Binging

So I was in intuitive eating group at my ED center today, and the subject was binging. Our therapist gave us a handout, and it contained a really good definition of a binge.

"Binges are purposeful acts. A binge can be an attempt to care for yourself when you feel uncared for. They are signals that you are not giving yourself what you need either physically (with food) or emotionally (with intimacy, work, relationships).

Binges are marked with a sense of urgency, by the feeling of "I want it and I want it now." The feeling of "I want it it now so badly that I will run down anything standing in my way".

A binge is a plunge into oblivion. Sometimes living is too much to handle and food becomes a way to blur out what is painful."

The Underlying Meaning of Binges (Roth, G 1984. Breaking Free from Compulsive Eating Ch. 5)

This really resonated with me because it emphasizes the emotional aspects of binging.

I posted this because I want people to remember that binging is not a reason to feel ashamed or be angry with yourself. Binging is a sign of deprivation, and if you don't forgive yourself and allow yourself whatever you have been restricting (whether food or emotions, as Roth says) then the binges will keep happening.

So do me a favor, and if you binge tonight, sit back and take a minute to learn something from it. Forgive yourself.

wow, thank you, splenda.... a sign of "deprivation." i never thought of it that way. learning about this stuff totally helps. thanks for posting it. 

This is really informative, to me. Thank you for posting it.

I'm so glad I read this earlier today. I b/p-d on cereal last night and ED made me want to restrict all day. But this post made me beat down that ED voice and now - for the first time in months - I actually *want* to eat because food has started appealing to me again. Thank you, that part about learning from the binge and forgiving myself really struck a chord.

Raspberrydreams- I'm so glad you came to that realization! Seriously, I'm so proud of you I could scream! Eating the day after a binge is always the hardest thing for me, I just have to keep reminding myself that a binge is a signal that you need to take care of yourself!

I'm so glad other people found this as helpful as I did. I'm glad I posted it.

Oh yeah, and *bump*!! (yeah, I'm shameless.)