support for Binge Eating Disorder

Just checking in, had a better week this week. I read somewhere on here that before someone eats a food they fancy, they enter it into their food diary to see how many calories it takes them over, they find this helps so I gave this a go!! Had KFC tonight which definately took me over, then the head started saying mmmmm something sweet now. Managed to enter KFC into diary and its taken me over 700 cals thoughts of exercising them off in the morning has stopped me going to the cupboard for something sweet.

Oh Mel I totally get that too. Like I want item X, but that is really high in fat/cals/sugar/sodium, etc...

So I eat item Y because it is a "healthier" choice.......
Not Satisfied
So I eat item Z because it is a "healthier" choice.......
Still Not Satisfied

and
on
and
on
we
go.......

Until I've reached 1000+ calories trying to satisfy a craving that would have only been 300 or 400 to begin with. It's a hard thing to figure out because once a while I can get away with substituting. And then there's the times where I really should have just eaten item X to begin with.

Another stratgy to consider when you have cravings is having a small portion of what you really want or working a nice portion into your daily plan with the healthier choices. I had been craving item X for weeks and I know my Mom was making one of my favorites for me last weekend. So all week I made sure not to skip any workouts and then on Saturday I worked out 2 hours at the gym to make sure I could have a good portion and do so guilt free. It worked too! Just my 2 cents. Because I have felt bad when I eat all this other stuff and I am still not satisfied and still feel deprived. Deprivation is not good for us. And what I use to do is eat all the healtly stuff trying to replace what I really wanted and then having item X too! Double wammy.

You are right many times trying to substitute does work. But if you try one thing to substitute and see it did not do it for you, stop and plan for when you can fit in your it X. Hope that made sense. I am up too early because I could not sleep......:-)


I am still doing good on my no FAT foods!! 7 days for me now! I almost slipped yesterday but I bounced out of it and ordered something else. It was not the healthiest choice but it was not fried and not fast foods......:-)

Congrats Melissa on staying positive!

Congrats Gil on putting the brakes on!

One day at a time ladies and you all keep up the good work! Have a good week!! We can do this!

Not a great weekend food, water, or exercise wise, but not horrible either.

Woke up with a positive attitude today and it's going to be a good week! I want to see a loss on that scale!

Really great food day no binging, I'm trying to do 5 meals a day. I did have cake and pie for breakfast not a really good idea but I did workout. I'm just so glad I did not binge tomorrow will be the big test because I will be by myself as hubby goes back to work and kids are in school. But I'm planning on going to the gym so very happy for that it has been to long.

Yay, be pat on my back for that.

You will do it. Believe it. I know where you are coming from. If I get mad at my husband I head straight to the refrigerator. My binging has emotional triggers. I have learned to find my triggers and it has taken me a loooooooong time to get a grip. I still have days. And some days to be honest, I have days I tell myself I don't even care, but then I immediately go throught the guilt of having stuffed my face. Hang in there girl friend. I don't know what the therapist is doing for you, but pay attention how you feel when this happens, write it down even and see if there is a pattern. Hang in there.

I am the same way! I got mad at my hubby today and the first thing that came into my mind (after fantasizing about punching him in the nose was all of the food I wanted to stuff my face with. I had a long and really busy day, so I still had over 1,000 calories left to eat, so I decided to go get the things I was dreaming about, measure them out and enter them into my food diary until my calories were gone, and then indulge. So far this has avoided a major binge, but it was pure luck that I had that many calories left to indulge with. Once you recognize your triggers, what do you do to stop them from triggering?

Really great food day no binging, I'm trying to do 5 meals a day. I did have cake and pie for breakfast not a really good idea but I did workout. I'm just so glad I did not binge tomorrow will be the big test because I will be by myself as hubby goes back to work and kids are in school. But I'm planning on going to the gym so very happy for that it has been to long.

Yay, be pat on my back for that.

Good for you for getting back to the gym! I have found that working out is my best binge deterrent! If I can get myself to work out when I feel like bingeing, afterwards the urge to binge is usually gone. I can't bring myself to undo all the hard work I just did.

