What to Do After a Binge: 10 Ways to Care for Yourself
By Katherine Metzelaar, MSN, RDN, CD
If you've just had a binge eating episode, you may be feeling physically uncomfortable and overwhelmed with guilt, shame, or anxiety about what you ate. You might also feel an urgent need to make up for it by skipping your next meal, eating less the next day, exercising, or promising yourself you'll “get back on track.”
One of the most important things you can do after a binge is resist the urge to compensate for it. That means continuing to eat regularly rather than fasting, skipping meals, or restricting your food intake.
This can feel incredibly difficult, especially when you're uncomfortable or worried about weight gain. But restricting after a binge can help keep the restrict-binge cycle going. Instead, the goal is to care for yourself through the discomfort, return to regular eating, and get curious about what may have contributed to the binge without punishing yourself for it.
Below, we'll talk about what to do immediately after a binge and the following day, including how to handle physical discomfort, what to eat, and what to do when you're tempted to compensate.
Was It Actually a Binge?
Before deciding what to do after a binge, it can be helpful to consider whether what you experienced was actually a binge or whether it simply felt like you ate too much.
Binge eating typically involves eating a large amount of food in a relatively short period of time while experiencing a sense of loss of control. This is different from eating more than you intended, eating past fullness, or eating an amount of food that diet culture has taught you is “too much.”
Sometimes what feels like a binge is actually a perceived binge. For example, eating several cookies, having another slice of pizza, or eating more than you normally do doesn't necessarily mean you've binged.
This distinction matters because dieting and food rules can significantly distort your perception of what “normal” or “enough” eating looks like. If you've spent a long time trying to eat less, even an adequate amount of food can feel excessive.
Whether you experienced an objective binge or a perceived binge, responding by restricting your food afterward is unlikely to help.
Why Restriction Can Keep Binge Eating Going
Binge eating can happen for many reasons. For some people, it may become a way of coping with difficult emotions or experiences. But one important factor to consider is whether you're getting enough food.
Dieting, skipping meals, cutting out certain foods, or otherwise restricting your food intake can leave you physically and mentally preoccupied with food and more vulnerable to binge eating.
This is why trying to “make up for” a binge by eating less the next day can backfire. Restriction may temporarily feel like a way to regain control, but it can set the stage for another binge and keep the cycle going.
This pattern is sometimes called the restrict-binge-shame cycle. You can read more about how the restrict-binge-shame cycle works here.
What to Do After a Binge
After a binge, you may feel physically uncomfortable, anxious, ashamed, or worried about what eating more than usual means for your body. You may also wake up the next day feeling bloated, tired, or just not quite like yourself.
The urge to fix those feelings by restricting, exercising, or starting over with a new diet can be strong. But you don't need to punish or compensate for what you ate. Instead, the focus can be on taking care of yourself and returning to regular eating.
10 Things to Do After a Binge:
Don’t skip your next meal.
After a binge, eating again may be the last thing you want to do. You may still feel full or uncomfortable, or skipping a meal may feel like a way to make up for what you ate. But returning to regular eating is one of the most important things you can do to interrupt the restrict-binge cycle.
You don’t need to eat perfectly or force yourself to ignore how your body feels. The goal is to avoid intentionally restricting or withholding food as compensation for the binge.
Don’t fast to make up for the binge.
Fasting after a binge can feel like a logical way to compensate for eating more than you intended. You might tell yourself you’re simply not hungry or that your body needs a “break” from food. But when fasting is being used to undo or compensate for a binge, it can reinforce the same restriction that may be contributing to the cycle.
Rather than trying to balance out what you ate by going without food, focus on returning to consistent eating. Your body doesn’t need to be punished for what happened.
Choose foods that feel manageable.
If you’re still feeling physically uncomfortable after a binge, it’s okay to consider what foods sound tolerable and comfortable. You don’t need a special meal, a cleanse, or specific “healthy” foods to recover from a binge.
Aim to continue eating regularly and include foods that feel satisfying and manageable for you. This might look different depending on how you’re feeling, and that’s okay. The goal isn’t to eat as lightly as possible. It’s to care for your body without turning the next meal into another form of restriction.
Notice the urge to prevent weight gain.
