Nina Kaufmann

Before saying anything else, let me be clear: everyone overeats sometimes. Occasional situations where we eat past our fullness are a part of normal eating, and when you have a healthy relationship with food these situations aren’t a big deal, because you’re able to easily move on without engaging in catastrophic thinking or, worse, purging behaviours.

Overeating and binge eating become an issue when they become recurring pattern in your life, a habit.

Usually overeating includes consuming large quantities of food, feeling extremely uncomfortably full, followed by feelings of shame, depression and guilt (and more often than not, a promise of starting a new diet the next day.)

If you’ve found yourself nodding along to any of that, it might be a signal your relationship with food could benefit from some loving attention. Just remember, no matter how difficult your current struggle with food might feel, you’re not alone — there are many wonderful professionals out there who can support you (including me!) and doing your best to heal is always worth a shot!

That being said, I would also like to emphasize that this is a safe space, where you will never be judged — this article is here to gently educate, support you and show you how making peace with food could transform your life.

So let’s dive in: overeating and binge eating are multifaceted, including both physical and mental side effects.

1. Digestive Issues

Bloating, nausea, stomach cramps, heartburn, acid reflux; these uncomfortable sensations are potential signals that you’re overeating. Regular overeating causes stress on your digestive system and might lead to health issues.

2. Weight Fluctuations

For many, overeating/binge eating followed by restrictions/diets causes yo-yo effect — sudden weight changes, which are dangerous for your long term health, even associated with increased risk for all-cause mortality.
It’s literally healthier for you long term to stay at a higher weight but to care for your health, than to go through these consistent ups and downs, stressing out your body.

3. Depression, Self-Loathing, Guilt

After overeating, or binge eating, people often feel like they’re drowning in guilt and embarrassment, feeling like a failure. Mostly, struggling with overeating leads to low self-esteem, irritability and anxiety. Which is not suprising — feeling out of control with food and eating large quantities can make us feel like something is wrong with us.
But this is not true — overeating is just a symptom, triggered by something else, like restricting food. And you have power to discover what your triggers are, and heal. Remember, help is also always available.

4. Feeling Disconnected From Your Body

When engaging in overeating, it’s difficult to perceive sensations of hunger, and especially fullness. The more often you go through the binge restrict cycle, the more disconnected you probably feel. Hunger and fullness cues might become blurred, and you might be able only to feel extreme hunger, or extreme fullness.
Particularly when you, after overeating, decide to go to the other extreme – food restrictions, dieting. And the cycle starts over.

Luckily, it’s possible to break the cycle, and if you need help, I’m here for you!

5. Unhealthy Relationship With Food

Goes without saying, it’s challenging to cultivate and nurture a healthy, peaceful relationship with food if you’re consistently feeling out of control when eating.

Usually, after an overeating/binge eating episode, pendulum switches to the other side: restrictions. People often try to “make up” for eating so much by deciding not to eat enough in the future, which sooner or later backfires, triggering another binge.
(Read more about binge-restrict cycle here.)

Enjoying a balanced, peaceful relationship with food is an important part of health!

Healing Is Possible — Join the 5-Day Food Freedom Jumpstart

Real healing happens when you return to gentle nourishment, consistency, and self-compassion.

Here’s what healing can look like:

• Feeling safe and confident around food again
• Eating until satisfied without guilt or fear
• Understanding your triggers — and knowing how to respond to them, with compassion
• Building a strong, resilient, trust-based relationship with your body
• Having more energy, emotional space, and freedom for what actually matters in life

If anything in this article resonated with you — if you’re tired of the guilt, the “new diet starts Monday” plans, and the exhaustion of fighting food — I created something just for you.

Join 5-Day Food Freedom Jumpstart

It’s a free email-based experience designed to help you feel more at peace with food in just 5 days – no rules, no guilt, just gentle, nourishing support.

Break the binge-restrict cycle and reconnect with your body through intuitive, nourishing steps; no diets, no shame!

In just a few minutes a day, you’ll learn how to:

• Break free from exhausting food rules
• Understand your hunger without judgment
• Explore gentle nutrition without restriction
• Reconnect with your body’s natural wisdom
• Take the first steps toward a peaceful, sustainable relationship with food