Urges are a normal and expected part of binge eating disorder.
Even when you are committed to stopping binge eating, and even when you give up sugar and
lower your stress and try to do everything “right,” urges can still pop up- especially when you
are in early recovery and your brain hasn’t done very much rewiring yet.
The urges can feel uncomfortable and intense. It takes practice and commitment to allow them
to be there, without “giving in” to them.
If it feels uncomfortable, you are on the right track. It means you are busting out of your old
comfort zone of just giving in to the binge urges!
Here are 3 facts about urges that are helpful to keep in mind:

1. Urges are time-limited. Urges typically go away in 10-20 minutes. No matter how itchy or
   uncomfortable an urge may feel, it is temporary.
2. Urges are not harmful. Although they may produce anxiety and feel intolerable, they are
   indeed tolerable and the urges do not/cannot cause physical harm.
3. Urges do not force you to move your body or to binge. When you experience an urge, you still
   have a choice about whether to actually move your legs, move your arms, drive to the store, put
   the food in your mouth. Your motor movements are yours and cannot be taken over by the urge.
   Urges can try to scream at you to move, but YOU have the choice on whether to act on the
   urges or not. You can pretend it’s like the sound of a crying baby on a show, a stray cat
   meowing, the sound of an alarm clock on the radio, or TV static or some other perhaps
   annoying but harmless sound you can just allow to be there and ignore 🙂
   

So if and when you experience an urge to binge, try to keep it in perspective. Remember that it
won’t last forever, it’s not harmful, and you have the power to make executive choices in your
body. The urge does not control you. You can do this!
Love,
Kristina