Calling all Bingers
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I am really encouraged by these posts too. if i may ask, what exactly is the plan they outline in the book you are talking about? can it be summarized here or not really b/c i'd love to know.
i just bought a book called "why weight? a guide to ending compulsive eating" it is all about bingeing and dieting and how we look at food. it's by geneen roth. she has a lot of other good books too. i have been learning a lot from this one.
what is funny is when i started out on MFP i remembered how i "used to have binges" back when i had an eating disorder in my teens. i remember the real binging part didn't start until i was almost at the end of my weight loss, just like now. only before, i was aiming for a really unhealthy weight (way too low) and maybe the binges were the way of my body fighting back. this time i am at a healthy weight so i didn't really understand why i was having the binges. my body shoudl be happy now, right? well i also found out i had a vitamin deficiency and i've been working hard to take all my supplements to get myself back on track. that has been about 2 weeks ago and i feel a lot better about food somehow now... they say vitamins/minerals affect your mood so i wonder if my binges were part emotional, part that i was lacking something nutritionally? just something else to explore. btw, my dr just tested my blood and told me i was vit d deficient. but i figure not taking the multivitamin for about a year may have contributed to other deficiencies too.
i've been binge free for about a week now. my last one was last thursday... i just staved one off a minute ago by having a werther's candy. i was so close to a full out binge. so i know it's not all about vitamins/nutrition but i wonder if that ever contributes to them. i think a lot of it for me is a mindset. once i start it's hard to stop myself... i like the ideas on here. logging as your binging - brilliant. i will have to remember that one! just picking one thing to binge on... like that idea too. but i was curious about what the plan is in the book you are all reading b/c i can use any help! and i want to get through geneen roth's book first because i have heard great things about her.0 -
I have been reading Geneen Roth's "Breaking free from emotional eating" which is awesome! It does cover bingeing in it as well. I've read an excerpt from why weight and it sounds great too! I highly recommend her books!0
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Hi everyone - well done for all your successes and binge-free streaks! Hopefully they will get longer and longer in time.
Not sure whether I'm allowed to post this as it's copyright...but here's a summarised version of the plan in 'Overcoming Binge Eating'):
1. Getting Started: self-monitoring and weekly weighing
2. Regular Eating: establishing a regular eating pattern and stopping purging
3. Alternatives to Binge Eating: substituting alternative activities
4. Problem Solving and Taking Stock: practicing problem solving and reviewing progress
5. Dieting and Related Forms of Avoidance: tackling the three forms of dieting and other forms of avoidance of eating
6. What Next?: preventing relapse and dealing with other problems.
I'm just on the first stage, where I keep a food journal (separate to MFP) logging everything I eat and drink. The book recommends you do this on paper in a grid format: so each day I draw out a page with columns for time, food, place, and thoughts/feelings about what I ate. There is a separate column to put an asterisk in after any food you feel is excessive (so a binge will look like a chain of asterisks down the page), and if you have problems with vomiting or laxatives, another column headed 'V/L' where you record if you purged after eating. It is advised to carry this journal everywhere, and to write what you have eaten as soon as possible after you eat. At this stage, the book doesn't advise you to change anything about your eating - just accurately monitor yourself, and look for patterns. I also have to weigh myself no more than once a week (HARD!).
The plan is meant to take four or five months to complete. It's frustrating accepting that success won't come overnight, but we have to be patient!
I'll post again when I move onto the next step (whenever I feel ready) - but I really recommend that you buy the book, as the information is just as important and helpful as the actual plan.
I'm thinking about buying a Geneen Roth book - which of 'Why Weight' or 'Emotional Eating' would you recommend? Have they helped you?
Hope everyone has a great day and remember that you deserve to treat yourself well
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Thanks for the summary...
so i think #2 is kind of setting up when you'll eat the meals, staying on a schedule
#3 sounds like thinking of other things you can do besides binge. like other fun activities or something...
#4 looking at how you're doing, solving any problems that come up...