I, too, am quite relieved to see this topic being explored so openly. I actually bought a few books on binge eating, but I have them hidden away so my boyfriend doesn't see them. Although I don't doubt he has a clue. He has seen me in one of my binges. It always made me cringe when people would say, "Wow! You must have been HUNGRY!" right after I'd consumed a gynormous meal. Yeah, that's when I started binging alone, or with other bingers.
I remember the day I discovered that I was a binger (vs an overeater). I was in college, moving from one apartment to another, and I had just discovered that I turned my electricity off in my old apartment a few days too early. Food was still in the fridge and freezer, and it was ROTTED. I had a whole day of cleaning ahead of me, in an apartment with no electricity, and I was beyond stressed. I decided to "grab some lunch" before I tackled this job. So I went to Subway and got a 6-in sub, went to McDonald's and got a Big Mac and fries, and went to Arby's for a beef n' cheddar and curly fries. And I brought it home and ate the whole thing. I remember being surrounded with empty food wrappers and thinking, "What the hell did I just do?" That is what made me decide to start doing some research. Although I've yet to seek therapy, the research I've conducted has led to me to believe that I'm a binger.
While I still binge occassionally, recognizing the behavior has helped me control it. I can no longer excuse it by telling myself that I skipped lunch or worked out really hard. I know a binge when it's happening. One thing I've done that has made a big difference is identifying my binge foods, and trying to keep them out of the house when possible. My binge foods are rice and rice noodles (I'm Asian, so these are the comfort foods of my childhood), so now I only buy buckwheat noodles (not the same binge appeal), and either brown rice or microwavable rice in those 2 serving packages. By the time I think about going to to the store to buy my binge foods, often times the urge to binge will pass.
I also made a binge worksheet. It's a one page questionaire that I make myself fill out before every binge. I have to record how hungry I REALLY am on a scale of 1-10, am I feeling stressed and why, what did I last eat and when, and how do I think I'll feel after the binge. More often that not, I found other ways to relieve my stress.

Do you really want freedom from this? Read my story

Well girls...I suffered w/bulimia for 7 years. Struggled w/weight & self esteem issues as a young girl( beginning in the 2nd grade), even starved myself for a few days in jr high...my mother & grandmother stopped me...and into high school and my twenties I struggled. In my mid 20's I watched a news program about eating disorders. I thought, hmm, if I did it(binged & purged) just to lose weight and then I'd stop...I was clueless about how my body worked. I became addicted.

Let me share with you a few of my reality moments:

1st reality moment: I'd been to a counseling clinic, a psychologist on a regular basis, a psychiatrist for both counseling and meds, and had been treated by my family doctor who was wanting me to go back to a counselor. That day I was rock bottom. I called my husband home from work, who came to my bedside as I cried for 2 hours. He didn't know what to say. Finally, he told me this. I had to take every thought captive and bring them into submission to the Word of God(Holy Bible). I had the power to turn the channel in my head. I have the ability to control what I think. I had to start believing what God thinks about me and throw out the lies that Satan wanted me to believe. All the lies that I wasn't good enough, wasn't pretty enough, wasn't thin enough. Whatever the lies were. I had to realize that if it was negative towards me and not true then I had to throw it out of my head!

Then, my husband made me stand in front of a mirror and tell myself that I was pretty. Bless his heart

2nd reality moment: Sept 11, 2001...I stood in front of the mirror naked and my life flashed before me. I thought, "Oh, it doesn't matter how much I weigh or what my hair looks like...I'm here for God's glory."

3rd reality moment: It was a process...but I can share with you that on the day that I had my final reality moment, I realized that God had a plan and purpose for my life, and satan wanted me dead and I was killing myself by doing this to myself. I couldn't accomplish God's plan & purpose for my life with the addiction. I was furiously angry!!!

Now, within a few months of completely giving it up...I was tempted a few times after that but I'd quickly remind myself that satan wanted me dead and I couldn't accomplish what God had for me. I'd get so mad!!!! I'd get furious and say, "NO!"

My husband watched the very first Discovery Health Body Challenge in 2001. We watched the program and applied what we learned. It was count calories, eat low fat and exercise...within 12 weeks I lost 40 pounds! I was in awe. I'd struggled all my life and was able to have the victory, not only over the addiction but my weight!!!

