A Question binge ?
 

Hi Flower storm...

I just want to let you know that you are not alone...

Check out my intro with this link

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36345

Here are some more links that I have find helpful:

http://www.eating-disorder.org/coe.html
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/svp/uhs/eat...tadisorder.htm
http://www.geneenroth.com/
http://www.findingbalance.com/
http://fatfairygodmother.com/
http://www.normaleating.com/
http://www.something-fishy.org/other/personal_sites.php

That should get you started....LOL

well. my goodness. have you EVER come to the right place, flower!!!! first and foremost, congratulations on admitting this problem and getting help. may i also suggest the fabulous women on the EATING DISORDERS forum on 3fc? our own MISS CHRIS aka rochemist is the moderator...

now.. to your question. two things work for me: distraction and something warm to drink, something without calories, that is.

distraction: knitting. talking to someone [anyone will do!!!] taking a walk. going through the mail. going anywhere that doesn't have food. setting a timer. knitting. posting here [in fact, for awhile, there was a thread that was for typing something instead of eating.. a great help]. did i mention knitting??? writing in a journal, either online or paper

getting your hands messy. maybe fingerpainting with the kids? playing with your pet.

i'm sure there are many others.. and more to come!!!!! you did the right thing by posting this...

Flower Storm:
I have a problem with bingeing too. Lately, I've been picturing myself (during the times of the day that I am NOT tempted) walking past the food and doing something else. Or walking past the food I want to binge on and instead choosing something I can eat and STOP eating. Somehow, this has worked for me! I just sort of play a game of "What if. . ." "What if I DIDN'T choose to binge this time? What if I walked past the food; what if I threw the food in the sink; what if I drove past the fast food restaurant calling to me?" "What if I made the right choice just this once?" And I've foudn that the answer is that each time that happens, I become a tiny bit stronger.

But, it's one day at a time, and I am just at the end of my 2nd day, so, all these thoughts are just from a LONG two days of eating on plan. . .

You CAN do this!

Not alone at all.
 

:grouphug:
Like Gina said YOU ARE NOT ALONE! I think the hardest thing to accept sometimes is that others do go through this, and it is a disease. Something that has to be arrested and cared for just like diabetes or heart disease. I have lived exactly as you describe, the tears of wondering why, the guilt, the shame, the never being able to follow any food plan more than 70% because of my binges, add to that beating myself up and purging in excercise. And sometimes it seems like you get a hang on it for a little bit and then it all comes crashing in again and you find yourself in a food haze, with your emotions numb by the food and the why me's.

I think counseling is a wonderful place to start, also there are alot of wonderful supportive ladies on the Eating Disorder Support Board. Feel free to join us if you want. Gina has added some excellent links.

These too might be helpful.
www.oa.org
http://recovery.hiwaay.net/

Much love and support to you on your path to recovery,
Miss Chris :)

I find that the best thing to do when you are looking at the food and wondering where to start but deep down knowing that you don't really want to eat is to get out of the house. Get away from the food. Go for a walk or go shopping or go to the library or someplace where you will not be distracted by the food. Even if you are in the house and trying to distract yourself you always know you are only a few steps away from it. Get away from it until the feeling passes. That's what I do when I feel like a binge.

Gina and Miss Chris..

Thank you for the websites, they are awesome!

No problem...that is what we are all here for....With everyone's wisdom....we can be quite productive!!!!!!

Jiffy - you make me laugh! Knitting is my coping mechanism for binging too!! Unfortunately, I have had tendonitis in one of my hands, so I have had to stop knitting for the last 4 months! YIKES - do I miss my hobby!

Flower Storm - I think that I can safely say the we can all relate to binge eating episodes. Keep yourself busy and distracted. Brush your teeth, chew gum, call a friend, read a book, knit (!), journal. Try to figure out what triggers a binge....tough one - I know!

Also - don't beat yourself up if you do binge now and again. That can just send you into a spiral. I try to monitor what I tell myself by asking "Would I ever say this to someone else?"...if you slip, try to be at least as kind to yourself as you would be to someone else. You deserve kindness from yourself! You are learning a new lifestyle - it will take trial and error to master it.

Binges - They can ruin any healthy eating plan in a heartbeat. The #1 thing that has helped me is what I am not eating to begin with. I don't eat sweets. Not at all. Not the low cal pudding, not the fat free cookies. Nothing. See for me, the sweets made me want more sweets. If I don't have them, I don't want them. And It's funny when I have fast food, I get sweet cravings. I notice it alot when I have heavy carb meals too. Those I just bear through because I know why I am having them. This is what works for me. Assuming your binging is including sweets. A healthy diet for me always still included some sweets, just different kinds becuase I wasn't about to not have any at all. Who would want to live like that, no sweets!! Turns out...me.

Binges are the reason I crept up to my current weight, so I sympathize greatly. But I can proudly tell you that I am now almost 2 months BINGE-FREE! Do I have a secret cure-all? Well, no. For me, I think its been a combination of several factors:

1)Curves - I am working out regularly and it keeps my spirits up

2)Soy protein shakes - I have a chocolate soy shake every morning for breakfast and every evening after I get home from work as a late snack. These shakes have really helped keep me on an even keel appetite wise. I have found that a lot of times my binges have started out simply as normal hunger, but because my emotions are so mixed up, I confuse that feeling as an intense desire to binge to make the pain go away.

3)Prozac - I wish I had started taking it 10 years ago. I took my first dose over the summer for PMS - it helped immediately, but after my wedding when I wasn't feeling better (like I thought I would after the stress of planning was over) - I went back to the doctor and had her increase the dose to the standard therapeutic amount for emotional disorders which is 40mg - I had been taking the base minimum of 20mg. Within a month of increasing my dose I began to feel the freedom to take better care of myself in many different ways. And once I was able to do that, the other healthy habits - combined with the affects of the drug itself - have allowed me to be binge free for almost 2 months.

I'm so glad I stumbled across this thread. I tell people that I'm binge free, but unless you suffer from the same addiction they don't understand. This is a HUGE victory for me. And I know you can do it too!

Alison....
What a great victory!!!!! I wish Prozac did that for me :( Good for you!!!! What kind of shakes are you using....?

Thanks! I appreciate the support!!!!


The shakes I'm using are by Naturade. I first got them at Costco - but they are a rather unreliable supplier, so I found them at The Vitamin Shoppe, too. I've tried several types of soy protein shakes, but these are my favorite - they're yummy (well, not as yummy as, say. a McDonalds shake, but you know what I mean. LOL)

They have 14 grams of protein and 24 grams of carbs, and I make them with skim milk (which adds some extra stuff of course). I think with the milk they are around 230 calories.

ooooohhh...sounds yummy...I will have to try it!!!!! Thanks...I will let you know what I think!!