I have had ENOUGH (binge-eating)
Options
Replies
-
Holidays are the most fun places to binge eat cause there is way too much fantastic food, and the food is free!!!! even better yet, I look fantastic and the rest of the family watches me eat copious amounts of "junk food", like ice-cream on top of brownies for instance during easter, and they all look at me like they hate me! they are like, "how can he eat that and look so good?" it pisses them off I swear! Also I enjoy cake binges with my 14 year old little brother cause its like hes being spoiled and he loves sugar!!!0
-
Binge eating can co-exist with a normal or near-normal weight as easily as with obesity. It does not necessarily correlate with body size.
Further, binge eating is an addiction. Substance abuse researchers say that the brain adaptions that result from regularly eating so-called hyperpalatable foods – foods that layer salt, fat, and sweet flavors, proven to increase consumption – are likely to be more difficult to change than those from cocaine or alcohol because they involve many more neural pathways. Almost 90 percent of the dopamine receptors in the reward center of the brain are activated in response to food cues.
In other words, highly processed foods have impacted your ability to exert "will power," which is never a particularly effective tool in achieving a healthy lifestyle to begin with. You have also conditioned your brain to release dopamine in anticipation and consumption of these foods, the same way an alcoholic or heroine addict experiences pleasure from the next hit.
The good news -- and there IS good news -- is that a program of foods high in dopamine- and serotonin-boosting chemicals, along with numerous brain-amping activities (from simple exercise to listening to music) can regrow those receptors and bring the confidence of fulfillment and health. There is lots of low-cost help available to you, from 12-step programs to the latest research in the science of food addiction to exercise to free meditation classes in your area. Just believe and continue to reach out. :flowerforyou:0 -
The eating is symptomatic of other issues that you really need to address with a professional as soon a possible. You mention that you are depressed from eating. It is very possible that it is the other way around and trying to change your eating habits will probably not improve the depression. Please talk to someone about this as soon as possible.
^
|
|
| This
It kind of sounds like OCD (obsessive/compulsive disorder). Maybe find a different therapist who knows about this and can see if that's what you're dealing with? It can feel like your brain is being taken over. You need coping strategies. Might help the boyfriend understand that it's not just having the willpower to say "no more", but much harder than that.
Good luck to you, and kudos for being honest with yourself and taking your life back before it takes over. It shows a strength and determination deep in you. You can do this.0 -
I would also recommend overeaters anonymous. http://www.oa.org/membersgroups/find-a-meeting/
I had the good fortune of attending a few meetings while suffering from bulimia/extreme restriction and they were so welcoming. If you don't want to attend a meeting, I would recommend at least reading the book. I felt like you- there was no "reason" for my eating disorder. But it still helped me a lot and made me realize the consequences of my actions on those around me. Good luck to you!0 -
I had completely forgot about this book that I got a long time ago. Its 100% true and addresses the amount of pressure we as women put on ourselves to be perfect, and how the lack of control in our own lives often manifest as eating disorders. Its called ; Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: The frightening new normalcy of hating your body.0
-
Think of it this way... your trigger foods are the same thing to you as booze is to an alcoholic.... I live with food issues too and it's an addiction... get rid of the triggers and start living!!0
-
Sometimes our loved ones can suck the energy out of our resolve if they don't get it. Sometimes when I am working on an area of my life I don't share it even with people I am close too until I feel I have some momentum. I have tried so many different things to lose weight that they just don't take me seriously anymore. Maybe you need to not talk about abstinence and just do it for awhile. Keep a journal maybe. And OA really helps if you are so inclined. There are people there who really understand.0
-
I think you may have been going to the wrong kind of therapist - try and find someone who is into behavioral modification. :flowerforyou:0
-
What are your general eating patterns like? I used to binge a hell of a lot, 1000's of calories at a time, and i know what you mean about the guilt! But i found out that it was because i just wasn't eating enough during the day, so the minute i would eat something it would trigger someting inside me that said, 'fill up!' and thus i would start binging. Since i worked this out, i've adopted a 'eat little and often' approach to food, and i can't honestly remember the last time i had a massive binge, (i'm talking weeks, not months though lol). Even though i'm only eating something small and low calorie at any one time, because i know i will be eating again soon i don't feel the need to keep stuffing my face. It might be something you're already doing, or it might be something that doesn't personally work for you, but it might be worth a try
