mini rant for those of you who "binge"

katewillbethinx2

Uh yea. I try not to worry about what other people do....but it does piss me off when they whine that...."OMGGGGGGGG I screwed up my diet....my world is ending....OMGGGGG Feel sorry for me....WAHHHHHH"

I am also a diagnosed binge eater (who is in treatment).....You want a binge? I'll show you a f***ing binge. Give me a break, people!

You are in good company with your opinion. I wish you luck in resolving your disorder.

Thank you! I will be in treatment too in a week and it is a disease not matter what shape, weight, whatever you are. It is a handicapping disease and it is ruining my life... and I don't like to see the word "binge" thrown around all the time because it is so sensitive to me and I'm sure it is to others who struggle just as I do.

katewillbethinx2

A lot of people who are saying there's no difference between a 500 calorie snack and a 5000 caloric binge is grossly mistaken and should reconsider/educate themselves on what Binge Eating Disorder really is. People who say they binge on 500 calories are insulting those who really struggle from the disorder.

THIS!

THISSSSSS

katewillbethinx2

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).

And I think I've contributed enough to this thread, I'll shut up now and leave you all to it

BlueDahlia77

I'm feeling you and what's making you upset. We've got to keep in mind a few things when we see comments like those, though. For one, it could be that some people don't understand exactly what "binge" means in the greater weight loss community. Or maybe they did binge, but it was on low calorie foods so they had to eat a lot to get to even 400 calories. Or they some other food/eating/body disorder that distorts their thinking so much that they truly believe a 400 calorie snack is a binge.

Maybe you could engage with them and find out more about the snack and how much they had? That way you might be able to help give him/her some perspective and they'll be less likely to beat themselves up the next time they snack.

MySweetPotato

Here's the thing, it doesn't really matter how many calories the binge consists of. But the loss of controll counts as a binge. Sometimes I know I am going to go 2000 calories over because I am going to eat out and/or drink. But when I have even 300 calories of food that I didn't plan for, and that I ate because of emotions, that is considered a binge to me.

Dave198lbs

from wikipedia-

Binge eating-, eating large amounts of food over a short period of time

so, isn't the word relative? if someone restricitng calories "eats what they consider a large amount of food over a short period of time" they indeed have had a binge eating episode.

I cant imagine that anyone who says they had a "binge" is intending to insult anyone who has been diagnosed with a binge eating disorder.

EmCeeKayla

I just want to say as someone with anorexia that everyone's binges are definitely different. Instead of trying to stop other people from calling things binges, maybe you should be working at preventing your own.

There's only a certain amount of food my body can handle, and on a daily basis I've been eating 600 calories. It's not much, but it's more than I used to eat. But because I've been eating so little, my body now can't take as much food. Yesterday I had around 1150 calories in the form of a sandwich, easy mac, oatmeal, hotdogs and marshmallows. That wasn't my entire day. My entire day ended up 1,913. That's a lot for me.

The 1,150 calories made me physically sick. Considering that i eat really low calorie things, I could eat A TON of those things adding up to around 300 calories, and I could definitely consider it a binge. And on the topic of "500 calorie snack". There is no such thing in my mind. A 500 calorie SNACK is appalling to me.

Point I'm trying to get at is that I eat past when I'm uncomfortably full. I eat past when I'm painfully full. I could still stay under 1,000 calories most of the times I do that though. I'd still consider that a binge.

emmiee921

a binge is different for everyone. when i binge i calculate around 2500 cals, but how accurate is it? since I'm binging I'm not weighing or really paying attention to what i eat, i just go by memory.
for some people thats a normal amount but when i eat that much, its mostly crap, I've eaten it all in one go i feel sick
and full, my weight goes up the next day and takes a while to go down, and i have no self control.

so its different for everyone but i agree that if your over by say 400cals because you had an ice cream after dinner, i wouldn't call that a binge but if i did do that it could lead into a binge the next day as it has happened for me before.

fiona2785

Opinions on here hugely reflect on the personality of the individual.

