Advice for a binge eater? page 2

[Louisa655]

I'll take it, if you're serious! Any resources you could provide me on that? Like, should I look into seeing a professional, or is it something I can do myself?

I'm totally serious. When I was younger, I had 4 wisdom teeth removed and I was at a NY's party. I was in so much pain, that I wasn't eating any food and this woman asked me why I wasn't eating. And I shared with her that I was in too much pain with my wisdom teeth having been recently extracted. She confided that she was a hypnosis expert (whatever they call themselves), and she took me into another room and performed her 'magic'. All I remember is lying down on a couch, and going into a very deep relaxing state -- almost asleep -- and then being sort of 'woken up abruptlyl'. She told me that I could go and enjoy the food, and that I would feel great. I was not really a believer, but I complied. Sure enough, I literally had NO PAIN for the rest of the evening. It was the strangest experience I've ever had. I was so comfortable and ate and had conversation as if nothing was wrong with me. Anyway, from that time forward, I've thought to myself that If I ever needed to confront an addiction or deal with something difficult, that I would be open to trying hypnosis again. What's the worst that can happen???? it fails.....or it may succeed.......

[Ellie_Miller]

The problem is, I have cut out all the processed crap EXCEPT that frozen yogurt, and my urge to binge on it never goes away. Earlier this year I went nearly six months without being having it, due to not having any alone time to binge, but yet I still thought about it all the time, and once I did get the opportunity, I went back to binge on it. It's not just the food itself I'm addicted to-- it's the whole binge "package," the way I binge and the feelings and the whole ritual of it. I don't even like the frozen yogurt that much, to be honest, I just feel compelled to eat it! I never ever keep it in the house either. I always go out to buy it. In fact, that's part of the binge for me. I'd never think to eat it if it were just sitting around....

Oh I feel your pain. Been there many times. Got to the point where I knew what to eat and not eat. I knew if I chewed my food slowly and mindfully, that would help, but I didn't. More protein, cook in bulk, see a counselor, nope nope nope!! I just didn't want to. All I wanted to do was EAT! I've been binge free for a couple of months. I just got so sick of feeling so sick from all the binging. So I told myself, "I want to feel good". Then done. No more binging. Will this work for you? Maybe, maybe not. But it all boils down to you making a decision to stop. Otherwise, all the solutions in the world wont do a god damn thing.

Now, there are some advice on this thread that may or may not work for you but try them. You wont know unless you try right?

For me, I was just not right mentally and that's why I binged. Went through a breakup and having financial problems made me feel so alone, so food kept me company. It's like it was the only thing I had control over. I got some good insights from books by Geneen Roth especially "Women, food and god" and "Lost and found". The latter is about money but it helped me gain some insights about binging as well. Also, I take 5-HTP, it's supposed to be good for mood and appetite.

You can do this! Please keep us posted.

[Ellie_Miller]

I also have generally always informally done IF-style eating, again just coming into it naturally before I knew what it was, with an average 5-7 hour window and the bulk at one large meal;

I've also found that IF made the binges worse. But again, that's just me. Although, there was an article about women and fasting on Mark's blog. Have you read it? I haven't fasted in two months. I eat within 30 minutes of waking up whether I'm hungry or not.

[mottainai]

Louisa655- Thanks for sharing your experience! Like I said, I'm willing to look into anything.

Ellie_Miller- Thank you for sharing your story as well. You're right, of course, it is all up to me! It's just actually wanting to make that decision that's the hard part. When it's messing with my life, I want to quit it, but when it's not, well, it's easy to just fall into the trap of thinking I can just keep on doing it without overmuch consequence. Thanks for all your suggestions!

[Knifegill]

Maybe your body is trying to reload on fat. I am also given to binges, like eating an entire hot-n-ready little caesar's pizza to myself or eating just too much at once of anything. My strategy? I eat one massive meal a day, mostly protein and fat. That way I get to feel full but don't exceed my caloric intake for the day. Yeah, I'm talking a 3000 calorie "meal" over the course of cooking it, about an hour and a half. First a pound of meat, then my cup of coconut milk in my coffee, and then eggs, avocados, whatever veggies I feel like tossing in the pan. and usually polish it off with some dark chocolate and a green apple. Full? Oh, yeah. Balanced and healthy? I think so.

[lorichka6]

There are some threads on here already about this - if you haven't already searched for them I would

Here is my brief summary...

