Do Binge-Eaters EVER Recover??

I know it sounds depressing to think that binge-eaters will never recover, but I've just felt so discouraged lately. I'm a binge-eater, emotional eating, compulsive eater, etc. Since I've joined CC, I've noticed I can't go more than 2 or 3 days without binging. It may be something I never noticed before, though I did know I was a binger. Now, knowing that I haven't been able to avoid binging (even just for 3 days in a row!), it's terribly depressing. I need some support. Are there ANY recovered bingers out there? Or anyone with similar feelings of helplessness and hopelessness? Any binge-eaters with helpful advice or encouragement, or ways you are aiding your recovery and avoiding binging?

I was a terrible binge eater. I would plough my way through mountains of food when I was upset or depressed. I still have the odd binge but nowhere near what I used to get through.

For example the other day I felt rubbish. I had a stinking cold, work was rubbish & my hair straighteners had broke so I looked as crap as I felt & I though "Sod it! I want cake! & lots of it!" So I went in the direction of the nearest shop with the intention of buying cake & maybe a some chocolate. On the way I started thinking of how much weight I'd lost that week & asked myself "did I want to put it back on?" So by the time I got in the shop I was having doubts. When faced with what cake/s to get all I saw was empty calories & guilt.

I've learnt by now that if I buy a a box of 6 cakes I'll eat 6 cakes, even if I just eat 2 give it an hour & I'll eat the other 4. So I thought of that too. Then I thought of all the times I have sat & binged - Did I feel better? No. I felt uncomfortably full & sick. I felt guilty & really I felt worse than before I binged because not only do you still have the problem that made you binge but now you have the guilt of eating so much of the wrong food.

So instead I bought some honey & low fat popcorn. The popcorn was because I wanted something to eat on the bus home & the honey was for when I got home & had a big bowl of porridge with skimmed milk, water, a bit of sweetener & topped with honey. Sweet, comforting & not as full of fat as cake & chocolate.

Try to remember a few things when you want to binge -

1. Will it make you feel better? - maybe when your eating it, but after you'll feel worse.

2. Will it solve the problem? - No, it'll add to it.

3. How many calories is in it? - remember 1 med strawberry is 4cal. 1 snickers bar is 271cal. So for the calories of 1 snickers you could have 67 strawberries minus the fat content & guilt. & lets face it, you wouldn't eat 67 strawberries.

I don't think anyone really recovers & sometimes it's good to have a little blow out in the food department. But you need to remember food is FUEL not a comfort blanket.

It has taken me a long time (13 years) to manage my impulses, and even then!

I agree with Clairesty that reducing temptation is key. If it isn't in your house, it won't be as accessible to binge on.

Talking to  your doctor about this might be a good idea, as they will be able to help you. In the meantime, here's my two cents.

I was advised in treatment that people have trigger foods, which often lead them to binge. These foods are often high in starch/ sugar. The idea is that one should avoid these trigger foods altogether. So, I said goodbye to buttered bread products, breakfast cereals, cookies, chips, etc; All these foods that I loved and hated so, so much. Eating differently was hard at first, but habit changes are difficult. I didn't bring my triggers into the house, and I walked home via a route where I could avoid a food shop, just in case I had a moment of weakness en route home.  I lived my life in a manner that reduced my exposure to all of my triggers.

Years later, I don't binge anymore. I can eat my trigger foods; although, I do always want "just one more". The difference is, I can have just one and walk away. I can shake the obsession. It was something I thought I'd never be able to do, but I did. It took time and patience, and you can do it too.

Now, when the urge kicks in to finish something that I only planned to have a bit of, I try to tell myself that whatever it is is *mine*, that I can eat later too. It's still hard to put it away and admittedly, I might take some very large bites as I return it to the cupboard. (old habits die hard, sometimes!)

I also make a point of never eating anything from the container. It's much harder to stop when I have to cut myself off after a bit from the container, rather than just having a portion in a dish. When I feel the urge to eat more after having a bit, I brush my teeth. It removes the taste and sometimes helps me "reset".

I hope this helps. Good luck!

i know what you mean :( there have definitely been days i felt like i could never recover from binging....

....but i've found that there are ways to heal too. i agree with the posts above. it's necessary at your darkest moments to find something that makes you feel better that isn't a mountain of calories. for me it's running. and if i can't get a pair of sneakers on i take a nap. if not that i'll go online and watch funny youtube clips. sometimes my body is just itching for something sweet so i'll let myself have a cup of hot coco or even i'll give in and go down to the corner store and buy my favorite chocolate bar HOWEVER i make sure i drive home or go somewhere far away from anything more than one bar before i eat it. that way i have no way to binge.

hang in there, the first few times of saying no are always the hardest, but believe me it gets easier with time.

