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Binge Eating and Raw Veganism
UltraVegAthlete
Posts: 667 Member
Backstory: January 2017 to August 2017 — went from 145 lbs to 112 lbs by eating mostly low fat, high raw vegan, plus was training for a marathon, riding my bike in the Summer, and competing in track. Period of extreme hunger started in August (would binge every other day to once a week on mostly granola, tahini, Dates, and sweet potatoes). College started in September 2017, binge ate once a week on bananas and dried fruit, sometimes an entire jar of almond butter... Transfered to a college in my hometown and am living at home, binging still once a week on more unhealthy food (bread, entire jar of peanut butter, vegan icecream). I’m now around 120-128 lbs, haven’t checked in a couple weeks...
I’ve decided to avoid further binging by going back to raw veganism, because I honestly didn’t feel restricted when I was eating that way. Sometimes I wish I could be allergic to nuts to avoid some of my trigger foods. Any thoughts?
I’ve decided to avoid further binging by going back to raw veganism, because I honestly didn’t feel restricted when I was eating that way. Sometimes I wish I could be allergic to nuts to avoid some of my trigger foods. Any thoughts?
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Replies
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Allergic to nuts - anaphylactic shock - hospital visit and overnight stay - possibly lose brain cells - mental capacity no longer the same, highly diminished - have to be cared for by your parents for the rest of your life - another outcome death.
See a dietician.9 -
I would keep an open mind as to whether or not any of your binge eating is connected to stress. Impending college matriculation - stressful. College in general - stressful. Transfering to a new school - stressful even though it's one in your hometown and you're living at home (which, again, can be stressful depending on the person). If it is going back to eating raw isn't going to help that. Going to a therapist probably would (and there is absolutely no shame in that, most if not all people should see a therapist at least short term in general), but changing the quality of food you eat wouldn't. Note too that your "period of extreme hunger" started when you had a raw food diet or at least when you were binging on raw food.10
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Seems like switching to a highly-restrictive way of eating is just a bandaid for your binge eating tendencies, not a permanent solution. It sounds like you can always find ways to binge. Talking to a therapist about it might be more useful.10
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Consider whether low fat and raw veganism was what started the binge eating in the first place. You need variety, balance and dietary fat; your body will tell you if it doesn't get what it needs.12
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Agreed above, fat is essential, as is protein. I can't see you having adequate protein or anything close eating raw vegan. With the amount of activity you throw in there not having a complete diet is going to create issues.7
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I have nothing against raw veganism, but am worried by the mentality of wishing you were allergic to certain foods in combination with binge/restrict cycles. You can eat however you want, but speaking to a professional (maybe they have counselors specifically for this at your school) wouldn’t hurt.4
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Please go visit your school's health center. Eating the "right" foods, whatever that means to you, won't cure binge-eating. Your disorder may be telling you that all you have to do in order to get better is to go raw vegan -- that's a lie. It's a common lie; that disorder tells other people that all they have to do is eat "clean," or only eat at certain times, etc. There's no set of restrictive food rules that cures binge-eating; there's nothing wrong with being raw vegan, but it's not going to fix your urge to binge.
This page has some resources that might be helpful: https://myfitnesspal.desk.com/customer/portal/articles/1575987-eating-disorder-resources6 -
How tall are you? Sometimes if you go down too low/push yourself too hard you can end up feeling uncontrollable hunger, and being super restrictive seems likely to encourage that.
I also think that very often therapy is what will help with binge eating, whereas restricting more (and then binging when you going off the restriction at all and feeling shame and self-hatred, etc.) can simply exacerbate it. That you are young and at a time of your life that can be very stressful makes me think especially this would be a good idea for you.3 -
UltraVegBabe wrote: »Backstory: January 2017 to August 2017 — went from 145 lbs to 112 lbs by eating mostly low fat, high raw vegan, plus was training for a marathon, riding my bike in the Summer, and competing in track. Period of extreme hunger started in August (would binge every other day to once a week on mostly granola, tahini, Dates, and sweet potatoes). College started in September 2017, binge ate once a week on bananas and dried fruit, sometimes an entire jar of almond butter... Transfered to a college in my hometown and am living at home, binging still once a week on more unhealthy food (bread, entire jar of peanut butter, vegan icecream). I’m now around 120-128 lbs, haven’t checked in a couple weeks...
I’ve decided to avoid further binging by going back to raw veganism, because I honestly didn’t feel restricted when I was eating that way. Sometimes I wish I could be allergic to nuts to avoid some of my trigger foods. Any thoughts?
Having a child who is allergic to nuts I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Besides you would just find an alternative source (for us its sunflower seeds/butter). Food allergies don't mean you will lose weight. You should speak with someone about your binge eating behavior since it seems to be more of the problem.2 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »How tall are you? Sometimes if you go down too low/push yourself too hard you can end up feeling uncontrollable hunger, and being super restrictive seems likely to encourage that.
I also think that very often therapy is what will help with binge eating, whereas restricting more (and then binging when you going off the restriction at all and feeling shame and self-hatred, etc.) can simply exacerbate it. That you are young and at a time of your life that can be very stressful makes me think especially this would be a good idea for you.
