mini rant for those of you who "binge"

graelwyn

If I eat a kilo of steamed vegetables, I tend not to call it a binge. To me, personally, it isn't about the amount of food, but the calorie content really, moreso even than a loss of control, but then I don't tend to lose control with things like vegetables and fish. My binges tend to come to around 3000 calories, sometimes as high as 6000, but they are not a daily occurrence, so I do not term myself as having binge eating disorder. usually consisting of ice cream, chocolate and cookies...very calorie dense, sugar based things. I must admit, I have got a little frustrated on occasion seeing someone calling a few slices of pizza a binge, as to me, it is simply overeating if you have a bit more than you had wanted to, whereas a binge really is a loss of control to excess, where you eat until you are so full you feel as if you could explode, and your mind just totally switches off. If I eat over by 500 calories, I have overeaten, or maybe not done as well as I would like, but I don't call it a binge.

But in the end, I guess, it is just a word, people will use what word they wish. I can understand how upsetting it might be to the person who consumes thousands and thousands of calories at one sitting, to the degree it endangers their heart, to see someone who has eaten the equivalent of a meal in calories, calling it a 'binge'.

CookieCrumble

I'm amazed how few people have actually grasped what you're saying. Yes this annoys me too, and sometimes upsets me. Not because what others do has an impact on *my* weightloss. But because in labelling it as they do, they're effectively minimising the horrible experience of genuine compulsion. Giving into temptation is simply not the same as 'bingeing'.

The experience of a 'proper' binge is akin to a serious alcoholic going on a bender. The 'oh I had a chocolate bar, what a binge' comment is a bit like someone going into a bar and ordering a beer, and describing it as an alcoholic excess.

OP, you're doing an amazing job of getting this experience under control. well done, and more power to you.

Just because some people don't 'agree', doesn't mean they don't grasp OP's point. They just don't agree with it or have their own views. For me, it's about the mindset and loss of control - that is it really. The number of calories is irrelevant. Please don't turn this into a 'competition', it isn't one.

Nobody here can 'diagnose' another - and nobody has the right to try to define another person's relationship with food.

I think you just demonstrated you didn't grasp my point either. :-)

The issue is that giving in and have one chocolate bar isn't a 'loss of control' (and here, I think the other 'mental health professional' posting in the thread is also perhaps missing the OP's point). In our therapeutised culture, the terms 'binge', 'trauma', 'depression' etc have all made their way into a very general vocabulary and are used in a manner that obfuscates their original meaning. Yes, loss of control is the key. But in a binge the experience of loss of control is really quite different from the temporary lapse associated with a little dietary cheat. the OP is clearly referring to the 'OMG, I just had a total binge, I totally ate a cookie, I can feel myself bloating' kind of nonsense that gets posted on this site. This simply isn't 'bingeing', and as I said, to describe it as such is to be quite dismissive of the genuine emotional experience of bingeing.

You have no idea how another person feels. Unless you are an alcoholic, you cannot make the parallel you did. This thread is very triggering for me and I don't have to explain my feelings on that, nor will I. If you like to interpret my post as my inability to grasp the points you and the OP made, which were really quite simple to understand, then feel free. The vocabulary used is a red herring and really quite irrelevant. Blairh10's post illustrates this perfectly.

Many of us have our individual 'crisis points' around emotional eating and, as you don't know what they are, with respect, kindly refer to your own experiences and stop extrapolating.

My comments are based on rather more than personal experience.But as the valley girl would say, 'whatever'. You appear determined to miss my point, and if you're happy with that, more power to you. I'm not saying what you think I'm saying. Let's leave it at that, eh?

Out of courtesy, I've gone back through the thread; I've read from the OP all the way to the end. I understand the point being made; it isn't difficult to grasp. The use of the word 'binge' is used over-frequently, I would agree. I would also agree that eating a few hundred calories over and above what you planned isn't bingeing if you're in control - neither is eating a few thousand over what you planned if you have control. People are not going to stop using the word to describe ingesting an extra chocolate or a whole cake.

From what I've seen of the posts here, many think it is a lack of control that characterises the behaviour and on that I would agree. Does it make a difference whether somebody is 5,000 over or 20,000 over or more? What's the 'cut off' point when it ceases to be overeating and becomes a binge? What about the behaviour and demeanour of the person who is in the acting of eating out of control. If they are choking back tears? Mindlessly cramming? Picking up food from bins, the floor, stealing it from shops?