0 -
I totally understand what you are saying. I wish I could just be normal, and have a cookie or two. Not me, if I have one I have to eat them until the bag is empty. My trigger foods are cereal, PB, cookies, cake, ice cream. I can not just have a little. Every time I eat any, it will set off a binge. I just cannot even eat one bite. I liken it to being an alcoholic..........they can work in a liquor store, because as long as it isn't open they are fine. But, they can't work in a bar, around open liquor. That is exactly how I am about trigger foods. As long as I don't touch it I'm good, if I open it, it triggers a binge. I have also struggled with this for years. I too have had eating disorders going from aneroxia to purging. No one knows I have struggled with this problem. The only way I can manage it, is by completely avoiding my trigger foods. Good luck, it is tuff, and plays havic on your self esteem.0
-
Go to a therapist. You can't stay away from your trigger foods forever.0
-
Relationships with food are very hard for some people to grasp. I tend not to talk about my unhealthy relationship with anyone because they don't understand. It's a mental/emotional issue most times, and some people just don't get it. I have had issues with food for over 14 years. When I was young and was told to clear the table and put the left overs in the fridge, I would sneak and eat more as I put everything away. I would eat so much I felt sick. This continued well into my 20s and it was just recently that I got a grasp on it, by ABSTAINING!
I will not indulge in that "one piece of birthday cake won't hurt you" mentality. I was at birthday parties all weekend and was told this several times, but I crunched on raw veggies the whole time. I know that if I have that one taste of something I loved so much, it will be a trigger for me to hide after everyone is asleep and eat an entire bag of chips or candy or a whole container of cookies. I do not have binge days anymore, because I cut those things out of my life and I have replaced them with veggies, exercise, and reading books. Anything to keep my mind away from the food.
Eat to live, don't live to eat. <<< I tell myself this every. single. day.0 -
The eating is symptomatic of other issues that you really need to address with a professional as soon a possible. You mention that you are depressed from eating. It is very possible that it is the other way around and trying to change your eating habits will probably not improve the depression. Please talk to someone about this as soon as possible.
^
|
|
| This
It kind of sounds like OCD (obsessive/compulsive disorder). Maybe find a different therapist who knows about this and can see if that's what you're dealing with? It can feel like your brain is being taken over. You need coping strategies. Might help the boyfriend understand that it's not just having the willpower to say "no more", but much harder than that.
Good luck to you, and kudos for being honest with yourself and taking your life back before it takes over. It shows a strength and determination deep in you. You can do this.
Yes!!... These two posts above.
I really feel for you and know how difficult this journey is--
I'm a therapist in an eating disorder hospital working primarily with binge eating disordered patients within a group context. Our program is based on Dr. Christopher Fairburn's model --his book is called "Overcoming Binge Eating" and it is a guided self help approach to bingeing. You can get it on Amazon for like $12--for my patients, this has been an eye-opening read and life-changer. I think you would really benefit from this book, but also seeking professional help and support... a group can be incredibility important to those who binge so you know you're not alone in this and have others to lean on. Change is NOT linear, but relapses in bingeing teach us A LOT. Instead of beating yourself up, try to be curious as to what when on for you--so next time you'll know more about how to intervene or prevent such an episode from occurring or from the extent that it goes.
This is going to be a process so be gentle with yourself... try to find some self-compassion because guilt only leads to more bingeing. Be curious as to what the function of your bingeing serves... are you trying to avoid, dull, numb feelings of guilt...anxiety...boredom? Or quiet self-critical thoughts? Try to observe whats going on for you (emotionally, in you're thoughts, in your body etc) when you're experiencing the urge to binge using mindfulness, non-judgmentally. Avoid labeling foods "good" and "bad," "okay" and "not okay." Food is food. Try to foster neutrality... it will help diffuse the power it seems certain foods have. As soon as you partake in "not okay" foods, guilt often ensues... Let food just be food. It makes sense to limit foods you feel are unsafe, but fully restricting carbs and sugars from your diet is bound to inevitability feel like you're depriving yourself and will lead to bingeing. Also make sure you're eating enough--when we are constantly physiologically hungry we lose our rationality and feel out of control, naturally, because we're built that way! Our bodies scream at us, "give me as quick and as many calories as possible right this minute" which is often why individuals crave high sugar high fat foods during binges.
