Thread: Is it possible to diet after an eating disorder?

Thanks for starting this thread, as a serial binge eater I often wonder the same... I'm in the same sort of situation as you, and worry I wont be able to stick to a plan, i'm currently following Slimming World, this has to be the 10th time I've re started, its been very up and down but
I am now confident i'm eating 'normally' and hoping it will last.... I wish you all the best with your journey and look forward to following how you are doing xx

Hi all, I have been wanting to chip in on this thread for a while now.

I worry very much about dieting because of my previous ED. I feel very strongly that for me, the ED never goes away - it's always there in the background, and I am either in the ED or aware of not being in it. I'm not sure if that makes any sense to anyone

I am seriously considering consulting an ED dietician on an occasional basis just to check in. I don't suppose anyone can recommend one?? The reason is that I now have significant (non-ED related) medical problems, and I know that I have to be really careful. My GP knows I'm doing WW and is generally supportive as long as I eat all the daily points and try to eat all the weeklies as well. She doesn't know about my ED history, and I'm not willing to disclose that. I do wonder whether having a little "supervision" from a dietician specialising in ED would be reassuring... Does anyone have any experience of this?

Sorry for hijacking Rainstar

im seeing a hypnotherapist (also a counsellor) about my emotional eating habits on monday and for next several weeks. Will let you guys know how it goes. Apart from that ive also been focusing on more protein and less carbs in my meals and it really settles food cravings down to a bare minimum throughout the day. I just makesure that becasue ive suffered (and still suffering from in the background) an ED i dont forbid carbs because i know i might end up binging on them later on because i felt deprived! so i Just choose to eat a protein meal whenever poss. its defnately worked for me over this last week :-) xxx

Can I ask when u say more protein and less carbs, do u still eat bread and pasta/rice etc in small amounts? I totally agree with u when I cut down on carbs, I feel better I eat healthier and I have less cravings, but it's finding the balance if I'm too restrictive and then eat something carby I feel like a failure and end up binging.

Good luck with the hypnotherapy I'll be very interested to see how u get on?

A very interesting thread. I guess for some of us the ED is about fear of getting out of control, and binge/purge is a fight between losing and regaining control. Having control over what I eat is important to me, but I don't want to have to 'police' my eating 24 hours a day. I am thinking planning a week's healthy menu in advance might be a good idea, but also reminding myself that going 'offplan' although it may not be a good choice, is not a failure it's just what humans do. I can then hopefully get straight back on plan without letting it get out of control. I'm not sure if food demons every totally disappear - but maybe they can be pushed so far into the background they are easier to ignore.

I think you're probably right about food daemons never completely going away. I suppose I would like to find some kind of middle ground: at the moment I can be rigid about what I eat (and weigh everything that I eat, stick to plan regimentally etc, weigh myself every day) or completely the opposite, and then find myself teetering on the edge of the binge-purge cycle again. I'm sure that ultimately I will get to this Holy Grail "middle ground" that other people call normal!

How's the hypnotherapy going susieb77?

I hope so - for you and me both!

I am currently trying to loose weight HEALTHILY when in the past I have always done so incredibly unhealthily. My weight has always yo-yo'd probably best fitting the EDNOS criteria, 2 years ago the 6 months prior to my wedding i was surviving off beetroot, olives, and cottage cheese n the odd chicken breast. Not much but it helped me along with some bought online now unable to obtain diet pills to loose over 5 stone in just over 8 months. I have since put it all back on and am determind to loose healthily this time. I am here, please feel free to chat, don't struggle alone.

Lea x

This is a really interesting thread.
I like the phrase "disordered eating" - it's pretty much what I have been doing for years. Following a bout of depression I took to binge eating. Never the purging, but I've regularly sat in my room stuffing packets of biscuits and chocolate down my face until I felt sick. At some times that would be every day. Which is how I ended up the size I am.
I've just started a sort of loose-Atkins and I'm hoping it helps me to lose weight. Hopefully I won't crave bad foods like before. So far so good but I have only just started.
Here's hoping anyway.

I'm so glad that this thread is here. Last time i tried to lose weight i ended up starving myself, od'ing on laxatives, purging and occasionally binging.

The only reason i joined this forum was to meet people who would hopefully support me and stop me going down that path again. The thought of dieting and ending up back in that place, scares the hell out of me and i honestly never want to feel that way again.

I can sympathise with you and i know how hard it is, hopefully we can all support one another regardless of cirumstances.

Hello

I'm bookmarking this thread as I have to go out but I want to come back and read all the way through. It's taken me many years to realise that I can't "diet" any more - it's too dangerous. I have to go forward with a "healthy eating for life" approach, which isn't a quick fix by any means. I think it'll be with me for life and I just have to avoid putting myself in situations that inevitably end with binging and purging.

Lindsay
xx

Hey Rainstar, I wondered the exact same thing. I seem to relapse into the binge purging cycle when try to diet. Its so hard like I loose control, I can sympathize with you.

I think what helps the most is thinking lots, and practising behaviours. Also starting small.
If you're trying to resist something and you know you'll give in, dont fight, allow yourself some (not giving in, permitting yourself) and find a way to not eat it all (if its something big)

I went mad eating easter eggs last year and at one point I actually threw a load out of the window!!

I work in a kitchen too and theres always something to pick on, my arch nemesis is the chip scuttle that is often full of chips.
Some days I promise to have not one single chip and I do manage it, other days when im overworked, tired, hungry, the chips win. But I pick my food apart, I bite bits, spit bits out. many times my co-workers see me bite a chip then throw the rest away (they think Im mad) (I probably am!)

Anyway, my point is that its small steps and damage limitation, never thing 'oh thats blown it' 'oh might as well eat the lot' no, you really are better off leaving even the smallest bite of food. And I think the more I practice this, the easier it gets. And when things go tits up, dont give in!

i certainly hope so as i suffered from bulimia, however instead of binge eating id eat very little and only salads or something, and then id vomit ...as it all came back i am hoping i will beable to not go back like i was