The Truth about Binge Eating and Weight Loss Surgery

The Innovative Therapist

Episode 82. A common question I get from people considering weight loss surgery is "will bariatric surgery help with binge eating?", or "can I actually practice intuitive eating or a non-diet approach to eating after surgery"? or "How can I try to get rid of diet mentality if I have to follow a specific diet?" These are excellent questions and today you will get all my thoughts on these topics. Not interested in learning about weight loss surgery? Totally cool. However, you might want to stay tuned because a lot of this topic will still apply to you. The second question is actually relevant regardless of whether you have weight loss surgery, or, have another medical condition were a specific eating pattern is recommended (e.g., avoiding gluten for those with Celiac disease, minimizing dairy for those who have a degree of lactose intolerance, or reducing intake of animal protein for those who have heart disease or want to protect animal rights). What to Expect In This Episode The most common questions I get about bariatric (aka weight loss surgery) and intuitive eating What the research says about weight loss surgery and intuitive eating How autonomous motivation fits into all of this What you need to know if you or someone you love has had surgery or is considering it Ready to Break the Binge Eating Cycle for Good? Ready to stop avoiding and break the binge eating cycle for good? The first step is to disrupt the cycle. My free practical guide has 23 positive ideas for things to do instead of eating. Don't worry, you wont find the standard diet culture BS advice (take a walk, have some water!) Take the first step to finally stop binge eating and grab my free practical guide today! Grab my free guide to disrupt the cycle of emotional and binge eating today! Weight Loss Surgery & Intuitive Eating - Can They Be Friends? At first glance, these fields may seem like complete opposites. How on earth can you "reject the diet mentality" and still pursue a surgery that requires a specific diet and imposes long-term limitations (often) on what it's recommended that you eat, and the amount that feels comfortable to eat with your post-surgical stomach? I get the confusion. And frankly, this topic is controversial and not everyone will agree with me on this. That said, I definitely do think that you can learn or re-learn to be an intuitive eater before or after having bariatric surgery. In fact, our conversation just last episode with Amy Braden is living proof of this. To check on this, let's review the 10 principles of Intuitive Eating. Reject the diet mentality. Honor your hunger. Make peace with food - including unconditional permission to eat. Challenge the food police. Discover the satisfaction factor. Feel your fullness. Cope with your emotions with kindness. Respect your body. Movement - feel the difference. Honor your health - gentle nutrition. Easier to Swallow? No Pun Intended It seems to me that the principles of honoring hunger and fullness, and coping with your emotions with kindness are likely less controversial. This is consistent with principles of mindful eating and awareness, and in my experience, most people whether or not they have had surgery, are on board with these concepts. Reject the Diet Mentality Quote from Intuitive Eating website: Throw out the diet books and magazine articles that offer you the false hope of losing weight quickly, easily, and permanently. Get angry at diet culture that promotes weight loss and the lies that have led you to feel as if you were a failure every time a new diet stopped working and you gained back all of the weight. If you allow even one small hope to linger that a new and better diet or food plan might be lurking around the corner, it will prevent you from being free to rediscover Intuitive Eating. Although I've said before and I'll say it again I think you can reject th...