Anyone have Binge Eating Disorder Success stories (BED)
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I have just started MFP calorie counting again, (lost 5lb last week) I find I do better on MFP as I'm not following a diet as such, I eat what I want. I know if I have bad foods then I cant eat alot and I like to eat a lot lol
If I do binge but in a wise way, I try to limit it and then rein it back in over the next few days.....
So What I do for example is have 2 brown toast, with 2 eggs then have a huge portion of mushrooms and tomatoes with it, Then lunch & dinner something similar but with huge portions of salad (I make a lush dressing that is 0 calories) and if I have veg I have lots of them! (Corn,parsnips, peas, cabbage, carrots, asparagus, green beans and use veg stock on them tastes so much better! I buy 64 cal choc bars or mini treat size chocolate, mini bags of popcorn approx 100 calories, 80-90 cal crisps, 80-100 cal mini ice cream sticks (mini milk lollys from Aldi are 30 calories!!!! so I can have 3 and think Im being really bad lol) so nothing is off the menu and I still get to binge a bit (or it feels like it) and Im still losing.
Good luck xx4 -
Not a doctor; not in the industry; hanging around MFP too much, for sure! MFP forums are a very diverse place and attract a lot of people.
Most people, I think, will recognize that there might exist a substantial gap between a) I drink a lot of alcohol and b) I am an alcoholic. a) and b) may look similar when viewed from the perspective of the calories in a 6 pack a day for a year. (We're talking 80 to 90lbs worth of extra calories here!) But the SOLUTION for the two is not necessarily the same!
BED, has a definition. And can only be diagnosed by a doctor who will evaluate whether their patient fully meets the diagnostic criteria for the disease.
Binge like eating episodes may look superficially, or even substantially, similar to BED, but they are often controllable with effort and smart choices.
Limiting the size of one's deficit seems to be a common thread that helps short circuit the restrict-binge cycle for people whose binge like eating is triggered by excess restriction. I would even go as far as saying that not letting oneself get too hungry may be a tool that could help in that situation. And not letting oneself become too tired (this last one is from my personal experience)
Full on BED might be helped by the above; but it probably won't be solved long term.
Pharmacologically tackling BED seems to have very potent results in the short, and maybe even the mid term. But I urge anyone in that position to not view taking stimulants as anything other than an opportunity to engage in longer term intervention.
Relying on the successful long term use of stimulants doesn't seem to be a very high percentage play (based on anecdotal evidence). Vyvance's web advertising discusses the successful use of their drug during a 38 week study. This would amount to a time period of a bit less than 9 months.6 -
And since this is a success story forum, yes, I did go through multiple (I was going to say hundreds, but thinking about it we may well be talking low four digits over the decades) of substantial over-eating episodes in my life.
Yes, they were a large part of why I got to be obese. Not the only part. But a very substantial part of the equation if we consider them to be concentrated time periods where more than 2-5K calories of food were ingested.
Did weight loss fully eliminate them?
Fully? No. If I let myself get too hungry (and in particular too tired) and do not engage in any mitigation then a 15 to 30 minute 2K calories experience is still a definite possibility!
Does it happen often? Not any more! Definitely nor often enough to affect my weight management, or my goals, or to impede life in any which way--so I would say that things are OK!
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I haven't been diagnosed with BED, but, like a poster above said - I can easily consume thousands of calories in one sitting. I struggle with this - if I start I can't stop kind of thing. Generally brought on by trigger foods, so I can't buy stuff like crisps, unless I make the conscious decision that I am going to sit down and eat the entire bag in one go by myself. Big bag, not those little single-serve things, I'm talking family pack. Those single-serves don't even touch the sides. Same goes for blocks of chocolate. Who can eat one row? I eat the entire thing.
I haven't found the answer to this question, hence I came on to read what people have said and see if I can take away any ideas to put into practice.
