Anorexia to Binge Eating Disorder in a year

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studenthealth
studenthealth Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey all,
Last year I lost 20kg down to a BMI of 16 due to an eating disorder. I've recovered physically back to a BMI of 20, but in my recovery I had mini 'binges', which went from a handful of trail mix at the beginning when I was very underweight, which I felt terrible about, to full blown 5000 calorie binges now at a healthy weight.
Over the past couple of months I've been trying desperately to stop, but I feel I've moved from a restrictive eating disorder to one where I just can't stop eating completely. As a result I'm gaining weight, which is making me look and feel terrible.
It is even getting so bad that I'm actually buying food that I was once terrified of (cookies, chocolate, ice cream) and consume thousands of calories of it in a matter of hours.
How can I stop this?

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    See a psychiatrist specialising in eating disorders ? Cognitive Behaviour Therapy perhaps - to stop buying the crap in the first place.
  • poodlegoat
    poodlegoat Posts: 49 Member
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    I had the same problem. Still do! Count your calories and log it in no matter what. It should help a little
  • stralatheskinny
    stralatheskinny Posts: 5
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    I agree with yarwell! I went through the same thing (am going through the same thing) and getting therapy is really helping me. It can be hard at first, but it's worth it. For now, I will be happy to chat with you and we can get each other through this. I feel your pain girl!

    @poodlegoat: when it's BED, sometimes it's about the food and sometimes it isn't. Logging the calories of something could freak a person (talking about myself here) out and then drive them to eat more (kind of like a "last supper" sort of mentality).
  • Graelwyn75
    Graelwyn75 Posts: 4,404 Member
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    Hi there, same issue here. I was severely anorexic when I was 18(started at 13) and dropped from 1240 to 70Ibs at 5'11.
    I basically binged my way back to a healthier weight, and have struggled since with trying to find a normal way of eating, swinging between relatively normal, bulimic and binge eating patterns. I too until recently have been going out and buying all the 'bad' foods that you described and at times consuming thousands of calories worth, although I purge too. It is a very hard pattern to break, but key is getting some help and support, finding someone you can talk it out with, finding distractions when you want to binge, dealing with the emotions that are driving you to binge(as I can guarantee they are the same ones that caused you to restrict) and keeping a hand written food diary where you log what you eat, when you eat it and how you feel. Also, try and get into a pattern of eating every 3-4 hours, protein rich foods preferably, so that you are never hungry. I now allow myself to eat those foods over the weekend, but I try and keep a control on it. Or if I feel I am going to binge, I allow myself 1 cookie or a piece of cake out, because not allowing it can make the urge to binge all out even worse.

    Part of this will also be your body's delayed response to the starvation you put it through, I think that can really mess around with the hormone. If you suffer depression, this can be another factor, as we tend to reach for those sugary, carby foods as a means of elevating seratonin levels. Try and get into a mindset of not buying the foods in, and this takes tremendous willpower I know. For me, exercise has helped. I workout almost everyday and find that afterwards I am less prone to go on a binge. Also, don't restrict after a binge as this sets up a vicious cycle. Get back to a regular pattern of eating and keep on keeping on.

    An example of a day's food plan, eating every 3-4 hours would be a banana and some cottage cheese on getting up, a hard boiled egg and some veggies 3-4 hours later, a wrap or small baked potato or something similar for lunch, a handful of nuts or a raw fruit and nut bar 3-4 hours later, lean meat/fish/beans and a large amount of vegetables for dinner and some greek yoghurt before bed. Feel free to add me if you like, I sure could use some support myself when the binges hit, and can do my best to support you.
  • studenthealth
    studenthealth Posts: 4 Member
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    @yarwell: That's an option, but to be honest I am really ashamed of my situation at the moment and am doing my best to hide my binge eating from my family. It's hard to 'get' how an eating disorder feels unless you've had one, but going from anorexia to binge eating is just awful. Every second is a huge struggle. I live with my parents, so am going to try to tackle this on my own. The less they know, the better.
    @poodlegoat: Thanks, I'll try that - though like stralatheskinny said, it sometimes almost gives me 'permission' to binge, if that makes sense...
    Thank you so much Graelwyn75 and stralatheskinny.

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