Binge Eating Disorder
 

Does anyone here identify with this disorder? I definitely do, and the sad thing is it's taken me this long to realize it's a real disorder. I always just thought I had disgusting self control and was a constant failure.

We're constantly being shown the dangers of anorexia and bulimia, but when people have those disorders everyone wants to help, even if the person doesn't want the help. Overweight people are usually begging for help and never get it. Sure, they are telling us the dangers of being overweight but offering only so much help when someone actually has a problem with it. Diets, health programs, self help books, diet pills, weight loss surgerys...they all cost tons of money and half of them are BS anyways.

People say it doesn't have to cost money but then what if you're struggling with binge eating disorder? It's not as easy as learning about nutrition and calories, or how to exercise. I am on a three day cycle of two days good, one day binge, two days good, one day binge.

I guess I'm just at my wits end. I feel so powerless. I exercise and it's wonderful. I drink water all day and it's wonderful. I eat nutritious foods and it's wonderful. I could see myself living that way forever, but then something happens. I feel a little down, suddenly I snap and I'm eating all kinds of food until I'm full or very overfull.

And then I feel horrible. I just don't know how to break the cycle.

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I agree. I am also a binge eater. The difference is my binges last sometimes a week before I can regain control. I just came off a two week binge and have done good for a week. Sorry I don't have any advice for you because I myself don't know how to get out of it when I start binging. My main focus is when I'm out of that cycle and try not to go back. I worked hard eveyday this week and keep reminding myself that I don't want to undo all I've done so far. I read a something on Jillian Michaels once that sums me up. “Think of it this way: If you got a flat tire, what would you do? Change the tire? Or get out of the car and slash the other three tires? No! Get back on the road. Don’t dwell on it, don’t beat yourself up. That gets you nowhere.” Thats what binging for a week is slashing the other three tires when I could have just fixed the one and moved on.

Yes, lots of us suffer with Compulsive Overeating Disorder. A lot of people don't even know that this disorder exists and lots of eating disorders are fodder for judgement. For some reason substance abuse and eating disorders are associated with a lack of motivation and character flaws. But you can't solve COD with dieting any more than you can solve anorexia by eating more.

Seeking therapy is very important. I finally realized I needed therapy when I kept asking myself this question: "How is it possible that I am motivated enough to get an advanced degree, be at the top of my class, have a successful career, raise a beautiful son and take care of my whole family yet crumble in the face of a donut?" If I am able to accomplish everything I've ever set out to do then surely I can stick to a diet right? Not without help.

Thanks, Wannabeskinny. I have a doctors appointment on Tuesday for a couple things, and I'm going to request some therapy. I receive it free here in Alaska, as I have Native blood. I worry though, because I have received therapy before, though not of my own free will, and the therapy they offer here is mostly for substance abuse or behavioral problems.

I think my plan is to meet with a therapist, tell them my problem, and work with her to find a book we can go through together. I just simply can't afford an eating disorder specialist right now, but with some help from someone who is trained in substance abuse, I might have a good chance at working through some of these issues.

I struggled for years with drug abuse, cigarettes, alcohol...I quit all of them for my health and sanity, but yes...I too crumble in front of a donut.

It's so frustrating. I honestly believe my childhood habits play a huge part. I always loved food and I ate often. I was quickly overweight and I can hardly remember a time when I wasn't, though there were some years I was a normal weight as a young girl, even skinny. I started to get bigger and bigger and was bullied quit a bit in elementary school and middle school. I used food to comfort me, as well as books and video games. During middle school I ended up going on my first diet, but it was so unhealthy! I had no idea. I remember what I ate very specifically. I'd eat an egg in the morning, a tuna sandwich at lunch, and a very small bowl of whatever my mom had made for dinner. And then I work out for 2+ hours until I couldn't go any longer. Basically, accidentally anorexic, though without the mindset of it.

I made a lot of friends in wrong places, started smoking, doing drugs...my weight slowly came back. It wasn't until I was 15 or 16 that I really started learning about calories, and then I still knew little about nutrition. I'd eat 1,200 calories(too low for my weight) of Slimfast shakes and pizza. I'd get on the treadmill for an hour but never did strength training...

I'm rambling, but basically my history with dieting, food and fitness has been rocky. Now I know a lot more about nutrition and health. I apply it and it works, it's livable, it makes me happy, it's healthy...until that moment when something literally snaps in my head I just start eating.

I suppose I'll just have to go over all those things with my therapist, as well as start forming a plan to deal with it. Maybe, if I'm lucky, I will be able to lose some significant weight before graduating college in a few years.

I guess I just don't want to spend my 20's as overweight as I am. I'll be travelling to Asia after college and I can't stand the thought of being so heavy in a place where people value health so much. Obviously, I'm doing it for more than that, but it's a thought that scares the **** of out me, being so obese at that point in my life.

