Disordered Eating Support Thread page 3

[VacillateWildly]

Since Christmas I've been eating normally every day with a few higher fat and sugar items (Hagen Daazs, which I didn't eat for 15 years) thrown in. I'm happy.

Sugar is the enemy for me, it sets me off on binges. I had one last night triggered by some grapes. I have been pondering higher fat and less 'quantity' as in gargantuan amounts of vegetables just for the sake of eating.

However, I'm also chronically aware that the more I say in my head that I can't eat icecream or cakes then the more I want to eat icecream and cakes.

I have mouth ulcers this morning from wheat in biscuits and cakes from last night. Generally feel shitty, restricting again this morning and so the cycle goes.

Fierce, how old are you? I don't like the scrawny look I think I have from maintaining a low body weight, women in their twenties can be slender without being scrawny, but at 39 I see bones.

[Neanderthal Betty]

Disordered eating describes me to a T, I've struggled with eating disorders in the past on just about every extreme imaginable and I watched it slowly destroy my life. I'm a 30 year old female with post traumatic stress disorder and a bunch of other issues to boot and some how food became the one thing in life that I was able to control.

I've been trying to make changes for awhile now and in additional to eating primally I am slowly seeing changes, which is definitely progress. Instead of food controling me, I feel like I finally am in control of food. Granted its still early yet, but I'm hopeful.

[Ayla2010]

Sugar is the enemy for me, it sets me off on binges. I had one last night triggered by some grapes. I have been pondering higher fat and less 'quantity' as in gargantuan amounts of vegetables just for the sake of eating.

this is me too.

[Pebbles67]

Hi,
I have a binge eating disorder which is both physical and emotional. I am mostly a night binger. My first year Primal I lost 65 lbs, but my binges went from 1-2/month to a minimum 15 out of 30 days. My Mother died of ovarian cancer just after my first Primal anniversary. I totally lost it. In the second year I gained back half of what I lost.

This Link describes my problem very well.
Binge Eating Disorder: Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, and Help

I believe that nutritional deficiencies also trigger binges. I have finally hit on the Primal combo that works for me. I eat high fat, low carb. I keep my carbs around 20g and my fat at 75% of total calories. The other important change I made was to add 50 mg 5htp at dinner time to raise my evening serotonin and help me sleep better. This month I have only had one real binge and two "Oh F-it" eating days which were totally my choice.

Unfortunately, I think everyone has to find just the right combination to deal with their particular problem. I hope you all find yours.

[bamabelle]

Oh, how I relate to you all here!!! I have struggled with binge eating for about 6 years---since getting into--and subsequently out of a miserable , fraudulant marriage. I felt like I was on a runaway train and couldn't figure out how to jump off. My self esteem started in a bad place and my disordered eating made it so much worse. I did an online program for emotional eating, which I had no success with, but met some wonderful folks. One of them broke away and started paleo. I stayed in touch with her when she left the program. That was over a year ago. Recently, a co-worker was talking about how he and his wife started paleo and never felt better. I contacted my friend from the on line program to inquire about paleo and what her experience has been and she told me that it has mostly cured her emotional eating. I was SO tired of feeling like s&%t so I started a month ago. My cravings are virtually gone. I feel fortunate and know that it is not that easy for everyone; and probably wouldn't have been for me if I had not been so tired of feeling so badly. AND I gained about 65 pounds in the process---most of it in a SHORT amount of time!

I am in the medical field and there are a lot of reasons why food trigger addictive behaviors. Certain foods (including sugar) increases dopamine---the same reaction that drug addicts get from drugs. It IS addictive for those who are sensitive to the effects. Controlling food, as in anorexia, is usually a disorder that has to do with trying to have a sense of control in life. These are real needs/effects that people experience.

I am in intensive cognitive behavioral therapy for feelings of low self worth and for severe anxiety. Freeing myself from food cravings helps me to keep from avoiding my negative self thoughts , so that I am actually available to work on my inner healing. Before, I was too occupied by emotional eating--when I would binge again; what I would binge on; how bad I felt about myself for binging. I am treating my body in a loving manner, though I am not treating my soul that way yet. But it is a small...actually a BIG step toward treating my whole self kindly. And I will...if it's the last thing I do I WILL treat myself like the wonderful person that I truly am!