5 - what are the 3 forms of dieting? would like to know more about this... and avoidance of eating, seems like restricting yourself to not eat certain things, etc... am i wrong?
6 what next... dealing with relapse sounds pretty self explanantory
so in the book "why weight" she has you approach food from a completely different perspective. you get to do some workbook activities either in the book or on a seperate piece of paper... you think about the thin self, fat self, what are your forbidden foods, it really helps you analyze and look at what you think of yourself in relation to food. it's been pretty interesting. so i would recommend it. i like the workbook format of it too.0 -
Hi!
You've got it, it's pretty simple, but just working through slowly and carefully I think is the key...
Basically the message is that any form of dieting can make you prone to binging, and that you need to stop dieting if you really want to stop binging. So I don't think the book is so good for people who are trying to lose weight. The three types of dieting are
1. Trying not to eat for long periods at a time
2. Trying to restrict the overall amount of food you eat (setting a calorie limit)
3. Trying to avoid certain types of food ('bad' foods or 'trigger' foods)
Some other related forms of avoidance are not eating out with friends, not eating foods you don't know the calorie content of, etc.
The book recommends that you gradually tackle these behaviours. I know even though I'm officially in maintenance I still practise 2 and 3, and I still avoid foods I don't know the calories of.
Sounds really interesting. I really enjoy having a 'workbook' style book to fill in too, makes me feel like I'm actively solving problems, just like doing maths homework haha... The idea of 'forbidden foods' is in this book too, in stage 5 - you make a list of the foods you don't allow yourself to eat, rank them from easy to hard, and work through eating each one of them. This is going to be a hard part for me!
By the way, I might have to try your Werther's trick!0 -
Hi!
You've got it, it's pretty simple, but just working through slowly and carefully I think is the key...
Basically the message is that any form of dieting can make you prone to binging, and that you need to stop dieting if you really want to stop binging. So I don't think the book is so good for people who are trying to lose weight. The three types of dieting are
1. Trying not to eat for long periods at a time
2. Trying to restrict the overall amount of food you eat (setting a calorie limit)
3. Trying to avoid certain types of food ('bad' foods or 'trigger' foods)
Some other related forms of avoidance are not eating out with friends, not eating foods you don't know the calorie content of, etc.
The book recommends that you gradually tackle these behaviours. I know even though I'm officially in maintenance I still practise 2 and 3, and I still avoid foods I don't know the calories of.
Sounds really interesting. I really enjoy having a 'workbook' style book to fill in too, makes me feel like I'm actively solving problems, just like doing maths homework haha... The idea of 'forbidden foods' is in this book too, in stage 5 - you make a list of the foods you don't allow yourself to eat, rank them from easy to hard, and work through eating each one of them. This is going to be a hard part for me!
By the way, I might have to try your Werther's trick!
yeah it woudl be hard with the 3 types of dieting to not do them. because i usually eat at the same times of day and have certain things i eat for each meal... i can stick with my schedule usually. but i have problems in the evening.
trigger foods are interesting... i do have some of those taht i dont' eat anymore. one big one is cake. i completely avoid it. maybe i just need to have a piece of cake sometime. then i'll see it's not so bad. also donuts. i'm worried those two foods would set me back. luckily they are not in my house too much so it's pretty easy to avoid them.0 -
That is awesome...I'm going to have to try a distraction like this next time I get bingy.I have had one very, very bad binge, and one day where I started to binge, but STOPPED myself and went to the gym to do some exercise instead. I'm very proud of myself for this and feel it's a big step forward. Since that day, I haven't binged.
I've been on MFP now for 3 weeks and have been doing really well (down 7.2 pounds yay!) But the other day when I was home alone I started to graze and ate well over what I should have for the day.
What I do love about this site is how it gives me the power to make the right choices by truely understanding what I'm consuming....the bordem binging however I'm going to have to work on. going to take your suggestion and get up off my bum an do something....even if it's just practing some bellydance in the mirror.
:flowerforyou: hope everone has a wonderful day0 -
Hi!