5 ft 5. And I’m reading all these great comments from people, and I apologize to some of you when I said I wish I could be allergic to nuts to avoid binging on them. I wasn’t smart in saying that, because I understand that people can die from being allergic.
Also, going raw vegan in the first place didn’t spark the binge eating. I loved eating raw. Honestly, I have no idea what happened. One day I woke up, had some watermelon, and then suddenly had this uncontrollable urge to eat a jar of tahini. After that I just kept getting those urges. It’s getting better now, but when I do have those urges it’s hard to control myself. When I was raw, i wasn’t counting calories or consumed with the amount of food I was eating. The weight came off by itself, and even if I was a little under the desired weight for my family and doctor (okay, the doctor told me to get up to 128 lbs and she’d be happy), but I felt great. I think all the concern got in my head so that I justified eating jars of peanut butter/almond butter, loaves of bread, etc etc. With “hey, maybe gaining some weight isn’t so bad...” but I don’t want to gain the weight through these binges. I just want to feel good.2 -
I see a big red flag in your post - your doctor wanting you to gain weight. I also vaguely remember some other "eating rules" flags in your prior posts. You are either in a bad place or heading towards one. Definitely time to work with some form of mental health professional.11
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When we need help with our way of eating, we go to a Registered Dietician (RD).
When we need help with our way of thinking about eating, we go to a credentialed therapist with relevant expertise.
There should be no stigma about consulting either, and you may benefit from both.15 -
sunfastrose wrote: »I see a big red flag in your post - your doctor wanting you to gain weight. I also vaguely remember some other "eating rules" flags in your prior posts. You are either in a bad place or heading towards one. Definitely time to work with some form of mental health professional.
I was working with a dietician and a therapist for a couple months, but then I moved. I haven’t made time to find another pair of health professionals I trust, and I’m trying to see if I can do this on my own.0 -
I'm really glad to hear that you have worked with a dietitian and a therapist in the past. That said I think it makes a lot of sense to try not to go it on your own now that you've moved especially because you're, again, in a transition. It also seems pretty clear from your first post that you're not in a place where not working with a therapist and/or dietitian is healthy.UltraVegBabe wrote: »I was working with a dietician and a therapist for a couple months, but then I moved. I haven’t made time to find another pair of health professionals I trust, and I’m trying to see if I can do this on my own.
While I don't deal with disordered eating I do have some pretty severe mental health issues and see my therapist twice a week. I will, likely, be moving out of the area for grad school in a little over a year and a half which would mean I would have to stop seeing my current therapist. That said both she and I know that despite the years of therapy that I've had, I will very likely not be in a place where I can function without seeing a therapist by the time I go to grad school. I will not be able to afford doing it on my own when I move and it appears that you can't afford to do so either. That doesn't mean that you are somehow flawed, it just means that you need more help which is ok.
I get that it takes time to find a therapist that is a good fit (oh the paragraphs I could write on that...), but it is really important to try to do so despite that.8 -
Orthorexia won't fix anything. See a professional.3
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I'm glad you are open to that and have a good attitude (sometimes it can feel like everyone is telling you what to do). I think it's the right choice. Good to figure out the bingeing thing at your age too, since if you don't deal with it it will likely keep popping back up whatever you try. (I wish I'd dealt with some of my stuff with a professional back then instead of waiting many years.)4
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Hugs1
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If I was your weight and height while being raw vegan I'd be hungry all the time because my body would be crying out for food. I love raw vegan food and it forms a good part of my diet but I need more protein in it for satiety.1
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I know there are some elite athletes who are vegans so it is not impossible. I was a vegan for 3years and considered raw. I didn't do it and now I'm an omnivore.
How did you transition to raw vegan? Was it gradual from vegetarian to vegan to raw vegan? How long did it take and how long have you been training/competing?
I agree you should get professional help. But also I'm assuming you are young, early 20s to be in college. You are still growing. It is a lot of stress you are putting on your body to eat raw and compete. If this was not gradual with a period of adjustment it doesn't sound strange to me that your body would fight back to survive with the overeating. That is a lot of weight lost and it takes a lot of planning to eat well as a vegan, more so for raw.it sounds to me like your body was starving and the response to eat is normal. It is just harder to get the protein without animal products so it seems like more.
This is one of the reasons I went back to eating meat. Having a busy active life I didn't have enough time to prepare my food, couldn't eat well as a vegan. It was just easier to do it with meat. I'm not saying that you should do that -- you just need to make sure you are getting proper nutrition eating that way and get the professional help.
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Binge eating is sometimes a signal that a person has severely undernourished their body. It can lead to a really nasty cycle of times of overrestricting (to make up for the bingeing) followed by times of uncontrollable overeating (because your body can endure deprivation any more).
Bottom line, don't drop your calories too low. It can be tempting, because hey, fewer calories, more weight loss! Yay! But in the long run it's counterproductive.3 -
lucerorojo wrote: »I know there are some elite athletes who are vegans so it is not impossible. I was a vegan for 3years and considered raw. I didn't do it and now I'm an omnivore.
