I purchased this book after reading a recommendation for it here on 3F3 and I read it all in less than a day over the weekend. After reading it, I went back and re-read the chapters on putting her plan into motion.
I have to say, I am completely on board with her approach and, for me, it all makes sense. I purposely went somewhere (Whole Foods) that always creates an urge to binge and practiced the techniques - and it worked. The Whole Foods here has a cookie bar (bulk cookies made at their bakery) - in the past, I have been unable to control myself when I see certain cookies there, even when I am having a great day. It never seemed to matter what mood I was in, or if I was hungry/not hungry - I always want those cookies when I see them. This is something she discusses in the book that really resonated with me - for her, and for me, it isn't about the "mood" I am in, it isn't about my emotions, it isn't even about whether I am hungry - it's really about the habit I've created of getting an urge to binge, obsessing over it and finally giving in to stop the urge. For me, it really is about the food. I have millions of "triggers" - and I've found it exhausting, and ultimately impossible, to talk myself out of them all. I'm realizing now, that's not the point - for me, it's about recognizing that it's not "me" creating that urge to binge, it's my "animal brain" - the neurological junk (as she calls it) that creates the urge to binge, and this is all just a bad habit at this point.
It was uncomfortable, but I listened to my animal brain wanting those cookies. "Just walk by the cookie bar to see if our cookies are there" - "Just get a couple" - "One or two won't hurt, you've been so good this week." - "They are so yummy, you really want one" - I listened, it caused me a lot of anxiety, but in the end, I convinced myself that I don't have to act on those thoughts coming from my lower brain. Not only did I walk by the bar, I didn't even feel the need to look at the cookies to see if "mine" were there. I felt empowered and I quickly forgot about it by the time I was driving away.
I also bought some "trigger" foods - items that have always created an urge to binge in the past - this time it was fresh almond butter and fresh olives from their olive bar. I haven't brought those items into my home for years, because I always just eat them right away, as fast as I can. I've been able to just grab a few olives here and there to stave off hunger until my next meal (just a super light snack) and I've been able to chew them slowly and really enjoy them. Not normal for me!
Oh, and I put the almond butter in the pantry where it has remained, untouched, since Saturday. I see it multiple times per day, and I've listened to my lower brain tell me to take the entire thing into my office with a spoon and eat it all, but I haven't. Each day, it gets easier and less uncomfortable.
Anyway, I'm finding it incredibly helpful. I will say, one complaint I have is that she doesn't really tell you how to recognize that "lower brain voice" and what to do in order to create that chasm and ultimately ignore it. It would've been helpful to have heard her internal dialogue and what she told her animal brain, or what she envisioned, to create the distance and ultimately, to ignore it and move on. Maybe it's good in a way, as I've had to create and employ my own techniques, but it would've been helpful to know exactly how she did it, ya know?
I'm not sure this technique would've worked for me a few years back, before I started my journey. I've already transformed a lot, and I've already lost a bulk of the weight I want to lose, but I still have a lot of binges and they've prevented me from reaching my ultimate goal. I can definitely see a lot of failings in the (many) approaches I tried over the years (including many prescriptions, many therapists, many diets, many self-help books, etc.) - but this book really made sense to me where I am in my journey now - it's a bad habit for me at this point, one that I do not need to "cope" with life and one that isn't serving me - one that my "true self" doesn't want. My lower brain is just doing its job - enforcing a habit, it doesn't distinguish between a good or bad habit, I can't reason with it and I can't argue with it (at least not for long).
I'm hopeful, I really am. I also bought a used copy of Rational Recovery that will arrive in a few days. I think the more I can reinforce these ideas, the better.
Wow I definitely need to check this book out. Just reading through this thread I recognize times right before I give into a binge where I am fighting with myself over the food. I feel like I recognize these two brains already. I have been contemplating therapy but I feel like if this book could help it would save me so much money. The last couple weeks I haven't had a binge until today. I feel so disappointed but determined not to give in again.
This book is amazing, I highly recommend it. I have been a binge eater for the past 3 years after a medical problem caused me to lose a lot of weight, and I tried to maintain the weight loss. I began eating again after my period started coming once every other month, and my hair was brittle and falling out in clumps. I couldn't even see that I had become anorexic, and my body was skin and bones. I started binging for the first time in my life. Peanut butter. I never even liked peanut butter. Jars would disappear. Cereal, chips, i was binging like mad. When I went back to college, I started binging on my roommate's food; eating all her chips, then rebuying it for her, then eating them all by myself again. It was frustrating and shameful. I regained back to my old weight, plus about 7 pounds. I then started working out after binges (which happened about twice a week), spending hours at the gym. The binge, purge cycle had begun. I lost my social life, my relationship fell, and lost sight of myself. I then made the resolution that something needed to change, but it all felt hopeless. Last summer, I became a summer camp counselor. We had this staff lounge with leftover food from camp outs, like chocolate chips, marshmallows, fritos, and potato chips. My binges were at its worst, ranging between 5000-8000 calories per binge, three times a week. I couldn't bring myself to eat the food at the camp, and my mother brought me home-cooked food for every week. My eating disorder at taken a turn to a whole new level. I gained about 15-20 pounds over the summer (I have a naturally thin body) due to binge eating. I just want the binges to be over, I want to stop binging. I found Brain Over Binge, and it has resonated with me. I am still working with my lower animal brain, it isn't easy. I have stopped trying to lose weight, counting calories, stepping on scales. Some days, I do count calories....it's really hard not to. My goal is not to lose weight, but it's so hard not to think of things that way. When those urges do rise, and they will, I will keep telling myself "These thoughts are not my own, they are my animal brain's. All it can do is throw thoughts at me, just thoughts. I have full control of myself".
Hi, I am fairly new to this site too. I'll take a look at this book, only recently I have felt the need to binge eat and I am concerned that it might be the beginning of something permanent, so I want to nip it in the bud and stop the mental attitude that fuels it!