I decided that day that it was all or nothing and I've given it my all. You'd be blown away to know all the things that I've gotten to do because of that moment. I'm just excited thinking about it!!!! Within 3 months I was driving a 6 hour round trip to counsel women with eating disorders at a drug rehab center. The directors told me there wasn't anyone else that would come. I guess not for free ) I think that year of commuting every month solidified it all in me as I had to share with those women. Then the doors started opening even more. I was invited to share my story at a women's conference in Athens, Greece. I shared my story in Colombia. Now I live full time in Mexico!!! I've got to do some BIG things!!! And had I never given it over to God that day, I'd can't even imagine where I'd be today, but it wouldn't be here. I have a wonderful full complete and joyful life!

So what were some of the things I'd teach the ladies at the rehab center?

I said look...you're passionate about being addicted to this. It's bad for you. The bile from your stomach will erode the enamel off of your teeth. You will grow peach fuzz prematurely on your face like an old lady. You run the risk of erupting your esophagus.

You have what it takes to overcome this girls...You've already got it inside of you. With the same passion & drive you have to be addicted to this. Be addicted and passionate for what's going to be beneficial to you!!! The adventure has gotten even more exciting for me in the past year!!! Even today!!! Obsessed?? Be obsessed with what is good for you!! Research ladies. google the info that you need. Find out what foods are good for your body. Be all that you can be!!!

16 months ago, I was 40 years old and I felt like an old lady. I was eating so much processed food and eating out so much that I felt terrible. I had no energy. I still counted calories but the problem was what I was eating. I was inspired, once again, by a program that I'd seen on tv. Google David Murdock's interview w/Oprah. I looked at that clip and was done in! We went and bought a juicer. When he said we don't need supplements because we CAN get our nutrition from food, I was in!

Now I make everything from ketchup to pasta...I even learned how to grind my own whole wheat flour, planted a vegetable/herb garden and got 5 chicks!!!! lol Life is awesome!!! You can do it. Decide today that you're done w/this binge eating and move on to your new, happy, wonderful life!!!

I love food! lol I eat a little too much of it and that's why I'm here.

Last Saturday, I wrote out what I want from myself. Here's my list:

I will weigh 145 lbs by Dec 10th, 2010
Go to bed at 10 p.m
Get up at 7 a.m. coffee/journal/Bible

Workout 5 days a week
Walk Bruno 6 days a week
Ride bike 3 days a week

Not eat after 7 p.m.

Drink 10 glasses of water a day

1200-1400 calories a day
one day 1800 calories ok

Ladies, I'm challenging you! Who do you want to be? What do you want from yourself. Grab it and become it!!! You've got it inside of you. You've already proven you've got the drive...you just need to drive it in the right direction

add me if you want...

Hey!

screwed up today and binged really bad and the sad thing is I don't even remember all the crap I ate today. It started out with wanting choclate but didn't have any so I binged on every kind of sugar I could find in the house. If I keep this up I will never lose this weight. I feel like locking myself in a room and throwing away the key. Just can't find that balance in my diet and to top it off hubby went and bought a 24 pack of cholates and ate them all around me. Man alive I hate food and the fact I have no self-control. One good thing is I went to the gym and did weights and cardio. Even though I just put it all back on again. Trying not to beat myself up about it and trying to move on.

I still have the rest of the day to make good choices and I will do it.

Melissa

Hey!

He is also a binge eater too, so it does not help. That why I'm looking into getting some help from a counlser I'm on a wait list to get to the bottom of why I turn to food when stressed or for comfort. It really sucks, my goal right know is to try to eat a healthy breakfast and get as much fruit and vegs in and try to cut out the extra sugar in my diet, I eat way to much like sugar cearal and sugar on oatmeal just bad. I'm hoping if I use naturaly sweeted fruit will help cut the sugar fix I hope it works.

Sry about the spelling and tks for caring,
Melissa

Thank you thank you thank you!

I can not have any type of sugar in the house I tried honey and I ate the whole bottle in a week. I'm keeping my diet pop and I love chocolate so I'm going buy those Jello choclate pudding cups. I would treat myself once a day after the kids are in bed it gave me something to look forward to so I'm going to try that again. And only have 1-2 cans a pop a day. I have been learning what has set me off and I'm learning from every binge. Today I waited to long between meals and I was way to hungry. So I will eat smaller meals every 2-4 hours I find that has helped.

Tks,
Melissa