If I restrict my calories too much and get too hungry - that brings on bingeing. So now I operate on a small deficit to lose weight when I need to (such as now, because I put on 5kg during Iso because bingeing). I can handle being "peckish" and I manage that by having a carb-dense meal as my last meal of the day. Not binge-triggering carbs like pasta, but I will usually have breakfast-for-dinner of protein porridge oats with fruit. This keeps me fuller longer than if I ate meat and veg. That's just me, other people seem to feel fuller on Protein/Fats. Not my case though.
I also end up having 4 proper meals per day so that I don't have time to get hungry. I will have a decent breakfast, then a first lunch of something like a salad with protein (not just lettuce salad, but stuff like carrot with more oooph), then a proper lunch with rice, meat, beans, veg (for example), then dessert after my second lunch (fruit, yoghurt, something like that), and then my breakfast for dinner dinner.
I have tried to IF (not 5-2 but 16-8) but I get so hungry that when I do eat I can't stop and even if I have a decent breakfast - like 2 toast, 3 eggs, peanut butter - i will still be hungry and things just go downhill.
Anyway, that has been how I've managed to cope. Doens't mean I don't do it anymore - I still do.
I have considered joining OA, a friend of mine joined and is having success, but the only issue I have with it based on what she has told me, is that they don't want you to track/weight etc and you should embrace your body blah blah. Which is fine and good, but I don't FEEL good when I am over my happy weight (which is not stick thin). I feel heavy and lethargic and my clothes don't fit well and I get down on myself and then hey presto - binge because I'm fat anyway so I may as well eat, right? So that "embracing" thing i'm not quite ready for that yet.
EDIT - I do not purge after my bingeing - I just eat eat eat.11 -
I restrict/binge/exercise purge. I'm in therapy, support groups, and work with an RD who specializes in eating disorders. For now my goals are stop gaining, balance exercise and food intake, and get to the root of my body image issues.8
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I know this thread is a few months old, but I want to share my experience.
I was diagnosed with BED. I binged multiple times a week-being painfully full, food filling my stomach and all the way up to my throat. And still I could not stop eating. I would have to drink water to try to compact the food so I could fit more in. The urge to eat was overwhelming and uncontrollable. I had several days with calorie intake well over 10k. I came home from an Easter dinner (full) and could not stop myself from eating an entire cake. I would sit in tears in a corner-hiding in shame, disgusted with myself for what I was doing and not understanding why in the world I was still eating when it was painful to do so. But the need to eat was as strong as the need to breathe. No amount of logic and reasoning was going to help. Believe me-I tried it all.
I’ve binged by eating an entire pork shoulder, pounds of cherry tomatoes, and of course sweets of nearly all types. But the binge is defined (For BED) by the behavior - not the actual food or the calories involved (quantity is important though).
I went through treatment - which was individual and group therapy, working with a registered dietician, along with MD’s and physiologists (for appropriate exercise recommendations-it’s common for people to purge through exercise and/or use exercise as a punishment and/or exercise compulsively instead of eating). The program I did helped change the way I interact with food every single day-every time I eat. And all the therapy helped with the issues that led me to start binging.
It’s been almost 4 years since I binged, or even had an urge to binge. I have days I eat many calories-sometimes 6-8k in a single day. But these are not binges (not in a disordered way). They are calculated choices to eat that much, in a controlled manner. But eating that much - including trigger foods - doesn’t lead to uncontrolled binges or anything else. I’ve long been discharged from my program and they consider me in remission.
So my suggestion-if you have BED-is get treatment. It will change your life. Life is too short to be fighting yourself all the time.
Also-weight loss and dietary adherence is at least 9000000000000% easier when you don’t have the urge to binge. I do have cravings and occasional urges to eat a cookie or something. But that is manageable pretty easily. The urge to binge? The “itch”? That’s a monster. Treatment helps.16 -
A few things that help me:
- Keep busy as much as possible . When you sit down on the couch your mind wanders; more often than not it wanders over to the fridge. Keeping busy doesn't include passive activities like watching TV (unfortunately).