I personally wouldn't describe what the OP refers to as a 'binge', possibly because the phrase is overused and perhaps it isn't descriptive enough to define the anguish and despair and complete mindlessness/single-mindedness, obsessiveness and complete lack of brakes. So intent and uncontrolled that a person could potentially eat all shopping budget for a week in one go and not comprehend a single taste. I can understand why the OP is upset at the 'over-use' of the word, it is over-used - like so many others.

One person's experience is not necessarily the same as another person's, whether personal or derived elsewhere. Nobody has the right to dismiss another's views.

I think this was an ill-advised thread to post on a public forum. So much diversity of opinion and potential for causing upset. The term 'bingeing' will forever be used in a 'lighter' setting, perhaps incorrectly, whereas frenetic and uncontrolled eating will not.

VirginiaWoof

I think the term 'binge' has just replaced the word 'overeat' for a lot of people.

I feel the same emotional pain when I overeat by 1k or 15k so I don't think quantity can define an emotional 'binge'.

meerkat70

Cookie Crumble, what you just posted is pretty much exactly what I meant. Why exactly are we disagreeing?

keem88

its the emotion and the compulsion that makes it a binge, not the quantity. its the loss of control. not the number of calories. i think a lot of people do mistake over eating and feeling guilty with a binge though. but i dont see how the amount of calories you eat determines weather its a binge or not.

Agreed. There's a huge difference between me eating too much at dinner and losing control late at night. Even if losing control means binging on only 400 calories.Because it doesn't matter if I'm eating 3 bags of frozen broccoli or 3 bags of chips. That's binging.

agreed, no different than having a massive binge on fruit, which will be much different calorie wise than eating the same amount of junk food

strawberrie_milk

I see binging as more of a psychological issue... there is no set caloric intake. It has to do with guilt, control, etc.

isweatglitter

I couldn't agree more. I binge on at least 3000 in the least (in one sitting). 500 calories is nothing. So shut the **** up if you don't know what it really means to binge.

LadyKatieBug

This!

just putting this out there to set the record straight; it makes my skin crawl to see some people logging a 400 calorie snack attack as a an "OMG massive, disgusting, binge." there is a DIFFERENCE between someone who overeats a few hundred cals (usually because theyre depriving themselves) and someone who gorges themselves on a few THOUSAND calories because of emotional reasons. for someone like myself who's had 3k-5k emotional and horribly compulsive binges, its a slap in the face when i see people who call these ~under 1000 calorie meals~ "binges." its just overeating. i feel like theyre totally misinformed, saying they have a problem that is actually very serious for other people.

am i crazy or am i right? i see it time and time again.....

I don't agree. For me, a binge is very much emotionally defined. If I feel like uncontrollably eating 400 calories of cheese or peanut butter, or 1500 calories of healthy food in one sitting and feel the usual guilty, self-hating feelings after either, I qualify them both as a binge. Sure there's a difference in calories consumed, but not in the psychological aspect.

I hate when people try to own eating disorders and make them exclusive, like when you can't be considered "anorexic" if you have a healthy BMI.

And I think it's very telling if you (and anyone else who feels the same as you) are offended by other people having a "small" binge, I think that comes from your illness as well, because when I was bulimic I would probably agree with that, but now that I'm recovered, my perspective has changed.

hailzp

Bingeing is emotional, it doesn't have much to do with the calories consumed. If you feel out of control, upset, guilty etc then it is a binge. I think it is unfair of the OP to judge people that binge on 400-500cals. It undermines them. Who are you to say what is a binge and what isn't? It is not some form of competition. I understand what you mean by 3000+ as I myself have been there but are my emotions surrounding this binge any more or any less than those surrounding a 500 binge? No, I still feel the same.

aproc

Agreeing with most people here. As a therapist myself, and as someone who has also struggled with emotional eating, you have no right or place to tell me what constitutes emotional eating for me or anyone else. I'm going to tout my 6 years of training in psychology and mental health at a top university here. What are YOUR credentials for this petty rant?

^^ This

And just reading through, I am amazed at all the harsh comments directed at each other. Why insult people just because what they consider a 'binge' isn't your idea of one? So they deserve to be undermined and have hostility directed at them even though they too suffer mentally from it? So everybody has a different view of what binging is. Get over it. It doesn't mean they are suffering any less than you so why make a big deal of it. I've seen people flip out over just overeating by 100 calories. As irritating as it may be, I would never bash on them but instead just offer the support that I know I would want if I were binging on thousands of calories. There are so many types of eating disorders and I think it is just wrong to insult others because they are having a hard time with something that doesn't quite 'live up to yours'. And seeing a couple comments on here telling people who call 500 a binge to "shut the f*** up"...Now that is appaling. =/ If it irritates you so much then delete them as friends so you don't have to see it but don't go around making fun of or insulting them..

