Introductions

breadie1986

Hi everyone! Ive been trying to lose weight forever, and am having a hard time because of binge eating. I dont have huge binges, but they are almost daily and I always go to bed saying that Ill do better the next day, but of course, I never do. Im hoping to find some accountability and support from others who understand!

mweckler

Hello Breadie and welcome. This is a hard struggle that we are all facing. It does not matter the how much you are binging, it is enough to know that there is a pattern, and that you recognize that you have an issue. I hope you can find support here and that you feel this is a safe place to share what you are dealing with.

pey_love

Hey everyone! My name is Peyton. Wanted to re-post on this thread to introduce myself. I was diagnosed with BED about 6 years ago and it continues to be a battle with every emotional struggle. I have been binge free for about 2 months after starting keto and opening up to some close friends about my disorder. This is the first time I've joined a group or introduced myself in this way-- but for some reason feel empowered to do so tonight. Here for anyone who needs a partner/support system. ❤️

mweckler

Thank you for sharing a little bit about yourself with the group. I am glad you found us.

Monsterdog1114

I would like to thank Mike for starting this group. I feel like I have a nice safe place to go when I am feeling ‘stressed’.

Like most of the stories, I have been bingeing for many years and eat uncontrollably when ‘in that state’.

Over the last few years I have tried very hard to keep the binge under control (when it does happen). Keeping it to 1 day, rather than a few months, for example.

Personally, one of my largest triggers seems to be an ‘all or nothing attitude’. When I am good, I am very good, but when I allow myself something unplanned or special, it sets my mind to ‘try to enjoy all the things I deny myself’.

Thanks again Mike

RespectTheKitty

Hello everyone.

I've been dealing with binge eating disorder for many years. Prior to that, I was anorexic. My relationship with food has never been healthy. Neither has my relationship with myself.

My biggest problem is waking up in the middle of the night and eating. I can be really good all day, stay within my calorie goal, etc., but then I'll go to bed and inevitably wake up a couple hours later and go eat everything in the kitchen. I don't know why I do this, but I literally cannot control it. It's like I'm on auto-pilot when it happens.

I told my doctor about it, and his primary concern was that I was waking up in the middle of the night in the first place. I have never been a good sleeper, waking up multiple times a night. Doctor gave me a prescription for Lunesta to help me stay asleep through the night.

The Lunesta has been a huge help. It keeps me asleep longer, so that I'm not waking up as frequently and going to eat. I've also stopped keeping trigger foods in the house. so that if I do wake up, there will be nothing to binge on. This has also helped.

I take it day by day (or night by night), and find that since starting MFP I have had more "good" nights than nights where I binge. That is not to say my binging has stopped completely... I still have an occasional bad night... but for the most part I feel like I have more control over it.

It's nice to know I am not alone when it comes to binge eating disorder. I am so happy that this group exists.

ab6046

I'm all over the message boards today, and I'm pretty sure I never took the time to formally introduce myself. So a little about me:

My name is Anna, I am 28 years old and currently getting my Master's in Public Health. I was raised in Portland, OR but am in NY for school. I am recently married, and wrapping up my degree with a little over a month to go. In addition to school, I am also doing three internships that are pretty heavy duty.

I have never had a healthy relationship with food, and have always been overly concerned with my weight. I've struggled with anorexia and bulimia in the past. I also have a history of issues with exercise, and so part of my recovery has been to focus on exercising significantly less and not using it as a crutch. That has been going great since October, and then recently I'm barely exercising at all which is causing me some mental anguish. My eating issues go back really far. I even used to have a problem with sleep-eating! Luckily, I haven't experienced that for a while. I tend to go through pretty intense binge cycles followed my restrictive phases, so ultimately my goal is balance.

CooCooPuff

My relationship with food was never healthy. I would sneak in extra food during school lunches, eating breakfast at home and at school, etc...

I started binging heavily after high school, during my time as a NEET. I would go to the grocery store when nobody was at home and buy as much food as I could. These "brunches" would usually consist of a frozen hamburger, a pint of ice cream, a package of Oreos, something from Kroger's bakery, something Hostess, and some chips (the dollar bag of Cheetos were my favorite). Everything would be eaten that day. Me and my sister would have days where we just ate as much as we could.

I ballooned to probably over 300lbs (the last time I was weighed was during my senior year of high school, around 270s) and eventually, my family wanted to have an "intervention" about my weight. Their idea was to ship me off to a fat camp to humiliate me for a few weeks. With this as motivation, I started eating diet foods until I discovered calorie counting and properly logging and tried eating as little as possible. Unfortunately, I successfully ate between less than 800-1,000 calories for a year or two, until I discovered MFP and realized how much I was harming myself. I lost my period late 2014 (just started again this January) and just felt light headed all the time. I binged some days last year and during my stay in the hospital and rehabilitation center after a car accident.

This February, I had a nearly month long binge and shot up from around 140 to 165 (currently down to 158). I was just very anxious and didn't deal with some issues at home very well. There were a few days around Easter where I relapsed, but one day at a time.

I've been working on being more open with everyone and making an effort to get help as soon as I feel I need it instead of trying to hide my problems from the professionals and my sister.