How did you transition to raw vegan? Was it gradual from vegetarian to vegan to raw vegan? How long did it take and how long have you been training/competing?
I agree you should get professional help. But also I'm assuming you are young, early 20s to be in college. You are still growing. It is a lot of stress you are putting on your body to eat raw and compete. If this was not gradual with a period of adjustment it doesn't sound strange to me that your body would fight back to survive with the overeating. That is a lot of weight lost and it takes a lot of planning to eat well as a vegan, more so for raw.it sounds to me like your body was starving and the response to eat is normal. It is just harder to get the protein without animal products so it seems like more.
This is one of the reasons I went back to eating meat. Having a busy active life I didn't have enough time to prepare my food, couldn't eat well as a vegan. It was just easier to do it with meat. I'm not saying that you should do that -- you just need to make sure you are getting proper nutrition eating that way and get the professional help.
I would say it was gradual from vegetarian to Vegan to high raw. I just started to eat mostly raw 4-5 months after going Vegan. I was googling vegan diets and saw Raw Till 4, so I tried that and liked part of it, but then I replaced my potato, rice and pasta consumption for dinner with steamed vegetables, sweet potatoes or oatmeal, or sometimes I would just have fruit or salad. I started running when I was 10 years old, but didn’t start competing and fully committing to running 4-7 days a week until I was 13, which is when I ran my first half marathon. I joined my High-school’s XC team for all four years, plus track (ran the 1 and 2 Mile) for all four years. I also trained for a marathon my Junior and Senior year of HS while also training for track. Now I’m a freshmen in college, not on any teams, but training for marathons and maybe a 50 miler.0 -
I never heard of this Raw Till 4 diet. I just looked it up and it sounds pretty extreme (even more so than a raw vegan diet).1
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lucerorojo wrote: »I never heard of this Raw Till 4 diet. I just looked it up and it sounds pretty extreme (even more so than a raw vegan diet).
Yeah i just liked the idea of eating “unlimited” amounts of food. I was gullible, but I did lose some weight. I hated stuffing myself, though.0 -
Honestly given your history of running I am more worried about your nutrition and mental health than I am about the impact running alone is having on your body.UltraVegBabe wrote: »I would say it was gradual from vegetarian to Vegan to high raw. I just started to eat mostly raw 4-5 months after going Vegan. I was googling vegan diets and saw Raw Till 4, so I tried that and liked part of it, but then I replaced my potato, rice and pasta consumption for dinner with steamed vegetables, sweet potatoes or oatmeal, or sometimes I would just have fruit or salad. I started running when I was 10 years old, but didn’t start competing and fully committing to running 4-7 days a week until I was 13, which is when I ran my first half marathon. I joined my High-school’s XC team for all four years, plus track (ran the 1 and 2 Mile) for all four years. I also trained for a marathon my Junior and Senior year of HS while also training for track. Now I’m a freshmen in college, not on any teams, but training for marathons and maybe a 50 miler.0 -
Honestly given your history of running I am more worried about your nutrition and mental health than I am about the impact running alone is having on your body.UltraVegBabe wrote: »I would say it was gradual from vegetarian to Vegan to high raw. I just started to eat mostly raw 4-5 months after going Vegan. I was googling vegan diets and saw Raw Till 4, so I tried that and liked part of it, but then I replaced my potato, rice and pasta consumption for dinner with steamed vegetables, sweet potatoes or oatmeal, or sometimes I would just have fruit or salad. I started running when I was 10 years old, but didn’t start competing and fully committing to running 4-7 days a week until I was 13, which is when I ran my first half marathon. I joined my High-school’s XC team for all four years, plus track (ran the 1 and 2 Mile) for all four years. I also trained for a marathon my Junior and Senior year of HS while also training for track. Now I’m a freshmen in college, not on any teams, but training for marathons and maybe a 50 miler.
I’m not sure what to say to that. I feel good, I’m eating lots of fruit and vegetables, I’m getting 7-9 hours of sleep a night... I still struggle everyday to eat enough for my activity level, but not too much (aka binge), however I have a good support group. So...that’s all I can say, I guess.0 -
UltraVegBabe wrote: »
No. The creator of the "diet" (I use the word loosely, here) is a known orthorexic. It is the very definition of an orthorexic way of eating.
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grinning_chick wrote: »UltraVegBabe wrote: »
No. The creator of the "diet" (I use the word loosely, here) is a known orthorexic. It is the very definition of an orthorexic way of eating.
Not to mention she actively advocates for low protein diets saying (wrongly) that protein needs are overstated. It would seem OP has bought into that and it's hugely damaging, especially to an athlete.6 -
grinning_chick wrote: »UltraVegBabe wrote: »
No. The creator of the "diet" (I use the word loosely, here) is a known orthorexic. It is the very definition of an orthorexic way of eating.
This.
I'm all about the whole foods thing -- it's how I eat, without the need to label it. (I don't do that whole raw vegan, thing, though, because I like steak, and cold foods do nothing for me.) And I totally own that, as a dietitian I once saw called it, "have more-than-a-bit of orthorexia going on here."
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