Anxiety and Binge Eating Disorder: What Keeps Me Steady 10 Years Later
- Nikki White
- 5 days ago
- 6 min read
Binge eating disorder recovery habits
Anxiety and binge eating disorder are deeply connected.
For me, they were inseparable.
When my anxiety spiked, food followed.When food spiraled, anxiety exploded.
Ten years into full remission from binge eating disorder, I don’t stay steady because life is calm. I stay steady because I changed my daily habits.
Relapse prevention for binge eating disorder isn’t about fear. It’s not white-knuckling your way through urges. It’s proactive. It’s structured. It’s honest.
This is what actually keeps me regulated a decade later.
Anxiety and Binge Eating Disorder: The Loop I Had to Break
When I was first diagnosed, I was juggling:
A high-stress therapy career
A long-distance marriage as a trucker wife and 4 children
A history of abandonment and childhood emotional neglect
An untreated anxiety disorder
My nervous system was constantly activated.
I didn’t know I was living in fight-or-flight. I thought I was just “driven.”
Anxiety would build quietly during the day:
Client trauma stories
Performance pressure
Emotional responsibility
Loneliness at night
Busy days balancing work and family life
By evening, my body wanted relief.
Food was fast relief.
But binge eating never solved anxiety. It postponed it. Then doubled it.
To heal, I had to stop treating binge eating as the main problem and start treating anxiety as the root driver.
Structured Eating Is Non-Negotiable
Let’s start here.
Structured eating remains non-negotiable in my binge eating disorder recovery.
That means:
Three meals minimum
Planned snacks
No skipping after a hard day
No “earning” food
When anxiety is high, your brain wants control. Skipping meals feels like control. Restricting feels disciplined.
It’s a trap.
Restriction fuels future binges. Every time.
Structured eating stabilizes blood sugar. Stable blood sugar stabilizes mood. A stable mood reduces impulsive urges.“I follow a low-sugar structure because it keeps my nervous system stable.” This isn’t about perfection. It’s about consistency.
Even now, 10 years later, I do not “wing it” with food during stressful seasons. Structure and low-sugar living protects me.
I Address Stress Early — Not After I’m Drowning
Before recovery, I ignored stress until it exploded.
I’d say:“I’m fine.”“I can handle it.”“It’s not that serious.”
Then I’d binge.
Now I ask myself daily:Where is stress building?
Stress shows up physically first:
Tight jaw
Racing thoughts
Irritability
Mental fatigue
When I catch it early, I use my Daily Five framework. I intervene early.
I remember one night sitting in my car after work, not ready to go inside. Not hungry. Just exhausted. That used to be the moment I’d stop for food. Now, that’s the moment I breathe.
Intervention looks like:
Saying no to extra commitments
Leaving work on time
Processing emotions instead of suppressing them
Scheduling therapy check-ins when needed
Anxiety grows in silence. If you want relapse prevention for binge eating disorder, you must treat stress signals as data — not weakness. Read more about the Daily Five below.
I Don’t Isolate During Anxiety Spikes
Isolation used to be my comfort zone.
Only child. Introvert. Independent. Self-sufficient.
When anxiety spiked, I withdrew.
And in isolation, binge eating had room to grow.
Now I do the opposite of what anxiety tells me.
If I feel the urge to withdraw, I:
Text someone safe
Go to a public space
Schedule a call
Attend the Gutty Girl Lifestyle Community support group
Connection interrupts shame.
Anxiety and binge eating disorder both thrive in secrecy. Community disrupts both.
You don’t need a large circle. You need one steady person.
I Rest Before Burnout
Burnout was a trigger I ignored for years.
As a therapist, I believed productivity equaled value. Rest felt lazy. Slowing down felt unsafe.
So I’d push. Overextend. Over-function.
Then binge.
Now rest is preventative care.
I schedule:
Quiet evenings
Phone-free time
Gentle movement
Adequate sleep
Rest is not indulgent. It regulates the nervous system.
If you’re constantly exhausted, your brain will reach for fast dopamine. Food becomes the easiest option.
Burnout fuels binge cycles. Rest disrupts them.
I Stay Honest — Even When It’s Uncomfortable
Honesty is one of the strongest relapse prevention tools I have.
If I feel an urge building, I don’t pretend it’s not there.
I say:“I’m feeling overwhelmed.”“I’m craving escape.”“I’m anxious.”
Pretending you’re beyond struggle creates pressure. Pressure creates secrecy. Secrecy creates relapse risk.
I also stay honest about my limits.
Ten years in remission doesn’t mean invincible. It means aware, journaling helps me with this.
New Habits That Rewired My Brain
Healing anxiety and binge eating disorder required new behaviors, not just insight.
