to ask you to help me stop binging?

[neroforte]

i just can’t stop. someone please help me. i know all the advice of eat more protein etc, but i just can’t. i do well at ‘intuitive eating’ for a few days if i’m lucky then start binging again.

I need help with this too. The don’t buy junk food advice is useless as I don’t necessarily eat lots of junk I’ll just eat whatever weird combo of things I can find in the house, oatcakes and lime pickle or ryvitas and marmite but just tons of it. And then I’d course I do eat insane amounts of crisps too as I have to top up shop as our fridge (and kitchen!) is absolutely tiny/

Take a full body shot of yourself in underwear, and every time you get the urge to binge sit and look at it while drinking a pint of water.

Brain over binge. Life changing

I suffered from bulimia when I was younger and I found the Recovery Record app enormously helpful. It’s all about logging your food (no calories) and how you’re feeling to get back in tune with your body.

Set a budget at the supermarket. I thought I was being clever the other day and got more stuff in now I've eaten it all!!

@WeatherSystems

Take a full body shot of yourself in underwear, and every time you get the urge to binge sit and look at it while drinking a pint of water.

thanks for the idea but that sounds like something i’d do when my anorexia was at its worst

No problem. Might have been useful to mention the eating disorder earlier in the thread.

@InterstellarDrifter

I’m a binger too. The only thing that helps me is to not eat any bread/baked goods or sugar at all. It’s amazing how in control I feel and I wonder why I even ever binged. As soon as I eat just a bit, I’m out of control again and it takes me ages to get back to it. I feel like I have to treat it like an addiction. Like Alcoholism or something. I should never have bakery items or refined sugar. Ever.

This is a good post. And you are correct to treat it like an addiction. Sugar is very addictive.

thank you everyone. my triggers are definitely boredom and feeling like i need to ‘fill a void’ as depressing as that sounds (which it kind of is!). when i’m at my boyfriends house for eg, i eat totally in tune with my body, as in i don’t feel the need to eat until i’m hungry, or eat more than i need to stop being hungry, i never eat until i’m physically full i just eat until i’m no longer hungry, and i don’t even think about it. i only think about food when i’m hungry when i’m there. i guess it’s because i’m occupied even when we’re not really doing much, whereas at home i don’t have anything to distract me.
today is a new day and i’m trying not to let last nights binge throw me off, i haven’t eaten breakfast yet because i’m genuinely just not hungry, but when i am i know im going to want sugar, so im going to try and eat something with a lot of protein because i think that’s what i really need, i’ve been kinda lacking in that area recently!
thank you for all the tips and i will definitely try them all.

Another vote for Kathryn Hansen's Brain Over Binge.

@Redyellowpink

Read Brain Over Binge by Kathryn Hansen. It honestly changed my life. I went from binging and purging twice a week to never again.

This book changed by life. I've been free of binging for about 5 years now. I can eat a bit of chocolate, crisps, deserts etc but stop when I've had enough. I feel like my relationship with food has been healed.

@surreygirl1987 what sort of thing does the note say?

Brain over binge is a v good read and what worked for me was Saxenda for 30 days while reading the book and listening to her podcasts!

@WeatherSystems Even if the OP hadn't got a history of disorder eating (although pretty apparent imo, binge eating is an eating disorder) the photo idea is shocking and dangerous advice!

Really?

Bingeing means to overindulge in an extreme way. OP didn't mention an eating disorder. Binge eating disorder is an eating disorder. Bingeing is a behaviour anyone can and many do do. When I plan to stick to a calorie goal and then eat three bowls of cheerios and a family sized bag of kettle chips on the evening before bed, that's bingeing.

@crackbadger my note to self describes how I felt in the AFTERMATH of the binge. So when I want the chocolate or whatever, I'm focused on how nice it feels at the time, rather than how terrible it feels afterwards. So my note describes that heavy, bloated, guilty feeling I will inevitable feel, and asks me to have just one or two pieces, then to make a big pot of tea and drink that instead.

I find I am definitely more likely to binge when idle - so when I'm not fully occupied. Especially if I'm just watching TV, mostly in the evening. So I find it really helps to make a big pot of tea so I have something to consume. Or even just painting my nails, so my hands are occupied! I'm far more likely to binge if my husband is out, so I plan ahead for something to occupy myself on those evenings if possible.

Thanks for the recommendation brain over binge - will read that!

@WeatherSystems

Really?

Bingeing means to overindulge in an extreme way. OP didn't mention an eating disorder. Binge eating disorder is an eating disorder. Bingeing is a behaviour anyone can and many do do. When I plan to stick to a calorie goal and then eat three bowls of cheerios and a family sized bag of kettle chips on the evening before bed, that's bingeing.

Depends how often OP does this I suppose- more than once a week for at least three months would be classified as binge eating disorder. It’s actually quite common (I know as I also suffer with this), and often happens in the scenario you’ve described- as a reaction to restricted eating or dieting. Anyway, I am not here to diagnose the OP so apologies if it came across that way.

Either way; your suggestion to look at a photo in a bikini when there is the urge to binge seems pretty dangerous and disorded to me.

Yes I agree about the photo thing - it is not good advice.

OP- echo other suggestions for Brain Over Binge book and podcast. It’s not totally cured if for me but definitely helped reframe my brain a bit.

[quote surreygirl1987]@crackbadger my note to self describes how I felt in the AFTERMATH of the binge. So when I want the chocolate or whatever, I'm focused on how nice it feels at the time, rather than how terrible it feels afterwards. So my note describes that heavy, bloated, guilty feeling I will inevitable feel, and asks me to have just one or two pieces, then to make a big pot of tea and drink that instead.

I find I am definitely more likely to binge when idle - so when I'm not fully occupied. Especially if I'm just watching TV, mostly in the evening. So I find it really helps to make a big pot of tea so I have something to consume. Or even just painting my nails, so my hands are occupied! I'm far more likely to binge if my husband is out, so I plan ahead for something to occupy myself on those evenings if possible.

Thanks for the recommendation brain over binge - will read that![/quote]
Thanks for the response @surreygirl1987
I have often thought of writing myself a similar note, but don't think I would care at a time of wanting to binge.

Saxenda. Game changer, especially for binge eating. Look into it you might find it’s for you after you’ve weighed up pros and cons.