No one likes to hear this, truly, but I want to plant a seed with you--Weight loss should be a second goal. Stabilizing and minimizing binge eating should be first and foremost. We cannot tackle weight loss until bingeing is stable. Otherwise it makes for a whole lot of distress and disappointment. How incredibly difficult and hard it is to try to lose weight when bingeing is out of control?
I don't mean to overload you but I work with wonderful individuals like you all day and couldn't read your post without wanting to help. I wish you the best!!
-Jillian0 -
Relationships with food are very hard for some people to grasp. I tend not to talk about my unhealthy relationship with anyone because they don't understand. It's a mental/emotional issue most times, and some people just don't get it. I have had issues with food for over 14 years. When I was young and was told to clear the table and put the left overs in the fridge, I would sneak and eat more as I put everything away. I would eat so much I felt sick. This continued well into my 20s and it was just recently that I got a grasp on it, by ABSTAINING!
I will not indulge in that "one piece of birthday cake won't hurt you" mentality. I was at birthday parties all weekend and was told this several times, but I crunched on raw veggies the whole time. I know that if I have that one taste of something I loved so much, it will be a trigger for me to hide after everyone is asleep and eat an entire bag of chips or candy or a whole container of cookies. I do not have binge days anymore, because I cut those things out of my life and I have replaced them with veggies, exercise, and reading books. Anything to keep my mind away from the food.
Eat to live, don't live to eat. <<< I tell myself this every. single. day.
this^^^^^^ For some people it is just not possible to have just one piece. There is no mental, dark secret for my food issues. I just have an unhealthy relationship with food. I can completely control binge eating by not touching my trigger foods. The only time I can have a bite of a trigger food is in a situation where it will be impossible to have more than a couple cookies, and I will not be alone to binge eat.. I can have it around me now and I am fine. I just don't touch it. One thing that did help me with getting it under control was this. If I knew that I woul be alone and tempted to binge, I set a time limit that I will not eat anything past. I use to not eat anything after 3 in the afternoon. I knew that I couldn't binge at work, and if I didn't allow myself to eat after 3, then that took away the option to binge eat.0 -
I have struggled with binge eating in the past and I found one thing that really helped me was learning about food.
Where it comes form how it's made, reading the science behind the listed ingredients, the polictical aspect of manufactured food.
This might sound weird, but it has totally changed how I look at food and maybe given that you don't seem to have any real emotional triggers making you eat, no deep dark corners or secrets of your life, you should start focusing on the deep dark secrets and corners of the food instead.
Ever since I started taking a real interest in my food, I have noticed how much more I have "fallen in love" with food, changing my whole relationship with it.
I used to think I loved it before, but I didn't know anything about what I was eating in terms of how it was prepared and what went into it, I just loved it as a whole.
Don't get me wrong I still have "binges" now but they are nowhere near what I used to go through. A binge for me these days is a single bag of chips and maybe a couple of snack sized candy bars, which ANYONE can live with.
There are endless online resources and books available on the subject, but maybe if you're more interested, let me know and I can make some suggestions.
Good luck and DON'T GIVE UP!0 -
I just can't take it anymore. I cannot take the way that binge-eating makes me feel. It WILL end up killing me, I'm being honest and I am not overreacting. I'm nearly 23 - only managing to keep at a healthy weight through lots and lots of exercise. I do not want to be one of those people at 50, having binged for the last 30 years (I've already been doing it for 7!)