 

I am not a frequent binger. I only binge if I have not been able to eat all day, and then come home (but I would consider that more of "overeating").

But I do know that it is entirely possible to prevent binges in that you hav to control your kitchen. This means no multiple serving packages (cereal, peanut butter, chips, cookies). Triggering binge foods should not be kept in the house at all. Meals should be cooked from scratch (that way you control the portion size) or any leftovers should be pre-portioned. Gum and bottled water should be kept in the kitchen area, just in case.

But just like a recovering alcoholic, taking away the alcohol/food/trigger will not solve the underlying problem as to why you seek control or comfort from food or other substances. A therapist can help with this. I wish you all the best of luck!

I feel for you.  I just forced myself to chart my food for today, and I'm way over my calories.  I guess the graham cracker-chocolate frosting binge today probably wasn't really worth it, but I hope to learn from it.  I just don't have any self control.  If it's in my house, I eat it, and I just have trouble getting past that.  The silver lining of this dark cloud is that although I went way over my calories, I still don't do this every day like I used to.  I used to go even further over my daily cals EVERY day.  It's slow, but it's improvement, and it's the best I can do right now to just keep plugging away at it...

thank you so much for your support everyone. i really appreciate it. today i rid my kitchen of all horrid temptations (aka anything CHOCOLATE-- i'm a chocolate-addict.. and i can never just have one piece. one little bit of chocolate, and i'm binging on EVERYTHING whether or not there is chocolate in it or not). so, after the kitchen was clear, i went to the grocery store and got all GOOD healthy food that i happen to love. thinking of what you have all said, i removed the bad temptations and replaced them with good things! the fact that there was healthy food in my kitchen encouraged me to eat healthy today.. and hopefully tomorrow, and hopefully the next day and the day after. i have to take this one day at a time! it is tough but i really want to do it. it scares me that i can be so weak and so out of control. i want hope that it is possible to get over this. i want to know that everything will be ok and that i can do it. i want to get better and i want to BE better.

I recovered!

Though there are a lot of psychological reasons, once you understand why you binge, that won't necessarily help you stop.

Behavior modification happens over time, and every time you turn down a binge you strengthen your anti-binge muscle.

But, the NUMBER ONE thing that helped me stop bingeing was eating enough. It's hard, but it will stop them almost right away. You have to eat at least 2000 calories every day, hungry or not, and eat every three hours and make sure the calorie sources are healthy and not junk. That makes the urge to binge completely subside, because a lot of times we get caught in this cycle of restricting to 'make up' for the binges, and we end up bingeing again because of the restricting. Stop restricting, and you'll stop bingeing. 3 days without bingeing used to be  my max, too.

I hope so. I really don't want to spend the rest of my life like this, although at times I really don't think it's possible to recover. I hate it that my mom continuously buys my binge foods even when i ask her not to and she doesn't think it's that big of a problem. Granted I usually binge on cereal and peanut butter rather than cake or cookies, but that's still not good. i went through a whole box of oatmeal crisp the other day...not good. it's so hard dealing with this binge-overexercise-restrict cycle.

I'm in the same boat as you, except I used to not be able to go more than two days without binging. So I told myself, ok, go one day without binging. And I did. Then I went two days (binged the third day). Then I started over and this time I made it three days (binged today of course). But now's where it gets hard, because starting tomorrow I'm on a 4-day stretch. See how that works? Adding one day at a time is much easier than going cold turkey on it.

As far as motivation, I know this sounds weird but it actually works. Picture yourself binge-free. What will you do? How will you eat? What will you wear? Who will you hang out with and how will you talk? Picture yourself exactly how you would like to be if you didn't ever binge. For me, I pictured myself in my kitchen in the morning, making coffee, wearing a tank top and cute pajama pants with my stomach NOT BLOATED. Random, right? But it works. If you really badly enough want to be that person in your mind, you'll have even just a smidgen more motivation not to binge.

Another thing is to make a list of things that make you happy. My list is yoga, writing, reading the Bible, walking, you get the picture. Even something lazy like going on the computer is ok. Then, when you're sad, do one of those things, and that will show you, hopefully, that there are other ways to lift your spirits besides eating.

I hope I've been of some assistance and I wish you luck in kicking the habit, as I'm trying to do.

so I've been listening to all of your advice and I've gone 3 days without binging!!! thank you! this community of people helps so much. I havn't gone three days straight without binging in awhile, which is great for me. tomorrow I'm going for a fourth day :) I did have some chocolate and a chocolate muffin today (which could be a HUGE trigger for me) but I just satisfied my chocoalte craving and stopped there. I wanted to make it to the end of the day and I did! Hopefully tomorrow will be another good day! Good luck to all of you-- Let's DO THIS.

Go Niagra! That's great news! :)