Lib_B

just putting this out there to set the record straight; it makes my skin crawl to see some people logging a 400 calorie snack attack as a an "OMG massive, disgusting, binge." there is a DIFFERENCE between someone who overeats a few hundred cals (usually because theyre depriving themselves) and someone who gorges themselves on a few THOUSAND calories because of emotional reasons. for someone like myself who's had 3k-5k emotional and horribly compulsive binges, its a slap in the face when i see people who call these ~under 1000 calorie meals~ "binges." its just overeating. i feel like theyre totally misinformed, saying they have a problem that is actually very serious for other people.

am i crazy or am i right? i see it time and time again.....

\

I feel ya'. I've had binges that start with a medium breakfast pizza. On to McDonald's for breakfast burritos. Then, something sweet....like a BAG of candy. Then lunch. Hmmm. Steak torta sounds good. I'll get me one of those. Then 3 pupusas late afternoon. Might need a snack. I'll hit a drive thru somewhere. Or maybe two or three. Oh and then, pho and shrimp rolls for dinner. then maybe a box of mini ice cream sandwiches. since they are 'mini' it's ok. I hate, hate, hate it when someone calls a 400 calorie "episode" a binge.

Back in the day, i would have purged too. I fortunately have been able to leave that part behind and just got fat and disgusting instead.

I'm trying to overcome it and it is so freaking hard. Especially when I don't even know why I do what I do. I've been "closet eating" as long as I can remember. I remember hiding behind the couch when I was maybe 5 eating a pan of brownies my mom had made. Been that way my whole life. Wish I could just make it go away and wish my worst binges were only 400 calories. I wouldn't have 100 lbs to lose if that were the case.

LiddyBit

I couldn't agree more. I binge on at least 3000 in the least (in one sitting). 500 calories is nothing. So shut the **** up if you don't know what it really means to binge.

I agree with you and I think you should take your own advice, seeing as you are one of those who doesn't understand what it means to binge.

chantalb20

I couldn't agree more. I binge on at least 3000 in the least (in one sitting). 500 calories is nothing. So shut the **** up if you don't know what it really means to binge.

when you eat less than 500 calories a day, 500 calories is a binge!
it is relative to the person. i find that comment incredibly offensive.
i have anorexia with bulimic tendencies. if i eat 50+ calories that i didn't plan on eating, i purge it up.
is that normal behaviour for overeating? no, but it's normal behaviour for someone with a binge eating/purging disorder.
i sometimes make it through the day low calorie, and at night i go on a massive binge. yes, i scour the house for food, anything high calorie. I've eaten a tube of condensed milk, i've stuck my fingers into a container of chocolate mousse and eaten it with my fingers, i've buttered 5 slices of bread and swallowed them, barely tasting. That probably wouldn't put me over 1000 calories for the day BUT it's still a binge. i CAN'T control what I'm doing - and i regret it as soon as it's done. If i binge, i am literally in tears, and it's incredibly rude to imply that just because it's not the same amount of calories as you consume, it not a binge.
if i know i'm going out and I'll HAVE to eat, i don't label that a binge. If i'm going to my parents house or out with friends who don't know about my ED and i have to eat there, that's not a binge to me, even if it's 600calories or so. because i know about it, i can control what i'm doing and it's a conscious decision.

i guess the point i'm making is that whether it's 50 calories or 5000, for me, it's the loss of control that defines a binge.

and yes, i know my eating habits aren't healthy.

HealthyNFit4Life

Quite frankly what I hear in your "rant" is the significant pain and struggle you don't want to have minimized. I hear your pain and I'm so sorry for this experience for you. The fact that it bothers you that others use the word "binge" without really understanding a BAD SIGNIFICANT binge just makes me guess you are still struggling, still in pain and still working through it all. Hang in there... Keep working and healing and someday you will be so strong and filled with so much self confidence and self love that it won't ever bother you.

This is the perfect response to this entire thread. Spoken like a true therapist.

Perfect response. Whoever said that should be a therapist!! Perfect reflection of content and affect.

