Resources for Binge Eating?

GreatDepression

I'm surprised there aren't stickied threads here for people who struggle with binge eating. The past 72 hours has been quite horrible for me with each day getting worse. Yesterday I ate so much in one sitting that my stomach was in extreme pain and it hurt to move. I ate so much food that even the most palatable things began to have no taste.

I'm not sure what triggered such a bad relapse for me. My stress this past week was normal and I had been actively thinking about my body hunger signals every time I ate. I was trying very hard to practice mindful eating to be aware of true hunger vs mind hunger. Maybe I was overwhelmed by how hard this was and just responded badly by the end of the week. All my attention and focus on eating well, slow, and mindfully led me to lash out in the opposite way for unknown reasons.

I feel quite helpless and pitiful right now. I was walking around in circles trying to deal with the thought that my body is actively storing "energy" back in my many fat cells and bloating them up again. I wanted to lay down in the fetal position and cry. Even nearly two years into my weight loss journey, food still has such a strong hold on me. As I've developed much better eating habits, my binging has also become more intense, ironically.

MadDogManor

There is a binge eating support group on these message boards. Pretty active, and caring people who struggle with binging issues. Good luck to you!

gypsy_spirit

Stop focusing on what happened and concentrate on changing today. I second getting involved in a group to get support when you need it.

Also, I had problems with binging for a long time - many years. I finally realized that I had to change the way my brain thought about food. It's not easy. You can't do it in a day or even in a month. I've worked on this for a year now and finally feel like I have traction and don't have to think so hard.

My first step was weighing/measuring every bite of food that went in my mouth. Then I logged and knew what my calories were for the day and when I had reached them. Then, I worked on portion control. Then delaying the need to put food in my mouth came next. If I made it 5 minutes at first - okay. The next time I tried to go 10 minutes before I caved. You know what? Eventually I was able to get past that urge in my brain to binge. It takes a lot of practice, but it's the only way I've been able to make it work.

For the last few months, I can eat one 1/2 cup serving of ice cream and stop. A few cookies and stop. One serving of pasta and stop. Do you know how empowering that was? Do you know how much better it is to feel good about being in control?

Good luck and keep trying. You will only fail when you give up and go back to the old habits. Start creating new ones - then you will get your control back and your life back.

Mygsds

Hello, I read your post and I wanted to cry . You are so deserving of what life has to offer. Sometimes when I ask myself where I'm headed on this journey I too get discouraged but you have to get back up and restart.. What helps me is when I feel a binge coming on I get out of the house. Do you go for walks or bike or any outside activities???? Maybe refocusing will help your mindset. My doc told me to have one meal a week when I can have whatever I want and then start again at the next meal. I lost over 50 lbs before coming here and that's what helped. Don't give up...... You are strong and know you can so do this, and just stay positive.

christinalong1991

Thin-side out: how to have your cake and your skinny jeans too, I just read it, seemed to help me!! I had a big issue with binge eating, this book tries to get at the non-emotional reasons why people binge eat. Of course there are emotional factors as well, but working from both angles can't hurt any! It's like 10$ on amazon, and a fairly quick, entertaining read.