Hello,

I'm writing from france, where low carb diets are not very common at all....(atkins is like damned)

I suffer of severe binge eating with bulimia, i'm medically supervised by shrinks and doctors.... but with my constant binge eating i've put on 35kg (approx 80lbs) in about 3/4 years... the doctors always recommend me to go on low fat, tasteless diets or just plain eating less. But i have CONSTANT sugar cravings and i was wondering if a low carb diet would help these cravings.

I have sky high triglycerides, cholesterol (high ldl and low hld), and my doctor says that if i continue like that i'll be in a cardiology ward in no time....

I've heard about the metabolic syndrom, and it really rings a bell as my blood tests are so bad, all the fat is at my mid-section, and i have these terrible sugar, dooey starchy cravings (pasta, sugar, candy, chocolate, bananas, potatoe chips...),i'm terribly tired and i've got so many mood swings i've been diagnosed bipolar...... (i'll of course continue to take my meds for that!!!!)

Anyway, how many carbs should i have a day (without that counting "net carbs" because we do not have such counters for that here, and it's too many calculations)? Most of all, will my cravings go with this diet?

Thank you so very much if there are any replies, advice that is given. It would be God-sent as i'm just so desperate to get out of this bingeing.... i'm 28 going on 29 and i've had this since i'm 15.....

ps : sorry if my English is not too good, as i'm a new zealand/french girl.

Maybe you should start with 100g - 120g carbs a day? And ofcourse you have to try cutting out all these starchy foods, if you are really craving something have ONE cookie or just one of something to start it. Maybe one small carby indulgence once in the morning, and another once in the evening. Aside from that, just start cooking! Thats the best thing you can do..there are SOO many delicious dishes you can cook that are relatively low carb/calorie and super tasty. Go online and look up recipes. What do you enjoy eating? Like what meats or vegetables? Start there. Ofcourse you will still have sugar cravings but I guess thats the bit you have to fight..and it's super annoying to have moodswings because then you really just want to eat whatever you can get your hands on, so keep a few 'healthy' sweet treats around for times like these. Maybe bake yourself a low-calorie cookie or brownie? Here's a recipe for a brownie that takes less than 5 minutes to make :

This brownie (Makes one serving) has only 95 calories and 1 gram of fat and fibre is at 2.7 grams

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp Whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Cocoa
Pinch of baking soda
Pinch of salt
1-2 Tbsp Low fat vanilla yogurt or whatever yogurt you have on hand
Steps:

Mix all dry ingredients together
Add enough yogurt to blend together all ingredients
Place in microwave safe bowl and heat for 1 minute.



Good luck!! You can doo it!!

Salut! J'ai un cours de français à l'ecole, donc Je connais un peu le français. Comment Allez-vous? Je suis desolée.
Okay, my French is falling apart. Haha.
I have also struggled with binge eating and gained a lot of weight in a short amount of time by eating like 3500 calories a day. It's very Hard if not impossible to control. I don't have any advice, but my dad has the same problem and is gluten intolerant, so he cut out all simple carbs like bread, pasta and lost 60 lbs. He says he feels great and urges me to try it, which I am starting tomorrow. I'm interested to read the advice others give you, but from what I've heard, going low carb will definitely help. Good luck girl.

When I was very strict with low carbing (I was on Atkins) my binge eating went away. When I allowed sugar back into my eating I started binge eating again. I have found that when I do not binge eat I feel better both physically and mentally.
With that said I keep my carbs to 20 or less per day and I feel that it is the best way to eat for me. My health has also improved even after having a mild heart attack a few years ago (not related to the Atkins diet. It happened because I allowed sugar and refined carbs back into my eating)