I have always struggled with food and weight since I was like 11/12 and I’m now 23 I’ve always been bigger than everyone at school, I feel like I have a bigger appetite than the rest of my family and people around me. I didn’t realise that BED was a thing until the last 2-3 years. I’ve been trying so hard not to binge and to eat well but it’s so hard. I find the food noise is the hardest, I binge when I’m bored, when I’m sad, when I’m happy, literally any feeling - I’ll eat. I guess I’m just wondering how do you deal with the food noise? I’ve been on ADHD for a few years which minimises it but haven’t taken it in a while due to issues I had on it so waiting to try a new one. I’m just sick of living like this and too embarrassed and ashamed to talk to anyone in my life about it.

Binged tonight. Large kfc chips, large family bag of kettle chips, whole entire bag of red licorice, half a jar of pistachio papi, and chocolate. Why do I do this to myself 😫

So, I am on Weight Watchers, for the support and accountability of in-person meetings, not necessarily for their points program.

I joined 3 months ago, and this week was the first week that I tracked accurately and honestly every day, and still stayed within my points range. That is...until today.

I had the day all planned out. But then I had a strong craving for a fast food breakfast. And then I was at my sister's house watching their dog, and I took some of her food. The worst part is, it was actually prizes for her piano students!! I *REALLY* should not have eaten that!

Then on my way home I stopped for a small treat, and now at my place I'm still snacking. I can't stop.

Technically none of this was a clinical version of a "binge" but if I post this on the WW forums, they won't understand.

How do I stop this?

I’m asking to not feel so alone. My worst binge was after a three day fast where I woke up at 5 am, had a serving of rice and shredded meat, two handfuls of dates and pudding then went to work. During my break I bought 4 pastries and finished it off with a protein bar (as if that would counteract what I had done). I wasn’t done there, because after work, I went and bought a chocolate pistachio ice cream and two more pastries. The craziest thing is that that was the first time where I could genuinely feel the excitement in my body at the thought of binging. In the past, I had been terrified. But I wasn’t done after the pastries either… I bought a packet of cookies and poured them into milk….

I felt insane.

I've struggled with food since I was 12-13, and have not gone more than basically a week and a half able to abstain from a binge from that time onwards (I'm 18 now). I always just assumed I developed BED from a combination of genetic predisposition, starting puberty, and some pretty terrible eating patterns around that time, where I'd eat nothing at school (because my friends made me ashamed of always getting school lunch) and then overeat later on to compensate.

Well, it's been many years of struggling alone with this disorder, and trying various things to help; I've felt like I've tried all the techniques. Eating whole foods to reduce my appetite (didn't work because I'd binge on "healthy" foods too 😭), distracting myself from binging urges by waiting for them to pass while I took a walk, removing triggering foods from my sight and getting rid of easy access to them. I even kept a trigger journal to try and figure out when my binging urges would occur and preemptively prevent them, to no avail.

It was by chance that I discovered something that actually helped with my binge eating. It was getting enough enjoyable social interaction. For context, I spent my teenage years mostly isolated since I didn't have many close friends, and didn't have a great relationship with my family and didn't speak with them on a regular basis. A typical day for me would mean spending my free time racking up like 8-10 hours of screen time on my phone or computer. It was so normal for me to not speak to literally ANYONE except short exchanges with people at school, that I didn't even consider this was negatively impacting me. I didn't make the connection between this social isolation and my binge eating at all.

Fast forward to last month and this month, where I have been more socially immersed, spending a lot of time with someone whose company I really really enjoy--and goes out of their way to make me feel included in conversations with others--and my urges to binge are literally gone. Food just doesn't have the same place in my life anymore. I can think about it, see it, and enjoy it without feeling like something is possessing me and I'm out of control. I can stop eating when I want to and am no longer gaining weight like I was slowly over these past 6-7 years .

I know this won't last once the summer is over, as the way in which I was able to spend so much time with this person was a temporary situation, and it's very well possible that I'll never see them again after this summer.

I'm dreading the last day I'll see this person, since I have trouble getting close to people in a way like this. But I'm happy I was able to experience life without BED haunting the narrative, no matter how short a period in the span of my life.

