I keep seeing posts about how people have coompletely stopped binge eating, how its all under control etc etc and then a few months late there are posts from the same people about how they binged. to the long time bingers and controllers, do you think the first step to manaing binge eating sessions admitting that you can never fully control or stop binge eating? Because food addiction is like any other addiction only harder to control because even though you can stop drinking alchohol and removing all traces of it from your house (for example) you can never stop eating or removing all food from your house. esp if you live with other people. So you can control it for months on end and tell everyone about how you have stopped binge eating and have mastered the beast etc and then comes an awful day or something happens and you come home have a biscuit, then two then before you know it you have eaten all the food in the house, bought food from outside and eaten that too and are a mess of shame crying on the sofa. So here's a thought... if oyu accept that you can never control binge eating (and I really really dont think you can and anyone who thinks they have done it is in denial and will succumb to it at some point) and that knowing that you will binge eat then if you have that in your head, can you recover and go back to eating healthily after it faster than if you thought you had it managed and then realise that you didnt and its just as much a part of you as being an alchoholic is a part of an recovering alcoholic?

I dont know if this makes sense and its all jumbled in my head but what are your thoughts on this?

I have also seen that people who said had it under control binge again and feel horrible. I cannot generalize about this, because I suppose we are all somewhat differently wired, but I guess that if we know about the risk of falling back into bingeing we will be more careful with what we do and keep it under control more successfully than if we think we are "cured" and stop doing --and not doing-- those things that helped us get out of it in the first place.
For example, I used to be a big time binger and I have not binged for 3 months. But I know that I should never go back to eating carbs the way I used to, since I am well aware that they change the way I reason and I find myself eating stuff I would have never eaten hadn't I been "under the influence." I just went out for dinner and I ordered vegetables, but I left my last bite on the plate just to prove to myself that I could refrain from eating if I wanted to. Those are things I will keep doing, because I fear that I may relapse if I don't.
So yes, I know I may binge again, and that for the rest of my life I will have to control myself. I would say nothing is fast with bingeing, because I see it as a life-long condition which results from some mysterious "chemical wiring" in us.
How about the rest, people, what do you think?

Twelve months I finished treatment here in the UK-for binge eating, I went through the programme and the bingeing was starting to become less and less, I was doing well - but the last thing that the psychologist in the centre said to me was that it is an eating disorder and it will come back and hey ho - it did!

I have to keep focussed on it and deal with it for what it is - an eating disorder - if I try and forget it and act like i think that I am normal then that really opens the door for it to come back in - big time

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That will be a forever-urge? the way I react to it is forever different, although the physiological urge is there.
Hmm, I'll report back in a long long time because I dropped refined carbs.
I did drop Nutella over a year ago and never looked back (it was my only dessert).
That being said, I have also never tasted Nutella after that (except for 1 yves rocher chocolate a few months ago and felt no trigger after that).
I understand that there is a risk of taking a bite-and I don't take that bite because I am afraid that it will cause me to binge-it might not. I don't take that bite because the foods I ate I didn't find that delicious, I just ate it cause it was readily available so it gave me the sense of comfort "at least there is food" I eat foods if I am hungry/in need of a refuel and I really want to eat that particular thing-none of my binge foods fulfill that criteria.
I don't really see the end goal as "ending the trigger" though, my end goal is just to not cave in-whether I feel an urge, or if I can be triggered.
I do feel cravings for it sometimes, but I don't mind them-I let it pass, so in a way, that is my goal, my goal isn't to end the cravings altogether-if that happens, great, if it doesn't-at least my waistline won't show it.
I have the same approach with weight loss-I know I can easily regain, and thats OK as long as I know that I can reign myself in, and htat I don't feel "powerless"-like once its over-I might as well regain everything.
So far, its been working out well. Maybe it won't always be, but my urge for the refined carbs has dropped a lot and my discipline has grown. Even if I never get to 100% ending all urges and having perfect discipline, any progress is better than what I have before and I really think that I can at least achieve progress in the way that I react to food and stress.

I don't know how you should think of it, but for me, what helped is to think that I do have control over it. If I thought I had no control over it, it was like a way to allow myself to binge. It made it even harder to stop. If I said to myself that this can change and I can control it, then it has. I've been binge free for 5 months now.