Here are habits that changed everything:
1. Emotional Labeling
Instead of “I need food,” I ask:Am I anxious? Lonely? Angry? Overstimulated?
Naming reduces intensity.
2. Post-Work Decompression Ritual
I no longer transition from stress straight into home mode. I built a buffer.
Walk. Shower. Journal. Silence.
This prevented evening binges.
3. Nervous System Regulation Practices
Slow breathing
Grounding exercises
Limiting caffeine
Reducing overcommitment
Anxiety decreases when the body feels safe.
4. Boundaries
I stopped being emotionally available to everyone at my own expense.
Boundaries reduced resentment. Less resentment meant fewer urges.
5. Structured Reflection
Weekly check-ins:What stressed me?What helped?Where did I avoid?
Self-awareness prevents spirals.
Relapse Prevention Is Proactive, Not Fear-Based
For years I thought relapse prevention meant constant vigilance.
It doesn’t.
It means living in a way that supports stability.
I don’t avoid restaurants.I don’t fear stress.I don’t micromanage calories.
I manage my nervous system.
That’s the difference.
When anxiety is regulated, binge urges decrease dramatically.
Supporting Someone With Anxiety and Binge Eating Disorder
If you love someone dealing with anxiety and binge eating disorder:
Encourage structure, not restriction
Validate stress instead of minimizing it
Avoid commenting on their body
Offer to sit with them during tough moments
You can direct them toward eating disorder recovery resources like the National Eating
Disorders Association and Beat, which provide screening tools and referrals for professional support.
Professional support matters.
Ten Years Later — What Stability Feels Like
Stability feels quiet.
No drama around food.No secrecy.No bargaining.
Anxiety still visits. Life still stresses me. Marriage still requires effort. Work still stretches me.
But I don’t escape into food.
I face stress directly. I regulate. I rest. I connect. I eat consistently.
That’s what keeps me steady.
If you’re in early binge eating disorder recovery, don’t aim for perfection. Aim for patterns.
Structure. Connection. Rest. Honesty. Early stress intervention.
You don’t have to be fearless.You have to be proactive.
Ten years ago, anxiety controlled my evenings.Today, I control my habits.
And habits build freedom.
Feeling Overwhelmed.
Join Gutty Girl Letters.
If this article stirred something in you — don’t let that moment pass.
Healing from binge eating disorder and codependency isn’t built on hype. It’s built on steady support, honest conversations, and tools you can actually use on hard days.
That’s why I created Gutty Girl Letters on Substack.
Inside, you’ll get:
Real stories from my 10 years in full remission
Trauma-informed recovery tools that calm overwhelm
Structured nutrition guidance without shame
Nervous system regulation practices that stop spirals
Boundaries, abandonment healing, and emotional sobriety
No fluff. No toxic positivity. No “just love yourself” advice.
Just grounded, lived experience and clear steps you can apply immediately.
If you’re tired of struggling silently…If you’re waiting to feel ready…If you want support that feels safe and honest…
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ARE YOU LOOKING TO DIVE DEEPER INTO SELF-CARE?
I Can Help in Developing A Plan For Self Care
Do you want help developing a self-care plan that works for your own busy schedule? Do you want accountability in implementing a self-care plan? If you or someone you love is struggling to maintain optimal mental and emotional health, consider reaching out to Spiced Life Conversation Art Wellness Studio and Botanica. We are a Metro Atlanta, Conyers Georgia area. We are a coaching and counseling practice with empathetic, skilled counselors and recovery coaches who can help you set goals, develop a self-care routine, and move forward to build a more fulfilling life. Our team would be happy to work with you either just for a couple of sessions to develop and implement a Self-care plan or longer term to work toward overall better mental health within our membership site or other programs.
About The Author: Dr. Nikki LeToya White MSEd-TL, Ph.D. RHN is the founder, director, and full-time board-certified trauma-informed nutritionist, folk herbalist, and wellness consultant at Spiced Life Conversation Art Wellness Studio and Botanica. She created Spiced Life Conversation, LLC Art Wellness Studio, and Botanica to provide the Metro Atlanta area with counseling and coaching services where clients are carefully matched with the right program for healing abandonment and childhood emotional neglect trauma that cause codependency, emotional eating, financial stress, and imposter syndrome as it relates to the fear of success and being abandon. We help you begin your emotional healing journey with ease. Recently, we have expanded to include an online membership site so we now provide support to people living all over the world. All of our recovery coaches provide at least one evidence-based treatment to assist in your recovery. Dr. White is a big proponent of self-care and helping people live a fulfilling life! She has been in full remission with both codependency and emotional binge eating disorder since 2016. In living a life in recovery from sugar addiction. I love my low-sugar balanced lifestyle.
Best Regards
Dr. Nikki LeToya White
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