Most of this is probably my fault for not being more specific. I struggle with being "too brief" about certain things. Sorry for not clarifying earlier. I obviously didn't mean "binge" originally, I think I meant "lapse".

to add to my post...heres a definition for binge:

Binge eating is a pattern of disordered eating which consists of episodes of uncontrollable overeating. It is sometimes as a symptom of binge eating disorder. During such binges, a person rapidly consumes an excessive amount of food. Most people who have eating binges try to hide this behaviour from others, and often feel ashamed or depressed about their overeating. Eating binges can be followed by so-called compensatory behaviour, acts by which the person tries to compensate for the effects of overeating. Examples of such acts are purging (induced vomiting or laxative abuse), fasting, and heavy exercising.

this describes eating large amounts of food, not eating a mcdonalds or taco bell meal and purging it....again, just my opinion but it seems to make sense

Sorry, cardinalsfan, but if you go back and read the posts she did say "multiple times" and "pig out" and specifically said "once every couple of weeks or so".

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Ok...I never post here, but I just wanted to jump in.

Firstly, Cardinalsfan is right that the diagnosis of bulimia should be left to a medical professional. At any rate, there is no way the OP could judge the situation one way or the other from the scant information she got from her coworker.

Second, let's clear up some misconceptions about bulimia. There is no such thing as a check-off list for a "true" bulimic. Some binge and purge; some eat regular meals and purge; some eat regular meals, then binge & purge the binge food; some binge & over-exercise. A bulimic can be severely underweight, in which case he or she will probably be diagnosed as having "anorexia -- purging subtype".

One b/p episode doesn't make someone bulimic, but it sure as **** isn't healthy or natural, either. The danger here is that by the act of purging once, this guy is much more likely to do it again. And that mindset is destructive --the "I have to lose weight at any cost" -- regardless of how often he purges.

Eating disorders are very much misunderstood by the general public. If you really want to help your coworker, and you have the sense that this is an ongoing issue, help him find a doc or psych who specializes in EDs.

Photochick, we X-posted I believe the OP did say the "once every couple of weeks" was her own extrapolation, not the co-worker's own words?

exactly...thank you for knowing how to read properly

Yes, a lesson you should take.

If you notice she ADDED that part at 1:30 this morning - 3 hours after her original posts were made and after all of my responses. I don't normally go back and re-read random posts in the middle of the thread 3 hours later. So the edit changes the entire scope of the entire conversation.

And with that, I'm out.

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first off, pig out is NOT the same as binge, just by the definition of the word. if you are on a 1200 cal a day diet and you eat 2000 cals that day, isnt that pigging out? there is no definition for pigging out but there is a definition for binge, they are NOT one in the same

2nd, read her posts and feel free to quote where she said "multiple times" and from what she said, she wasnt sure that the person was doing it once every couple weeks or so. from what i got from the person, it was once. read Jewcy's most recent post, she is just saying what she heard, what she got from the situation.

also, read the edit for that post, it seems to sum it up

remember the movie "office space"?...it seems some of the people here are fans of the "jump to conclusions" mat...

ill admit, you are usually very correct and very helpful, and maybe this struck a nerve with you. im not sure, but dont let my feelings get in the way of you helping her and others. im a guy, i think like a guy and thats much, MUCH different from 99% of the people here. it brings a unique perspective that i think will help people and make some people mad, but it still needs to be here.

Is it okay to purge every once in a while

occasionally vomiting in itself

This person seems to have control and only does it maybe once every couple weeks.

I'm trying to help someone to stop. (getting them to "stop", implies that they're continuing to do it)

***EDIT: I think I put words into my friend's mouth when I said "maybe once every couple weeks" I don't recall him actually saying that, thats just what I gathered. We were actually talking about a one time occurrence. Sorry for the confusion.
Last edited by raw23 : Today at 01:26 AM.
Editing a post made at 10:35 at 1:26 - 3 hours later - doesn't really help the flow of the conversation. I don't go back and read random edits in the middle of threads, especially when the thread is on the 2nd page and it's 3 hours later. If someone wants to clarify a point, it's generally better to do it in a new post to the thread. Posting an edit to a thread on a previous page only makes it confusing.

No, most of us just reply to what is written. We're not mind readers and can't read nuance from the posted word. And edits made 3 hours after the fact usually don't get seen.

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nope, with that you just got back into this ....she edited the post because of the way you people were taking the issue, you in particular.

everyone here was taking this the wrong way and she wanted to clear it up. this is supposed to be a support forum, not an accusation forum

talk about the pot calling the kettle black, you edited all but two of your posts...

If you compare my edit time to my post time, you'll see that all of my posts are edited within less than 5 minutes of originally posting, usually because I noticed in rereading them I misspelled something or I messed up the grammar and so corrected it to made it more readable. I never have changed the entire meaning of my post by editing it.

And you seem to be unable to read properly (to use your own words) - where I pointed out that editing a post THREE HOURS LATER serves only to confuse. AT that point the thread was on the 2nd page and there's no reason for most people to go back and read a random post in the middle of the thread to see the change of information.

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And now I am out. Done. You can twist the logic however you want and call it a "guy's perspective" while at the same time accusing people of not reading for comprehension .. which is exactly what you're doing.

Bye.

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i thought with that last post you were out?

since it seems you werent, she edited the post because everyone was taking this out of context and she put the edit where it applied, rather than quoting herself later and posting it there...not a bad thing to do. posting an edit to a thread clarifies the thread for people starting from the beginning.

also, according to your logic, i should never go back and read any of your edits, and there seems to be alot of them

Back on the original topic, yes, doing this one time can cause adverse effects.

As a side note, eating too much and making yourself throw up is most likely at a minimum disordered eating and raw23 - it's probably not a bad idea to encourage your friend/co-worker to get help. In your earlier post you indicated you didn't think it was bulimia "yet" - my interpretation is that you think it could lead down that path.

Thanks for getting back on topic! I appreciate the help. I dont think it's bulimia because as far as I know, it's a one time thing. But I also know with these things it can turn into something more. I will suggest he seek help.