Wasn't sure which forum to post this in, as applies to many categories.

Last night I came across a food journal that I had kept in my early thirties where you note the time, what you ate, and how you were feeling at the time. This was for the Binge Eating Disorder I had been fighting for probably 15 years at that point. This was back before there was a name for it, in fact I remember at 19 being in a residential program for anorexics and bulimics because that's all there was.

This journal would then be reviewed by a therapist, blah, blah, blah.

What struck me when I review it today, nearly 20 years later is no wonder I was binging nearly every evening, I was getting minimal nutrition (2 bowls of Corn Pops for breakfast and skipping lunch for example). But no one was looking at the fact my body needed real food and continued to look into my psyche for explanations on why I would eat a bag of oreos in the car on the way home from work. Could it be I was kicking off my sweet tooth as soon as I got up in the morning and then trying not to eat anything during the day to make up calorically for the pig out the night before? Sheesh, it's so obvious to me now that emotions had nothing to do with it.

Ironically the binges disappeared when I got a promotion shortly after that required me to eat all meals M-F on the road, mainly fast food and restaurant meals. I was getting so many calories through meals that I wasn't even hungry at end of day. Bad news is I got a lot more calories from eating this way then I ever consumed during my binge/fast cycles and gained 100 lbs in one year.

So the lesson I'd like to pass along to those fighting Binge eating and/or emotional eating is to start eating real food, lots of it. If you get all the servings of fruit/veg/lowfat dairy that nearly every nutritionist recommends, I'll bet you'll have very little room left for a binge, and can break this cycle without the poundage that conquered it for me.

I just wish someone had pointed this idea out to me during all those years trying to fight the cycle.

I couldn't agree more, can't believe someone else is finally saying this! I've had progress for the first time, ever, (that lasted more than a week anyways!) by forcing myself to eat a huge nutritious breakfast every morning and keep topping up my nutrients throughout the day.

When my body isn't starved of real nutrients, my mind has no reason to crave fake ones.

Most interesting, and thanks for sharing. I've seen the concept recently that the nutritional quality / density of your food can affect your hunger levels and fat storage, and it's very interesting food for thought. That's crazy that it wasn't obvious why you were binging!

I suspect if someone were fighting this problem today and went to their doctor for help that a nutritional analysis of diet would be looked at. But as they didn't even have a name for this behaviour more than 30 years ago my doctor (who likely didn't get any training back then on nutrition) referred me to a therapist who went at solving from her point of view.

I can't help but agree. I have emotional eating problems and I find the emotional part hard to contain when I eat food with little nutritional value. Eating clean, whole foods helps me tremendously.