After a binge, it’s common to worry about weight gain and feel an urgent need to do something to prevent it. That fear can make restricting food, exercising, weighing yourself, or checking your body feel especially tempting.
Instead of acting on that urgency, try to notice it for what it is: distress that doesn’t require an immediate response. You don’t need to compensate for what you ate or make decisions about your body while you’re feeling anxious and uncomfortable.
If you can, give yourself some space from the scale, body checking, and other behaviors that tend to intensify the anxiety.
Be thoughtful how you talk to yourself.
The thoughts that show up after a binge can be brutal. You might call yourself disgusting, tell yourself you have no self-control, or promise that this can never happen again.
Notice when shame starts taking over and see if you can respond to yourself with a little more compassion. A binge isn’t evidence that you’ve failed or that there’s something fundamentally wrong with you.
You don’t have to feel good about what happened in order to treat yourself with kindness afterward
Wear clothes that feel comfortable.
If you’re feeling bloated or physically uncomfortable, tight or restrictive clothing can make you more aware of your body and add to the distress you’re already experiencing.
Choose clothes that give your body some room and feel comfortable to wear. This isn’t about hiding your body. It’s simply one small way to reduce unnecessary discomfort while you’re having a hard day.
Don’t isolate yourself.
Shame often makes you want to pull away from other people after a binge. You may want to cancel plans, stay home, or avoid talking about what happened because you feel embarrassed.
If you can, stay connected to people who help you feel supported and grounded. That might mean texting a friend, spending time with someone you trust, or connecting with a therapist, dietitian, or support community.You don’t necessarily have to talk about the binge. Sometimes simply being around another person can help interrupt the isolation that shame tends to create.
Take care of physical discomfort.
Feeling overly full, bloated, tired, or generally uncomfortable can happen after a binge. Rather than trying to “fix” the discomfort by restricting food or exercising to compensate, focus on things that actually help you feel cared for.
Rest, gentle stretching, a warm shower, comfortable clothes, or getting some fresh air may feel good. If movement sounds helpful, let it be about comfort rather than trying to burn calories or undo what you ate.
Get curious about what may have contributed to the binge.
Once some of the immediate distress has passed, you might gently consider what was happening before the binge. Had you eaten enough earlier in the day? Have you been restricting certain foods? Were you especially stressed, overwhelmed, lonely, or dealing with something difficult? The goal isn’t to analyze everything you did wrong. It’s to better understand what your body or your emotions may have needed so you can respond differently in the future.
Get support if binge eating keeps happening.
If binge eating is happening regularly, you don’t have to figure out how to stop the cycle on your own. Repeated binge eating can be connected to restriction, food rules, emotional distress, or an eating disorder, and understanding what’s driving it can make a big difference.Working with an eating disorder-informed dietitian or therapist can help you understand your patterns, establish more consistent eating, and work toward a relationship with food that feels less chaotic and distressing.
Moving Forward After a Binge
A binge can leave you feeling like you need to fix what happened as quickly as possible. But recovery from a binge isn’t about undoing what you ate. It’s about responding in a way that doesn’t pull you deeper into restriction, shame, and another binge.
That might mean eating your next meal even when part of you wants to skip it, stepping away from the scale, wearing something comfortable, or reaching out for support instead of isolating yourself.
And if binge eating keeps happening, it may be worth looking beyond the binge itself. Understanding whether restriction, food rules, emotional distress, or other factors are contributing to the pattern can help you begin to change the cycle rather than repeatedly trying to “get back on track” afterward.
Keep Reading About Binge Eating:
Looking for Support With Binge Eating?
If binge eating, food restriction, or feeling out of control around food has become a recurring part of your life, nutrition counseling can help you understand what's keeping the cycle going and work toward a more peaceful relationship with food.
I provide weight-inclusive, eating disorder-informed nutrition counseling for women throughout Washington. Learn more about nutrition counseling for binge eating or schedule a discovery call to see if working together might be a good fit.
About the Author
Katherine Metzelaar, MSN, RDN, CD is a registered dietitian nutritionist and the owner of Bravespace Nutrition. She specializes in eating disorders, disordered eating, body image, and helping people build a more peaceful relationship with food. She provides virtual nutrition counseling throughout Washington.