Can we please stop tossing this term around....

BINGING.

I'm not the type to rant, but I'm so frustrated with all the posts I see here about "binging". As someone who has suffered from this disorder in the past, and has occasional struggles with it still, I am absolutely horrified by what some people consider "binging".

A few slices of bread, a piece of cake, a couple of cookies, some peanut butter...this is slightly overeating, or indulging, NOT binging.

Those of you out there who actually suffer from this disorder will understand this: Binging is a mental health problem. Binging is when you start eating and don't stop. You feel SO full that you're actually physically ill, you have intense pain in your stomach b/c the amount of food that you've eaten is actually more than your stomach can hold. But you keep eating. Doesn't matter what, doesn't matter at all. It's an emotional problem, you know you should stop, but you CAN'T.

During and afterwards you feel awful. You cry. You get angry. You hate yourself for not being able to control this.

It is a very serious disorder that has been closely linked with depression and suicide, and I cannot stand the way that people throw the term around like it's nothing.

So, please the next time you eat a few extra cookies please do not call it a binge.

I know that some people might not know any better, and I don't mean to offend anyone...just have to get this out!

Okay guys before you all freak out here, let's get our terms straight:

Binge - a period or bout, usually brief, of excessive indulgence, as in eating, drinking alcoholic beverages, etc.; spree.

Binge eating disorder (BED), is a psychiatric disorder in which a subject shows the following symptoms:

• Periodically does not exercise control over consumption of food
• Eats an unusually large amount of food at one time -- more than a normal person would eat in the same amount of time.
• Eats much more quickly during binge episodes than during normal eating episodes
• Eats until physically uncomfortable
• Eats large amounts of food even when they are not really hungry
• Usually eats alone during binge eating episodes, in order to avoid discovery of the disorder
• Often eats alone during periods of normal eating, owing to feelings of embarrassment about food
• Feels disgusted, depressed, or guilty after binge eating

A person can "binge" without having BED. It's eating an unusually large amount of food at one time, but it does not have that psychological component to it. I understand the frustration, as I recovered from anorexia. However, technically these people are not misusing the term binge. A person does not typically sit down and eat 10 cookies in one sitting, that is definitely a binge. Now to someone with BED that may not seem like a lot, and maybe it isn't a "big binge", but the fact of the matter is that it is still a binge.

Everyone on here has a common goal; to live a healthier lifestyle. Seriously, you guys need to calm down.

no_audience- thank you I completely agree!

Original Post by no_audience:

Okay guys before you all freak out here, let's get our terms straight:

Binge - a period or bout, usually brief, of excessive indulgence, as in eating, drinking alcoholic beverages, etc.; spree.

 

Binge eating disorder (BED), is a psychiatric disorder in which a subject shows the following symptoms:

• Periodically does not exercise control over consumption of food
• Eats an unusually large amount of food at one time -- more than a normal person would eat in the same amount of time.
• Eats much more quickly during binge episodes than during normal eating episodes
• Eats until physically uncomfortable
• Eats large amounts of food even when they are not really hungry
• Usually eats alone during binge eating episodes, in order to avoid discovery of the disorder
• Often eats alone during periods of normal eating, owing to feelings of embarrassment about food
• Feels disgusted, depressed, or guilty after binge eating

 

A person can "binge" without having BED. It's eating an unusually large amount of food at one time, but it does not have that psychological component to it. I understand the frustration, as I recovered from anorexia. However, technically these people are not misusing the term binge. A person does not typically sit down and eat 10 cookies in one sitting, that is definitely a binge. Now to someone with BED that may not seem like a lot, and maybe it isn't a "big binge", but the fact of the matter is that it is still a binge.

Everyone on here has a common goal; to live a healthier lifestyle.

That's pretty much what I was said isn't it?  I just didn't define BED.  I don't know enough about that, so I had no clue that was what the original poster was referring to.

Thanks for taking time to restate my point.  I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who disagrees with the OP. :)

I agree with the OP. I've never binged in my life. I have eaten a tub of icecream, or a whole bag of potato chips, but I was fully aware what I was doing and I wanted to. And never in the same sitting.

Many times I get frustrated when people have topics like "OMG I BINGED WHAT DO I DO?!?!?!?!" then they say they had five cookies or three handfuls of carrots. I can sympathize with the feeling of a loss of control, but I am always expecting something far worse.

I guess that part of that might be my perspective as "suck it up, you ate too many calories, you can't undo it" as this is the tough love I give myself. I just think people get waaaay too bent out of shape about these sorts of things. One day, one indulgence isn't that big of a deal. It won't kill you. (This is how I few most things in life, haha.)

But honestly, if I read a post like that, I just ignore it and let someone with more sympathy than me deal with it. ^^; We can't all like the way other people are, but at least one of us can relate to one other person.

