Binge Eating

[PaleoTori]

I need help. I don't understand why I do this to myself but I followed the Whole30 up until day 23, then I just gave up and started binge eating. I'm on my fourth day now, and I feel completely out of control. I've had ED issues in the past (binge eating since my pre-teens and a bout with anorexia). I am so frustrated that I gave up with only 7 days to go. Is anyone else having problems like this? Before I started the Whole30 I was eating paleo, and only going off track a few times a week (a donut here, piece of bread there). After my attempt at the Whole30 last month I've just completely lost it. I'm eating things I never eat, ever. I'm eating until I'm sick and eating some more.

I guess I am hoping for some insight to help me break free from this. I want to try and get back on track and try another Whole30 but I'm scared to fail again.

Didn't know if this was the right forum to post this in. I do see binge eating as a medical condition so I figured it might be a good place to put this out there.

Thanks for reading,

Tori

[Andrea D.]

Hi Tori...I've struggled with the same issues off and on all my life... Have you checked out this post?

http://whole9life.com/2012/02/whole30-gone-bad/

It helped me...maybe it can help you!

[PaleoTori]

Hi Tori...I've struggled with the same issues off and on all my life... Have you checked out this post?

http://whole9life.com/2012/02/whole30-gone-bad/

It helped me...maybe it can help you!

Thank you!

I'm reading the book again right now. I'll check that link out now.

[PaleoTori]

Hi Tori...I've struggled with the same issues off and on all my life... Have you checked out this post?

http://whole9life.com/2012/02/whole30-gone-bad/

It helped me...maybe it can help you!

Thank you so much for sharing that with me. It really put things into perspective. I'm going to take a month off and look into the tips for eating healthy.

It really was incredibly helpful. I was about to read the book for a second time then try to dive into another Whole30, but that probably would have made things worse for me.

Tori

[Fergatron]

I really hope you get it figured out. I pretty much do the same. I've never made it through a whole 30 and binge like crazy.

Recovering from a ED was a challenge and it took a lot of work for me to get out of it as I'm sure the same was for yourself.

But I've found this has some bad effects on eating clean, meaning there's times I don't eat enough then I crave foods!

I guess you have to see the binge as kinda the same though. Just fight through it and better yourself. Your a step ahead as you can see there's a problem.

Try to relax more, I keep away from foods that tempt me now and say no to anything I'm not sure about, incase it sets me off. Good luck!

[QuasiParisian]

From someone who has been there and survived it.

I found that binge eating was swapping from one extreme to the others, and swapping from a normal diet to a whole 30 challenge is an absolutely mammoth change.

1. For me the very first step was to figure out my triggers. Everyone has triggers some are just more persuasive than others. You need to realise why you are running towards the fridge. I started by pausing for 1 second before I opened the cupboard/fridge door and tried to identify what emotion was behind this/or reason - was I bored, angry, procrastinating, frustrated, pissed off, depressed, sad or a combination of the 7.

2. This is the hardest part. You need to slow down when you eat like this. For me the first step was to sit at a table. The second step was to eat with a teaspoon, baby fork anything which would reduce the amount of food I could consume in a mouthful. Then it was to breathe. So food, chew chew chew chew chew, swallow. breathe. and repeat. You are trying to bring your conscious brain into the picture, not that part of your brain that screams eat! but the nice logical thinking bit.

3. After mastering those two things which I'm not going to lie was freaking hard. Before I went to the fridge I would ask myself why I was there, if I was bored, procrastinating or angry and if I could do something about it. If I was procrastinating then I would man up and face what ever was bothering me. If I was bored then I would go for a walk, read something, clean something, listen to a lecture, find something by a favourite comedian and watch that. I'm quite partial to Tim Minchin for the last one.

4. Finally, I dealt with some of the other triggers. I learnt to sit there and deal with the impulses - meditating helped that one alot, or write down why I was angry, if this was a reasonable belief...etc.

And then I discovered exercise... which tends to make absolutely everything easier to manage.

But, everyone has a different experience.

I hope that helps.

Good luck!

[kew]

PaleoTori -- that sounds really hard. I don't have any good advice for you, but I just wanted to extend a virtual 'attagirl' for bringing your concern to the forum. It looks like you have already gotten some good advice, and I bet you will get lots more, and lots of support, too. I hope you make progress in this part of your life, and any others that may need a little fine-tuning. (My own list is a mile long.....)

[PaleoTori]

Hey everyone,

Sorry I haven't been back here. I was trying to recuperate for awhile and finally did stop the bingeing a few weeks ago. I read a great book "Brain Over Binge" and I'm going to look for some Rational Recovery literature.

Basically they talk about the animal brain under our logical brain. It sends us urges for survival purposes. When you feel you're depriving yourself the primal brain (especially if you've had ED issues before) sends strong impulses to eat, often, and a lot. But you can learn to use your logical brain to talk back to it.

It's helped me a lot. I also started listening in on OA meetings on the phone. I am not religious so it's difficult to listen to every meeting, as some are very focused on spirituality, but hearing other people talk about their binge eating experiences does help me to feel I am not alone. Something about knowing you aren't alone and hearing people tell stories that sound just like your experiences, really helps.

I'm going to try another Whole 30 starting tomorrow, and use the tools I've found while doing so. I'll be careful to watch out for any triggers and if I see myself going towards binge town again, I'll lay off the Whole 30 until I feel I'm ready to try again.

Learning to be patient with myself.

Thanks so much for the great advice and responses.

[momto3]

I just wanted to let you know that you have inspired me to fully commit to trying another Whole30...starting today too! Like you, I fell off the wagon (although I only made it a few days, not 23 which is awesome!) and have been binging ever since. I too read Brain Over Binge and am going to review it during this process. Let me know if you would like to check in with one another! Thank you for your post and best wishes!

[melbournegirl]

I admire your courage and your determination to progress/heal! I know there are many causes/triggers but I am a strong believer (for me anyway) that hormonal and chemical imbalances from being sensitive to poor quality food is a major red flag to the 'animal' brain. So I am half convinced and half hoping that if I stick with compliant food long enough I will gradually become strong enough to control these impulses. I hope that works for you too!

[chelle81!]

hmm hmm hmm ... thank you for posting this - I, too, have struggled with ED for a few years now and binge eating is 100% my go to - sad, happy, bored, depressed, lonely, excited, nervous, angry ... you name it, I binge for it - which pretty much meant I've been on a constant binge and no matter how many times I was going to 'eat healthy starting tomorrow' and now matter how long I stayed on whatever plan I was on (23 days was my longest ... odd, eh?) I still want to binge. The book made SOOO much sense to me, and really resonated with the whole 'why am I doing this when I know it's not good for me and I know that I'm just going to be mad at myself afterwards' ... anyway, sorry to be long winded, but I'm really on board 100% with this Whole30 and ready to say goodbye to it all once and for all - even if it does take a Whole bunch more days than 30! ohh and I'm going to look into this brain over binge book - sounds good.

I'll keep you in my thoughts Tori

Chelle