People with bulimia/binge eating often lack of motivation because of the nature of their illness.
They often feel that the only things they like to do are related to food. But this in most cases is an illusion.

Many bulimics feel good when they cook or prepare food but this often leads them to binge the food.
This problem can be overcome if sufferers learn to motivate themselves using other motivational methods which are not related to food.

Motivational triggers for bulimics/binge eaters are similar to what normal people use to motivate themselves.
The only thing to remember is to keep your motivational triggers away from the thoughts of food, especially in the beginning.

There are many things that can be your motivational triggers. The best motivational triggers are the ones which affect your
emotions the most. Some people know the specific things that motivate them.
If you haven’t found any yet things that specifically motivate you try the ones which are considered to be the most common
motivational triggers.

They are:

- Motivational/inspirational music and songs
- Going to a nice peaceful environment where you can connect with nature.
- Looking at the art (paintings, sculptures, ikebana etc.)
- Doing sport like activities outside (walking, jogging etc)
- Going into a meditative state and feeling your own vibrations.
- Doing positive affirmation when in a meditative state.
- Writing a diary.
- Any other activities that you LOVE to do.

The list can go on and on and it can be different for everyone.

The main thing is to find an activity (other than food) which you LOVE to do.

Discovering your LOVE, following your heart and knowing your inner self is the best way to stop your eating disorder.
When you learn to drive your attention away from the food, weight and body image issues to something positive and constructive is
when recovery starts to happen.

To discover your LOVE and things that motivate you, you should clear your mind first. The mind of people with eating disorders is filled with negative conditioning.
This conditioning stops them from seeing what they really are as people and what they LOVE to do.

The best way to clear the negative conditioning is to meditate.
A meditational state is when your mind becomes clear and you feel a connection to your inner self.
This has to be your true inner self not the one you may think you have at the moment.

A Bulimics inner self is often mixed with their bulimia and they often identify bulimia as being a part of them or a part of their inner self.

This is completely false, bulimic thoughts have no place in your true self. You can find and change the bulimic thoughts by doing regular meditation.

To really know your inner self you need to have a clear mind, one without the bulimia thoughts and then ask yourself “Who you are and what you want?”
The true answer will follow if your mind is clear, but if your mind tells you it is food and binging then this is false and just the old bulimic thought pattern.

So you have to keep trying to get a clear picture.

Specialised meditation can be the first most important thing you can do towards your recovery.

Specialized meditation will also keep you motivated because it can clear your mind from the negative bulimic thoughts and help you to find
your true self (not the mixed up bulimia/binge eating self). So, meditate regularly and love it, this is the best advice you can give to someone
with eating disorder. A clear mind with a clear set of goals and focus is a healthy mind. A mixed up food orientated mind is a unhealthy one.

Dr Irina Webster MD is a recognised authority on the subject of women health with a special interest in eating disorders.
She is the author of many books and a public speaker.

To read more about mindfulness training for eating disorders go to http://www.meditation-sensation.com

To make things easier and more practical here are 7 Important Steps to kick binge eating out of your head.

Step 1. Make your S.M.A.R.T. goals that is Specific, Meaningful, Attainable, Realistic and Timed.  For example, goals like “lose weight”, “eat healthy”, or ‘have less stress’ are far too vague and unspecific to help to create a positive change.  On the other hand, goals like ”eat only 5 small meals a day and only water in between” , “ exercise 30 minutes a day every day”  or “meditate 15 min a day every day” sound like much more specific, meaningful and realistic.  

Step 2. Decide your final moment of success.

How would you know when you finally achieved your goal? For this reason you should create a picture in your head of “ideal you”. For instance, you may see a picture of yourself as a slim, happy and radiant lady who eats 5 small meals a day, exercises 30 min a day and mediate at least 15 minutes a day.  She does it all with ease and enthusiasm.

Keeping this picture in your head will always remain you of you are going to be. When you achieve what you imagined – that will be your final moment of success.

