eating too fast / is this a binge?

Hello everyone,

Thank you for your feedback, it's so good to find this community and all this support!

Does anyone ever feel that, even if you are not very hungry, but then you start to eat, you eat too fast? I don't know if this would be a 'binge'...

I've mainly had problems with restriction. But now that I'm eating again, I find that I have a very hard time eating slowly. And I wind up in a lot of discomfort and bloating, obviously. I know the simple answer is 'just eat slow' but I find this to be very difficult.

Sorry to ramble a bit there, but in a nutshell, here are my main questions:

1. Is eating too fast, normal when you are trying to recover from an eating disorder / and trying to gain weight?

2. If I eat structured meals and snacks, that are planned ahead of time, but I still eat these too fast, is that considered a binge?

Thank you for the feedback!

Eating too fast does not consitute a binge.  It's just a bad habit, probably caused by the fact that you've been starved for a long time... so pretty reasonable.   Make sure that your structured meals and snacks are adequate and nutritious.  If you're arriving at your next meal or snack feeling so famished that you have to gobble the food down then you probably need to eat more or eat more often.

And you can try to consciously slow down the speed at which you eat so that you don't give yourself indigestion.   Sit at a table, for example, rather than doing other things.  Put your knife and fork down between mouthfuls.  Savour the flavours more.    Or try a version of what they used to do in Edwardian times.... chew food 10 or 20 times before swallowing.  If you can eat with other people  - do so.  Making polite conversation slows down the eating process. 

I have been a restrictive anorexic and trying to recover and I do the same thing-eat too fast and feel bloated and sometimes graze before I eat.

I have this problems but i think its quite normal i think my reasons for doing it were because a i was so starved and in the beginning i was so frightened of eating i almost ate fast to get it over with . when i was ip i found it horrible cause everyone else ate slow but i felt if i did this id get so frustrated id throw it at the walls. its difficult to know the correct speed , i think everyone is different i have 2 brothers 1 takes a while the other it dosent touch the side . i dont think this is a binge as you are only eating normal amounts. i think as your disordered eating improves this will for you . but try to pace yourself while you are eating they say each mouthful should be chewed 10 times . but at the end of the day you are eating this is the main thing h xx

Are you eating enough? If you're really hungry before a meal, that's a common reason why people rush through their food.