OK.  So now that we all have that figured out....can you please tell me how to get over BED?  I suffer terribly.  I know when I am doing it.  I know I don't like to.  I know I don't want to.  But I don't know how to stop.

Anyone?

i couldn't agree with the op enough, but i think why some people missuse it is because regardless of the amount of food they ate, they felt out of control.

anyway, sometimes the media gets it wrong too and that upsets me more.

It is not misuse of the word BINGE... look at the definition!

Binge - a period or bout, usually brief, of excessive indulgence, as in eating, drinking alcoholic beverages, etc.; spree.

People are not misusing the word if they "had a brief period of excessive indulgence of food"

love-bears-all~ yes I agree with you to I read the thread backwards, sorry, but you also made a great point!

Original Post by psjoblom:

OK.  So now that we all have that figured out....can you please tell me how to get over BED?  I suffer terribly.  I know when I am doing it.  I know I don't like to.  I know I don't want to.  But I don't know how to stop.

Anyone?

It's an eating disorder, usually requiring some sort of professional intervention, but some people have success with 12-step programs. You really need people around to keep you accountable. Speaking as a person who has recovered from an eating disorder, I never could have done it on my own.  I would be dead right now if my doctors and nurses hadn't saved my life.

My binges are really weird to me. They seem to be either a bunch of healthy-ish foods, like eating four slices of low cal bread with low fat margarine and then some low fat cheese and yogurt (where I just keep grabbing whatever is on hand) of I'll eat ONE thing to excess. Like a whole package of oreos, a pint of ben and jerry's, or like 30 dum dums. Otherwise those instances though, I'll eat relatively healthy to make up for it. So I wouldn't call it BED exactly, but it does have a very emotional, secretive, dealing with stress kind of motivation.

Ah..there's all the angry comments I was expecting-however seeing as how I got a heck of a lot more people agreeing with me than not. I think it's worth it to clear a few things up:

I NEVER said that the term was being misused--I asked that people stop being so casual in their usage of it.

For someone who suffers from BED, saying that you binged on a piece of white bread, a slice of cheese and 2 cupcakes is just insulting.

Think of it this way: let's say that someone has a day where they only get in a few hundred calories, for whatever reason: they're busy, forgetful, ill...they only get a few hundred calories in- does this make it okay for them to come on the board and complain that they are suffering from anorexia? Would that not be insulting to those people whom actually suffer from the disorder? Because, "technically", for that one day said person is anorexic.

Or someone has the stomach flu for a few days, and throws up after they eat--does this make them bulimic? Obviously not.

This is what it's like for someone with BED to see these numerous posts about binging. Again, I never accused anyone of misusing the term...simply asked that people take into account that the term should be taken a lot more seriously.

So let me simplify and restate the original post:

"Please think before you throw this term around, it's insulting and painful to those who suffer from BED. If you feel badly because you overate a bit, I totally get it, and I'm sorry for your feelings...but try to put it into perspective."

Hi, I am recovering from binge eating disorder, it is not a daily part of my life now thank goodness! But I totally hear you when you say it can be insulting when people make a big deal about eating MUCH less then we can do during a binge!

No one means any harm of course, they just don’t realize that the small packet of biscuits they are calling themselves a “ pig” for eating, is nothing compared to the whole jar pf peanut butter, block of chocolate, and 2 bowels of cereal we ate!

Guys, come on--sure, the word's slightly ambiguous, but in a weight loss community? It has a very definite meaning. It's jargon. Context is everything, people. If you were a doctor, talking about a patient, you wouldn't say "oh, yeah, he was like, totally having a heart attack! I was like, chill out, dude..." because that actually means something in your community. Let's not get into semantics and technicalities--in context, as in a weight loss community, "binge" has a very specific meaning. Use it however you want with your other friends.

ok agree with everyone, and i have to say in the last year i think this site has really grown up and stopped over using this term so much. but a binge can be eating at materence or lower its all in the head,  other day i came home after a massive lunch where i could not finish my creamy pasta to eat 2 apples 2bananas, half a loaf of bread an orange, pumpkin, raisins, now some people might say ok that was only like 800cals, or all you ate was healthy stuff but the fact is i was not hungry i was beyond stuffed,  i was crying while i was eating and i was sick,  i rarelz binge and am watching it closely because i am in recovery of anarexia which was caused by binge eating....but i think its important to see that binges come from all people and are wide ranged

Original Post by prismac:

Guys, come on--sure, the word's slightly ambiguous, but in a weight loss community? It has a very definite meaning. It's jargon. Context is everything, people. If you were a doctor, talking about a patient, you wouldn't say "oh, yeah, he was like, totally having a heart attack! I was like, chill out, dude..." because that actually means something in your community. Let's not get into semantics and technicalities--in context, as in a weight loss community, "binge" has a very specific meaning. Use it however you want with your other friends.

 I was going to say exactly this, thanks for making the point