Step 3.  Identify your friends and enemies. Take a piece of paper and draw a vertical line on the middle of page from the top to the bottom of the page. On the very top of the page on the left half write FRIENDS  and ENEMIES on the other half. Then think creatively what are they. For example, your friends could be exercise, meditation, eating fruits and vegetables, drinking water, feelings of excitement etc. Your enemies could be deep fried food, rich cakes, loneliness, boredom, sitting on the sofa, laying in bed too long, watching TV too much, negative attitude and stress.

Constantly remain yourself of who they are (friends and enemies) and decide who you are going to be with: with your friends or with your enemies.

Step 4.  Chew your food longer and start the meal with a mouthful of protein. When you start every meal with a mouthful of protein this reduces the cravings. This also reduces the amount of insulin released by your pancreas.

Make affirmation for yourself like: “The more I chew my food the healthier I become”. Repeat it as often as possible.

Step 5. Drink more water while you eat. Before you start eating – have a glass of water. Water fills the stomach and can reduce the cravings.

Step 6. Meditate every day to get in tune with your body. Binge eating means that you are not in tune with your body and eat emotionally instead of eating when you are hungry. Binge eating means you use food as a tranquiliser and pain reliever.   To stop doing that you must know when your body is hungry and when you just have cravings and urges.  Meditation is the best tool to focus your attention on your body’s vibrations and be able to identify your body’s needs.

Step 7. Exercise at least   30 minutes a day. Regular exercises will speed up  your metabolism and correct the damage binge eating may have done to your body. Regular exercises will also make your body to produce special chemicals – endorphins which make you happier, beautiful, radiant and confident.  When you become happy, beautiful, confident and healthy – binge eating will stop. Guarantee!!!

Can you put yourself in this picture?

Now, to make things even easier you can re-program your subconscious mind with specially design for binge eating meditation. Specially designed meditation will put you in tune with your body much faster and with less effort. Meditation is  a great tool to change your mind to the best.

To read more about mindfulness training for eating disorders go to http://www.meditation-sensation.com

Put it this way: if you believe you can eat healthy without overeating – that means you will be able to eat healthy sooner or later. If you don’t believe it – you will not be able to eat healthy does not matter what kind of therapy you undergo, unless you start believing.

“But how can I believe in my ability to eat healthy if I always get overwhelmed with these unbearable urges to binge?” – you may ask.

Yes, urges to binge are strong but nevertheless it is possible to overcome them. Many people did and you can too.

You see, urges are just thoughts and feelings you get before starting to binge. Fortunately, these binging thoughts normally get weaker  if you do some changes in your daily routine.  

Here’re the important points:

1. Start imagining yourself  slim (or have a slim picture of yourself  in your mind)
2. Draw a schematic picture of yourself on a piece of paper where you are slim and happy.
3. Set 30 min a day to sit quietly, close your eyes and visualise a slim, healthy you. Attach happy feelings to this picture of yourself.
4. If you have a special time when you binge (for instance, some people binge eat after  work, or after school) – meditate every time after work, school or any time close to your binge eating time.
5. Never eat alone. Get a friend or relative to share dinner with you.
6. When you eat look at yourself from the distance – that mean observe yourself from the 3 d person perspective.  Mentally comment what’s happening while you  eat,  for example “ She is now eating her Caesar salad delicately and calmly because she is a lady. She is chewing slowly because she is enjoying the taste of it. She is talking to her friend about what happened during the day.” 
7. Learn to observe your own behaviour and make regular mental comment of your own behaviour during the day. From the time you wake up – do mental commenting on your behaviour as if you observe yourself from the distance.
8. Don’t keep too much food you can binge on in fridge. Put more fruits and vegetables in the fridge to in case you get hungry.
9. Regular exercise changes the feelings from negative to more positive because of endorphins release. So, start regular physical activity – this will reduce your urges to binge (gradually).
10. Always remain yourself that you don’t need so much food to keep you healthy. Only moderation in food consumption will make you happy and healthy.

Now, I’ve saved the best for last.

 If it looks to you like too much to do , than – wouldn’t it be easier for you if all the information will be installed into your subconscious mind by someone else – just by listening a hypnotic voice and putting you in a meditational state?  You can do that by using special Mindfulness Training for binge eating / overeating. It is easy and very effective.

To read more about mindfulness training for eating disorders go to http://www.meditation-sensation.com