I sometimes wonder how different it would've been if I had been a binge eater in the US and not Japan...bigger packages, more choices...perhaps I would've regained way more than 5-10 lbs!

I can definitely relate to this. Binges usually occur for me when dinner is not planned out, whether I'm too tired to cook or not. I just eat whatever is ready in the house (be it leftovers or something easily to assemble). This usually gets me to eating random other things until I am stuffed. I may sometimes try to stop myself, but end up coming back and eating anyway. This means meal planning has got to happen!

I tend to overeat on dinner (I can usually "control" other meals). Whether it be healthy and portioned out I still struggle on overeating it. I have to really pay attention to what I eat at dinner time for success at not overeating. I like volume at this meal.

I was just telling my mom that I might overeat on calories by having an extra slice of pizza or a snack after dinner, to satisfy myself, but I will binge on five slices of pizza, ice cream, cookies and chips. But it's not the size. It's just that when I decide to have an extra slice or two of pizza I'm not out of control or fighting myself. I make that decision.

When I binge on all that junk it's a loss of control. I usually fight it and then just go insane, eating everything in sight. It's not the same as me thinking "Hmm, I kind of want one more slice..." It's me sitting there thinking "I want two more slices...oh ****, I want ice cream too! Oh god I'm insatiable, I might as well eat chips!"

There's a line, but sometimes it's hard to see.

Wow, that's a really interesting thought! It also makes me wonder what the ratio of binge eaters in the US versus other countries is. I know, first world problem right?! I bet it's pretty similar in the UK and other countries that have a similar socio-economic structure and a high prevalance of packaged foods available but it's probably fairly low in other countries.

I definitely think there is a huge connection between the US/UK message about celebrities and 'ideal' bodies, the overabundance of quick highly-processed foods, and the 8+ million Americans said to have BED.

I think we also have long histories of disordered eating throughout our families. I think a lot of people's parents and grandparents grew up with some sort of strange view on food. Either they had the 'clean your plate, people in Africa are starving' mentality or they had the 'eat celery for a week to fit into your little black dress' mentality. I think growing up with either of those can lead to some interesting issues with food.

Also, there's what I call the 'trailer park' diet. I grew up in a trailer park, along with many of my friends, and we were often eating tater tots, hot dogs, mac n' cheese...things like that. My mom basically didn't care how much of it we ate either. I knew very little about nutrition until recently, and niether did my mom or her parents. I think adults are becoming more and more concious of what is in their food.

I like in Alaska and so a lot of junk food has just recently been introduced to the Native Alaskans. Many Alaskan Natives don't know that soda is unhealthy. They drink it like it's water.

Anyways, there could be a lot of reasons for BED but generally I think America as a country has inadvertently caused disordered eating in many ways. Our celebrities, fad diets, the 'everyone but America is starving so eat all your spaghetti' mentality...not to mention the rise in technology and a giant increase of desk jobs, eating infront of the tv and the computer....

It's amazing that some people don't have disordered eating habits!