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Weight loss chat

A space to talk openly about weight loss journeys and challenges. Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.

What on earth is the answer for binge eating + junk food addiction?

60 replies

thas · 23/03/2025 16:09

I really feel at my wits end. I’m 2 stone overweight so not huge, but extremely unhappy with my body. I’ve just binged on 6 bars of chocolate that I bought whilst doing the Aldi shop. If I enter a shop right now I end up buying food to binge on. Every single time. I don’t buy anything to keep at home, but shops are everywhere and if my brain sees one it takes me in there. I’ve done this for 25 years and it’s really taken its toll on my health, both mental and physical. I’m really worried about my health. I have an autoimmune disease and should be eating sugar hardly at all.

Does anything work? I need answers right now. My BMI is not near enough for weight loss injections and I’m concerned about the side effects of those anyhow.

Any advice?

OP posts:
Polecat07 · 27/03/2025 12:42

Can't seem to edit my post, that was in reply to TheDandyKhakiDuck -
The Binge Eating Therapist on YouTube is great - Sarah Dosanjh.

Mumsnet being very weird for me at the mo, can't edit, can't quote, lots of error messages.

Sunshineandrainbow · 27/03/2025 15:02

Chocchips123 · 27/03/2025 09:48

Cut down slowly. Buy 1 bar at the shop not 6. Tell yourself you can pick a different bar each time so you don't feel restricted too much. Portion sizes matter.

This is really good advice.
I do similar with crisps, I allow myself one bag as soon as I get in from work. I could easily do a sharing size or two but this one small bag allows me to control it better.

TwentyKittens · 27/03/2025 15:05

thas · 23/03/2025 17:50

Same - toxic marriage but can’t afford to leave.

There's part of your answer OP!

PetaPip · 27/03/2025 15:11

I really struggle with binging on chocolate and it's so hard to stop. I managed to really cut out refined sugars for a while and I don't know what helped really. I used to just remind myself every time I thought about eating sugar that I really want to improve my health to have the most time possible with my children. I also found complete cold turkey impossible so would eat a couple of squares of dark chocolate pressed onto a medjool date as dessert. Sounds weird but they taste really rich and sweet and it helped the cravings. I also found it best to focus on cutting out sugar first rather than worrying about fat or calories. First sugar then portion size.

JustSawJohnny · 27/03/2025 16:15

Have you read Ultra Processed People?

As someone who has struggled with my weight my whole life it made me so angry.

Your need for junk is absolutely by design. Companies spend millions tweaking recipes that will make people come back again and again.

For most people these things are treats and easily managed but for those who use these foods to meet an emotional need it can be devastating.

See a doctor, OP. Get some advice.

Your behaviour does sound like you have addictive issues around certain foods.

It doesn't always have to be this way, OP.

Sajacas · 27/03/2025 16:28

If you have the time watch Dr Jen Unwin discussing food addiction: F

thas · 05/04/2025 16:56

GuineaHyggaeReturnsWheeking · 27/03/2025 12:38

Overeaters Anonymous is the only thing that worked for me, alongside a lot of therapy (I've always been a compulsive eater since a young child, any feeling I eat!) I Did have a lot of trauma in my upbringing (abuse related) and have some other trauma related diagnoses which have allowed me to access therapies like Dialectical Behavioural Therapy. I realised that the eating was just another form of self harm, self sabotaging and impulsive behaviour, so some of the techniques I learned there help me a bit, but OA has been my main support with the food.

I’m a bit confused about how to get started with OA. Do I simply choose any zoom meeting and rock up? How did you get started with it?

OP posts:
Semiramide · 05/04/2025 17:37

I find Dr Becky Gillaspy's short talks on YouTube very useful. For instance:

g

As well as Ultra Processed People, I would recommend Dr Mark Hyman's The Blood Sugar Solution:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-Sugar-Solution-Mark-Hyman/dp/1444760564

ScabbyHorse · 05/04/2025 17:43

I lost weight by going on the Gloji programme through a leaflet I saw in my GPs office. It’s like Noom but free. They go into the psychological side of it as well as practical tips. I’ve only made a few tweaks but it’s working. Also I cut out sugar for lent and that seemed to help to completely eliminate it as I lost cravings after about five days.

NinetySevenPercent · 05/04/2025 18:17

It's really complicated and I will say, OP, that like some others on here the only thing that has really helped me is Mounjaro - there's a piece in the Guardian today about how it helps people with binge eating disorders (but also discussing the dangers of it for people with restrictive eating disorders, and it's tricky because some people have both).

However, I do know that my binging - while triggered by a number of factors - was wildly exacerbated by restriction. Low carb, fasting and giving up sugar are particularly bad for people whose binges are prompted by restriction. Low carb was the scariest for me; the binging I did after three months of low carb was truly off the scale. That's not an uncommon experience. And it came for me after years on the diet-binge cycle which eventually got me to a point where even just thinking about restriction could trigger a binge.

Therapy didn't help me at all, but I did find that the intuitive eating approach clicked for me. You have to approach it with an attitude of abundance though, which is frightening. If your binges are triggered by restriction, you have to genuinely abandon all restrictions and dismantle every food rule in your head. It's hard to do. I never quite succeeded, but I could see how it works and made some progress.

However, I did go on Mounjaro in the end and now I can eat intuitively very easily and with no rules or restrictions without the battle in my head. I don't count calories or track carbs. My head is a lot calmer and I feel a sense of peace around food that I never have before. I know it’s the drugs of course that enabled me to leapfrog the process, but it is such a respite from what I used to feel. I also know that if I come off them, I will be back in it again.

A small step I always found helpful was to think every day about what I would add in to my diet. Some plentiful protein for example and maybe five different colours of fruit or vegetables. It didn't matter what I had on top of that, didn't matter if I binged on chocolate or crisps as well, but could I put those things into my day? Eating fresh food and getting protein in did help head off a binge sometimes. But I couldn’t approach it from the opposite way around - if I thought NO CHOCOLATE TODAY or only 50g of carbs or something like that, I was building up to a binge. The pressure was on and an explosion was inevitable at some point, whether that day or a week later or whenever it was - it was coming. It was exhausting trying to fight against it. I really feel for you.

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