- Eat foods that'll give your body what it needs. Eating empty calories will do nothing to satiate yourself. This might be the most important thing. Foods that work best for me are oatmeal, eggs, and tuna (not all together, haha).
- Choose one, or more, very low calorie, healthy snack/s to binge on. If you're going to binge, make it something healthy. My go-to is cherry tomatoes, deliciously sweet, and moreish; although not great for you teeth (but I'm English, so I figure I can't fight genetics)! 😂
- Always keep your fridge stocked up with a sufficient supply of healthy foods. It's so easy to go grab a takeout on nights where you've accidently run out of food.
- Learn a few quick and easy recipies for healthy meal/snack options. It won't take long to learn 5-10 meals that can be prepared in minutes, and can save you reaching for potato chips when you're feeling a bit bingey.
- Exercise, and log your estimated calorie burn. If you've just done a 5 mile run, you're going to be less inclined to want to gobble up that slice of cheesecake in 2 mintues flat, when you realise it's the equivalent of all that hard work you've just put in during your run.
- Drink water/tea/coffee when you feel like gorging. It's surprising how much this can suppress your urge to eat.
- Never go on a food shop with an empty stomach. You will buy fatty, sugary crap. Bingeing is mostly done using empty calories (chips, chocolate etc); one of the best ways to stop it is at the source. If you don't have those options in your home, you're less likely to do it. The way to ensure you don't have those options is to stop buying them at the supermarket; the way to do that is to avoid going on an empty stomach. In fact, I'd recommend stuffing yourself before heading out! though probably best not to try that if you food shop on a daily basis. 😬
- Stay organised. You won't succeed if you're not on top of your kitchen and it's food contents.
Anyway, I hope that can be of help to people. 🙂
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I suffer BED. I've read many books (Brain over Binge etc), had hours of therapy, antidepressants etc. There are times when it is better, times when i spend days in bed, unable to move, putting clothes on is terrifying. The thing is I WANT to binge, just for those few hours where I'm high on all the food. Even if i know ill feel bad afterwards. It feels like a choice, even though I have no power to choose "No".
Weirdly enough i went hiking for 20 days recently, even when i was hungry I ate a small snack and that was it. Lost about 10kgs. I was happy, I was occupied, I got my highs away from food, I slept well for consecutive nights for the first time in years. Now i'm back in the city I said I was not going to binge but i'm lying in bed after about 3000 calories today (and thats an improvement on yesterday) feeling violently sick. I just wonder to what extent for me (and maybe for others) it is environmental. Maybe for me its time for a life change, not just a food change.
For all the people who say there is no cure. Hope that there is for me is what keeps me going, even after 10 years of this, I live in hope that some day things will fall into place and ill be free.7 -
squidgybunny_276 wrote: »I suffer BED. I've read many books (Brain over Binge etc), had hours of therapy, antidepressants etc. There are times when it is better, times when i spend days in bed, unable to move, putting clothes on is terrifying. The thing is I WANT to binge, just for those few hours where I'm high on all the food. Even if i know ill feel bad afterwards. It feels like a choice, even though I have no power to choose "No".
Weirdly enough i went hiking for 20 days recently, even when i was hungry I ate a small snack and that was it. Lost about 10kgs. I was happy, I was occupied, I got my highs away from food, I slept well for consecutive nights for the first time in years. Now i'm back in the city I said I was not going to binge but i'm lying in bed after about 3000 calories today (and thats an improvement on yesterday) feeling violently sick. I just wonder to what extent for me (and maybe for others) it is environmental. Maybe for me its time for a life change, not just a food change.
For all the people who say there is no cure. Hope that there is for me is what keeps me going, even after 10 years of this, I live in hope that some day things will fall into place and ill be free.