You've got it, it's pretty simple, but just working through slowly and carefully I think is the key...
Basically the message is that any form of dieting can make you prone to binging, and that you need to stop dieting if you really want to stop binging. So I don't think the book is so good for people who are trying to lose weight. The three types of dieting are
1. Trying not to eat for long periods at a time
2. Trying to restrict the overall amount of food you eat (setting a calorie limit)
3. Trying to avoid certain types of food ('bad' foods or 'trigger' foods)
Some other related forms of avoidance are not eating out with friends, not eating foods you don't know the calorie content of, etc.
The book recommends that you gradually tackle these behaviours. I know even though I'm officially in maintenance I still practise 2 and 3, and I still avoid foods I don't know the calories of.
Sounds really interesting. I really enjoy having a 'workbook' style book to fill in too, makes me feel like I'm actively solving problems, just like doing maths homework haha... The idea of 'forbidden foods' is in this book too, in stage 5 - you make a list of the foods you don't allow yourself to eat, rank them from easy to hard, and work through eating each one of them. This is going to be a hard part for me!
By the way, I might have to try your Werther's trick!
yeah it woudl be hard with the 3 types of dieting to not do them. because i usually eat at the same times of day and have certain things i eat for each meal... i can stick with my schedule usually. but i have problems in the evening.
trigger foods are interesting... i do have some of those taht i dont' eat anymore. one big one is cake. i completely avoid it. maybe i just need to have a piece of cake sometime. then i'll see it's not so bad. also donuts. i'm worried those two foods would set me back. luckily they are not in my house too much so it's pretty easy to avoid them.
The premise of these books sound very similar...in "Breaking Free from Emotional Eating", Geneen talks about stopping dieting, eating whatever you want WHEN YOU ARE HUNGRY (because dieting and not eating what we really want is a trigger to bingeing), stopping when you've had enough, knowing when enough is enough, the "hunger scale", emotional eating and/or eating when not hungry and what to do, what to do when stuck in the cycle of bingeing, not weighing yourself, etc....she gives you homework in this too (I haven't done it, but I did a LOT of stepwork in OA meetings, which is why I didn't want a workbook hahha).
All of the books sound great and I think the solution is similar. I think we have to really look and see what's going on with us inside, as bingeing is a solution (albeit a BAD solution) and/or symptom of the real problem.
I do believe that some foods are physically addictive though and I try to completely stay away from them because once I start it is incredibly hard to stop until I'm completely stuffed and/or the food runs out. The book touches on this but not a lot.
They all sound great to me! And helpful, I'm sure, if you do the work. Ugh, work...LOL.0 -
I don't feel i'm going anywhere. I do good for maybe 3-4 days then binge. It's been this way since i was 17, now 22. At least I have cut the purging after mostly out.0
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I'm 28 now and have had this since I was about 11... today was a bad day as I did 600 calories but it was also a good day as I stopped at 600 calories. There was a time when I'd eat an entire packet of biscuits and still not throw up. I'm about 9-10lbs away from my goal weight and I hope a flat stomach but I don't understand why I seem to sabotage myself by eating like this.
It's almost like every day is a new fight and work doesn't help as I get bored and then think about food. I don't think I'll ever get the better of this completely but logging my food has definitely made me better about not going as overboard as I used to. If anyone has the time to be a cheerleader for me that would be great as sometimes this feels like a really lonely path to be on0 -
Thank you for starting this group. I have always called myself a closet eater because no one knew how bad I would hide stuff eat stuff, then the guilt would set in and I would hate myself. I have been a binge eater since I was 14, I related it to my parents divorce, my sister marriage, and moving out of town. All that happened before I turned 15 and gained 30 pounds eating nonstop to make myself feel better. I am now 47 years old and I have never told anyone about it until recently when I confessed to my husband. I have a very close relationship with him and felt like I was doing something horrible behind his back, which I was!! This has only been 2-3 weeks ago now, I have told him once I has having the urges and talked about it. I was able to be ok for that day , yesterday I lost all control could not focus on anything until I had something I craved right now! I had no idea what I was craving, but had to have it. I seriously made up something to crave to have the excuse to binge. I ended up wanting cookie dough and bought some ready made at the store. I general make plans in my head how I will get something I want to eat, I focus all my energy on that food. If there is something in the house I know I should not eat I can not let it alone. I also will eat something all up so there is nothing to temp me later. I have been heavy off and on most of my life since then. A year before my divorce from my first husband I was working two jobs and lost 50 pounds.