Finding the right therapist can be tricky. When I was looking for a therapist I went to several until I found someone I was comfortable with. I remember one bad experience in particular. I was checking out this therapist and I sat in her office explaining my situation, basically pouring my heart out about how I felt so out of control with food, that food was controlling my life, how I hated who I'd become and how I needed to regain control. It was heart wrenching and after listening to me she finally asked "Ok, so how long have you been fat?" It was so offensive that I should have walked out right then and there but I didn't ever go back to her lol.

Good luck finding a therapist, someone experienced in addiction can certainly help.

Wishing you all luck!

I used to switch back and forth between eating nothing for too long then binging with the worst foods imaginable. Now all I do is binge :( I have no healthcare and no money for therapy. I've tried to apply for aid but since I make barely a $80 above the required level, I'm not old, not pregnant or a mother, and I'm not disabled I'm on my own. I'm trying to get my binging into control again soon but it's a tough struggle. Even in my nursing classes people are under the opinion that binge eating isn't a real disorder. My class full of skinny girls all seem to think that we're just fat, lazy slobs blaming everything but ourselves....ugh, it's been hard to not just give up and fall into depression and massive binges again. I'm moderately binging again after starting school with these girls.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. If you find any help that doesn't require healthcare and money I'd be so eternally grateful lol but seems like nothing's free anymore.

Well, Ilidawn, yesterday I actually had a victory over a binge! I had already eaten my calories but there was a big pot of mac n' cheese sitting in the kitchen and I just caved and had two bowls! Then I felt 'binge mode' coming on. I made a hot dog to stuff in my face but two bites in I realized I wasn't hungry! I had just wanted the mac n' cheese. I was full from it. Sure, I was over calorie intake by about 700 calories, but I stopped! I stopped myself from having 700 more calories in other foods!

Not that I've found the 'secret' or anything, but I think the more I pay attention to the shift in my mindset from normal eating to binge eating I'm able to put on the brakes and ask myself why I'm doing it.

I bought some books and I'm journaling everyday. I really think the most important thing I can do for myself is forgive myself and ask why the binge even happened. Some days fly by and I eat like a normal person, not thinking about food inbetween meals, staying right on calorie target, getting exercise and then relaxing in non-food related ways...other days I can not get my mind off food. The underlying issue isn't always 'stress' but sometimes it's just something I feel is a 'fear of a craving'. I get a craving, it creeps up, I feel like I can't stop it and then I start to worry about it. I can't take my mind off my fear of why I'm having this craving and what it's going to do to me.

I think the 'fear of a craving' eventually builds up more and more and more and it finally puts me in binge mode, probably from anxiety all caused by my own brain.

Anyways, that's what I've noticed...

I was a binge eater. And I still would be without my "anti-binge plan". I eat wisely before I get hungry. I eat a whole big plate, each time a rich variety of raw whole foods, mostly vegetables, legumes and fish. High in fiber, moderate in carbs and low in fat. I don't remember the last time I felt any type of hunger. Binging is when your body desperately seeks for a missing nutricient [macro or micro]. Give your body everything it might need, but restricting animal fat and not going too high in carbs. Stay away from chocolate, bread, pasta, milk and cheese - they're addictive and nowhere will help you to control your binge habit.

How wrong they are eh? It seems like all I do is blame myself.

Thanks but this is quite wrong. In fact there is a big difference between binging and a binging disorder. Binging is an action, a disorder is something that causes the binges that needs to be addressed. Most people who have bingeing disorder do not even feel physical hunger, they eat when they are not hungry and past the point of fullness. I don't discount that our bodies need nutrients but simply eating legumes and vegetables does not solve a disorder any more than a bandage cures cancer.

Yes, my binging has nothing to do with hunger. I also eat many veggies, healthy fats, nuts, beans...I avoid sugar, I drink a lot of water and I try to get exercise. A binge is my need to comfort with food, for whatever reason. True, I usually pick sugar, salt, cheese or meat to overeat on but yesterday I almost lost it over carrots and hummus!

I just ate a big bowl of soup that had many carrots, cabbage(red and green), garbanzo beans, red potatoes(not too many) and celery. This morning I had a three egg omelet with spinach. I still feel like I could breakdown at any moment.

I'm dealing with the same thing, and looking for an "anti-binge" plan myself. I struggle with wondering "Am I hungry? Is the diet making me need more food?" and "Am I stressed out? What am I stressed out about?"

I try to seek out negative calories food for scheduled snacks; I usually have a grapefruit as an after-dinner snack. However, when I'm feeling down, I have no idea how to deal with it. And food is just too easy sometimes, but then I push my progress back however many days it takes me to recover.

