Binge eating help!

GnicoleL

Hey community! I wanted to see is anyone out there suffers like me from binge eating and self sabotage? I am struggling daily to not even stay on track but to find one to get on. Anyone out there havevany self care/ accountability tips for someone who is a little to hard on themselves and who just cannot love their bodies?

MissNicolioli

Hi there, I also have this disorder.

In my job, I've worked closely with substance addicts. Whenever I've reflected on it, I'm surprised at how binge eating disorder is remarkably similar, except the solution is harder because we can't just abstain from our fixation, we have to continuously moderate it (just to be clear, the addiction itself isn't harder, because substance addiction is horrible, but the solution is harder).

For me, when I'm not binging, I'm thinking about doing it. I fixate on food, I think about it all the time. If there's food in the building somewhere (donuts at the office break room, candy bowl in the lobby) I'm thinking about how I can get to it next. And when I do binge, it's entirely unconscious. I've been on what I call "planned binges" before where my brain has brought me to the grocery store after thinking about food all day, and I'm walking through the aisles I know trigger me, and the whole time I'm thinking that I shouldn't do this, should just leave now, but I still got my favorite triggers and ate them until far after they even taste good anymore.

So I'm right there with you. I'm tackling it day by day.

I've tried to fix this in the past, or at least I've told myself that I tried. But it's going to be a life long effort, like sobriety. That makes it sound so scary and daunting, and that thought alone has sent me into binges before. But I'm ready to treat it like the addiction it is this time.

This time around I'm working on mindfulness. I'm going to be writing a reflection every day on my MFP status. And I'm embracing my fixation on food this time by planning a dinner every night and going through the day with dinner in mind, not my boyfriend's snacks in the cabinet or how easily I could sneak in some fast food while I'm on my way home from work.

I didn't mean to hijack your post, I wrote more than I intended there. What I meant was, you're not alone. And if you want a friend to get through the hardest part of getting better together, please add me, message me any time. I could use support, and I would love to be your support.

slatkabundeva

After years of struggling, the only thing that has helped me is starting on prozac. I still struggle with overeating, but I don't fixate on food *as much* and rarely binge.

thompsjared3

I am in the same boat. I’m day 4 into really feeling okay with tracking. It’s my 5th time restarting and historically I’ve been up and down, just never can maintain at all. Finding a balance that works for you is key. To be honest , I think I was able to get back on track as I’ve started seeing a therapist. He has been helping me understand my unhealthy relationship with food and how I use it to cope and self sabotage. Not sure if that’ll work for you but it’s a suggestion 😃

Keep holding yourself accountable and LOG. Even if you are way over make a commitment. You can do it! Everyone on here is a great friend and resource too.

arrowprayer

i don't have any advice on the mental aspect but to control my binges i drink a lot of water, a lot, sometimes twice the recommeneded amount...i carry a big water bottle with wherever i go and anytime i start getting cravings,start thinking about food etc i drink the water. since i think about food a lot i drink a lot of water. that's just about controling the binges i don't really have any advice for the mental health aspect....but i have it heard recommended to not start a diet until you are happy with your body/self. that way you are putting less pressure on yourself and not freaking out during set backs

brenn24179

I listened to Glenn Livingston on the internet and it is very good, check it out. Binge eating no more. He has a lot of short videos to listen to.

Speakeasy76

I was a binge eater from about the age of 15 to my late 20's/early 30's. Mine was triggered by an extremely restrictive diet at age 14 and for the most part was because of trying to restrict what I was eating, but also became a crutch when dealing with uncomfortable feelings. I read books about it, did workbooks, and even went to therapy.

I can't tell you exactly when or how I made the shift from someone who binge eats to someone who just overeats occasionally, but I can tell you some things that I know helped. For me, I had to stop focusing on how much I couldn't eat if I wanted to lose weight, or feeling sorry for myself or jealous of people who didn't have this same struggle as I did. I think when I started to make peace with myself and my body,and focus more on what I could eat and what I could do it helped shift my focus from negative to positive. I also started focusing more on eating for health than for weight loss. I think for me that was huge, as someone who has struggled with weight for most of my life. Sometimes even tracking food for me would trigger anxiety, so when I started up again I made it more of just being aware of what I was eating, not necessarily doing it to try to lose weight. Just that act of being more mindful about what I was eating--even if not with the goal to lose weight, was very helpful for me. Eventually (and pretty quickly) I started eating in a deficit--but a mild one, as anything too restrictive for me will trigger obsessive thoughts about food, calories, etc.

I think practicing mindfulness in general is a great thing for our overall mental health, and especially when used in conjunction with our eating. It takes a LONG time to do this and it's something I'm still working on. I think for me (and a lot of people who struggle with this, really) is that I didn't like dealing with uncomfortable feelings, so I would do what I could to avoid them (and still do). One of these things was binge eating. Just being aware of and sitting with uncomfortable feelings can be really powerful. Maybe even something like journaling would be helpful, if you're into that kind of thing.

Practically speaking, if there are foods that you are more prone to binge on, I probably wouldn't even keep those in the house. Or if you do, get the single-serve packages. I now can keep pretty much any foods in the house and won't binge on anything, although may overeat those favorite foods from time to time.

It does take time to get over binge eating and you'll have to find what works for you, but it can be done. Good luck!

sponce2733

I've been there before and let me tell you it's the worst. First step you have to stop"dieting" and"restricting" yourself from foods. My binge eating started after restricting certain foods like sweet and carbs. One bite of it, and game over. You just got to change your mindset and focus on not your weight so much but more about your mental health at this point. Sending love your way! It's hard but it's only temporary 💕

Tattoos_and_Tea

Same boat here x