Binge eating, can't stop

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Please help. I just can't stop binge eating, it's absolutely ridiculous and I don't know why I do it. It's like an addiction, I've had therapy and BWRT and for months I was doing really well but this past week I've just stiffed chocolate, chips, crackers, cheese and I cannot stop.
What can I do?

Firstly, don’t diet or restrict yourself.
The more you say you can’t have something, the more your brain will make you crave it.

Try not to buy things that you can binge on.
If it’s already in the house it’s so much easier to binge because it’s there. So buy smaller amounts of it.

I would also spend less time being available to binge.
So after work have a snack so you don’t get over hungry, then after dinner go for a walk to remove yourself from the situation. Then I would have a bath and read a book in bed and have an early night as if you’re asleep you won’t be eating.

Overeaters anonymous for a while (a bit like AA) now. A year free from binging. My life has literally changed. I binged my way up to 16 stone and have slowly lost 3 stone. It’s been a long process but oA is the only thing that has helped

And after each main meal box and store leftovers in the freezer straight away so there is less temptation to have seconds.

And if you spend a portion of time thinking about a particular food item after a requisite amount of time you can tell yourself you would have eaten it by now if you'd had it when you first thought of it. So just pretend you have eaten it.

I really do think that it is the cycle of dieting and restricting and having a set of food "rules" that is the culprit.

I highly recommend reading The Fuck It Diet by Caroline Dooner (spoiler: it's not actually a diet) www.amazon.co.uk/F-ck-Diet-Caroline-Dooner/dp/000833983X?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Out of curiosity does it relate to your monthly cycle at all? Do you eat enough protein?

My food will power isn't the greatest so I don't have treats in. That means things like:

Having plain oatcakes at home instead of biscuits.
Having pumpernickel bread at home instead of bread.
Zero fat natural yoghurt instead of full fat or flavoured yoghurt.
Cacao powder instead of chocolate.
Store grapes in the freezer.

Etc.

I used to binge. My best friend used to binge and purge. She got a gastric band, I just stopped, realised how fucked up it was one day and that was the end of it

It's an eating disorder. This book is recommended as self help on the Beat website.
Christopher Fairburn's Overcoming Binge Eating: The Proven Program to Learn Why You Binge and How You Can Stop (2nd ed.).

Another vote for brain over binge podcast. It's really empowering and practical.

Reading with fascination. I do this for no reason I can fathom. It isn’t constant, but eg last night I was home alone, had had a very challenging week at work and consumed insane numbers of calories that I didn’t want need or enjoy - but couldn’t stop eating. I would never do this in front of family or friends, it’s always in secret, and sometimes it’s a relief to know the family will be out because I know I’ll have the opportunity to binge… but then hate myself afterwards.
I will investigate OA, I hate this way of being

What a helpful thread. I'm just starting to come to terms with binge eating. Something I do (no idea whether it's the right thing for someone else) is to have a tiny bit. If other people in the house are having something I'd usually binge, I have a tiny taste so I don't feel left out.
So a single crisp.
A teaspoon of icecream or cake.

It doesn't work with chocolate, that just sets off all the bells and I end up stuffing random things.
It doesn't stop the occasional fall- I'm still working on that- but it does stop most triggering moments that would have set me off previously.

I eat when bored.
The trick is to not have it in the house, but my DH and kids want this stuff in, so I can’t avoid it.

I find if I eat junk I just crave more junk. Apparently your body is wired to do to, something to do with insulin levels.

The only thing which stopped me was totally cutting it out and eating more protein. The moment I slip and start eating unhealthily again, the cravings return.

I was bulimic for most of my teens and 20s. I eventually managed to stop making myself sick but really struggled to control the binges. I eventually overcame it by replacing it with a new addiction, but a positive one, I became obsessed with hillwalking and rock climbing. I even quit my job to take up a part time job so I could spend more of my week out in the mountains. I know it might seem over the top but it was totally worth it for me. It totally changed my outlook on life, gave me a new focus, being out in the hills so much meant that even if I binged, my body used the calories. Eventually I just stopped binging. Now I'm back working full time and have had a baby so I'm not in the hills the way I was before but my attitude to food is much better than it was. I still overeat sometime, particularly if I'm stressed, but it's not like it was and not full on binges and I feel far more in control.

I know giving up your job and running off to live in the hills might not be for everyone and is pretty drastic but maybe finding something else that can become your focus in that kind of way could help.

When I was younger I used to do this. I think it was probably triggered by previously dieting - I was hungry for months and while I lost weight, I eventually I cracked. The mind is very powerful and it was forcing me to eat. I don’t think that was the only reason (as I shall go on to explain), but once I’d binged, I kind of got hooked. I wasn’t dieting by then but I just couldn’t stop eating. Even things I didn’t like, straight out of the packet! So I echo what others say about not getting hungry, being kind to yourself. But also it is a compulsion, so not as straightforward as not keeping junk food in the house etc. I would eat pretty much anything once the urge took me. So do read those books etc recommended. Some tips from me: Try to find your triggers. One of mind was tiredness. But another was a feeling of being unfulfilled emotionally and inadvertently trying to fill the gap by eating. Guess what? It didn’t work! What did I do? Tried harder = ate more. So if you can identify triggers you should be able to address them, possibly with help, rather than trying to anaesthetise yourself in a way that makes you feel worse. (For me the bingeing took my mind off other issues - if I was feeling bad about that, it was some kind of miserable distraction.) Hence the cycle continues. Good luck - you can do this. Xx

Do you binge eat at certain at particular times? I find 12-6pm difficult, so I busy myself throughout that time with different activities. Long walks and drinking lots of water helps too.