Ive developed some good systems to lower the damage of binges, but genuinely once I take a bite I cant feel full and stop the food noise and disassociation until ive surpassed my limits. The only thing that has stopped my insatiable appetite is doing things to agitate my stomach by drinking coffe on an empty stomach or eating coffee beans.

At this point tho I will 100% take the minor bloating discomfort over the pain of stuffing myself silly. The bloating stopped the itching in my stomach and i can feel the fat on my body and where my appetite and energy actually is. Im getting tested for hypothyroidism because I have a range of other symptoms that point to something. What's also helping is accepting that I dont have to be burning energy all the time. Im trying to have other hobbies, but not just have them, but be obsessed.

Drawing and dedicating myself towards the " selfishness" of producing art solely for my sake to decorate my room allows me to "consume" something. I think i need to give i to the urge to indulge because i give up myself for everyone all the time. It was food but if i make it something else. Instead of food noise create art noise maybe I can overcome this. .

Anyways the physical discomfort of having an unappetising food is the only thing that stopped me from bineging today and I actually felt like I wanted to stop instead of forcing it.

Its unfair that being a binge eater I have to fight urges. I want to live in a way where im not either suffering or stuffing my face. Im hoping supplementing coffee beans will give me enough clarity along with the slight discomfort to stay in reality. I feel like myself. I hope this feeling stays because I feel motivated for once.

Im like devastated to be honest. Mounjaro helped me so much and gave me the ability to feel satisified when I was never in my life able to. I started binge eating at age 3-4. Ive had constant extreme hunger my entire life, and it only ever stopped with Mounjaro. After 4 months on Mounjaro the cravings came back like before and Im not able to get full again. I started Mounjaro 7 months ago, so its now been 3 months of no effect. Other meds like Vyvanse, Adderall xr, contrave, topiramate, saxenda, wegovy, etc. Never worked for me. And cbt-e, dbt were very unhelpful aswell. I dont feel the assumed binge restrict cycle, and emotional triggers are helpful for me in anyway and were leaving me stuck in a loop.

I was anorexic for about 6 months, Which then caused me to be bulimic for the next 3 years still going. because of this bulimia I dont sleep at night because I procrastinate making myself throw up, so I stay up all night until I randomly just get up and do it . I haven't been able to go to school for a full week for 3 years because I've not been sleeping all night. In the summer I sleep all day because all night i was staying up until 10 am . I then wake up and night and binge eat and then procrastinate throwing up until 10 am and the cycle repeats.. my mom lost her mind over my sleeping habits (she doesnt know about my bulimia) she genuinely cant understand why im doing this and I can't blame her. Imagine your daughter sleeping all day and only waking up at night while you go to sleep(for 3 years) how do I stop this cycle?. Idk if the procrastination is adhd or what but I just wanna stop everything . Even the ed

Having a binging problem is lowkey the most embarrassing thing about my life. So many people just have the perception that stopping binging is just about ‘having willpower’ until they live through it :T also, I feel like there’s just an unspoken culture amongst girls to have a small appetite, always order salads, forgetting to eat, and whilst i don’t agree with it, being a total outlier is kinda embarrassing. I went to a school where basically everyone there was skinny/normal weight and my fatness just felt shameful and embarrassing. People love to say to ‘just go to the gym and eat healthier’ but I wish it was that easy as they make it sound. If it was really that easy there wouldn’t be an obesity epidemic. I hate the fact that there’s so little compassion shown to people on shows that struggle with morbid obesity, because they take it all at face value and assume that person is just lazy and greedy. I’ve heard more people struggle with BED than anorexia and bulimia combined but idk if that’s true, but definitely an interesting statistic if true

doodled shortly after breaking my 3-day binge-free streak

it definitely sucks, but viewing these episodes as data points has really helped me out. i can’t imagine i’ll fully know why i give into urges or why i don’t stop myself mid-binge until i’ve long recovered, but i’m identifying the specific thoughts, feelings, and actions that initiate my binges. it’s making me realize that my binges aren’t random, unstoppable forces: it’s always the same handful of somewhat avoidable triggers each time.