Living in hope is the 1st cure. We all hope for lasting recovery .people don't understand they think it is just excuses to eat carelessly.3 -
hellnative wrote: »A few things that help me:
- Keep busy as much as possible . When you sit down on the couch your mind wanders; more often than not it wanders over to the fridge. Keeping busy doesn't include passive activities like watching TV (unfortunately).
- Eat foods that'll give your body what it needs. Eating empty calories will do nothing to satiate yourself. This might be the most important thing. Foods that work best for me are oatmeal, eggs, and tuna (not all together, haha).
- Choose one, or more, very low calorie, healthy snack/s to binge on. If you're going to binge, make it something healthy. My go-to is cherry tomatoes, deliciously sweet, and moreish; although not great for you teeth (but I'm English, so I figure I can't fight genetics)! 😂
- Always keep your fridge stocked up with a sufficient supply of healthy foods. It's so easy to go grab a takeout on nights where you've accidently run out of food.
- Learn a few quick and easy recipies for healthy meal/snack options. It won't take long to learn 5-10 meals that can be prepared in minutes, and can save you reaching for potato chips when you're feeling a bit bingey.
- Exercise, and log your estimated calorie burn. If you've just done a 5 mile run, you're going to be less inclined to want to gobble up that slice of cheesecake in 2 mintues flat, when you realise it's the equivalent of all that hard work you've just put in during your run.
- Drink water/tea/coffee when you feel like gorging. It's surprising how much this can suppress your urge to eat.
- Never go on a food shop with an empty stomach. You will buy fatty, sugary crap. Bingeing is mostly done using empty calories (chips, chocolate etc); one of the best ways to stop it is at the source. If you don't have those options in your home, you're less likely to do it. The way to ensure you don't have those options is to stop buying them at the supermarket; the way to do that is to avoid going on an empty stomach. In fact, I'd recommend stuffing yourself before heading out! though probably best not to try that if you food shop on a daily basis. 😬
- Stay organised. You won't succeed if you're not on top of your kitchen and it's food contents.
Anyway, I hope that can be of help to people. 🙂
This is a wonderful list of tools for people that May (over)eat mindlessly, And/or May binge due to excessive restriction, And/or have trouble resisting cravings.
Binge eating disorder is an eating disorder-which is surprisingly-not really about food at all. Food behaviors are the way things manifest, but the actual issues that need to be solved have little or nothing to do with food.
People with binge eating disorder don’t binge because they are hungry or craving something. They don’t actively choose a food on which to binge. Drinking won’t stop it. They don’t stop when they are full. Binging Due to BED is often (not always) a response to an out of control situation, or an uncomfortable or overwhelming emotional situation (not even necessarily a bad one). It’s not a craving, it’s not a desire. It’s not wanting to eat. It’s all of the intense energy of being furious-all directed into a *need* to consume food. Doesn’t matter what food. It will all be eaten until it is gone. Every container in the cabinet, or the fridge, even when too full to continue eating-the *need* is still driving you to eat. Even when you’re filled with such shame and self loathing for what you are doing-you still can’t stop. You are in pain from what you’re doing-you still can’t stop. That is binge eating disorder.
And I’m pointing this out because 1-that list is fantastic for people who binge or overeat for any number of non-disordered reasons. It’s a fabulous list. And 2-people who have BED feel tremendous shame that they do all those things and it doesn’t help. What’s wrong with me? I’m really a horrible person because I have no self control/no willpower/etc. But the issue with BED is whatever the (emotional) issues are that are leading to binges. Self control, willpower and rational thought are rarely involved.11 -
I've been in a 12-Step Program for 7 years called Overeaters Anonymous. The Program is based on Alcoholics Anonymous, and treats food addiction - which includes binge eating - like a serious addiction (which it is). I encourage you to explore the 12-Step Program of Overeaters Anonymous. The daily reprieve from compulsive eating - whether over or under - is NOT treated via dieting or "white knuckling it." You work the 12 Steps just like an alcoholic, drug addict, compulsive gambler, sex addict, etc. does. Try six meetings. Get a sponsor. If I can be free from the bondage of food addiction, (specifically SUGAR), compulsive eating, and compulsive eating behaviours then you can too. But it's through the 12-Steps. Best wishes to you.3
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I had to figure out why I was binge eating. It was a coping mechanism for my underlying anxiety/depression (caused by Adjustment Disorder, I don't have clinical anxiety/depression, but they are symptoms of the disorder). I had to learn how to reduce unhealthy thinking patterns, mainly through cognitive behavioral therapy, to help with reducing the initial urge to binge eat. Basically, I worked on reducing the emotional triggers that caused the binge eating rather than trying to not binge when suffering those emotional triggers.
