My name's Bree and I binge eat..

[Breetardio]

Okay, so my whole reason for doing the whole30 was to change my attitude towards food. I started crossfit in March and before that, I would basically starve myself. I was 38kgs before I started. And once I started, I figured it was time to get my health and nutrition in order. The only problem was I became scared of being hungry, so I started binging. Pretty much 4-5 days a week. And ended up gaining 10kgs.

I have tried not to binge while doing this, but I think I am way over my head. I binged 5 times in the 22 days I was on this. Always with whole30 approved foods. But last night I ate potato chips, so I'm restarting it and hopefully going to be 100%.

So if anyone has some advice or can point me in the direction of any kind of support, I'd really appreciate it!

[Melissa Urban]

Bree, we've written about the Whole30 with eating disorders before. You can see the series of articles here: http://whole9life.com/tag/eating-disorder/. Refer specifically to "Sometimes It Is Hard" and "Whole30 Gone Bad."

Binging, even on Whole30 approved foods, is not healthy behavior, and I'm proud of you for recognizing that. It's possible that the restrictions of the Whole30 are not right for you now. Maybe feeling so "restricted" in the rules is leading to a rebound binge - only you know that. We've had folks who have used the Whole30 to fuel themselves on healthy foods such that they haven't needed to binge, and others for whom the rules were just too much for their brains to apply in a healthy fashion. You'll have to evaluate this for yourself, and decide whether the Whole30 exactly as written is too much for you right now.

You can also read "The Official End to my Whole30" by Camilla. She bailed mid-way through when she realized her Whole30 was no longer healthy. Perhaps a modification of our rules so that your brain is happier is the way to handle this.

Regardless, I encourage you to seek help for your behavior. From one addict to another, this thing is bigger than us individually, and we all need help to work through it. Talk to a trusted friend, a counselor, or a therapist to work through these issues, and try to arrive at a better place. I wish you the best of luck.

Sincerely,

Melissa

[Breetardio]

Thank you so much for the reply, Melissa!

The rules and restrictions aren't too much. I have always eaten quite healthy foods. There would be the occasional binge of junk food, but generally it's dried fruits that get me!

I have tried to work out for myself what triggers the reaction but I can't quite work it out!

Thanks for the links, I'll check them out now.

[amwpillai]

Hi Bree! I just wanted to say that I have a very similar story to yours. I was overweight for the majority of my life, starting in childhood. After I got married, I really took control of my eating, counted calories, and lost almost 80 lbs. Towards the end of my weight loss, I was eating maybe 500 calories a day and practicing roller derby 3-4x a week. After a lot of arguments with loved ones over my eating, I felt forced into gaining some weight - which started another roller coaster. I had always been a binge eater before, and the year and a half of restrictive eating put it into overdrive - I've gained 30 lbs back in the last year. I've only recently come to terms with my traumatic relationship with food and eating.

I'm going into the Whole30 with a really open attitude - I'm ready to FEEL better and not just be thinner. If I lose weight, I want it to be because I'm healthy, not because I'm punishing myself. I didn't weigh myself at the beginning of my Whole30 for that reason specifically - if it's about weight even a little bit for me, I feel it will ruin what I'm trying to accomplish. All I know is that I feel better - the weight is not the focus for me now. Also, not hitting goal weights was a major binge trigger for me, so not focusing on numbers is taking that reason to binge away.

I just wanted to say that you aren't alone, and that I hope that your journey, detours and all, is a successful one.

[cminnetta]

Hi Bree.

I am also recovering from binge eating as well as night eating disorder. The first time I attempted to do a Whole30 a year or so ago, I still had too many unresolved emotional issues and found it too hard to follow the Whole30 plan faithfully. I did the first 21 days with "minor" cheats but finally gave in to a full-blown binge on day 22 and quit. I knew it wouldn't do me any good to try again until I addressed the emotional issues that drove me to abuse food.

Years of traditional therapy had not helped but last spring I stumbled on what for me has been the answer to my prayers - EFT Tapping. I started tapping in March and in the 6 months since I have cleared up all kinds of emotional "junk" that I could not address in all the years I spent in therapy. Best of all, EFT is so easy it only tkaes a few minutes to learn how to do it, and there are tons of resources available for free on the internet. I included a couple of links to some sites below but if you just do a seach on "EFT" you will find all the help you need to get started. EFT works on any problems but is especially effective for issues with food.

I am just on Day 3 of my WHole30 but the difference in how I feel about my ability to be successful this time vs. the attempt I made last year is night and day, I urge you and anyone else struggling with binge eating or just trying to fight off ordinary cravings to explore EFT as a resource. Try it, you won't be sorry!

http://www.tapintoeft.com/eft-cravings/default.html

http://www.eftradioonline.com/eft-audios/stop-binge-eating-with-eft/

Best of luck to you!

[Breetardio]

Thank you so much!

I will definitely be checking this out, sounds interesting.

I have booked in to see a psych who specializes in eating disorders. But it gets so pricy! It will be a wise investment though, or I'm hoping anyway!

Anyway, thank you again for the suggestions.

[jennheathcock]

I completely understand what you're feeling. I binge/night eat far too often and it's lead to a good deal of weight gain.

I know I'm unhappy and stressed, and I know that I need to stop. I just have to find a way to not allow myself to do it.

Best of luck, and I hope the psych helps!

[suziq0507]

I to suffer from Binge eating. In fact that is why I decided to start Whole30 since I believed that if I got off the sugar, carbs, and artificial sweetners that I would lose the feeling of wanting to binge on that stuff. I am on day 15 of whole 30 and have not felt the urge to binge, however, through this process I have had no fruit or nuts except in a salad that I made yesterday. I believe that the if I had not cut those 2 things out of my diet in the beginning when going thru the so called detox, I would get the urge to binge cause I have binge on nuts.

Its strange but after 15 days, sugar doesn't seem to appeal to me like it use too and I really dont want to go down that road anymore so I think life will be better without it. Best of Luck!

[Breetardio]

I've restarted my whole30 along with two of my friends. I think the support will definitely help!

[Laura Bass Berry]

Hi Bree.

I am also recovering from binge eating as well as night eating disorder. The first time I attempted to do a Whole30 a year or so ago, I still had too many unresolved emotional issues and found it too hard to follow the Whole30 plan faithfully. I did the first 21 days with "minor" cheats but finally gave in to a full-blown binge on day 22 and quit. I knew it wouldn't do me any good to try again until I addressed the emotional issues that drove me to abuse food.

Years of traditional therapy had not helped but last spring I stumbled on what for me has been the answer to my prayers - EFT Tapping. I started tapping in March and in the 6 months since I have cleared up all kinds of emotional "junk" that I could not address in all the years I spent in therapy. Best of all, EFT is so easy it only tkaes a few minutes to learn how to do it, and there are tons of resources available for free on the internet. I included a couple of links to some sites below but if you just do a seach on "EFT" you will find all the help you need to get started. EFT works on any problems but is especially effective for issues with food.

I am just on Day 3 of my WHole30 but the difference in how I feel about my ability to be successful this time vs. the attempt I made last year is night and day, I urge you and anyone else struggling with binge eating or just trying to fight off ordinary cravings to explore EFT as a resource. Try it, you won't be sorry!

http://www.tapintoef...gs/default.html

http://www.eftradioo...ating-with-eft/

Best of luck to you!

I just had to throw in here... this is great advice!!! My hubs learned this in massage therapy school and has relieved himself of 15 year sacral pain and reduced my anxiety problems by 80% or more! I know it sounds nutty, but give it a shot!!