To use a different example:
I get chronic daily headaches. They have made my life hell, and I'm currently on a strong combination of medication which allows me to get to work in the morning and through the day (most of the time). I don't know anyone else who has headaches like this.

So when a friend complains that they have a headache, do I rant at them and tell them to stop moaning because they don't know what it's really like? No, of course I don't. I know how they're feeling, and I know it's crap, so I offer sympathy. Occasionally, when I'm feeling particularly bad, I will make a sarcastic comment. For which I then feel guilty about and have to apologise.

Please don't belittle other people's problems. Just because yours are worse, that doesn't give you the right to judge other people's situations and claim that their problems don't exist.

Dave198lbs

there is another thread up now asking :what is your favorite binge food. I would say those people are making light of binging but I doubt they are trying to insult diagnosed binge eaters.

I dont see any value in listing favorite binge foods. Are they looking for ideas on what to binge on next? people are strange

fels123

I think the trouble is that the medical term 'binge' when associated with an eating disorder is a certain number of calories in a specific time period, coupled with a feeling of a total lack of control over what is being eaten. Unfortunately the word 'binge' has now taken on a different, non-medical meaning of eating more than intended. The problems arise because that leaves people with a binge eating disorder no word left to describe what it is they experience as it has been taken by people who could also use words such as a mistake, or overeating, to describe what it is they do. Obviously it's aggravating to see a word that you would use to describe something that has such a hold over you used in a way that lessens that which you are struggling with.

Jill_newimprovedversion

I kind of agree with you, and I think part of it has to do with people just loosely using the term "binge" and not thinking about the actual meaning or clinical definition of it. And since you actually suffer from binge eating disorder, you are probably hyper-aware of people mentioning a word that describes something which has the power to control your life.

I think of like OCD...I suffer from OCD (and believe me, sometimes "suffer" is just the tip of the iceberg), so I really really hate it when people say things like "I'm really OCD about that" when they talk about cleaning their house or counting their calories or arranging their closet. Cleaning a lot or avoiding germs or thousands of other behaviors ranging from casual to a little over-the-top do NOT constitute having OCD, and it's pretty insulting to people who really have OCD when others just throw around the term like it's a common and casual thing. Some say I'm being oversenitive, but I think a lot of people in this world are UNDERsensitive. And you never know what silent problems people all around you are suffering from.

WONDERFUL comparison! SO very true.

Likewise, the term *OVERWEIGHT* and/or *FAT* can substituted in either scenario.
Some on this journey use those terms in referring to the # on the scale
One may call themselves OBESE ( perception? or biologically true ?)
Person A may say that @ 10 pounds over desired goal
Person B may say that @ 100 pounds over GW


Personally- among my MFP friends- they can see my diary.
I've been dealing with some pretty intense personal issues, that I'm *learning* how NOT to
turn to FOOD......but I still FALL sometimes........HARD......
AND
I log my binges as best I can- not as a badge of pride, but humility.
They can see for themselves how out of control someone else can get.
And I think they've begun to realize that others struggle even greater w/ a lack of self-control.....
and how out of control it can get.

Suziq1023

I don't think you are crazy; just more sensitive to the idea than others may be. A binge for you may be three-ten times more than it is for another person yet both of you feelbadly about going over. I guess we are just all on our own journeys here and need to support each other the best we can. Hugs:flowerforyou:

That is well said and I ditto the hugs to you. I think i understand what you're saying. I too shake my head and walk away when people "binge" on 200 or 300 calories that aren't preplanned in a strict regimented daily diary plan - same as I shake my head and RUN the other direction when I see the discussions about thigh gaps and 18 year old girls obsessing over 3 pounds. As much as I worry (for lack of a better word) about our obsessions with weight for health reasons vs. self-image I realize I'm clinically morbidly obese and I got there at the rate of LESS than a pound a month over a decade's time - so when IS the right time to obsess over three pounds? That line of thinking makes me doubt a lot of my preconceived notions. But I hear ya sister