Katie3784

just putting this out there to set the record straight; it makes my skin crawl to see some people logging a 400 calorie snack attack as a an "OMG massive, disgusting, binge." there is a DIFFERENCE between someone who overeats a few hundred cals (usually because theyre depriving themselves) and someone who gorges themselves on a few THOUSAND calories because of emotional reasons. for someone like myself who's had 3k-5k emotional and horribly compulsive binges, its a slap in the face when i see people who call these ~under 1000 calorie meals~ "binges." its just overeating. i feel like theyre totally misinformed, saying they have a problem that is actually very serious for other people.

am i crazy or am i right? i see it time and time again.....

Personally I don't think you are right and saying that someone who feels that for them 800 calories is a binge makes your skin crawl is really saying something about your personality and how you view other people in the world.

Damn straight!
And might I alsoe add that everything is relative. How would you feel if someone who binges on 10,000 calories said your binges were not real?

fatgirlslove

when I'm over...I'm OVER! Today I'm over :-(

hales_04

[/quote]

I don't agree. For me, a binge is very much emotionally defined. If I feel like uncontrollably eating 400 calories of cheese or peanut butter, or 1500 calories of healthy food in one sitting and feel the usual guilty, self-hating feelings after either, I qualify them both as a binge. Sure there's a difference in calories consumed, but not in the psychological aspect.

I hate when people try to own eating disorders and make them exclusive, like when you can't be considered "anorexic" if you have a healthy BMI.

And I think it's very telling if you (and anyone else who feels the same as you) are offended by other people having a "small" binge, I think that comes from your illness as well, because when I was bulimic I would probably agree with that, but now that I'm recovered, my perspective has changed.
[/quote]

I completely agree

jenna25

And just to put it out there about the state of mind. A state of mind during a "binge" binge for someone who is seriously binging (this is in my opinion and from my struggle) is not just nibble of this nibble of that... it's a trance, it's as if someone took over your body and you are in a frenzy to get to the food. You need it, it's like a fix, like a drug. It's an addiction. At that point no phone call to a friend, no distraction, no bath, no soothing alternative will stop you from binging - you've decided on it and you're going to do it. So yes, there is a stark difference between "overeating" and "binging" because I overeat and when I overeat I perhaps have snacked too much, maybe just indulged a little too much. Binging takes on a different life form. And it doesn't matter what it is - be it cookies, broccoli, chicken... I've binged on plenty of "diet friendly" foods, but its still a binge because I needed to cure an insatiable need (of course a psychological hunger for something other than food).

could not agree with this more. when i binge i feel like a completely different person, i literally cant stop eating and will eat to the point where i feel sickly full and will continue to keep eating knowing i am going to feel sick. its sad. and frustrating.

Bookchick887

How about we call it a SPLURGE? As in: 'I splurged on some candy bars and chips today'. Not out of control, just need a break from dieting. A treat. Some sugar and fat and salt. Different from bingeing but you could feel a little residual guilt if you want.

katmix

How about we call it a SPLURGE? As in: 'I splurged on some candy bars and chips today'. Not out of control, just need a break from dieting. A treat. Some sugar and fat and salt. Different from bingeing but you could feel a little residual guilt if you want.

I like that you're trying to be diplomatic and want everyone to just get along. And on this forum with so many *issues* one would think that we'd be the most supportive bunch of people out there. *sigh*

I have splurges where I make a conscious choice/decision, and I have binges where I lack the self-control.

For the OP, by now you've read the dictionary's definition and know that you don't have to have an ED to binge.

And the most classic line is the poster who said what if a person who binges on 20,000 calories doesn't think the OP should be using the word binge to describe a mere 3-5k overeating. Love that post! In life - you really do need to have a sense of humor and bigger problems to worry about if the use of the word "binge" makes your skin crawl. Want a couple of mine? :laugh:

I have a better pet peeve...I find it offensive to be called *skinny fat*. I'm slender, I'm petite, I'm trim...I just don't have defined muscles... If I think long and hard enough, it might make my skin crawl to think people are using that term about me. See, there really are other things more important to worry about... :flowerforyou:


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ebgbjo

I find it sad that anyone here would belittle someone else's feelings on what they consider a "binge" just because it doesn't line up with their "binge".

I am in college to become a Registered Dietitian and have never learned about binge eating being tied to an amount of calories one must surpass in order for it to be a "binge" It is about compulsive overeating which can vary from person to person, whether it be 400 calories or 4K and generally happens for at least half a year or more a couple times a week and the "binge" is due to an external stimulus (angry, sad, bored, happy), but not because you are actually hungry

Someones 500 calorie binge could have consisted from going from twinkies, chips, cookies and a whole other mix of food. I have had my own battle of binge eating, when I was younger, eating cramming everything I could find within 30mins into my face and then not eating for two or three days. It isn't pretty, but I would never tell someone else that their issues with food are not as important as mine. How childish

ThinUpGirl

Bump for later

suziecue66

Do most huge binges involve purging?

