Brain Over Binge
Dennis4766
Posts: 470 Member
I've read a number of books on Eating Disorders, Bulimia, and Binging. Recently finished Brain Over Binge. Curious if anyone else has read this and would like a thread to discuss this book?
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I have read it, but it's been a while. I've also read Break Free from Emotional Eating by Geneen Roth, Shrink Yourself by Roger Gould, Life Without Ed by Jenni Schaefer, and a couple of others here and there.
Brain Over Binge wasn't my favorite of the bunch. But all of them provide some good information, including BOB.
I don't remember all the details in BOB to be honest. The idea that we've become so accustomed to binge eating that our primal brain sends strong signals to do it again and again makes sense. There are a lot of parallels to be made between BED and addictions in general. I'm often on autopilot when I binge and there is no clear cut trigger. I just feel a strong need to binge.
One thing it the book that left me unconvinced was that, if I recall correctly, she spends a great deal of time saying that her binge eating is completely unrelated to emotional matters and that therapy is useless. That may be the case for her, but I don't think that's true for me. Like I said, my binges are not always triggered by one event, one emotion that I can easily point to. But sometimes they are. And I truly feel that if I had a better self esteem, better relationships, etc.. I wouldn't binge as often.0 -
I get what she is saying about co-existing problems, triggers, etc which makes some of us more prone to eating disorders. My psychologist has been effective in demonstrating how depression, anxiety, and OCD made me prone to bulimia.
What I love about this book is it has told me what I've known all along and denied - if I want the eating disorder to end, if I want the bingeing and restricting and purging to end, I have to take control, resist the binge-beast, and stop acting upon the urge. There is no magic button, the binge-beast is not just going to go away, no prescription medication will cure me. I have to make a decision to stop dieting, stop restricting, stop eating just "safe foods", stop obsessively running 10 miles or more a day to purge, and stop obeying the binge-beast. Its both as simple as, and as difficult as that. The binge-beast does not control my legs (to walk into the kitchen), my arms and hands to reach for foods, nor my mouth to chew and swallow the food. The binge-beast is responsible for an overwhelming urge. But if I want all this to end, I have to be stronger than it is. Either it consumes me, or I slay the beast.
Of course, I say this a mere 36 hours after my last binge. And I know within the next 48 hours, the urge will come upon me just as strong as ever. ...0 -
I just wrote a long post and lost it when I hit the wrong button my mistake...I am sooooooo mad!
Anyway, yes, I have read the book and yes, I am interested in having a thread to discuss it.
I have also read numerous books on food addiction and eating disorders and recovery and I think this is my favorite. I am not going to re-create what I wrote because I'm sure I will go into it at some point in the new thread
but basically I really relate to that book and believe in it pretty much 100%. I do, however, believe certain foods like sugar and flour are physically addictive and I don't think that is her belief but I'm not positive, I have to go back and read that part of the book. But again, we can discuss that later. I hope others are interested! 0 -
She does write about refined carbs and sugars and does in fact say that the brain releases chemicals in response to these foods and they can have addictive properties. They are for me.
I just love how she points out the OCD, depression, anxiety, perfectionism, the emotional hurts (I was called fatboy all of my life) etc... and how she says we have a lifetime to fix all these issues, but I didnt have a lifetime to fix the eating disorder. I was already too close to wanting to end it all, if the lack of eating wasnt going to do it, I was going to anyhow. And now, I dont have a lifetime to fix this bulimia and binge - purge cycle.
My counselor wants to talk about everything except the eating disorder. But this book has given me a new hope, new inspiration, a new confidence that I CAN take responsibility for the E.D. and I CAN end it, right NOW. I dont need to get fixed of everything else first.0 -
Ok thanks, I wasn't sure if she mentioned that because I know she talks about not dieting and how she eats all kinds of foods. I can barely put brain over binge when not eating those types of foods-I don't think I will ever be able to eat them normally.
I agree, if I have to fix everything else in my life in order for my ED to go away, I am afraid I'll never get better.
I will write more later-it's hard to respond on the forums from a smart phone. (Are they ever going to change the app so we can have access to the forums on it??)0 -
So if sugar and refined carbs have addictive properties, shouldn't I cut those out of my diet? Or is that restriction setting me up for binging??0
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Great question.
In her book she suggests... "There is growing evidence that people can become addicted to highly palatable foods like refined carbohydrates and saturated fats or can exhibit behaviors that shows similarities to addiction. " So if the addictive properties (release of opioids, serotonin and dopamine) can trigger binges in some of us, then I believe I need to be very careful (but not restrict completely) around these foods. So in effect, we create a "stimulus-response pattern." When stimulated (sugary cereals, donuts, etc) the response pattern is the urge to binge. She goes on to say that by eating "former binge foods" and refused to obey the voice that urged her to binge, she broke the stimulus-response pattern. In effect, she is saying, don't restrict, and choose to separate yourself from the urge to binge. Don't restrict, Refuse to binge and Break the pattern.0 -
The binge-beast does not control my legs (to walk into the kitchen), my arms and hands to reach for foods, nor my mouth to chew and swallow the food. The binge-beast is responsible for an overwhelming urge. But if I want all this to end, I have to be stronger than it is. Either it consumes me, or I slay the beast.
Yes, that is true. Even though the urges are super strong and often feel impossible to fight, they aren't. It's an urge. With practice it's possible not to give in to it. Because deep down I know that binging is not a solution to anything. It calms the urge alright, but that's all it does.0 -
Thank you Dennis!0
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Great question.
In her book she suggests... "There is growing evidence that people can become addicted to highly palatable foods like refined carbohydrates and saturated fats or can exhibit behaviors that shows similarities to addiction. " So if the addictive properties (release of opioids, serotonin and dopamine) can trigger binges in some of us, then I believe I need to be very careful (but not restrict completely) around these foods. So in effect, we create a "stimulus-response pattern." When stimulated (sugary cereals, donuts, etc) the response pattern is the urge to binge. She goes on to say that by eating "former binge foods" and refused to obey the voice that urged her to binge, she broke the stimulus-response pattern. In effect, she is saying, don't restrict, and choose to separate yourself from the urge to binge. Don't restrict, Refuse to binge and Break the pattern.
Ahh yes, thank you, it's been a little while since I've read the book but I do recall reading this part now. I totally know what she is saying but that is very hard to do!0 -
Yes, that is true. Even though the urges are super strong and often feel impossible to fight, they aren't. It's an urge. With practice it's possible not to give in to it. Because deep down I know that binging is not a solution to anything. It calms the urge alright, but that's all it does.
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Yup, the only thing bingeing does is take away (temporarily) the urge to binge.
She says, "I binged because I had urges to binge". This is me. For me, I don't think it is necessarily emotional; there are days when I have major urges and days when I have none, and nothing is any different between those days except the urges.0 -
Has anyone ever read rational recovery.. the author wrote Brain over Binge with Rational Recovery in mind.0
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I havent yet. I did bookmark the website. I was thinking of buying off amazon or seeing if library had book.0
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Speaking of Rational Recovery - he has a resource at his website that I LOVE....
Start at this page then complete all the motivational flashes afterwards. "Slay the Binge-Beast."
https://rational.org/index.php?id=360 -
I went to the page and read it! Awesome tool! Thanks for sharing Dennis47660