I think a stress plan is in order. I need something that calms me down instead of food. Does anyone have any suggestions?

A stress plan is indeed a good idea. Part of my therapy required me to address my hunger. I did that by first keeping a food log that charted what time it was, what I felt hungry for, how I felt during my hunger (panicky), how I felt while I was eating, and how I felt afterwards.

Then you can come up with things to do to address your hunger like taking a walk, calling a friend, etc.

Yes, I agree, and indeed the picture is not complete without mentioning the remaining classic factors causing bingeing disorder like :

- eating foods low in fibers (compromised satiation signal)
- eating addictive foods (high in concentrated sugar, cocoa, cheese, flour)

But hey, we're talking seriously here. When you think seriously about your health, the first thing to do is to get rid the foods which can seriously compromise your health, that's kind of obvious and (relatively) simple. Then goes the hard thing supply everything your body needs in order to shut up and let you live without bingeing. Especially knowing that non-organic vegs are really low in important micronutricients.

I've been hemming and hawing about whether to respond. I try to respect and be sensitive to the rules of a forum, and I couldn't find rules that directly addressed what I want to say, exactly, so here goes ....

I have never been diagnosed with this disorder. I have been diagnosed with other compulsive disorders. So this may or may not help. The following does not have anything to do with the physiological parts of bingeing, about which I know nothing, but the emotional foundations of compulsive actions.

I ended up joining a group that used a book, Twelve Steps A Way Out A Spiritual Process for Healing to get at some of the emotional situations that would lead us to act in compulsive ways. It is a workbook where I filled out answers to loads and loads of questions that helped reveal when and why I act compulsively. Basically, it taught me the keen specifics how many small ways in which I need to pay attention to what I need (non-physically need) and take care of those needs, so I can prevent my compulsions.

I believe I could have used this workbook by myself at an okay level, probably fairly well with a workbook buddy or coach. It helped me *quite* a lot. Therapy earlier had begun to help, too, and as others have said, it took me interviewing (I didn't know that was what I was doing - I just kept going to them a time or two until I found whether I trusted them or not) a whole handful of therapists before I found who both "fit" me and was clinically knowledgeable about what we were focusing on.

Best of luck to you.

You still don't get it. Binge eating disorder is a psychological illness. Of course I take my health seriously, everyone takes their health seriously even if they suffer from a condition that causes them to over eat. You really think it's as simple as changing the foods you eat? That's just one side of it, if you don't address the psychological and emotional issues of eating it will never get better.

Drugs are addictive. Cocaine is addictive. All you have to do is stop doing cocaine to get better. But what led someone to try the drug in the first place? That issue needs to be addressed otherwise that person will continue to go back to harmful substances.

Also, the jury is still out about "organic" vegetables. There are many people who cannot afford to buy organic produce. They shouldn't be made to feel that the vegetables they eat don't provide them with the nutrients they need. There is way too much controversy about this for it even to factor into a discussion about binge eating.

Here is what worked for me after 30+ years of BED (before they even had a name for it):

I separated controlling the binge behavior from dieting. My trigger food was candy, and I averaged about a pound of it per day. The only time I would try to stop eating candy was when I wanted to try to diet, and I failed every time. In fact felt like every week of my adult life was another failed attempt at dieting. Finally at age 45 I decided just to break the candy cycle. I was not going to eat any more no matter what (I told myself I could start eating candy again in my eighties so I wasn't saying "never again").

So to avoid eating candy, I stuffed myself with other food. Not necessarily good for me food or low calorie (at one point I remember eating entire coconut cakes to avoid jelly beans). I know some people report when they stop eating a certain food, they stop craving it after only a few days or weeks. Not me. I struggled with that candy monster for years. The first year it was on my mind multiple times every day.

But I won. Four years after breaking the candy binge cycle, I was able to diet off 100 lbs and keep it off for more than 2 years now. You may not want to read that it was 5+ years to conquer binging AND get to weight I wanted, but it was achievable.

I envy you caryesings. A lot. I have BED as well and it is so hard to even fight some times because I don't have one particular food that I will binge on. If it is edible, I will shove it into my face. When I finally realized I had a problem, was when I was stressed out in my car and I was eating uncooked spaghetti to calm my nerves.

Its a hard disorder to bread because unlike drugs, you have to eat to live. I still have not found out how to get around my binges and fight them off, but it will happen. I want to start going to Over Eaters Anonymous meetings but they are to far away from my house.

One day at a time.

Everyone here has been so inspiring to me. I have often sat and thought "I will never be able to conquer this" but as each day passes, even with the binges/less serious but still detrimental overeating, I have been practicing yoga and meditation while, when I'm under control of myself, eating plenty of veggies and nutritious foods. I'm using yoga to relieve my stress. Every morning it's difficult to get out of bed to do even 20 minutes of yoga. I either feel bad about overeating the day before or just tired from fighting myself.

