Binge eating help!

Hey community! I wanted to see is anyone out there suffers like me from binge eating and self sabotage? I am struggling daily to not even stay on track but to find one to get on. Anyone out there havevany self care/ accountability tips for someone who is a little to hard on themselves and who just cannot love their bodies?

Replies

  • slatkabundeva
    slatkabundeva Posts: 17 Member
    After years of struggling, the only thing that has helped me is starting on prozac. I still struggle with overeating, but I don't fixate on food *as much* and rarely binge.
  • thompsjared3
    thompsjared3 Posts: 25 Member
    I am in the same boat. I’m day 4 into really feeling okay with tracking. It’s my 5th time restarting and historically I’ve been up and down, just never can maintain at all. Finding a balance that works for you is key. To be honest , I think I was able to get back on track as I’ve started seeing a therapist. He has been helping me understand my unhealthy relationship with food and how I use it to cope and self sabotage. Not sure if that’ll work for you but it’s a suggestion 😃

    Keep holding yourself accountable and LOG. Even if you are way over make a commitment. You can do it! Everyone on here is a great friend and resource too.
  • arrowprayer
    arrowprayer Posts: 77 Member
    i don't have any advice on the mental aspect but to control my binges i drink a lot of water, a lot, sometimes twice the recommeneded amount...i carry a big water bottle with wherever i go and anytime i start getting cravings,start thinking about food etc i drink the water. since i think about food a lot i drink a lot of water. that's just about controling the binges i don't really have any advice for the mental health aspect....but i have it heard recommended to not start a diet until you are happy with your body/self. that way you are putting less pressure on yourself and not freaking out during set backs
  • brenn24179
    brenn24179 Posts: 2,144 Member
    I listened to Glenn Livingston on the internet and it is very good, check it out. Binge eating no more. He has a lot of short videos to listen to.

  • Speakeasy76
    Speakeasy76 Posts: 961 Member
    I was a binge eater from about the age of 15 to my late 20's/early 30's. Mine was triggered by an extremely restrictive diet at age 14 and for the most part was because of trying to restrict what I was eating, but also became a crutch when dealing with uncomfortable feelings. I read books about it, did workbooks, and even went to therapy.

    I can't tell you exactly when or how I made the shift from someone who binge eats to someone who just overeats occasionally, but I can tell you some things that I know helped. For me, I had to stop focusing on how much I couldn't eat if I wanted to lose weight, or feeling sorry for myself or jealous of people who didn't have this same struggle as I did. I think when I started to make peace with myself and my body,and focus more on what I could eat and what I could do it helped shift my focus from negative to positive. I also started focusing more on eating for health than for weight loss. I think for me that was huge, as someone who has struggled with weight for most of my life. Sometimes even tracking food for me would trigger anxiety, so when I started up again I made it more of just being aware of what I was eating, not necessarily doing it to try to lose weight. Just that act of being more mindful about what I was eating--even if not with the goal to lose weight, was very helpful for me. Eventually (and pretty quickly) I started eating in a deficit--but a mild one, as anything too restrictive for me will trigger obsessive thoughts about food, calories, etc.

    I think practicing mindfulness in general is a great thing for our overall mental health, and especially when used in conjunction with our eating. It takes a LONG time to do this and it's something I'm still working on. I think for me (and a lot of people who struggle with this, really) is that I didn't like dealing with uncomfortable feelings, so I would do what I could to avoid them (and still do). One of these things was binge eating. Just being aware of and sitting with uncomfortable feelings can be really powerful. Maybe even something like journaling would be helpful, if you're into that kind of thing.

    Practically speaking, if there are foods that you are more prone to binge on, I probably wouldn't even keep those in the house. Or if you do, get the single-serve packages. I now can keep pretty much any foods in the house and won't binge on anything, although may overeat those favorite foods from time to time.

    It does take time to get over binge eating and you'll have to find what works for you, but it can be done. Good luck!
  • sponce2733
    sponce2733 Posts: 4 Member
    I've been there before and let me tell you it's the worst. First step you have to stop"dieting" and"restricting" yourself from foods. My binge eating started after restricting certain foods like sweet and carbs. One bite of it, and game over. You just got to change your mindset and focus on not your weight so much but more about your mental health at this point. Sending love your way! It's hard but it's only temporary 💕
  • Tattoos_and_Tea
    Tattoos_and_Tea Posts: 527 Member
    Same boat here x