Can you really get over binging?

blktngldhrt

Raynne413 wrote: »

The thing that people don't understand that there is a difference between overeating and binging. I overate on vacation when I had a large breakfast, noodles and a candy bar for lunch, candy bar for a snack, hamburger, fries and dessert for dinner, and a snack later that night even though I wasn't hungry.

Binging was when I ate an entire small pizza, 4 large cookies, and 1/2 dozen donuts. I wasn't hungry but I couldn't stop.

There is a MAJOR difference between the two, and self control has NOTHING to do with a real binge.

For me, binging is a physiological problem. I have the urge if I short on sleep, have been working out too much or not eating enough, or I haven't been eating enough fat. As long as I keep those in check I have no issues anymore with binging.

Overeating, on the other hand is a totally different story! LOL

I feel like not binging has everything to do with self control. If you can't control your own emotions, desires, and behaviors..you're not going to be able to stop binging.

My binging was a real problem. Since my low glucose caused extreme hunger and cravings and I felt immediate relief from eating..food was almost like a drug for me. I wasn't eating because I was hungry I was eating so I would feel good. It was always bad things and it was always entirely too much. Sure I felt disgusting and bloated but at least my headache, dizziness, and shaking had subsided.. Until an hour later when my sugar crashed again.

I stopped once they finally had a diagnosis for all of my problems..and I found that I was only making things worse for myself by binging on candy and starches. It didn't happen overnight but it I made conscious effort to eat less and eat healthier.

I do believe that binging with an eating disorder is a lot harder to overcome..but I know those who have done that as well and fight every day to keep their eating in check.

blktngldhrt

Francl27 wrote: »

blktngldhrt wrote: »

Yes. I think it's possible. It's all about self control. I have no urge to binge anymore.

.. And this is coming from a hypoglycemic who used to binge when low to feel immediate relief from hypo symptoms.

Yes but forever? I mean, the first year I started losing weight, self control was not an issue at all, but as I got closer and closer to my goal, it's been more lacking.

I guess forever is a little easier for me since my immediate wellbeing relies on the food I put into my body. It's probably been 10 years since my last actual binge.

sparkynazca

I agree with the above poster that there is a vast difference between overeating and binge eating. Binge eating can be a little bit scary. For me, it is not a rational thing. It certainly isn't because the food is delicious.

I've had a problem with binging throughout my life. Unlike others, it did not make me feel sick. In fact, when I binge I can never get enough, I am just not satisfied. I don't mind the full feeling. I LIKE it. I feel as if I need it, on some days.

I call these "hollow days". It is as if there is something inside me that just can not be filled and it translates to obsessive hunger. It is obviously some sort of emotional overeating, and I can not make the -urge- go away. However, I can make the choice to not binge and suffer through the misery of the feelings I am left with.

005999Manon

Yes I agree with the difference between bingeing and overeating. Therapy can help with both actually, especially if there's a link with emotions. Thinking you have to do it yourself or that it has anything to do with having enough selfcontrol/discipline may cause your problems to get worse. It can lead to self blame and you get more and more lost in this eating disorder. It can also make you to restrictive and then binge more often thus making you're eating disorder worse.

To everybody struggling and feeling ashamed when they have binged I would recommend getting help. Your therapist can determine if you have an ED or not. Even if it's 'just' overeating, i think you can still use help to determine why you do it and to get better tools to deal with emotions or situations in which you eat etc.

Francl27

Yes that's what it is, I am not satisfied until I eat too much when I do it... I eventually get somewhat satisfied though, and usually before I'm really stuffed.

NK1112

Binge eating, for me is possibly like falling off the wagon for an alcoholic. As long as I don't eat the foods that trigger the binges, I'm fine. I won't bring the foods that set off a binge into the house. If I cannot distract the desire for it I'll drive to the store and pick up the smallest size of the binge food I can find and then go ahead and eat it. When I am emotionally even I don't crave the stuff but it becomes very difficult to control when I am emotionally drained or depressed. To augment those happier feelings, I do a lot of meditation, exercise, socialize, get fresh air, and stay away from toxic people.

005999Manon

I think that's actually what a lot of people with BED experience. For me, I preferred the feeling of being really stuffed to just feeling miserable, most of the time I didn't even know why. But when I was really really full or sometimes even sick, at least I knew why..

It took alot of courage and even more hard work to get myself in therapy and to work through all of it. Even now I am not finished. But as I learned and healed, the binges became less frequent and now they are almost gone.

I think it's good to take this serious, because you are worth it to take good care of yourself

Alatariel75

I used to be a BIG binger. Not just "I'm full but I kept eating because it was tasty" but to the point I'd go to the shop and buy whole baskets of food with the intention of going home and eating all of it, even past the point I felt sick or even in pain. Deliberate, over the top binging.

Haven't done it for years. Don't have the urge to. I'm in a happy, stable place and I got my head right in respect of my binges. I realised that the labels "emotional eating" and "comfort eating" were fluffy bullsh!t monikers for what I was really doing - self harm through food. I was punishing my body just as much as if I was cutting, or burning - the scars I was leaving were on the insides of my arteries, on the pressure on my heart, the shortning of my lifespan.

My binging was a symptom of much greater issues and when they were dealt with and under control, the binges stopped.

Have they stopped forever? Impossible to say - it hasn't been forever yet. But I honestly believe that I have moved past that behaviour and understand the issues behind it, so that if I ever do wnd up back in a bad place where those urges arise, I will be able to deal with them in a more productive fashion.

llUndecidedll

I hope one can really get over binge eating. I am a binge eater. I stuff my face with food I don't even care for, most of the time. To the point where my stomach is stuffed, then I'll go ly down somewhere. And this happens in a very short period of time. I know my issues, though. Can't solve a lifetime of issues in a few months.

The only advice I've seen is to:
1)drink water, chew gum, keep low calorie food around. etc. for when the urge to binge hits. [but, you're still bingeing... right?]
2)Find something else to focus ALL of your attention on [Nothing interests me (depression), so haven't found anything yet]
3) Find out what the problem is and solve it/deal with it. I know what the problem is. It isn't solvable. It's the result of a lifetime of stress. I'm almost 30 now. It's safe to say I'm stuck in my ways. I was never able to connect with people [online or off], so I feel I am doomed.
4) When you feel the need, just leave wherever you are. Take a walk. This helped me over ten years ago. I ended up losing a lot of weight without knowing it, but now it doesn't.

Therapy only depresses me more.

I genuinely hope others have better success than I am having. Even after losing all that weight over a decade ago, I was still bingeing. The only difference was I fell in love with the gym/cardio/running [and I was estranged from my family, had no friends, so after work I always hit the gym]. I would spend about 2-3 hours almost every day doing cardio. Once that stopped, the weight slowly krept back on. Then my eating habits became even worse. =/

I really do hope there's a light at the end of this tunnel.