My boyfriend always rolls his eyes at me when I talk of abstinence from my trigger foods. He believes that it is not necessary, and that I just need to 'be strong.'Problem is, my self-esteem is now at an all time low. 50% of the time, I wake up near-on suicidal with guilt from last's night binge. The only reason I am depressed is because of my binge-eating - but now it is starting to effect my 4-year long relationship (I love my boyfriend so much, but I am now quite regularly in a bad mood due to overeating)
Tonight, I'm going to go home and I'm going to talk to him. I'm going to tell him that I WILL practice abstinence until I feel comfortable enough to start re-introducing trigger foods back into my diet. I am not mentally strong at all right now - I honestly feel that abstinence, though hard for the first couple weeks, is the only way in which I can get a hold of my eating. Believe me, I've tried EVERYTHING. By abstinence, I do not mean deprivation, by the way. I will strike for 1800 or so calories a day - give or take a few. But I simply cannot consume trigger foods (sugar, refined carbohydrates) without wanting to go on a wild eating binge half an hour later.
I just think this is the only hope I've got. My life is important to me and food has taken over. If I have to give up cake for a few years/whatever, I don't care. Living my life happily and healthily is better than any cookie!
Abstinence works. When I lost 60 lbs last time I had to practice abstinence from trigger foods. Some foods I just lose my head with and cannot stop at a good point- like pizza and peanut butter.
I get really depressed from binge eating too. It makes you feel terrible when you do it. I feel fine when I don't binge.
It is frustrating when family, friends, counselors and psychiatrists don't take the time to understand how bad an eating problem and weight gain can make you feel and how much of a problem it is.0 -
@AmyNicole I'm very lucky in that I'm not overweight - but it's a bit confusing, I have no idea why I'm not overweight yet. I binge on average anywhere from 3-5 times a week (we're talking 8000-10,000 calories daily) and I've been doing it for nearly 7 years. However, my weight remains relatively stable, if not going up or down 5 lb every now and again. I'm 5'6 and 136 lb.
But this isn't really about weight for me anymore - I'd like to be a little slimmer, but more important to me is my happiness. Binge eating makes me feel DISGUSTING and very, very inferior. My confidence and self esteem is torn to shreds.
My partner is an odd one; he's lovely, but he's very, very slim (6' 2 and 154lb!) - he has a healthy diet most of the time, but also loves to bake and indulges in cake a couple times a week. He bakes TONNES of bread though, which would be great if I didn't binge on it all the time. He knows that I struggle and comforts me, but the way he sees it is, that I just need to be 'normal' around food and blah blah blah. The problem is, after 7 years of disordered eating, I can't just 'get normal!'
Are you sure you don't need those extra calories? If you are skinny even with your binges you may be undereating most of the time and making up for the lack when you binge. I have two skinny sisters and a slightly overweight mother and they both eat very little some days and more on others. It sort of evens out.0 -
It has come to the point with me that I understand where my triggers are, and no matter how much I try to convince myself that I can stop, and have these items in my house. I am proved wrong every time.
This is me to a tea. Problem is I eliminate one trigger food from my pantry and another food becomes a trigger food. I know I need to deal with this just like the addiction that it is, rather than labelling some foods as wrong or bad. but I'm not strong enough to have the really bad things in my house yet. For now it's elimination of those massive triggers and trying to have the lesser triggers in moderation as some-else mentioned previously.
I have literally an hour ago labelled in big black permanent markers all the glass jars with certain foods in my pantry (the lesser and more healthy trigger foods) with reminders that eating anything is a choice and to remind me to question whether eating those things in those amounts(?!!) are going to be in line with my true desires/goals. I'm no where near as bad as I used to be, I too used to binge in the +5000cal range and now is more like 1500-2000. And I'm not nearly as big as I used to be, but for me its not about the calories or the weight I am, it's about eliminating this habit once and for all before my little beautiful girls pick up on it and carry it forward for another generation.
Best wishes to you,
Sarah0 -
I'm so relating to all of these posts, we need all the support we can get, I think there should be a group fr this so we can check in with each other and give supports, I will definitely look into creating one, until then add me add me!0
-
It's how I started this 'diet', frankly. I piggied out so much during the Holidays and after, at some point in January I was just sick of it.. so I decided to stop and try and lose weight. I stopped eating any trigger food for a month, and I was able to restrict myself after that.
Good luck!0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.8K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.8K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 396 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.3K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 971 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions