How to Stop Binge Eating at Nigh

A trauma-informed look at what’s happening behind nighttime overeating and how to break the cycle.

Start Your Journey

The Hidden Costs of Skipping Meals

My Personal Story with Nighttime Bingeing

There was a time when I could go the whole day without eating.

I’d skip breakfast.

Then I’d miss lunch, be too busy, anxious, or not hungry.

But by evening, I would come downstairs feeling ravenous.

My stomach was growled, my brain is foggy, and my mood on edge.

I’d rip open the cupboards, pour cereal into a bowl without thinking, and eat fast, like I couldn’t get it in quickly enough.

And for a while, I felt guilty. I thought it was a lack of control.

But now I know: this was my body doing its best to keep me alive.

The Brain's Response to Meal Skipping

How Glucose Deprivation Affects Emotional Regulation

The Importance of Preemptive Eating

The Science Behind Nighttime Bingeing

Free Informal Chat

When you don’t eat enough during the day—especially when you skip breakfast and lunch your blood sugar crashes.

Your body goes into primal mode.

This is your survival brain kicking in, shouting:

“We’re starving! Get food NOW.”

It doesn’t care if it’s cereal, toast, biscuits, or something from the freezer.

It wants fast energy. That means quick carbs, sugar, easy-to-digest food.

Just like a dog eating its food, our primal brain doesn’t know when to stop because it doesn’t know when it will be fed again.

Even though we have food in the fridge and shops nearby, the primitive part of our brain doesn’t register that.

It acts as if this is our only chance to eat.

A Compassionate Approach to Eating

Why Skipping Meals Leads to Anxiety, Low Mood, and Overeating

In therapy, I ask people all the time:

“When was the last time you ate something substantial?”

The answers often surprise me:

“Oh… I had a coffee this morning.”

“I forgot to eat.”

“I wasn’t hungry.”

And yet they’re in tears. Their anxiety is through the roof. They can’t concentrate.

They feel low, irritable, stuck in shame and overwhelm.

Often, this isn’t just psychological, it’s physiological.

Low blood sugar can:

 

Therapeutic Support for Eating Disorders

What the Neuroscience Tells Us

Skipping meals impacts the brain’s access to glucose, its primary fuel source.

Without steady glucose:

  • Your prefrontal cortex (the logical, calm part of your brain) goes offline.

  • Your amygdala (fight-or-flight centre) takes over.

  • You lose access to long-term thinking, self-regulation, and impulse control.

 

Translation?

Even if you know bingeing won’t help in the long run, your body is screaming for survival.

This is why eating breakfast is non-negotiable.

Even if you don’t feel hungry.

Even if it’s small.

Even if it feels weird.

You’re teaching your body:

“Food is coming. You don’t have to panic later.”

Here’s what I recommend to my clients:

➔ Breakfast:

  • Peanut butter on toast

  • Greek yoghurt with fruit

  • Overnight oats

  • A smoothie with oats, banana, nut butter, and milk

➔ Lunch:

Make sure it includes:

  • A complex carb (brown rice, whole grain bread, lentils)

  • A protein (eggs, tofu, chicken, beans)

  • A fat (avocado, olive oil, nuts)

  • Fibre (vegetables, whole grains, fruit)

➔ Snacks:

Planned snacks in the afternoon help prevent blood sugar dips that lead to evening binges.

The True Price of Missing Meals

A Trauma-Informed, Compassionate Approach

This isn’t about willpower.

This isn’t about shame.

This is about meeting your body’s needs before it has to scream for help.

You are not broken.

You are not greedy.

You are responding to starvation cues your body has learned over time.

Person experiencing nighttime binge eating due to skipped meals, low blood sugar, and evening cravings—common in binge eating disorder and ADHD-related food patterns.

Becky Stone

Hi, I’m Becky Stone, a trauma-informed therapist specialising in eating disorder recovery, neurodivergent support, and compassionate care that meets you where you are.

If you’ve been stuck in the binge-restrict cycle, especially at night, you’re not alone, and you’re not broken. I’d love to help you find a new way forward.

What I Help Clients Do in Therapy

In my work as a trauma-informed eating disorder therapist, I help people:

When people feel safe in their bodies and connected to their hunger, bingeing reduces not because they’ve learned control but because they’ve learned care.

Work with Becky