What should I expect when I start therapy sessions?

When you start to go to therapy pay attention to how you feel. Are you comfortable?

Give it at least one to three sessions.

If you are not comfortable with one therapist, it’s okay to go with somebody else.

It took years in recovery programs and working with my therapist to get where I’m at today. I could have stopped when I was uncomfortable with the first counselor.

But I didn’t quit. I knew that I wanted a better life. I’m 46 today and I started my healing journey when I was 21 years old.

Please keep in mind that this world is not going to be perfect and non of us will ever be perfect. But I want to encourage you to never give up and get the help that you need.

To hear more on this topic, you can listen to my podcast here.

 

How to Find the Right Therapist

If you or someone you know is on the journey to recover from childhood trauma, I encourage you to check out my resources.