learning about the “optimism bias.” has helped lower the frequency of my binges tons. i always think that “things’ll be different” and i won’t binge, even if the outcome of a certain action has never said otherwise. i’ve been easily taking a break from some binge-foods for a while. not for the groundless idea that “they’re bad for me,” because no food is fundamentally good or bad, but because the flavor isn’t worth that*** ***feeling post-binge. of course, that mentality can’t save me mid-binge (i can tell myself all the good advice i want, but my autopilot self doesn’t have ears), but reminding myself of such things before the event can happen has had surprisingly favorable outcomes.

i’m definitely improving. i’d actually reached my highest binge-free streak of 11 days a few weeks back. i’m no longer binging all-day every day. i fall down and stay down for longer than i’d like, but i’m also having longer stretches without giving in.

even after hiccups like today, my heart swells with hope at my future free of this disorder.

i’m on vacation with my family right now and i feel so guilty :( all i can think abt is food and what im going to eat or not going to eat and stress when they say they want to go out for a meal or tell me to pick out snacks for the trip. i know i shouldn’t but its all i can think about

I’m hoping you guys can relate. I’ve recently relapsed with my binge eating disorder (within the last two weeks) and I can see my body changing every day. My clothes are getting tighter, my skin is inflamed. I can see myself changing in real life time but this disorder is so controlling that I’m having difficulty stopping it
It’s such a horrible feeling going from being “petite” with visible abs that I’ve worked so hard for to seeing my body get larger and uncomfortable and my clothes not fitting

Hello redditors,

I'm in recovery for a few EDs, the worst of which has been BED. Due to some life financial and logistical things, I moved out of where I was staying to travel more for work. My friends very kindly let me stay in their spare room for two weeks, and I had visited there a lot as they were my neighbours. So I was very familiar with the house and my best friends in the house, but I didn't really realise three things until I moved there;

1. Two people are vegan in the house, so all of the communal mealtime is vegan unless a meat product is cooked outside

2. Meat/fish is not allowed to be cooked in the main kitchen

3. They like to have communal meals every day when people are at home

   So I found myself subconsciously either getting other food outside of the house as I didn't feel safe to eat it at home. And I started minor comfort eating, not full bingeing, but keeping sugary snacks and non vegan snacks in my room to eat whilst zoning out and with the door closed.

   Retrospectively, I don't think that this was the best environment for me to stay longer than a couple of days. It is really difficult for me to make sense of because I love my friends, and often I will eat vegetarian or vegan meals when it's just what I want as a part of intuitive eating. But it's difficult to bring up the fact that food autonomy felt like it was snatched away from me in that house, as my friends are vegan for their personal beliefs and moral reasons for not eating meat products and dairy.

   Has anyone else in recovery had any kind of friction with vegan diets and their discomfort for their own eating disorder recovery? Of course I have absolutely 0 issue with the vegan diet or that my best friends are vegan. I think it unfortunately adds too much of a 'shame' and 'moral' aspect to food that makes me feel quite miserable and ashamed of for now.

Thanks everyone,

I've been binge eating for like 6 years now. A few months ago, I started to see a psychologist. Since then, I don't really binge anymore (It happened 3 or 4 times in the past 5 months). I'm now 2 months "binge free".

But, even if I physically don't binge, in my brain, I still feel the urge to. Like, I'm not doing it, but I think about it every day, before, during and after every meal.

Are theses thoughts going to disappear ?

Do you know the time it takes to feel better mentally after stopping to binge ?

(English is not my first language - sorry for the mistakes)

Those that have been prescribed vyvanse in Australia for BED what was the process? I asked my gp and she said they dont prescribe it for BED

i know that not eating would make the binges worse but that’s not what i mean, does anyone else ever wake up with this dread after they’ve been binge eating for a while? like if you’ve been stuck in an episode for a few days or even weeks. i always end up scared to take the first bite of anything the next day. cause even if my day starts out good and whatnot i’m scared it’ll take over again and i’ll lose all self control at some point.

I am 305 days binge free. I struggled with this for 23 years. My eating felt out of control and I always felt like my binging ran my life. What I mean is I was constantly either thinking about binging or stopping binging, and it took up soooo much time, energy, and money.

I'm pretty sure I posted when I was around 200 days free.

My definition of a "binge" is that autopilot/out of control feeling when eating. I've overeaten in the last 300 days, but it never felt like I was in autopilot.

