Normalizing Binge Eating
This week, I was inspired by a coaching session led by Eric Edmeades, the founder of a program called WILDFIT — a lifestyle approach focused on nutrition. I’d wanted to try it for a long time because it applies subconscious work to food.
The program has been stretching my mind in all the right ways. But what’s been most captivating is watching Eric in action. After many years of running this program, he continues to answer live questions with presence, insight, and a non-judgmental spirit.
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This week, someone shared a vulnerable and touching testimony. A woman spoke about her struggles with food — particularly around binge eating. She talked about how terrible she feels after every binge and the sense of helplessness and shame that comes with it.
I could relate to her completely.
During my teens, I restricted my food intake extremely for a few months, then shifted into hyperphagia, which lasted less than a year in its acute form — but the pattern stayed with me for a very long time. To some degree, maybe even to this day.
Like her, I’ve carried a lot of shame and guilt around binge eating.
So when Erik responded to her question, his perspective made me rethink my entire approach to this topic.
A Different Perspective on Binge Eating
From an evolutionary standpoint, binge eating is not a weakness — it’s a survival trait. Eric explained that in primitive times, someone who binged when food was available had a much better chance of surviving than someone who didn’t.
He gave the example of an elephant finding a marula tree, or a lion eating its prey. Do these animals take just a taste and move on? No. They binge. They consume all they can, because they don’t know when their next opportunity will come.
In this sense, binge eating is wired into the biology of the fittest. It’s a subconscious mechanism rooted in survival.
Through Eric’s perspective I began to realize that binge eating can also be interpreted as a powerful yearning to live. A desire to experience life fully — to bite into it, to never have enough of it. It expresses aliveness and the drive to thrive. I had never thought of it this way before.
Not All Binges Are the Same
For most of my life, I judged binge eating as irresponsible — even reckless. But now I see there’s more nuance. Just like there are different kinds of hunger, there are different kinds of binges.
Let’s look at two of the most relevant in this context:
- The Celebratory Binge
When we are alive, present, and nourishing our bodies with joy and vitality.
This kind of binge can be a moment of connection to life itself.
We’re eating to fuel, to enjoy, to celebrate.
- The Coping Binge
When we feel a sense of lack and try to fill it.
This lack isn’t physical — it’s emotional.
This is the other side of the coin, when we use food to soothe the absence of connection.
It’s the same impulse that can lead to other addictions: alcohol, shopping, work, or drugs.
So, if bingeing in itself isn’t inherently wrong, how do we address emotional bingeing — the kind that tries to fill an existential void or a lack of connection?
Shifting the Pattern
Food-wise, Eric suggested that if someone feels the urge to binge, they should binge on nutritious food. This removes the shame and guilt from the act. We’re still feeding the body, but we’re doing it in a way that adds value — rather than harm.
Emotionally, though, we have to look deeper.
Emotional bingeing isn’t about food. It’s about connection. Purpose. Meaning. Alignment with our true nature.
In the modern world, we often lack something just as vital as food: Love and connection.
So once we’ve normalized bingeing as a biological impulse — and redirected it toward healthier foods — the real question becomes:
How do we address the lack of connection?
Can we normalize that, too?
I believe so.
It’s okay to feel disconnected.
To feel lonely.
To feel like we’re walking through life alone.
The most powerful thing we can do is acknowledge it. To see it clearly, and without judgment.
Because if we don’t, we’ll try to fill the void with people, achievements, food, distractions —
and realize, just like with binge eating, that none of those things truly satisfy us.
Why Is That?
Because the emptiness isn’t about the outside world. It’s not about a lack of food or a lack of love from others.
The emptiness points to something within us that has been disconnected, or hasn’t been seen, loved, and accepted. Something that wants to come home.
And that’s where the real journey begins.
Final Thoughts
So maybe the path isn’t to stop bingeing at all costs. Maybe it’s to become curious about it.
To explore what it’s pointing to — what it wants us to feel, remember, or heal.
Maybe the next time you feel that impulse, you don’t need to resist it or shame yourself. Maybe you can ask: What part of me is asking to be seen right now?
Beneath every binge, there might just be a beautiful, wild, and alive part of you… that simply wants to be fed with truth, presence, and love.