IMHO there are 2 reasons for bingeing: (1)physiological - hunger, protein, leptin, etc - so all the suggestions to "eat more protein", "reset your leptin", etc will work. Just experiment until you find which one works for you. (2) addition. It is like being an alcoholic or drug addict. You don't need more protein or to reset your leptin. You have to deal with your addiction. I have struggled with this for years. And for years clung to trying to fix myself physiologically - protein, leptin, ketosis, etc. The only thing that has even begun to move me in the right direction are the following two books:

Brain Over Binge (Kathryn Hansen)
Home

Rational Recovery (Jack Trimpey)
https://rational.org/index.php?id=1

If you do look back for old threads you will see a rather nasty attack on a poster who first suggested the methods of rational recovery... it turns out he was right. If you feel like the addiction reason might be true for you, I would start with Brain Over Binge - it is about food addiction (as opposed to RR, which is about drug/alcohol) - so to read a story of someone overcoming it is very inspiring.

Good luck.

[mottainai]

Maybe your body is trying to reload on fat. I am also given to binges, like eating an entire hot-n-ready little caesar's pizza to myself or eating just too much at once of anything. My strategy? I eat one massive meal a day, mostly protein and fat. That way I get to feel full but don't exceed my caloric intake for the day. Yeah, I'm talking a 3000 calorie "meal" over the course of cooking it, about an hour and a half. First a pound of meat, then my cup of coconut milk in my coffee, and then eggs, avocados, whatever veggies I feel like tossing in the pan. and usually polish it off with some dark chocolate and a green apple. Full? Oh, yeah. Balanced and healthy? I think so.

Yes, I do like this idea, as it satisfies the desire to binge but still is balanced nutrition. I do a variation myself sometimes!

[mottainai]

There are some threads on here already about this - if you haven't already searched for them I would

Here is my brief summary...

IMHO there are 2 reasons for bingeing: (1)physiological - hunger, protein, leptin, etc - so all the suggestions to "eat more protein", "reset your leptin", etc will work. Just experiment until you find which one works for you. (2) addition. It is like being an alcoholic or drug addict. You don't need more protein or to reset your leptin. You have to deal with your addiction. I have struggled with this for years. And for years clung to trying to fix myself physiologically - protein, leptin, ketosis, etc. The only thing that has even begun to move me in the right direction are the following two books:

Brain Over Binge (Kathryn Hansen)
Home

Rational Recovery (Jack Trimpey)
https://rational.org/index.php?id=1

If you do look back for old threads you will see a rather nasty attack on a poster who first suggested the methods of rational recovery... it turns out he was right. If you feel like the addiction reason might be true for you, I would start with Brain Over Binge - it is about food addiction (as opposed to RR, which is about drug/alcohol) - so to read a story of someone overcoming it is very inspiring.

Good luck.

Thank you for the information!
I will go back and do a more thorough search here. I've also gotten the Hansen book- looks right up my alley.
I do suspect it's more of the latter, an addiction, just because it's stuck with me through a wide variety of eating strategies and bodyweights. There is obviously a physical component (I learned very early on the rule that severe restriction leads to binging, for instance) and getting those things right helps but it still seems as if there is more to it.

[mottainai]

I just read, no, DEVOURED that book, Brain Over Binge.
I think it may have changed my life. Not positive yet, but possible, so in advance, many thanks for the rec!

[BestBetter]

I have a very long history as a binge eater, though it wasn't constant (much like you mentioned); I could go weeks and months without binging, until out of the blue it would just pop up. For me, it was 100% psychological. It had nothing to do with blood sugar or macros or anything dietary, so I could be eating the most amazing diet, and an unwinnable need to binge could still spring out of nowhere at any moment.

At one point I tried alternate day eating and fasting, so that I could binge guilt-free every other day (with a day of fasting as penance), but that didn't fix the real problem, nor did the eat one meal per day strategy; in fact, not only did it not solve the actual (psychological) problem, but it also trigger some really nasty IBS flares, and as a result, I have to eat smaller meals.

It took me a really, really long time to conquer it, and there were years where I was convinced I never would. I realized that for me, those times of binges were a way of dealing with some kind of emotional turmoil (depression, anxiety, etc...) that I often didn't realize I was even feeling until afterwards I started thinking, 'where did that come from?'

I've used hypnotherapy many years ago (to get over a phobia of needles). Even though I didn't use it to stop my binge-eating, I think it's a very good suggestion. I suggest that if you do go that route, to find a clinician who is well trained and experienced, because it can take a long time (several sessions) to properly learn the breathing and visualization techniques. If you try to do it on your own in the beginning, it's very likely that it won't be successful. Once you've mastered it, then it's pretty easy to do by yourself at home.

I've posted pretty extensively about the strategies I've used to reprogram my brain and stop the binges on this thread:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread59619-2.html