I agree with sensualappeal on the powerless thing. Just for curiosity sake are you doing OA? It almost sounds like you are wrestling with OA first step "I admit that I am powerless over food." I used to go to online OA meetings but the admit you are powerless thing, not to mention the abstinence was always a hard sell for me. Nobody wants to be powerless and abstinence just makes more a lot more sense for AA than it does for OA. There are lots of great things about OA, but I always looked at it with their philosophy of take what you need and leave the rest.

I don't think I can go through the rest of my life being abstinent from my triggers (sugar, white rice, potatoes for me.) So, my plan is to learn to limit myself to having those foods in moderation on my cheat day. IMO, I have to have a plan that I can live with for the rest of my life. I just CAN NOT see me living out the rest of my days never having a single bite of sugar, rice or potatoes. But, I can see a long term work around of eating them once a week and then, hopefully when I make to maintenance I would be able to change it two or three times a week.

Doing low carbs, I really haven't been having that many cravings. But, it does help for me to plan out and even just think about what I am going to be having on my cheat day. I have been DVRing Dr Oz for a few weeks and I saw an episode where he suggested if you have a craving to imagine yourself preparing and then eating that craving food. Just visualize the whole thing from start to finish...pull out the ingredients, picture yourself cooking or dishing it out and then actually imagine yourself eating it bite by bite. Continue imagining that you are full and satisfied. It is supposed to trick your brain into thinking you had it. Then, maybe drink a full bottle of water, chew gum, brush your teeth or which ever other distraction works for you. HTH

I think that everyone has their own mantra that works for them-we all have issues with eating, but how we got there, and how we are as people are different-so yes, admitting powerlessness may work for some, but not for others-doesn't make either philosophy more or less true-whatever we tell ourselves (and people cna be successful either way) becomes our reality.


Whenever I tell myself that I am"totally ending something" in the back of my mind, in my gut, I know when I still have work to do-and when I am truly over it, and when I declare victory too early, I do end up messing up. So I do think that its possible to get better but if I am still progressing, or not at all, I'll say it-I never did that in the past. Now, I feel like I am doing better in general-not just with binging-when I tell myself that as long as I am stable, or get a little better, thats what matters-and if I do feel overwhelmed-to take the time to breathe, and that is the mantra that helps me as an individual.

I think that if we learn how to deal with a binge and the associated feelings better when it happens ONCE and not let it turn into an all out - week long, month long, year long - fiasco, than thats a success in itself.

If you look at "normal" eaters, they have the occasional splurge, but their bodies kind of regulate and they automatically end up eating less the next day or next few days. One "binge" should not be failure.

What works for me is to have planned binges. I don't do it often, maybe 6 times a year, and compensate by eating less for a few days before or after. We're all different, but I personally don't do well with the words "never again" and I seem to have the need (or want) for periodic abandon around food. So I incorporate these occasional binges into my eating plan. It may sound strange, but it seems to be working for me.

F.

I've struggled with this for awhile now, too. When I first started my fitness journey, I went months without a binge - I chalk it up to sheer willpower. Over the past few months, binging has been an issue with me again, so I'm working to control it again.

I do disagree with the concept of "planned binges" - my binges are huge, out of control and secretive. For me, that is unhealthy - not just the food involved, but the whole act of seeking out the binge food, zoning out while eating it and losing all control and then trying to cover it up after-the-fact. Psychologically, I can't allow that to be okay. I can plan for "splurges" - I have to, in fact! But no planned or unplanned binges is what I am striving for!

But yeah, I do think that admitting you are a binger is the step 1. I can't say that I'm totally powerless because it's not true, I always have choices, of course, it's very very very difficult to not binge if I get it in my mind that I "need" to binge - but it is, in the end, still a choice. But until I could see that my binges were horrible, I couldn't then see what was causing them and if I don't know the triggers, I'd never be able to stop them. I think I'll have the psychological issue forever; but I do think with more success in managing it, it will become easier.

I agree that there's no universal recipe for stopping. You just have to figure out what works for you. What really motivates me is seeing one of my best friends really in control of what and how much she eats. I admire her for being so strong and she acts really natural about it, like it doesn't really take any effort to eat healthy. When we're eating together, she's never stressed, never calculates calories or anything like that, but she never empties her plate. At some point she just stops and puts her plate away and that's that. Or if we're out to see a movie, it doesn't matter if we're all having popcorn, she just won't have any. Her strength really amazes me because she makes it seem so easy!