Has anyone overcome binge eating disorder?

[EscapeRoomToTheSun]

Getting so frustrated with myself recently-have lost a bit of weight and my impulse to eat everything in sight is going to undo all my progress.

I was wondering if anyone has managed to stop, or has any resources they could point me to?

I know some of my triggers are stress and emotional upset. But sometimes it's more like i just see sweet/fatty food and Its happening.

Posters with no experience of this phenomenon are encouraged not to reply with "have some self control" etc. Thanks all.

@LindaEllen I could have written your post word for word, no one understands and it's so so bloody hard. I ate a large bag of Maltesers yesterday that I had stashed in the cupboard while cooking a roast dinner in the kitchen on my own, I hate myself and the way I look but I have no self control to stop doing what I'm doing.

If my husband tells me he is going out one night then I'll plan what I'm going to buy to eat while he's gone and the kids are in bed.

If I go food shopping alone then I'll buy something to eat in the car while driving home, any excuse to eat and I'll do it.

God I hate this.

I wonder if there is a book zealandardour could recommend? For those who can't access therapy?

I think I did something similar without the psychotherapy. I did put a structure in place around my eating at first, as it was so out of control, but the goal was to normalise my eating again so I could tell when I was hungry and when I was sated, and what foods my body wanted, so that I no longer needed the structure. So the goal was to get to a place where I could eat intuitively.

Not focussing on weight loss or banning foods or thinking of certain foods as 'bad' is key I think. Its about getting back to having a normal, intuitive, relaxed attitude to food. That was the approach that worked for me anyway. And knowing this was a long term project so I didn't give up within a few months.

I used to binge eat on an evening, I wasn't hungry but I would stuff my face of anything I fancied which was always chocolate, crisps etc.

I used to wake up with the dread of 'omg how much did I eat last night' even while I was eating I knew I would wake up and feel terrible but it was like I couldn't stop.

I eventually decided I wanted to stop that dreaded feeling every morning, it was horrible and would last all day. I'm not sure how I stopped, it was a lot of will power, mostly the thought of how I would feel the next day helped.

I lost 1.5 stone nearly and got to my ideal weight for a big event I had last year. I promised myself I would never let it get bad again.

Since the event I have started eating a lot more again with no real structure or awareness. Its just 'If I want it, ill eat it'

I have gained about 10lbs and i'm really worried I'm slipping because I can't seem to stop these little binge sessions again at the moment that have recently come back, there no where near as bad as they were, but they're definitely raising their head a bit more often for my liking.

I don't think people like us ever really recover from BED, I think its just always something we're going to have to manage.

Thanks for your expert advice misty rock. Binge eating disorder is an eating disorder. I am taking tje power away from it by controlling what I eat. I actually thought I was doing really well but obviously I've failed at that aswell

someone at work has just said they are going to the shop for food (lunch). I have brought my lunch into work but now I have heard my colleagues comment, I want to go to the shop. It is literally right next to my office.

I am going to struggle to not go. I must try to resist.

No.

I got a gastric sleeve because of it. Lost 7 stone but still struggling :(

I got really, really lucky and found that a local NHS commissioned service was able to provide treatment for BED to people with elevated BMI. I’m not sure if they’re still commissioned for it now though.

If anyone is in Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire/South Yorkshire then the service I went to is called Freed Beeches and they’re based in Worksop. If you’re local then worth a phone call as I don’t think their website gets updated regularly enough to reflect the changes in commissioning. The first time I ever called them I cried to the woman on the phone because they were treating BED but not for anyone with an elevated BMI which is totally asynchronous with the actual condition which doesn’t have any purging/compensatory mechanism to keep the BMI low. I tried again a few years later and happily they’d had a change to commissioning and could see me with a morbidly obese BMI. It was really holistic too, after ever therapy session I then had an appointment with the complimentary therapist who did massage or reflexology or whatever else.

I still feel tearful now when I think about what they did for me, I’ve written to the CCG and the service to tell them as much.

I didn't mean it the way you've taken it, but you seem to be restricting your food and focusing on your weight. I'm not trying to be mean but to get over binge eating disorder it's best to forget about the scales and to not restrict your food. You haven't failed. If it works for you than you are winning.

I am a chronic binge eater.
I was 20 stone but have maintained 11 stone for a long time. My "secret" is I let myself have a few days a month where I go nuts. It's controlled binging and it takes away the addiction having control of me. And gets it out of my system for another month.

The rest of the time I eat healthily/low carb.. lots of fruit, chicken, fish, salads, stirfries, protein bars etc. It kerbs my appetite

I had bariatric surgery so now I literally cannot binge! I tried everything over the years and nothing worked! I would also recommend therapy to go with the surgery.

Any form of diet management, eg, Saxenda, low sugar, Keto, gastric band, will only work short term for someone with BED. It is a food associated mental health issue just like Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa.

There’s an excellent book you should read: Dr Chris Fairburn - Overcoming Binge Eating (2nd edition) He’s been studying EDs since the 1970’s. The book requires you to follow steps - it will take effort and time to work through the steps, taking you (and your brain) away from the continual cycle of bingeing, dieting, feeling guilty, etc. It really does work though.

Good luck

In my case, I binge when I diet or restrict and eating more freely certainly 'cures' my bingeing, as in I can have chocolate and biscuits in the house and just have a couple as a snack, no urgency or desperation around eating to fill the void, eating just when I'm hungry etc - but on the other hand my weight is higher than I'd like it to be as a result of eating to my appetite. So, any advice on how to drop weight (slowly is fine) but without retriggering the bingeing?? I have tried to accept my larger body, but to be honest I feel psychologically and physically really uncomfortable with it (I'm around BMI 25).