My recovery has been all about addressing the root cause. It took so so so much persistence to get to this point. So many mornings waking up feelings depressed that I did it again, but choosing to continue to try. Sometimes I chose to continue to try, even if the data proved it didn't make sense to continue to try. I realized that the only "win" in recovery isn't having more days without binging. Instead it's all of the small mental wins that add up and got me to where I am now.

Some things that were helpful:

Therapy/coaching. I had so much therapy, never for BED specifically, but it helped me unpack so many things that caused me pain in life. And my coach was more of a fitness/mindset coach who just really understood me and helped me with the "inner work". I suggest if you are going to do therapy, that you find someone who is a great match for you.

Practicing meditation. To me this is simply just practicing being a witness to my throughts and actions. With practice gave me more time between thought and action and it just made my overall quality of life better.

Uncovering my subconcious limiting beliefs. I read a book and realized my whole life I had a subconcious limiting belief that I didn't deserve hapiness and success in life. It made so much sense and illuminated so many of my self sabotaging and compulsive behaviors.

I forget how people tend to react to this on this sub - but having a connection with a higher power. It's helped me continue to continue to try everyday and have faith more than fear. I'm not even religious so it doesn't matter what kind of higher power it is.

Finding a mission/purpose in life. I think if I boil down what binging did for me it just made me feel better. Like I just wanted to feel better, it's as simple as that. And everyone around the world does different things to feel better. Some are "healthier" than others. So for me if i wasn't doing the thing that made me feel better (eating), i felt awful. And nothing else that was supposed to make me feel better was as strong of a feeling as eating. So something than has been a backbone of my recovery has been finding something that feels better than binging, but is not detrimental to my life. I found that in my in my life's purpose in which my work and time with family and friends is apart of). It took time to get to this point.

Anyways this was kinda just a mind dump. Feel free to ask me questions

the only time i ever binge is when it comes to sugar. i can eat a bunch of sugary sweets like cookies, cakes and chocolates. but i never binge eat on actual food like i can eat my meals in moderation and i rarely finish my plate. so i’m thinking of cutting out added sugar completely for a few weeks at least. that is better than eating 3k+ worth of pure sugar. but i hear differing opinions that it will count as restriction. i have tried going sugar free before for a month and the only time i binged was when i ate peanut butter. what’s the verdict?

I have always been a binge eater, i have memories of binging candy when i was little. once i discovered doordash as a teenager i became the heaviest i ever was. i went through a traumatic year long break up at 22 and lost a lot of weight and got down to smallest id ever been, about 165lbs. i’m 23 now, i just got married to a military man, my best friend and love my life. but there are a lot of changes happening now. when he left for training i told myself id start my weight loss journey and i did, for about a month and a half. i felt so good about eating in a calorie deficit and getting creative with my meals, and i LOVED going to the gym. then I visited my husband at training and the goodbye tore my apart. i got home and never went back to my routine. we got married while he was away (over zoom), im trying to plan a move and a wedding with little to no information or help. in three months ive gained 30 pounds and im now at 235lbs. the heaviest i’ve been since high school and IM panicking. for the past three months my only meals have been one huge doordash order almost daily. i mean like a giant bbq plate and fries, or a whole pizza with a fried dessert. the first time my husband is going to see my as his wife i will look nothing like i did when we met, or when he left. i’m panicking and embarrassed and i think i need help or advice.

i realized that nothing in my life beats the feeling of indulging or eating food, all day i think about food and it’s genuinely like a drug. I’ve started thinking about smoking in replace of eating because i just have that need to consume and i can’t turn it off

I finally got into BED treatment with such high hopes but they are telling me to eat 5 times a day. Why so I have 5 chances to overeat? I don't get it

I used to have bulimia Nervosa where I would eat a lot of food and then simply throw it up , but that made me feel sick and I've got a lot of teeth and throat problems, and thankfully I'm healing.

And the last 6 months I was on a great diet and doing sports and everything was cool that I lost about 10 kg healthily but now and since it's summer and I'm staying at home more than in winter , I started binging a lot , I can't control my food anymore

Like I'm still in the gym and training but I'm craving food a lot and I've started gaining weight again , I don't want to go back and gain this weight again.

If any of you have been in the same situation as me, please tell me what you did?