But I get on that mat and I focus on my breathing. Afterwards I've been meditating. I don't consider myself religious, but I do believe it's important to find that thing in the world you believe is greater than yourself, even if it's simply the wonderful way nature works to balance itself, or how neverending our universe seems from our little planet. It calms me to think that I am a part of something so much bigger than the small things that stress me out everyday, and then it becomes easier later to adjust to small inconveniences and stresses.

Not that I've totally fixed everything. Not even close. I've decided I have no idea what to do, but that it's time I surrender to something that isn't food or shopping.(because I also have a slight issue with compulsively purchasing things to make myself feel better, especially when I feel like overeating/binging.)

The past two weeks I've separted exercise and yoga from my urge to lose weight, and I've separated eating from my urge to lose weight. I've reconnected these things to my urge for health and happiness. While I consider weight loss to be something that will lead me closer to happiness, it's only one small bit of the journey I'm going to take to get there.

For now I'm trying to find calm in my everday life, become more aware of myself and the way I react to things, so that I can eventually conquer the urge to overeat and binge. I'm going to continue searching for something that might help. Previously I've read many books on dieting but they were all the same. Debunking fad diets and crash diets, giving me all the advice I already know. Eating the calories right for your body while avoiding junk food and getting consistent exercise. It's sounds simple because those actions are, up until that moment when I can't stop myself from doing the thing I know is holding my weight loss back.

I'm looking for books that cover binge eating disorder and compulsive overeating. Books that realize if it were a matter of willpower we'd all be slim and fit. Books with some advice on getting to the root of the problem, which is where I need to start.

Thank you all! Sorry for that very long post, but each day I find I am putting aside the thought that "I can't beat this" and replacing it with the thought that "I deserve to beat this, and I can beat this."

:)

You can and will beat this :)

I highly recommend the book, "Brain Over Binge," -- it helped me to see bingeing in a whole different context: neurological. I have read a LOT of self-help books and also saw an ED therapist for a while and although some of the methods and theories I learned from the books and in therapy helped (to varying degrees) they never *stopped* my urges to binge. I was either white-knuckling it or I was bingeing. This book was completely different and something clicked -- this coming from a binge eater of nearly 25 years. If other things aren't working for you, I would give this a shot. Good luck; I truly know how tough this is.

BTW, you're totally right about the advice on dieting/nutrition/exercising/etc. Most people with eating disorders know WAY more than the general public about all of these things. It's about stopping the compulsion to binge; it's an irrational and illogical thing to do. What I have come to understand and embrace is that we are truly not in our "right minds" when we are doing this, so we need to quiet that irrational part of our brains.

Thanks for the advice! I will definitely look into that book. The more I learn about it the more I feel like I'm understanding why.

Before I would just cry and wonder why I couldn't stop myself from doing the one thing that was keeping me from weight loss. Now I'm learning about it everyday and it's helping me break down my feelings and compulsions each time I binge or overeat.

I also struggle with binge eating and I think that charting and monitoring emotional state/triggers for binges makes a lot of sense. Thanks so much for the suggestion!

Just today, I had a binging episode and basically ate a whole day's worth of calories in one sitting. I was in a group kitchen and there were rice krispies treats, candy and granola bars... and no one else around. Looking back on it, this particular scenario seems to play out for me over and over again (eat everything in my path when no one is around to see it). It seems childish and I always feel like crap afterward. I think it started as a habit and now has become a compulsion.

I don't know if anyone out there has access to a similar environment (room full of food and no one else around), but I think that I'm going to try to stop exposing myself to that environment and start cataloging my emotional state when I feel these binges coming on.

Thanks for the post and the inspiration! I'm new to this forum, but I really appreciate you all sharing your stories/advice. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one struggling with this =)

Hi, I have been reviewing this author's website since I read your post here a few days ago. Indeed I'm reading a lot of sense. I have saught therapy, and I in many ways I feel like I have looked for those emotional barriers that drive my compulsion such as using eating as a coping mechanism to deal with stress/anxiety, having a turbulent emotional past, dealing with my perfectionisms etc. But even facing all these issues they make me hyper aware of all my faults and triggers and spiral me further into depression and bingeing. Because no matter how much I face my past, face my depression, face my problems, address them, seek therapy etc nothing cures my bingeing. Every aha moment doesn't stop me from bingeing. So this makes sense that it's a compulsory habit that I need to "turn off" for lack of a better word.

Anyway, I'll be ordering the book shortly but I am most frightened of learning how to disengage from my urge to binge and consequently not acting on my binge. What do you do to help you do that?