Has anyone ever cured themselves of binge eating?

[mameulah]

Just that.

tia

No

I don't think that I ever will totally cure myself, but I do have a strong handle on it now, as I appear to be more able to identify when it might happen.

Anyone else, the best thing I have found so far is to chew 20 times. Anymore tips?

I've just read this book, which I have found to help me.

Book

Can't get the link ishould?

Are you eating a completely balanced diet including plenty of fat? I had a problem when I was in University and in hindsight I think it's just that I wasn't eating properly (I was very active though, so stayed quite slim). Too many empty carbs (cereal, bread, cookies) and not enough protein and healthy fat. I just never really felt satisfied. Now I'm even more active but I eat mostly protein, vegetables and fruit, a little whole grain (oats, rice) and a lot of healthy fat (olive oil, avocado, nuts, dark chocolate etc.). Drinking lots of water is obviously helpful too and so is getting plenty of sleep and exercise (to regulate hormones and appetite). I read recently that wheat is an appetite stimulant and in my case that definitely seems to be true, so now I mostly avoid it.

The only thing that cured my tendency to binge eat was physically losing the weight. I was 210 lbs and did a bit of calorie control dieting to get down to the 160s. It was around that time that I realised I wasn't giving in to binge tendencies. I put it down to my stomach physically shrinking. Then I started 5:2 and am now 131 lbs and today even if I want to gorge on yummy food I can't cause I can't fit it inside my gut without being in physical pain.

Actually totally changing my diet really helped me. I cut out trigger foods and stuck to filling whole foods.

I will always have a tendency to emotionally eat but I certainly don't binge anymore like I did. I just think of the guilt I know I'll feel and it definitely makes me think twice.

Yes, have binged for years, got up to size. 20-22 and 18 stone . My solution might not help you though: I became a Christian and asked God to help be stop ruining myself .

Believe it or not I really feel differently about food now (pretty much an overnight transformation really in how I feel). I don't think about food much. Find it easy to make healthy choices, can have a small amount of pudding or whatever and not feel compelled to eat everything. Have also stopped thinking of 'being on the wagon' so I have nothing to fall off, iykwim? I've lost 3 stone in 3 months and feel like I haven't tried at all.

But I realise that this won't be the answer for everyone!

Book

Hope this works!

ishouldcocoa

I was wondering if you could tell me the main message in the book?

I used to binge eat from my mid teens then it turned into bulimia in my early 20's. It was only when I became pregnant at 24 that I stopped binge eating. My focus shifted from myself, and how I looked, to my baby, and all of a sudden food, control and image suddenly seemed less important. I realised that there were more important things in life and thankfully the urge has never returned. Horrible period of my life and I'm so glad I'm not a slave to food anymore. It dominated so much of my thoughts and time. Exhausting.

Yep that worked!

Inspiring blog from someone who cured themselves - hope this helps, OP

www.brainoverbinge.com/blog-1/

Thank you, it is all very helpful.

mameulah - its all about reprogramming your brain pathways in the end, but starts off talking about self esteem, and how most of us bingers lack self confidence. We then binge and hate ourselves even more.

The lady who wrote it is english, so its a fairly low key book, not 'american-ised' like a lot of them are.

Oh, and none of the advice she gives is about weight loss - its all about boosting self esteem (as above) and regaining a healthy lifestyle. Reaping the rewards for eating less and eating better food.

She talks about low GI or low GL food being far better for us, and ditching sugars and processed carbs.

HTH

Thank you ISHOULDCOCOA

Another recommendation for Brain Over Binge - both the book and the blog. It was the key element for me in stopping my bulimia.

mameulah whilst there is an element of biological urge to binge, typically driven by attempting to restrict and control food intake , and/or having what I believe is a particular sensitivity to 'trigger' foods (typically sugar and or starchy carbs), there is almost always an emotional element to bingeing.

Attempting to fight the urge to binge will never cure it. Bingeing serves a purpose for the person doing it - it is a coping mechanism or comfort (however bad it leaves them feeling). They may be suffering from repressed emotions, a lack of love and intimacy, work stress, problems in relationships (past or present), low self esteem, hatred of body...almost anything.

The poster above who found that religion solved her problem overnight is a great example, as is the one for whom having children was the change. They found a new and nourishing focus for their lives. It can be emotional or spiritual but it is an adjustment in these areas that will stop the bingeing. You must look at what your triggers are and where there are sources of stress or unhappiness, or something missing in your life. It will be different for everyone but address those things and the compulsion to binge will lessen, if not disappear. Not easy I know, but necessary..

Yep...oddly enough, when I stopped dieting! The binging stopped immediately, and I lost weight. Now the house is always filled to the brim with everything I love, and I can actually eat one biscuit and stop if that's what I feel like.

Yes, I had a few years of binge eating when I was in my late teens and totally obsessed with food, calories, my weight and dieting. It stopped when I went to University and got properly interested in other things. I never overeat now as I can't stand feeling full ... but I am very overweight. Its been a gradual creep upwards over 30+ years but I am too scared to go on any kind of conventional diet again, am frightened of going back to disordered eating, which is what I think dieting causes.

Mintyy I am starting work this year as an eating psychology coach, which of course incorporates nutrition, if you want to chat to me about possible changes to try in terms of what you eat I'd be happy to chat, I promise not to suggest any kind of 'diet'

Not yet despite or maybe because of successful membership of slimming world, reading beind chocolate which is specifically about this and trying to not think about dieting for months to take the pressure off.

My latest theory is to give up refined sugar completely as explained in sweet poison by David Gillespie. Don't know if will work yet but the idea is that most of us are addicted to sugar and that is what we are binging/grazing on. Cut the sugar and cut the drive to overeat. I doubt it will be easy but worth a try in my opinion.