Why you should stop using the word binge on the regular?
You know what word we hear way too much of and in so many different contexts.
A word that I absolutely can’t stand to hear no matter how it is used.
BINGE.
In today’s world it is used ALL OF THE TIME to describe anything that is done in excess.
I am sure you have even said it yourself.
Here are some examples, just in case you live under a rock and have never heard it used before:
“I binge watched Netflix last night.” “I binge listened to that entire podcast.” “I binged read that series.”
And so on.
The word binge as defined by dictionary.cambridge.org is “an occasion when an activity is done in an extreme way, especially eating, drinking or spending money."
The word binge can also be used to describe an episode of emotional eating. Even that can mean different things to different people.
Some common examples are:
Eating an entire bag of chips and not caring.
Eating when everyone goes to bed or is not around because of shame.
Eating two of the same meals (example: fast food before coming home for dinner and then eating again with the family)
Not realizing they are eating. Going into a fog state.
Eating a second helping.
Eating when not actually hungry.
Some of these examples you may think of as binge eating and some you may not but they all do fall into the above definition.
Because this definition can be taken in so many different ways especially in today's world. We should not continue to glorify this term in a way that makes it ok to BINGE anything.
It can often be seen as a form of pride. A way to brag that they have the time to watch an entire season of a show on Netflix in a day, listen non-stop to a podcast to “catch up”, or read a whole website's blog over the past 3 years in one day. A way to show the creators of those things that they are true fans. A way to even explain “self-care.” Bingeing in these manners is viewed as a positive thing.
But in terms of food, along with drugs and alcohol, it can come with a sense of shame, guilt, and internal judgment. The word can also be extremely triggering for those who struggle and battle with a Binge Eating Disorder.
Yet, we still continue to use it freely and easily.
A person who also struggles with emotional eating often calls those episodes binges. Along with the shame, guilt, and internal judgment of those episodes are the emotions that lead to it in the first place.
Adding more fuel to the fire.
Think next time you choose to say you binged anything.
Look around you. Who may that word affect it could be no one but it could also be someone or even everyone.
No matter what the word is destructive.
Change your language. You will be surprised what a difference that can make.
Alternative words to use that do not spark negativity:
Indulge
Marathon
Splurged
Spree
Need me to use them in a sentence. Ok, I can do that for you!
“I indulged in that entire true crime podcast about Ted Bundy” Friend, me too!
“I had a Netflix marathon last night” The Ranch gets me every time.
“I went on a Harry Potter reading spree.” That’s a lot of reading, but so worth it.
Even in terms of emotional eating these words can still be used and not have as harsh of a meaning behind it because emotional eating is normal. It happens to the best of us.
I am challenging you to stop using that word as part of your everyday language.
Think before you speak it, write it, or express it.