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Original poster

Binge eating- what worked for you?

35 replies

Dramallama24 · 29/11/2025 20:32

Hi,
Long time sufferer of BED, also strongly suspect ADHD at play here too,
I was wondering if you have suffered from binge eating and have now stopped, what was it that worked for you? I have tried all the self help books out there and still struggle so looking for ideas/ guidance, thanks 😊

OP posts:
PegDope · 30/11/2025 18:26

I’ll echo @Dilbertian

Keto did it for me.

It does the exact same job as mounjaro/Ozempic without the expense and potentially serious side effects.

But a big caveat is that you have to eat really well - prioritise protein, lots of healthy fat and some low carb veg for extra slowing of gastric emptying. No replacement foods.

I’ve been keto for a decade and am the healthiest I’ve ever been. I lost 8 stone and have maintained it easily.

IDontHateRainbows · 30/11/2025 19:24

Dilbertian · 30/11/2025 18:06

I do not restrict calories when eating LCHF, nor do I consider any foods to be restricted. I think of it more as “Eating this food makes me feel unwell, so I’ll avoid it”.

For me, low carbing is about what I can eat, what I can enjoy eating, what I do not have to restrict because I can really listen to my needs and respond happily. It does take a few weeks of self-discipline to get to that point.

Bingeing (for me, at least) is often about how fast I can cram the food in, how to intensify that thump of satisfaction I feel as I swallow. Low carbing involves slowing down, really enjoying that bit of crispy chicken skin, the buttery scrambled eggs, the wedge of tangy cheddar, really appreciating the sensory experience of eating. Eventually this replaces the ‘thump’ I sought from binge eating.

I know it’s not for everybody. But when people talk about yoyoing because their binging returned when they stopped low carbing, I wonder what will happen when they stop Mounjaro? What replaces bingeing? Once the effects of LCHF, or Mounjaro, or whatever system somebody uses, wear off, then what? Unless we work on our minds at the same time as our way of eating, we don’t find a coping strategy to replace the bingeing.

In all honesty, I have learned not to care if I find myself slipping back into bingeing. First thing to do is to forgive myself, because guilt and recrimination only drives me back into the unhelpful habit. Sometimes that is all it takes to stop, or rather, to not do it again. But if I do find myself binging I know I can stop it again by reverting to low carbing. And when I’m ready, I will do so. But never before Christmas. Too much stress, too much pressure. I prefer in springtime - much more cheerful and generally lower demands on me.

A lot of people find that their sense of smell is enhanced and they get addicted to perfumes and other scent based things, particularly gourmand perfumes. I know because I am one of them. From barely being into perfume at all pre mounjaro, I'm now a bit of an addict and have a massive collection, mainly of travel sizes. I don't mind as I can afford it and quite frankly it's nice to have a benign 'addiction' to replace the food. My friend who went on MJ and doesn't have a sense of smell said she felt a bit bereft at having nothing to replace the food.

TaffetaPhrases · 01/12/2025 12:08

Completely agree with Dilbertian - I stared eating keto three years ago. It’s sorted out binge eating and concentration issues - and it’s nothing compared to the cost of mounjaro. I think it’s more effective and quicker but who am I to judge! Being overweight is bloody miserable and I know I’d have gone for it myself if I wasn’t keto focussed.

@Dilbertian interesting about the perfume addiction- since starting keto my sene of smell is stronger than it has ever been including in pregnancy!

roundaboutthehillsareshining · 01/12/2025 12:17

I did a lot of work on triggers. So I know my triggers to binge are feeling sad and lonely, and when I'm feeling like that, I'm in the "danger zone". So what do I need to do to reduce the risk? Maybe I need to do some exploration of why I'm feeling sad, through meditation or journalling? Or if I'm lonely, will going out of the house be helpful? Or picking up my knitting and a good film?

Sometimes I do still binge, and I've found that binges are an important resetting mechanism - I think similar to self harm, sometimes it has to be done, but it can be done in a harm reducing way. So when I start to binge, I make myself take a portion of food from the kitchen into another room - e.g. take one slice of bread rather than the loaf or one biscuit rather than the packet. That way, I have to keep getting up and down to continue the binge, which gives me space to think about what I'm doing and make other choices. It's extremely frustrating, but it means even when I binge, I eat a lot less and recover from it faster. I also make sure I give myself permission to binge, so that I don't have to deal with the guilt, which makes me sad, which makes the need to binge resurface.

I've never tried WLI, but I'm not sure they'd be effective as for me, bingeing isn't about food noise. I don't feel hungry during a binge. I feel unsatisfied, and the act of moving, preparing and eating food is satisfying. By repurposing the "doing" part and finding satisfaction through other outlets, I've reduced bingeing a lot.

froginatree · 01/12/2025 12:30

I have a I can make you thin Paul McKenna book that has an online audio hypnosis track. That massively helps me be more reasonable about intake and stop when I’m full etc even though I’m not following the plan in the book as long as I do it fairly
regularly

Dilbertian · 01/12/2025 12:50

For me it’s my sense of taste that becomes enhanced. Flavours are so much more vivid when I low carb, especially sweet flavours.

PegDope · 01/12/2025 13:23

Dilbertian · 01/12/2025 12:50

For me it’s my sense of taste that becomes enhanced. Flavours are so much more vivid when I low carb, especially sweet flavours.

Yes! Carrots are so sweet as is milk.

I treat myself to a cappuccino a couple of times a year. The first time I had one after a couple of years being keto I asked the barista if she had added sugar to it. She said she hadn’t but made me another one anyway. It was as sweet and I realised that it was the milk. I couldn’t believe how sweet it is.

Now the smell of sugar, outside bakeries and sweet shops, makes me queasy.

jualgem · 09/12/2025 17:29

Has anyone read the book ‘the easy way to quit smoking’, it gets you to basically self-hypnotise yourself to change your inner belief about yourself, that you are a non-smoker, so you really actually want to quit, rather than feeling like it’s a really bad hard thing to stop. Anyone know if a book like that exists for binge eating?

froginatree · 09/12/2025 19:02

He does books about weight loss too @jualgem !

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