Eating big filling meals also helps and never binge worthy food in the house! I have banned buying any packaged processed snacks.

It does get easier

I’m going out with a man who has a weight problem. We’re just at the end of an extended self catering holiday and I’ve worked out that he really does have an eating disorder. It’s obviously been a long term thing, but I’m not sure what I can do to help.

He eats 3 full meals a day and eats stuff despite knowing it doesn’t agree with him. He’s eaten in between meals (secretly) will always buy sweet stuff with his coffee and mine. I’ve found it quite difficult to watch him eat on occasions as he crams food into his mouth, and gobbles his food down so fast.

I would guess he’s 3-4 stone overweight but still fairly fit.

I too, have struggled with my weight, which is why I’ve found it triggering. I’m no Kate Moss, but I’ve decided in my 50s to take control of my appetite, to eat what my system needs and to remain fit.

Going forward, I can see him becoming very unwell due to his weight, and I’ll be left to deal with it.

I’m a firm believer that the decision to change has to come from yourself. I can’t demand he changes.

Any advice?

I have zero self control when it comes eating highly processed foods. I have a private prescription for the drug mysimba. It’s not suitable for everyone - it contains bupropion which is an antidepressant previously used as an aid to stop smoking and naltrexone which is used for alcohol and opiate addictions.

It’s early days for me (I’m not on a full dose yet) but three weeks it has really helped my cravings. I can open the kitchen cupboards to prepare food without feeling the compulsion to grab something sweet or high carb.

I did feel very ‘flat’ for the first few weeks of taking it. Now I’m used to it, I’m okay. I feel much calmer and more focused on tasks. Previously, probably because my sugar levels were all over the place, I couldn’t concentrate.

The only people who know about this are my DH and the private GP who prescribed. I’ve previously tried counselling for food issues. I’ve gone low carb, high protein. Neither worked.

My motivation for getting help wasn’t weight loss. I am overweight but I want food to stop ruling my life and dominating my thoughts. If I lose my excess weight as a byproduct of taking control of my cravings then I’ll be happy.

I really hope this changes my life. It’s not a magic wand and does carry risk - you shouldn’t drink alcohol, take if you have a history of depression and if opiate painkillers are required they wouldn’t work until the drug eliminated from your system.

I was reluctant to write this post in case someone accuses me of attempting to do a ‘quick fix’. I’m sharing my experience so far in case it’s useful for someone going through the same challenges that I was.

I can’t stress enough that anyone considering this route should speak to a GP.

I had binged daily for 15 years. I tried all the books mentioned above, and different therapies, antidepressants etc. I’m now working with a specialist eating disorder therapist and it’s changed my life and for the first time my life isn’t dominated by binges or thinking about eating.

The therapists work remotely, I can pass on their details if helpful. I was really sceptical but it’s changed my life so much.

I'm the same. Mine is due to boredom and the fact (in my mind) that I've got no reason to look good. I don't really go out, I don't work, I have no social life. My day to day life is being in the house, husband at work, son at school. I used to take great care in my appearance when I worked but now I don't see the point. I'm still buying the clothes and make up in the hope my Outlook will change, but it gets shoved in the wardrobe never to been seen again. I've been making a real effort this week to NOT binge, I tell myself that the biscuits are available to eat whenever I want, I don't need to eat them all today, they are in the cupboard and available in the shops. It's all about knowing you can eat them whenever you want. The biggest thing is to STOP RESTRICTING and stop telling yourself that TOMORROW you will diet. Dieting is the root cause of binge eating. We are so used to restricting and our bodies are binging the food in preparation for the next diet. The book (available online for free) Never Binge Again is very helpful. A win for me is a day where I eat like a normal person! 3 meals and 2 snacks. 😊 Regardless of calories etc. The joy I get when I'm no longer a slave to food is amazing.

The Fuck It Diet by Caroline Dooner was a game changer for me. Seeing the cycle of ‘diet restriction / binge’ for exactly what it was, was like a light being switched on in my head.

It’s important to learn to trust ourselves around food, around hunger cues and actually truly trust. Until then you’re going to keep beating yourself up and the cycle continues.

Can’t recommend this book highly enough.

And you must remember that processed foods are made to not satisfy you, so you will reach for more and more. Your body is crying out for real foods yet you think it wants more shite. I try to only eat crap food if its following a meal of real food. If I snack on processed foods it will inadvertently lead to binging.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE listen to this podcast

Brain over binge

It has literally changed my life.

@PeggyGa

Overeaters anonymous for a while (a bit like AA) now. A year free from binging. My life has literally changed. I binged my way up to 16 stone and have slowly lost 3 stone. It’s been a long process but oA is the only thing that has helped

@PeggyGa

What do you do at the meetings? I’ve often thought I needed help with this too

My binge point is biscuits, anything sweet.
Avoiding it entirely is what works for me.
One always leads to the whole packet.
Don't buy it.
Replace the binge food with something else.....water, fruit, a sandwich, etc.