A girlfriend and me were recently having a conversation about eating and diet and I casual mention, that sometimes I eat so much and feel so full I wish I could just puke it up. Then she tells me how she taught herself how to do it and she is glad she did. Because sometimes she just eats too much and she has to get it out. She does it maybe once every two months and she is sure it will never be a habit because she says it's just really disgusting; the burning, the bad breath the feeling.

I know this is a touchy subject because of eating disorders but I don't view this as the same thing. Just because you drink doesn't make you an alcoholic and puking occasionally doesn't make you a bulimic. Anyway, is this a common frame of mind, is it normal to get it out occasionally instead of going through the painful process of digesting all that food?

Uhh... that is definitely bullimia and definitely disordered eating.

This sounds like something you're considering.

I'd definitely not recommend it.

Also, it is definitely disordered behavior. Just because you binge and purge selectively does not mean you don't have an eating disorder.

Maybe not bulimia, but perhaps eating disorder not otherwise specified?

Also, you can have a 'problem' with alcohol and not be quite yet an alcoholic.

Also, she can't say it would never be a habit. Certainty is something I usually don't believe in. We can't know that our attitudes won't change down the line, that it won't start to seem easier (which it most likely will), and that her physiological response to binging won't worsen. (aka, binging to reach that phsyiological 'peak', then needing more and more to get to that same place. This has to do with dopamine.) We aren't nearly as in control of our bodies as we think we are.

If we were, we wouldn't be overweight. No one wants to get to where most of us have gotten.

When I broke 200 I KNEW, with certainty, that I wasn't going to again more weight.

Then I hit 299.

No, not normal, not healthy, not ok.
Experience teaches you that eating that amount (whatever amount it is) is too much and you are going to have that full, sick feeling. Expecting different is silly.
But to have the idea in your head that you can 'get it out' through purging, not healthy, not good and setting you up for it to be a more frequent occurance.

Honestly I am considering it, but I do realize there is potential to get into a very unhealthy place if I started it. I put it in the same mind frame as when you drink too much you just need to get it out to feel better, instead of allowing your liver to process all that alcohol. I also know that part of the lesson is living with that food/alcohol hangover so that you learn from the behavior and don't repeat.

There used to be a time when that uncomfortable sometimes painful feeling from overeating was welcomed. When I was depressed the binging refocused the pain to something more physical. I no longer enjoy feeling the pains of binging and is part of the reason why the idea of selective purging is a consideration.

Do a little research on what it does to the body. I don't have any info or I'd post it, but it can't be good.

This is definitely disordered thinking. I admit I've thought about it, but I have an addictive personality. It's very easy for me to slip into the "I ate 300 calories I better work off 300 calories" mentality.

Losing weight is about health. Would you recommend purging to a loved one? A daughter perhaps? If the answer is no, then it is not healthy.

ugh it sounds disgusting! MAKING yourself barf because you ate too much - I'd do the hard work to find out WHY you/she gorged yourself, not toy with the idea of purging! I think it's a super dangerous road to start down, not to mention just plain gross.

This is tragic to me.

You no longer enjoy the feeling of the pains of binging, don't binge.

I confess I've done it a number of times.

but: I do have disordered eating and I know it isn't ok, it isn't a habit I want to continue and I work everyday to remind myself that being healthy is the way to go and as Trazey34 mentioned the real issue is why you would over eat to the point of pain in the first place.

Take it from me...please.

Don't go down that route. It doesn't lead to anywhere pleasant or healthy.

I recently learned that, with purging, you lose maybe 25% of the calories you just consumed (I don't remember the exact percentage, but it was around 25). So without going into whether or not it's healthy (no need for me to echo the wise words posted above), it's really not practical. With all of the negatives, and only an insignificant loss of calories, not worth it.

No, drinking once in a while does not make one an alcoholic.

However, an alcoholic having a drink once in a while WILL relapse.

Do you have a good, healthy relationship with food?

No, I doubt it - if you binge, you are considering this purging, and have been very overweight.

So you are actually the alcoholic - wondering if you can just have one drink once in a while? Sound familiar? What would you say to an alcoholic who had that plan?

You would be horrified and expect relapse into addiction and other disordered behaviour.

Sacha, you are spot on.

I was in this group therapy thing with a bulimic girl.

She was well over 300 lbs.

She hadn't lost weight, and she had been around that weight for a long time, had also been bulimic a long time.

If you're asking our opinion, you probably already know the answer.

There is no easy fix.

Ohhh, just think what'd it'd do to your TEETH.

Don't do it.

Don't do it. The I'll only do it once easily becomes I'll only do it once this week, or I'll only do it once today. It will control you. Don't start.

You know, most of us "get it out" through the built-in elimination process, not by making ourselves throw up.