I struggled with bulimia in the past and books on intuitive eating and one called the f*uck it diet really helped me personally. Sending lots of love and support x

Well I messed up trying not to swear there. Oops - typo sorry x

If your BMI is 25 then it sounds like the risks involved in weight loss efforts aren’t worth it as you’re a healthy weight. Would the time and mental space be better spent on learning to love and cherish yourself, being thankful for your body for all the things it does for you other than being small?

FWIW I’m a recovered binge eater, and I got my BMI from 53 down to 25, and I am totally happy here, my body is good to me, it makes me strong and active. I enjoy exercise, weights and yoga, because of these specific bones and muscles and fat. I like to dress it in nice clothes which accentuate my favourite parts and show the world who I am. It makes me better when I’m sick and will hopefully grow healthy babies for me in the future. It’s a vessel through which I get to experience the world, and everyone who has ever loved me (familiarly, romantically and platonically) saw it before they saw anything else about me and they found it good enough too.

Some of these posts make me want to cry, I recognise myself in so many of them.

For 6 months last year, my binge eating was under control. I was doing yoga every day and concentrating on making healthy choices as much as possible, as in good for my body so lots of fruit, veg etc or good for my soul, which would be going out for a cake or having a glass or two of wine at the weekend. I was also listening to the brain over binge podcasts.

I really struggled with my BED when I got pregnant last year, felt too sick to do my yoga and could only stomach beige foods. My baby is now 6 months and am still really struggling with binging. I don't think the tiredness is helping at all.

I've been binging for 20 ish years now. And I agree that dieting restrictions have completely mucked up my relationship with food. I also think so much of BED is self esteem related, last year I felt really good about myself and the urge to binge really faded away. Stopping the binge eating helped to make me feel so much better about myself. Its just such a vicious cycle to get stuck in.

I am hoping that i will be able to get a handle on it again, I want to set a good example for my children as I don't want them to struggle with food the way i have.

I agree. Negatively around yourself and your body can really increase binge eating. I'm on a steady road of not binging so much. I've moved house and am feeling happy in my new home. I've been ordering nice clothes which FIT me now, NOT when I'm thinner (I always buy clothes that are too tight because I'm so desperate to be smaller) I've been eating foods I enjoy, not what I think I should be eating, and I've pushed all thoughts of dieting out of my mind. I'm trying to eat intuitively. So some days I'll have chocolate, crisps and biscuits and others 3 proper meals. On the days of snacking on chocolate etc I don't beat myself up about it. By not beating myself up I then stop the feelings of guilt and shame and therefore prevent a full on binge. In the past I've battled with restricted eating, verging on anorexia and then I went full circle to binging. I've had years of being 'normal' but somehow 4 years ago it all went to shit (diagnosed with IBD, got very low). But I think I'm getting healthier and more importantly happier again. My weight is stabilising and I can see a brighter future. I take it small steps at a time. I know food is out there to be enjoyed and I know I can eat any foods I want. There is no reason for me to eat all the food at once. Its not going anywhere.

And it did. But it worked. It was really hard to ignore the cravings, but I realised they were only feelings that I could accept and have but did not have to act on. Nothing bad was going to happen if I did not act on them. They were just feelings I could experience and accept.

This is the hard part isn't it, and the part that we don't want to have to do. Dealing with the cravings, the psychological battle. This is the thing we try to get around with 'diets' that let you eat as much of X as you want, so you don't have to deal with denying that craving - but eventually the craving comes back.

And really, there's no other way. Every single person who has been successful at conquering binge eating disorder, has faced this feeling, and got to grips with it, and found a way to conquer it.

You just have to find a mechanism for handling your cravings. That is the crux of it at the end of the day. People do it in different ways, but that's ultimately what you have to do.

I’ve always had an issue with emotional eating and overeating when I’m tired, anxious, bored, celebrating something (insert every other emotion known to humanity) but I wouldn’t have described it as a binge eating disorder.

in 2020 I went through a difficult spell with work stress and it coincided with lockdown so my usual stress coping strategies weren’t available. I started having occasional extreme binges (eating until I made myself feel sick) as a way to squash the anxious panicky feeling in my stomach. It took me a while to recognise that’s what I was doing.

I tackled it by dealing with the root cause. I sorted out my work stress and found new coping strategies for my mental health (walking and running outdoors which I now vastly prefer to the gym). That doesn’t mean I won’t do it again and I still do the emotional eating but I wouldn’t describe it as a binge.

I’ve had BED for years, and I tried the books mentioned and the podcasts. It’d work for a bit but then I’d spiral again.

I spent most of this year having therapy for it and addressing the underlying issues and I’m in a much better place. I have good and bad days still but I don’t get trapped in a cycle. I’m happy to recommend my therapists, they’re online and specialise in eating disorders.

Sending love to you all, it’s a cruel and very misunderstood illness.

I have found slimming world excellent for this as there's nothing you can't eat,you just have to eat it within moderation. I don't want to use my 'syns' on sweet stuff as that's a massive trigger as once I start I can't stop , I'm finding eating better means I don't crave it so much anyway. Weight is coming off and it's dead easy to follow. I'm doing it online,the idea of meetings fills me with horror. I've lost 2 kilos in 2 weeks and that's with a Chinese and Italian meals out for birthdays.

Please ignore the post above, I didn't read the post before me thoroughly

@Twilightstarbright I'd love to know who your therapists are please