Today I have just purchase a cheap book through my Kindle called "Why Can't I Stop Eating? 25 Tips for Managing Binge Eating Disorder and Compulsive Over-eating" by Christine Kruger-Remus, MSW. I read the first chapter with my mouth open it was about me!!!! This happens for a reason in my belief, and between coming across this group and that book, need I say more. Tomorrow I am seeing a new Dr. and feel it is time to share my addiction.
Thank you all for listening and am looking forward to your encouragement and suggestions. :happy:0 -
Hi all!
I just joined this group because I am a total binge eater. I have had problems with binging until I am sick in the past, but I think that mostly hadto do with massive anxiety. Now I just seem to eat all day long. If I do well at work, then I tend to eat dinner twice once I get home. It rarely has to do with me being hungry, and more with being bored.
Yesterday, I did fairly well during the day, but ended up running through the Jack in the Box drive thru. I got an Ultimate Cheeseburger and 3 egg rolls. Ate them all, and still didn't feel full. I ended up eating more snacky foods until I finally put myself to bed at 9 pm.
I didn't even bother to look at the scale this morning. I have read the Binge Eating and Compulsive Overeating Workbook by Carolyn Coker Ross, as suggested by my therapist. It is a good book and gives you a lot to think about and work through. I know what I SHOULD be doing, but doing it is a whole other thing.
I also have somehow pinched a nerve in my neck, and haven't been able to do too much in the way of moving. I know I need to workout, but I am afraid to injure myself further. *whine*0 -
My story...
I started binge eating April 22nd 2007. Physically, I was in the best shape of my life. I had run my first marathon the day before. It was on my mom's b-day, who passed away in 12/02. We were very close, as I was the only daughter, 1 other brother living and my mom was divorced. I've decided that running the marathon on her birthday was more emotional than I thought it would be. It triggered things that were burried deep down, some from my youth, that I probably hadn't ever fully dealt with. The emotions started to come out and I started using food to stuff it back down. The first year I thought I could just exercise extra hard the next day to work it off. But the calories were VERY excess. The 2nd year was all about trying this diet or that program. I would succeed for a few weeks, then totally blow it and feel like a total failure. The next year was just trying to make it day to day. That's when I realized that I had a real problem with food. A food addiction. (Funny it took me so long. I think I'm a slow learner!) Then I found a 12 step program, for overeating, similar to the steps in AA, through my church. I have realized this is something I can not do on my own. I need God to help me. It has taken a toll on my self esteem and I'm embarrassed to see people who saw me before my binging started. I love going to the 12 step meetings. It helps me to see that I am not alone and gives me hope to see others who are having abstinence. I am also able to share things there and know I am not being judged and that others can relate. I can't talk about it to anyone else. In my experience, people who have never experienced a food addiction just can't relate. I have learned a lot and feel like I am improving, but not enough to have lasting abstinence and see some physically recovery. And it's frustrating because I can still remember when I ate normal and food didn't have contol over me. There are some foods that I know before I eat it will send me into a binge. I have to stay away from those. If I don't and I give in, I usually blow the rest of the day until I am physically sick. For me, it really is a day to day struggle. I have to just focus on one day at a time. And I am really trying to work on loving myself and saying kind things to myself. I've seen others have abstinence and that gives me hope.0 -
Hi.
I'm not really 'new' to MFP but havn't really made any friends yet. I struggle with Binge-eating disorder and have found that its really hindering my weighht loss progress (obviously). Thought I'd check this group out in the hope that I can find some support, and that I could maybe support others too.0