MaryinBflo

I do agree with you when I binge I get out of control. to me going a few hundred calories over is fine once in a while but when I binge (and don't log these) that is when I get off track and gain some weight back. I am working on this myself and trying to make a cheat MEAL not a cheat day that turnes in to 2 or 3!

almc170

Many of us on this site are dealing with some pretty screwed up relationships with food. Our individual issues may vary, but confronting our behavior is necessary for improvement. Since you can't possibly know anyone's full story, don't be so quick to write off their experiences. You might find that you're only alienating otherwise supportive people :flowerforyou:

bathsheba_c

I think the trouble is that the medical term 'binge' when associated with an eating disorder is a certain number of calories in a specific time period, coupled with a feeling of a total lack of control over what is being eaten. Unfortunately the word 'binge' has now taken on a different, non-medical meaning of eating more than intended. The problems arise because that leaves people with a binge eating disorder no word left to describe what it is they experience as it has been taken by people who could also use words such as a mistake, or overeating, to describe what it is they do. Obviously it's aggravating to see a word that you would use to describe something that has such a hold over you used in a way that lessens that which you are struggling with.

I think it may actually be the other way around, where binge eating disorder is called that because sufferers binge frequently. That doesn't mean that someone who doesn't have the disorder can't go on a binge; it just means that someone binges doesn't necessarily have the disorder. It mostly shows a lot of personal pain if someone who has binge eating disorder is insulted by compulsive eaters complaining about giving into their compulsion, though probably the people who refer to planned indulgences as "binges" ought to stop.

JessLLoser

I think we honestly didn`t know that going 400 cal over our allotment was not a horrible terrible lapse of character. Food is so villified in the dieting community.

We think the war never ends. Our enemy is our friend and we can`t live without him.

No one means to minimalize the discomfort of a real disorder. We are just looking at it with the same gigantor glasses. 400 cal equals 4000.

We don`t know how to feed ourselves anymore when we start dieting.

Either way, it`s sad, and hard.

We`re sorry.

and sorry for ourselves too.

JessLLoser

I just want to say as someone with anorexia that everyone's binges are definitely different. Instead of trying to stop other people from calling things binges, maybe you should be working at preventing your own.

There's only a certain amount of food my body can handle, and on a daily basis I've been eating 600 calories. It's not much, but it's more than I used to eat. But because I've been eating so little, my body now can't take as much food. Yesterday I had around 1150 calories in the form of a sandwich, easy mac, oatmeal, hotdogs and marshmallows. That wasn't my entire day. My entire day ended up 1,913. That's a lot for me.

The 1,150 calories made me physically sick. Considering that i eat really low calorie things, I could eat A TON of those things adding up to around 300 calories, and I could definitely consider it a binge. And on the topic of "500 calorie snack". There is no such thing in my mind. A 500 calorie SNACK is appalling to me.

Point I'm trying to get at is that I eat past when I'm uncomfortably full. I eat past when I'm painfully full. I could still stay under 1,000 calories most of the times I do that though. I'd still consider that a binge.

600 cal a day? So this is what you will do for the rest of your life? I guess food really is the enemy!

do you think you want to stay this way, for like, uh, ever? do you ever wonder why the gov. recommends 2000 cal a day for most people.
The gov. must be completely bonkers huh?

It`s good that your working on yourself, and realize that it is a disorder. I think there are so many people on here that don`t realize they are anorexic.
Good for you for taking the bull by the horns.

Wilson336

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.....

Why is it a slap in the face to you to let other people post their opinions and feelings? Should I be offended because you then turn around and post about people being misinformed? For some who tightly control their caloric intake, 400 calories is a lot. Everyone is different. If more people took care of their own problems before criticizing others for perceived slights, we'd all be better off.

BlueInkDot

I have a friend on here who binges, but she's trying to eat nothing, so ANY food she eats is a "binge."

I keep telling her over and over that eating is okay, food is not the enemy, but she is just stuck in her mindset and can't seem to shake it. I don't know how big her binges are cuz she won't log it.