Has anyone successfully dealt with emotional/binge eating?

[StopEatinNutellaOutOfTheJar]

I really need to lose weight. 6 + stone.

I know what I need to do. I make changes and start to see result etc but I can never stick to it.
Something always comes along and I ruin it for myself. My relationship with food is terribly toxic and I feel like I need to address this in order for the lifestyle changes to have longevity.

Just wondered if anyone has successfully dealt with this?

I am currently dealing with my binge / emotional eating. I have read brain over binge and listened to the podcast and honestly, it’s been life changing. Really helping and I’ve been binge free for around four weeks now.

It is about focussing on the binge eating first rather than focussing on weight loss which can be quite scary to let go of the dieting mindset. However I honestly can’t recommend it enough if you really want to address your relationship with food.

Thanks, I'm not a great reader but love the idea of a podcast so I'll take a look.

One one hand I'm at ab age now where I don't care, but on the other hand I'm more than likely doing damage and thr older I get the harder it is to shift the weight. I was even googling weightloss surgery earlier.....I mean how ridiculous. It would be the same as everything else, I'd stick to it, lose some weight and then fuck it up by buying a box of Christmas biscuits and eating them to myself. Any guesses what I'm doing right now!

At my heaviest I needed to lose 5 stone, I'm nearly 2 stone down now, and hopefully on track to keep going but the emotional eating is still a constant battle.

Had a really bad day today and reverted back to bad habits. One of the key things this time though, is I don't beat myself up about a bad day anymore, before I'd beat myself up, I'd be defeated and I'd go back to my old habits 24/7, whereas now, I'll have a bad day or two but then I'll reset, just remembering to be kind to myself, helps me start again, rather than giving up altogether.

I'm also trying to find other mindless/repetitive things to do when I'm stressed instead of eating.

The biggest help for me has been signing up to a life coach/personal trainer. Having someone to chat to helps me stay on track & learning how to exercise properly has really built my confidence and made me want to have a healthy body that can exercise.

My plan is a 12 week plan, then I drop down to a less supervised plan, so will be interesting to see how I do when I drop down, on week 9 atm.

Englishrose what have you found to do instead when you want to binge? I'm overcoming binge eating gradually but boredom eating is ny biggest downfall.

@StopEatinNutellaOutOfTheJar its so difficult. Brain over binge teaches you the reasons why we binge. For me it’s been years of restrictive dieting losing weight and then binge eating and piling it all back on. I just wanted to have a healthy relationship with food, the last few weeks have been so freeing. I’m now trying to relearn my natural appetite - when I feel hungry and when I feel full. And also what foods I make me feel good and what don’t. No restrictive eating but not just a free for all either. Years of disordered eating has meant that I am not really aware of my fullness signals but I’m starting to listen to my body and it’s helping.

I started with the podcasts and went on to get the book but could have just carried on with the podcasts.

Overcoming overeating is the classic (NHS recommended) text.

As far as I understand it, the theory is that once you have a habit of binging restricting calories in a conventional diet will always trigger a binge cycle - so you get stuck in the cycle.

I am only in the early stages of working on this but it’s interesting

@Sorrytomoan a mix of things, if it's nice I try and go out for a short walk, if it's raining I try and add a certain number of pieces to the puzzle I've got on the go. Or I set myself a challenge to sort one cupboard/drawer- I even take before and after pictures (sad I know, but it gives me a feeling of satisfaction).

I also try and have a drink of water first everytime I feel hungry, to rule out if its actually thirst. Plus I try and eat more mindfully and listen to my body more- that's still a learning curve though and so often my biggest downfall is eating something quick in front of the t.v and not really noticing I've eaten at all, so then straight on to snacks.

I had my first psychotherapy session for this today. 6 stone overweight and planning on gastric sleeve surgery as soon as possible.

I am intensely private so was dreading psychotherapy. I can only afford 4 sessions at the moment so we will see!

Thank you for all the replies. I've been an on and off dieter since I was about 13. I was always the chubby one at school.
I'm now late 30s and fatter than ever.

I genuinely think I might need therapy so I might try and look into this.

I'm still struggling with this. All my life. I used to do Overeaters Anonymous which did help . I need to go back.

How did you find Overeaters Anonymous, I have a fear of it being religious, I hope I'm wrong.... Can you tell me please?

Thank you, thats really helpful.

I could use help with this too. I eat mu emotions, whatever they are. i was intensely unhappy at work last year and put on three stone. I'm so much happier now, but am in that 'content' bubble. I need help!

OP - the NoBs weightloss programme is all about this.

It addresses the causes behind weight issues and is aimed at people with a good chunk of weight to lose and keep off.

www.nobsweightloss.com/

There is a free course and podcast series to try to see if you like it.

