the most important thing to remember is its not the slip up that ruins things but our reaction to the said slip up / binge, how many times have we had a binge and then thought "oh sod it I have done it now" almost giving ourselves permission to carry on having more binges as we have buggered things up yet in reality the one binge hasn't done that its the following binges that we have carried on having because of the "oh sod it" reaction that have caused the trouble. I now view it as if I have a binge then I have a binge and then the next day I dust myself off and get back on track again, its not easy to do, its much harder to not binge than to binge as for any binge eater its a condition that has developed over time and is often so natural to us that in any time of distress or even happy times we seek out our trusty friend which is the food.
The thing is only we can help ourselves, nobody can do it for us sadly, I'm 34 now and have battled with binge eating since I was a very young child as a way of coping with unwanted emotions. I suffered an extremely severe trauma in my early 20's which made everything so much worse and my binges got not only bigger but much more regular and the weight of course then piled on until just over ten weeks ago when I weighed in at 22 stone 5 lbs which was horrifying to me.
The main things to remember when trying to tackle binge eating is that you need to deal with why you are having the binge, there are often many reasons, so you need to remove those reasons one at a time, I was a typical binge eater I starved all day and then binged in secret in the evening, binge eaters typically starve and binge so the first important step is to regulate the eating patterns so I now have a breakfast, lunch and an evening meal and healthy snacks in between, this is very difficult to do as it goes against what I am used to doing, I prefer the starve / binge way but thats making things worse. Also eating disorder therapists would tell you that nobody with a diagnosed binge eating disorder or any eating disorder should say go on a VLCD as it feeds into their natural obsession with starvation and is more likely to bring about a binge. Secondly think about thirst, often we confuse thirst for hunger, many binge eaters who starve themselves of food for most of the time also don't drink during these periods either and so can be very dehydrated which makes you think you are hungry, therefore up your fluid intake at regular intervals within the day. Also with regards to eating, don't do the all or nothing approach which will be much more natural to you if you are a binge eater, we operate in extremes hence the starvation (the nothing) and the binge eating (the all) when we diet we tend to want to be very strict, its our nature when in fact for recovery from an eating disorder like this the truth is you need to do the hardest thing for us which is moderation, the middle path, its hell for someone who lives an all or nothing life yet its what will help, so food treats will be essential as if you feel too hard done by and have no treats you are far more likely to binge. I now have a diet made up of regular healthy meals with built in food treats each week, not my trigger foods as I can't have any trigger foods aka foods that trigger a binge but I still can have non trigger food treats and those are def a must have for me!
Thirdly consider if there are things in your past that led to you developing this eating disorder, it could be something as simple as coming from a family who use food for comfort on the whole or it could be something more serious like a particular situation, trauma, something that happened to you that led to you developing your need for binge food, these sort of issues can be tackled properly in therapy, its important to get the right therapy though as if you get the wrong type it may be at best of little use at worst do much more harm than good. If you have a diagnosed binge eating disorder then try and find out about the local eating disorder charities or general services on offer, they do exist but not all gps will be aware of them so if you have a psych it might be worth asking them also. I have gone through various therapies all of which until now have done very little to help me yet I am now undertaking a very intense course of dialectical behaviour therapy, its far more intense and in your face than say CBT but if you work with the therapists it can work wonders, I thought I was beyond help yet now I am doing so well , its hard going I can not lie and I have to go through very difficult things in the individual therapy and group therapy sessions but its meaning I can turn my life around so I can't talk it up enough to be honest. I have to state though that its not some weird wacky therapy but a very well researched one carried out by professionally trained therapists and is well worth looking into but its not for the faint hearted as it will push you when you think you haven't got any more to give but if you are at rock bottom and life doesn't feel worth living and you feel there is no other hope for you and you are willing to fight this damn awful eating disorder then it will work with time, its no quick fix but to a certain extent you get out of it what you put into it, give it 100% and it will work.
If you are a genuine binge eater the sad truth is there is no quick fix, you have to learn new ways of dealing with your emotions other than through the use of food and that is not an easy thing to do as many of us have built up this way of coping over many many many years, food to us is like alcohol is to an alcoholic or drugs to a drug addict, I am basically addicted to food / comfort food and in any time of distress in particular my natural urge is to want to push down those emotions with food, its not something that you will just be able to stop doing overnight, it takes time and a lot of effort to beat it. I constantly feel vulnerable around food and will prob do for most of my life but at least now I know I have other options to having the binge, thats something I didn't believe I had before. Also as I mentioned earlier never underestimate the importance of breaking some of the bad habits you have developed like the starvation and maybe not drinking enough tendencies, simple things like regulating your eating, eating healthier food throughout the day and drinking say water based drinks , for me its weak orange squash also at regular intervals will at least tackle two of the major factors that can bring about a binge - hunger and thirst! I used to put my binges down completely to dealing with emotions yet my eating disorder therapist made it very clear to me that I also starved all day so was mega hungry and never drank a thing so was so dehydrated so emotions aside I was bound to binge.
The info I have put here is aimed at those diagnosed with a binge eating disorder so who starve for long periods of the day and then binge not compulsive eaters who tend to not starve on the whole and who tend to graze all day, although many of the same things would be useful for them also. I am a binge eater so I can only talk from experience on this and the therapy that helps I do know that the dialectical behaviour therapy is also used for all other eating disorders inc compulsive eating disorder so if you think you are more of a constant graze type person rather than a binge eater who starves and binges then this sort of therapy could still really help you. My group therapy sessions are made up of people who are binge eaters, compulsive eaters, those with bulimia and anorexia.
Em