Most that say binged a whole box of cereal go over their calorie amounts for the day but don't usually purge?

cjpg

When you look at another person in this life it's important to accept them for who they are. When you project your personal past experiences onto their actions you are condemning it without seeing it for what it is - one single person's act.

The unfortunate truth is you appear the type of person to project your own sensitivities into many aspects of your life. This does not make you 'crazy', 'right' or 'wrong' - it is simply the core of the problem here.

Do not project your past experiences onto other people's actions that stem from their personality. It's called a personality for a reason - specific to each person.

moniquelessard

I couldn't agree more. I binge on at least 3000 in the least (in one sitting). 500 calories is nothing. So shut the **** up if you don't know what it really means to binge.

you obviously didn't read any of the actual intellectual responses in this thread. I'm embarrassed for you..

animatorswearbras

I wouldn't get wound up too much about the word binge, it's just people throwing around a descriptive word that's not meant to take away anything from anyone else. It's just the strongest word they think of to describe their situation. Have you never over exagerrated? "My foot is killing me" "I'm such an imbecile" (or worse) "I look like a cow today" (ever said that and a larger friend of yours has rolled their eyes at you) dya see what I mean.

I do consider myself a binger and I've had 3-4k a day binges and less than a thousand cal binges, these are easily done if you've made an entire stockpot of low cal soup to do you a few days then end up binging on the entire thing till you can't move, just caus the entire pot is under a thousand doesn't mean anything it just means that now I'm dieting my binges tend to go on low cal food, because I don't keep high cal junk in the house because I know what I'm like. However I don't really give a damn if people use the word to describe a couple of donuts, we all do it.

LiddyBit

Do most huge binges involve purging?

Most that say binged a whole box of cereal go over their calorie amounts for the day but don't usually purge?

No, absolutely not. In fact, binge eating disorder is its own separate DSM diagnosis from bulimia (which is binging with purging).

suziecue66

Do most huge binges involve purging?

Most that say binged a whole box of cereal go over their calorie amounts for the day but don't usually purge?

No, absolutely not. In fact, binge eating disorder is its own separate DSM diagnosis from bulimia (which is binging with purging).

Thanks for answering.

kissedbytheocean

just putting this out there to set the record straight; it makes my skin crawl to see some people logging a 400 calorie snack attack as a an "OMG massive, disgusting, binge." there is a DIFFERENCE between someone who overeats a few hundred cals (usually because theyre depriving themselves) and someone who gorges themselves on a few THOUSAND calories because of emotional reasons. for someone like myself who's had 3k-5k emotional and horribly compulsive binges, its a slap in the face when i see people who call these ~under 1000 calorie meals~ "binges." its just overeating. i feel like theyre totally misinformed, saying they have a problem that is actually very serious for other people.

am i crazy or am i right? i see it time and time again.....

I don't agree. For me, a binge is very much emotionally defined. If I feel like uncontrollably eating 400 calories of cheese or peanut butter, or 1500 calories of healthy food in one sitting and feel the usual guilty, self-hating feelings after either, I qualify them both as a binge. Sure there's a difference in calories consumed, but not in the psychological aspect.

I hate when people try to own eating disorders and make them exclusive, like when you can't be considered "anorexic" if you have a healthy BMI.

And I think it's very telling if you (and anyone else who feels the same as you) are offended by other people having a "small" binge, I think that comes from your illness as well, because when I was bulimic I would probably agree with that, but now that I'm recovered, my perspective has changed.

This ^ ^ ^

fatchiick

Op you come off a little defensive like you own binge eating lol its quite odd...

I binged yesterday had about 2000 cals and it was only 5 items.. they were just calorie dense... so my question is it truly the amount of food or the cals....

I personally consider eating at 4am a drumstick(ice cream), ruffles and a turkey sandwhich a binge.. because of the amount of food consumed throught the day... even though I'm straving that 4th or 5th meal is a binge for me...

When you feel like you have very little control and don't care what you eat, you just want ur stomach full.. whether its 5 pounds and only 300 cals or 1 ounce and 1,000 cals, I feel like that's a binge or even as the Op says eating pounds of food which results in lots of cals lol e.g a large pizza with the works, wings and breadsticks..or panda express with 5 choices and egg rolls, shrimp and large drink on tje side....now I'm hungry lmao