Came back on here to answer this. I'm glad I started lurking again on MN so I saw this. 😊 I was part of another binge eating group in my city called Food Addicts Anonymous but I struggled with the fellowship there and it wasn't helping me much. My sponsor from there suggested maybe I try OA which is more flexible. Neither organisations are tied to a specific religion, we have atheists and agnostics coming along as well. The programme in OA does talk about a higher power, some use God as their higher power, but many don't some use the programme instead. In theory the Higher Power can be anything you want it to be.

I recommend the website OA Great Britain, it will tell you where all the meetings are in your region. In my city there are at least three meetings a week in person and you can also do online meetings also, so there are a lot of options.

I hadn't realised binge eating was related to ADHD till I was assessed and psychiatrist mentioned it. Tbh I didn't really see it as bingeing more than my full switch was faulty, i never felt satisfied from eating so was hard to stop and had terrible cravings for sugar & bread. A low carb/keto diet is meant to be good for those with ADHD and I did find while trying to lose all the gained weight doing a VLCD meal replacement diet was only time I felt full & not craving food.
My adhd medication has helped although Elvanse/Vyvanse is also licenced for binge eating. Evenings when wears off is harder but I still eat less than I did previously. I think it's also linked to when I'm brain tired and trying to boost energy & dopamine.

following with interest.

I'm 56 and have been living with this all my life - it feels like such a waste. Despite all my efforts and losses over the years I am heavier than ever. I "gave up" dieting years ago.

I found the Gillia Riley course very useful re the psychology behind overeating, but I've also gained weight since doing that.

The thing is I can lose weight but I find it takes every once of effort to do so - it takes over everything. I barely drink alcohol and I eat too much food. I can't "switch to a healthy diet" as my diet is pretty good already so its not a matter of stopping alcohol/sugary food/coke etc and losing weight. Whatever it is I am eating, I simply eat too much. that's it - overeating which is emotional and embedded all my lifelong since childhood.

I feel lost.

relate so much to this. i can binge on OXO cubes and raw pasta

Combining LCHF/Keto with fasting has really helped me. I used to binge in the evening after dinner. When I started fasting it was like a switch was flipped. I use a fasting app and once I tap in a fast after my second meal of the day it's almost as if I simply can't break the fast and binge. It's not always easy but I find that it has really calmed down the triggers and I feel much more at peace these days.

I see a lot of information here that is a bit incomplete.

Having been through the NHS eating disorder service treatment plan, the general idea is that you eat regularly every 2-4 hours to keep your blood sugars more steady, complete food diaries and discuss you urges each week with a counsellor. The reality is this isn't very helpful in the long term, because once you're discharged and there's nobody holding you accountable you go back to your old tricks.

Dr Gabor Mate really knows his stuff about addiction and he wants to change the way doctors treat it. The root cause is our childhood traumas, whether we realise it or not.

Hi! I haven't dealt with binge eating, but am just starting too now. I am going to be having weekly group sessions, with a local eating disorder service. I have to fill in a form weekly about my eating, and how I feel about my body shape. Had to agree not to try and lose weight for a good few months, despite being obese. I have read 'Overcoming Binge Eating', by Dr. Christopher G. Fairburn. I found it helpful. I'll be getting CBT-e support for 14 weeks. Will be moved to 1-1 counselling if it doesn't work out for me.

Oh, and I have to weigh myself weekly - on the same day, at the same time. This is to stop me avoiding scales to weigh myself.

A PP mentioned this but I find getting a proper amount of sleep does no harm.

Otherwise my brain overrides any longer-term goals and says, "to keep alert and keep going, CARBS NOW, I don't care about your healthy eating shit".
And then five mins later there's a plate with a few cake crumbs on it.

More sleep allows the bit of me with the wider perspective to at least bargain my unconscious down to, um, I don't know, microwaved frozen fruit and plain yoghurt or something.

I think that is why OA helped so much. It is long term. After my diagnosis I was told by the mental health team for South Glos (this was back in 2016) that there wasn't much help for binge eating except the STEPS unit at Southmead which is inpatient, and they suggested I look at FAA or OA. After a bad experience with FAA,and a bad sponsor experience with OA, I then found a good sponsor with OA, she understood I was from a trauma background with other diagnoses of MH and physical issues and not much money. I made progress with her until lockdown . Then she lapsed very badly and had to stop sponsoring and I didn't have the courage to find a different sponsor because my CPTS D was causing me to be unable to feel safe with someone new.

I've got to a place in my therapy which I'm having for CPTSD and BPD/EUPD where I'm feeling I have the tools to deal with my fears about a new person even though it terrifies me I will work through it . I need to start Group meetings again , may need to do it through zoom.

I've had to go down the weight loss medication route which has been amazing. I have stopped craving unhealthy foods. I'm a little concerned when I come off the pills but I'm trying to install healthy habits now of whole foods and gym sessions now whilst the emotional side is under control.