It is a constant work-in-progress. I still struggle sometimes when my stress is high. I try to turn to better coping mechanisms when this happens. For me, writing works. It doesn't have to be writing about my problems, just writing anything is enough to take me out of my head for a bit. Talking on here helps too.
In the midst of binge eating, the biggest thing that has helped me is to continue logging my food. It really helps to keep things under control even when I can't stop eating - at least my individual portions are controlled. It also helps because it keeps up a good habit and I don't feel like I'm "starting all over" the next day.6 -
runinfinity wrote: »I’ve been binging on cake for the last two days and I feel terrible. I workout religiously, get my 5k steps in everyday but I can’t control myself around food. I’ve (unsuccessfully) tried to maintain a deficit for the last few weeks but my weekend binging sabotages my weight loss every. single. time. I’m so sick of this never ending binge restrict cycle.
Sorry to hear about the cake attraction. There is a lot of great and inspiring instances in this string. For me, I tend to start stress eating when my life feels stressed. There are the comfort foods that really call out to me like peanut butter cups, calorie loaded ice creams, and kettle potato chips. I use meditation to help level off the waters, so to speak. To help, not delete what is stressful, but instead, how I react to it. Sometimes dealing with an issue straight on with a detached observer perspective is the most effective way. Kind wishes to all.
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I have had BED since I was around 9 years old. With certain foods, once I start, I just can't stop. I was over 300 pounds in my teens. I topped out somewhere around 375; my weight went higher than my scale went so that's just my best guess. With the help of Overeaters Anonymous, I have been in recovery from binge eating since 2002. I have maintained a 160 pound weight loss for 14 years, and I recently had 21 pounds of excess skin removed.
It is possible to have a healthy relationship with food. My main food triggers are sugar (especially combined with fat and/or flour) and white carbs. I cannot do these items in moderation any more than an alcoholic can do alcohol in moderation. I dieted my way up the scale because everything else I tried had the message of "everything in moderation". The isolation of the pandemic has made things a bit harder for me, but I have the 12 Steps, my food plan, and my friends in recovery to help me stay away from the foods and food behaviors that are harmful to me.
I am concerned about your use of the word "restricting", and I hope aren't lowering your caloric intake below what your body needs to function. Restriction is just another manifestation of an unhealthy relationship with food, and at least in my experience, it will end up backfiring and lead to another binge. I just wanted you to know there is hope, and you are not alone in this. Best of luck to you. 6 -
I was never diagnosed with BED but all my life I ate as much sugar with flour products washed down by whole milk as my stomach could hold. Often deep into the night so no one would see me. When I started WW I started learning food nutritional values & choosing better foods. After a few days of eating more healthily, my sugar & fat cravings all but stopped. Now they come on infrequently but are manageable.
We CAN manage impulses to binge on even the most fattening of foods.2 -
Not specifically BED but bulimia after anorexia and I found that simply letting myself actually eat and learning not to demonise food. Food is your friend once you don’t restrict hard you learn to love it. I put on a lot of weight after ED recovery, but hired a PT (I realise not an option for everyone) and she gave me a calorie restriction of 1650 which is way mor than my old 400-1000 I would restrict in when I was in full ED. It has helped so much in my life and have t binged since I began with her in may, I can’t believe it. Here’s to healthy weight loss!!3
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And since this is a success story forum, yes, I did go through multiple (I was going to say hundreds, but thinking about it we may well be talking low four digits over the decades) of substantial over-eating episodes in my life.