I guess I'm just saying that I understand and that I believe that there is hope. There is hope for you and there is hope for me! Grok on beautiful ladies!!!

xoxox
Amanda

[341gerbig]

Hello, Im Brandon from Saskatchewan Canada and I need to stop binge eating.

I am 320 Lbs at 5' 8", and I often binge on multiple burgers from fast food joints.
I spend far too much time and money thinking about, acquiring, and sneaking food into my dorm room to eat.

Food has become a poisonous guilty pleasure for me, and it is running my body, my confidence, and my bank account.

[VacillateWildly]

After reading Fierce Hunter's post about Hagan Daaz I went out yesterday and bought a 500ml icecream tub and ate it all in secret. I don't even like icecream particularly. I hear suggestions about food and it goes into my head and I eat. Does this happen to anyone else? Other people's food habits seem to affect me and trigger me. Insane.

This morning, I had breakfast, my attempt to self-nurture after the icecream. Feeling very compulsive though.

[Violette_R]

I am in intensive cognitive behavioral therapy for feelings of low self worth and for severe anxiety. Freeing myself from food cravings helps me to keep from avoiding my negative self thoughts , so that I am actually available to work on my inner healing. Before, I was too occupied by emotional eating--when I would binge again; what I would binge on; how bad I felt about myself for binging. I am treating my body in a loving manner, though I am not treating my soul that way yet. But it is a small...actually a BIG step toward treating my whole self kindly. And I will...if it's the last thing I do I WILL treat myself like the wonderful person that I truly am!

I wish you all the best with the CBT. I spent years in therapy and one point specifically asked for CBT even though I didn't know to use that phrase to describe it. Unfotrunately, my therapist at the time was so incompetent and uninterested in her work that she didn't know what it was, much less how to provide it. I was eventually so disillusioned with psychotherapy that I quit altogether. For a long time afterward I probably still would have benefited from CBT but was forced to learn healthy coping mechanisms on my own. Any recovery I've made is in spite of the mental health profession, not because of it. I really hope you better experiences than me.

[Violette_R]

Hello, Im Brandon from Saskatchewan Canada and I need to stop binge eating.

I am 320 Lbs at 5' 8", and I often binge on multiple burgers from fast food joints.
I spend far too much time and money thinking about, acquiring, and sneaking food into my dorm room to eat.

Food has become a poisonous guilty pleasure for me, and it is running my body, my confidence, and my bank account.

I used to go through drive-thrus and order two whole meals with drinks so I looked like I was getting food for multiple people. Then, of course, I'd eat it all myself. We're junkies - we really are. Drug addicts know all about behavior like this.

Good luck to you.

[Noni56]

Really happy to see this thread!!

I've been struggling with compulsive overeating and binging for as long as I can remember. I was obese in middle school and early high school. After moving out from home, I went vegetarian and managed to get down to a normal weight. It was mostly due to restriction though, and as soon as I got a boyfriend and responsibilities I couldn't maintain it because food wasn't my life anymore. It's just like...a constant battle to stop gaining weight, and overeating and feeling crappy. Right now I'm really trying to work through the emotional side of why I overeat/binge. I treat food as a reward that I deserve for achievements or for getting through tough times. But then I just feel guilty and ashamed later when it makes me feel bloated and reminds me how overweight I am. =\

It's hard to change eating and exercise habits without getting those negative thoughts stuck in your head. It's hard to remember that the goal is to be happy and healthy, not fit/thin and perfect. It helps to have positive thoughts prepared ahead of time.

I keep trying to commit to primal eating, and I panic and suddenly I'm eating a cookie and saying next week I'll commit. Next week I'll be able to do it. I think it's going to take baby steps...I have successfully reintroduced meat back into my diet, now it's time to remove toxic things without feeling like I'm restricting or depriving myself...

So hello everyone.