Skinny & binging

1. Don't beat yourself up. You had a bad day. Move on. You can't fix it now. Try not to dwell.

2. You should probably seek help. You are a student? See if the university has some services available, or talk to your doctor. I'm not talking full in-patient treatment, just talking to someone might help.

3. What is your calorie level when you aren't binging? In general, eating at a higher calorie level without severe restriction can help prevent the desire to binge.

Maybe you should to see a counselor to deal with the emotional issues for the "why" and a nutritionist or dietician to help you with an organized meal plan with balanced nutrition to help you with satiation and gaining weight in a healthy manner so you know when and how to cut.

You have taken a big first step in asking for help. That's very brave.

You are also a cross country / track athlete. Do you know how many calories such an active lifestyle requires? Talk to a coach / dietician to get an idea of how much you should be eating. You might be surprised at what is "normal."

How did I miss that part? You're so right though. OP probably needs more than she thinks.

Yup. Sounds more like she was hungry.

OP, you do look quite thin in your pics. It could be your lifestyle, but it could also be thyroid related or something. Like others suggested, talk to a doctor and a nutritionist. And don't feel gross about eating a ton if it's what your body needs. Feeling gross about eating food is not healthy or fun.

Anorexia nervosa is more than just being thin, it's severe calorie restriction along with an intense fear of weight gain and a disturbance in how one experiences their body weight/shape. That being said, everyone assumes anorexia is only eating little to nothing, but this is only one subtype, referred to as "restrictive." There is another subtype referred to as "binge-eating/purging type" and is actually a separate entity from bulimia nervosa. Even though you are thin, the fact that you are intent on gaining weight makes anorexia nervosa somewhat unlikely.

There are other disorders that could account for this such as binge-eating disorder, which is recurrent episodes of eating an amount of food that is significantly larger than most people would eat in a 2 hour period and/or a sense of lack of control over eating during the episode.

That being said, I am not trying to internet diagnose, merely provide some info and hopefully let you gain some insight as to what may be going on. Also, if this has only happened a few times maybe you were just really hungry that day. As someone above said, pigging out and downing 4000 calories from time to time isn't gonna kill you. What matters more is how you felt about eating that much both during and afterwards.

please seek help-I am not a professional-I use to think if I didn't eat it was ok-for me I need to eat-binging is not healthy-please see a nuturistinst are a doctor you truly need help my friend-and there are no experts on here-this is your life-good luck to you-I hope you journey is a safe one-

I think the morbid thoughts about your eating stems mostly from the types of foods you choose. All unhealthy. If you had steak and eggs for breakfast. Chicken salad, tomatoes and spinach for lunch, pizza for dinner and fruit and yogurt for snacks (all together would make a high calorie day) you wouldn't have beat yourself up over your choices. A nutritionist will help you find a good balance of food and how to keep and prepare healthy emergency snacks for those times when your body lets you know that it needs more fuel.

I can most likely be medically diagnosed with anorexia nervosa due to my physical symptoms, but I still eat, and quite a bit actually! Still, I'm trying to gain weight and become healthier, but I can't quite get it right. I binged today and consumed a total of over 4,000 calories. I'm completely repulsed (and somewhat terrified) of my lack of satiation and of how much food I actually indulged in within a period of 2.5 hours.

One of the side effects of your body's protection mechanism against starvation is that you become ravenously hungry and absolutely nothing satisfies the hunger.

Almost noone can control themselves once the hormones really kick in (hence why pro bodybuilders use drugs to assist), lack of control in those situations is not your fault at all. A whole cocktail of hormones is impacted, including those responsible for rational thought.

The body's defense mechanism kicks in because you were eating too little for too long.

The solution to the problem is not trying to control the binges, it is to eliminate the triggering mechanism in the first place. The trigger is not there if you are in a "fed" state and your body is not trying to actively fight against starvation.

If you are lean, carbs are the quickest path to a fed state. Either having normal body fat levels or having a high carb load (or both) and being in a net calorie balance or surplus will give the signal to your body that you are fed.

When you binge, shift your attention to pure carb sources (sugars and starches). As long as you are not in a net calorie deficit, it should help to eliminate the need to binge over time. Though the carbs will contribute to rapid weight gain, they will not contribute significantly to fat gain (glycogen binds to a lot of water, glycogen is not fat and is nothing like it). You'll find that massive carb intakes will make you feel spectacular immediately afterwards as long as you don't feel guilty. Which you shouldn't, because it is exactly what your body needs.