Yes, they were a large part of why I got to be obese. Not the only part. But a very substantial part of the equation if we consider them to be concentrated time periods where more than 2-5K calories of food were ingested.
Did weight loss fully eliminate them?
Fully? No. If I let myself get too hungry (and in particular too tired) and do not engage in any mitigation then a 15 to 30 minute 2K calories experience is still a definite possibility!
Does it happen often? Not any more! Definitely nor often enough to affect my weight management, or my goals, or to impede life in any which way--so I would say that things are OK!
Once again you have much insight...after many years I was finally “sort of kind of “diagnosed with this disorder...I didn’t admit it for years only thinking I over ate and ate the wrong things and that I had a big appetite....after going to a psychiatric doctor years ago and having a heart to heart with my primary care doctor who is most supportive, knowledgeable and caring, I admitted I am addicted to food....in a moment of crisis as in tired,frustrated or overly hungry I will consume thousands of calories in a very short time...with the support of MFP and group leaders and persons as yourself I am controlling this more and more...in 15 months I have truly binged five or six times for less than two or three days...I used to binge at least three to five times A WEEK...my doctor and I approximated I was eating almost 7 to 8 thousand calories some days and more!....and then the guilt and shame and being physically sick....
There is a big difference between eating a few cookies and eating a few bags of cookies!3 -
conniewilkins56 wrote: »There is a big difference between eating a few cookies and eating a few bags of cookies!
Hey Connie: I think that similar stories are common to many of people who get to a larger size.
I was a bit late in going back to edit my post after I wrote it a few weeks back. I wanted to go back and highlight what @Duck_Puddle has since talked about: that there is definitely a difference between non BED driven, even if frequently occuring, over-eating episodes, and situations that would be diagnosable as BED.
I think that if someone reads through something like this: https://www.verywellmind.com/diagnostic-criteria-for-binge-eating-disorder-1138164 and has a strong feeling that their reality matches... then they really should engage with a physician because they're probably dealing with more than garden variety over-eating.
Beyond that though... yes, there IS a difference between a few cookies and a few bags of cookies... and under the right circumstances that bag better watch out if it is near me!
Stay in the game and adjust Connie: as long as we're engaged... we're winning!
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conniewilkins56 wrote: »There is a big difference between eating a few cookies and eating a few bags of cookies!
Hey Connie: I think that similar stories are common to many of people who get to a larger size.
I was a bit late in going back to edit my post after I wrote it a few weeks back. I wanted to go back and highlight what @Duck_Puddle has since talked about: that there is definitely a difference between non BED driven, even if frequently occuring, over-eating episodes, and situations that would be diagnosable as BED.
I think that if someone reads through something like this: https://www.verywellmind.com/diagnostic-criteria-for-binge-eating-disorder-1138164 and has a strong feeling that their reality matches... then they really should engage with a physician because they're probably dealing with more than garden variety over-eating.
Beyond that though... yes, there IS a difference between a few cookies and a few bags of cookies... and under the right circumstances that bag better watch out if it is near me!
Stay in the game and adjust Connie: as long as we're engaged... we're winning!
One doctor I went to see told me he was relieved that I didn’t drink or do drugs!...SMH...I would really be a mess!... sadly or maybe realistically I do have more than the garden variety of over eating!
I read the article and, yeah I got it bad....but hey I am in “ recovery” and “ I am certainly in the game and I will win”
I only wish I had been successful with this venture a long time ago!...I know weight loss won’t completely eliminate my binges but it is the first time I have actually felt like I have some control over them....I do take a medication that has helped with anxiety, depression and some pain...
Later, C2 -
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