My therapist says I have a binge eating disorder
 

I've been seeing a nutrionist for 2 months now (meeting with her once a month) and she recommended I see a therapist for my anxiety issues. To make the long story short, my therapist told me I have an eating disorder. I thought she was nuts because I don't stave myself (I have the fat on my body to prove that one) and I don't throw up my food. She told me about something called binge eating disorder.

I can't believe I actually HAVE an eating disorder. I was only familiar with bulimia and anorexia. I just started working with this therapist and I hope she helps me with my problem.

I'm wondering if anyone else suffers from bing eating and what resources (i.e. books, forums, etc) have been useful towards the journey towards recovery. My bing eating is a result of anxiety and some unresolved issues from my past. I really want to fix myself once and for all.

If anyone else is suffing from this specific eating disorder and can provide me with any feedback, then I'd greatly appreciate it.

I feel a bit "weak" for having a disorder. I just thought I was eating just a litle bit more than the 'normal person'....but I guess it's not normal to eating an entire large pizza all by yourself in 1 sitting. :o Also, I thought eating disorders occured in younger women (I'm 34 now) because of all the pressures....but again, I was wrong.

Denial is indeed a very powerful thing. It makes a person blind to what should be pretty obvious. I will need your support these next several months.

I'm no expert but I don't consider being able to polish off a 16" pizza in one sitting binge eating..I would say that's over eating. How often do you do this?

From what I understand binge eaters go WAY beyond that...but I am only going off your original post, there could be much more going on that you haven't disclosed. In any case, good luck. :)

There's a whole bunch of us in the "chicks in control" section and a lot of discussion about it. Check it out and see- you're not weak and you are most certainly not alone!

I too used to believe that eating disorders were "only" anorexia and bulimia. And then I realized I had BED as well. (And the worst thing? It was dieting that sent me into this. I never had a disorder before. T_T)

Eating a whole pizza is one sitting would be more like 'mere' overeating in my book as well, but it depends: do you eat only that pizza, for lunch or dinner, because you're hungry—and then you're done? Or do you eat it plus a ton of other things, and not especially because you're hungry, but because you 'feel like eating'? I think the difference would be here. At the peak of my own disorder, I just couldn't stop—I'd polish off whatever was in my cupboard, including stale crackers and not really appetizing stuff like that, until I'd feel physically sick.

There are several books out there that might help. One I liked was "Overcoming Overeating" (or something like that—can't remember the author's name right now). There's also a website + forum dedicated to eating disorders: http://www.something-fishy.org/ Those were useful to me. I won't claim that I'm totally rid of it, but my 'episodes' are far and few between now.

Also it helps if you relativise, and don't give in to feelings of guilt/shame, because those will only increase the need to hide and binge. Then, of course, questioning the issue(s) that led/still lead to eating, in order to understand them and find other ways to cope.

I guess there are different definitions of binge eating...are you eating all the food in private? do you keep eating even though you feel full? do you keep eating even though your stomach hurts? although some people on the binge forum say they don't feel the full feeling till after they are done binging. When I eat a whole pizza I consider it a binge...

check out the chicks in control forum... almost all of us have been there at one time or another, that's how we got fat!

I was diagnosed as bulimic so a little different but the binging aspect is there.

I also wouldn't regard one pizza as a binge necessarily-But I guess it is more about the motivation and feelings behind it-And how often/what else you do. I also suffered with bad anxiety as well and most of my problems came from issues which I'd never dealt with too. I was very quiet and never felt able to vocalize how I felt, and tended to just turn everything back on myself.

It's good you realise you might be in denial though, I think it's one of those things you think you'll never do-But you just don't realise it! On reflection now, I can't believe how much denial I had going on.

I eventually had CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) with a therapist who I really connected with, I went from feeling like a lost cause who was irreversibly damaged to a confident and healthy girl. I'm not totally there yet, but I think it's a long term journey really.

I'd definitely say check out the Chick in Control section for more support on here, and obviously I'm a huge advocate of CBT. Also don't expect miracles overnight... To some people the idea of therapy sounds quite nice, but it can be very difficult and upsetting too. Sometimes it will get worse before it gets better. Also, try not to dwell too much on your ED 'label' I also hated the stigma attached to them.

I think we'll start hearing more about Binge Eating Disorder, as it is not in the current version of the diagnostic manual for mental disorders (and thus can be harder to be covered by insurance), but is scheduled to be in the new version that comes out next year.

Apparently it is a common eating disorder, and not necessarily correlated with obesity.

The criteria for BED are:
- Recurrent episodes of binge eating, including eating an abnormally large amount of food and feeling a lack of control over eating
- Binge eating that's associated with at least three of these factors: eating rapidly; eating until you're uncomfortably full; eating large amounts when you're not hungry; eating alone out of embarrassment; or feeling disgusted, depressed or guilty after eating
- Concern about your binge eating
- Binge eating at least twice a week for at least six months
- Binge eating that's not associated with purging, such as self-induced vomiting

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bin...-and-diagnosis

I have moderate BED and I would consider a whole pizza a binge. The stuff shown on TV for binge eating is often to the extreme and is often confused or coupled with bulemia.

It isnt the quantity alone that qualifies it, it is the emotions behind it. I have had binges that were calorically fairly small. Its the lack of control. It's the self loathing associated with it. It's the eating specifically to beat yourself up. It's feeling compelled to go get more even though you dont want it.

I'm actually kind of surprised so many would NOT consider a whole pizza a binge. I know for me, and i have a large appetite, 1/4 pizza (2 slices) is probably what I should have. 3 is what I want. 4 is getting a little uncomfortably full but would maybe just be over eating - where I think it still tastes good. Slices 5-8 for me would ONLY happen when I am eating for reasons of self hatred.

I would say BED is the most common eating disorder and one that is only recently getting noticed. A lot of cases are caused by strict dieting, ironic isn't it?

Cognitive behavioral therapy is a tool that works great for many people. For others, stopping dieting and focusing on not binging instead of losing weight can be the key.

Depending on your behaviors and thoughts and emotions tied with eating large quantities, you may or may not have BED.

Chicks in Control is a great subforum. People with BMIs from underweight to severely obese post there. Binge eating affects so many different kinds of people - the comradery and support in that subforum is a real godsend when you struggle with eating.

For me, it depends on the circumstances as much as on the quantity. My normal appetite can't accomodate a complete pizza either (unless we're talking the 'small' 180g ones, that is). But for instance, if you end up eating a whole pizza over the course of a whole evening with friends (with several pizzas on a table, buffet-style, and everybody including yourself eating a slice now and then), I wouldn't put it down as a 'real' binge in the sense of part of an eating disorder. Though it'd be eating too much, of course.

That was it for me. Took me long enough to realize it, instead of punishing myself with more dieting...

Absolutely. I've shared my binges before on this site, but years ago when I suffered with it, I would often eat a lot of cucumbers, Brussels sprouts, egg whites, and I even once baked a sliced onion and ate that.

Yes. I believe I caught myself on my way to full-blown BED and stopped it. I also drastically changed my living situation (went from living alone in an isolated part of Japan to living at my parents' house in NY) so I will never know exactly what caused what to change.

I've been a binge eater as far back as I can remember. My mom used to restrict me.....hiding food around the house "for my own good". I didn't know it was BED back then, but I knew what I was doing wasn't "normal".

I just turned 37 and still have binge episodes. Not as often as before with the help of therapy and meds. Definitely a work in progress.