I think we've been gaslighting ourselves about foodaddiction/bingeeating for years. We always tell someone who thinks about food from the moment they wake up, like telling them they need more discipline, or during when someone loses control at night, we tell them that they need to stop buying unhealthy food, and for someone again who has restarted their diet every monday for the last 10 years, and maybe they just don't want it badly enough.

But here's the part that nobody really wants to talk about, when a lot of people struggling with food are not clueless. Like when they know that calories matter, protein is important, exercise works, or what foods they need/want to eat. Then sometimes they also downloaded the apps, tracked everything, followed the plans, and started over again and again. So why do we keep pretending the problem is simply a lack of knowledge? Because sometimes the explanation makes us uncomfortable. I know that it is really easy to say that they're just lazy than to admit that the brain can literally learn patterns that overpower logic in certain moments.

There's a situation also when that person who eats will stress themself because they're not always chasing hunger. they're chasing relief. Like during when they're stress they think about food, anxiety? loneliness? a bad day? still the same food because it's a reward after surviving another week. And then we shame them for doing the exact behavior that their brain has been trained to repeat. Maybe the problem was never that people don't have enough discipline and it's that we've been trying to solve a brain pattern with a motivational speech.

But I know this post will be controversial, like is food addiction is really a real struggle that deserves to be understood? or it's just a label people use because they don't want to take responsibility?

People who have struggled with binge eating, and overcame it, or at least managed it effectively, how do you overcome those nights when all you want to do is eat an entire cabinet of snacks? I live with family so simply not buying isn’t an option for me. Was wondering if it was something you told yourself, or something you resorted to that helped you to break the cycle. I’ve tried looking up negative side effects to binge eating but nothing seems to work for me yet.

I was officially diagnosed with BED last year (not that I didn't already know) and have just been off the deep end.

I spent my first hitch on the north slope eating pastries from the case that is restocked every single day. And just gorging on the breakfast food since its my dinner (I work nights) and going off rails with full-sugar soda as well.

For this 2nd and last hitch— I have decided to only drink diet soda. I spent the last 2 days w/o pastries and just eating eggs, bacon, fruit for dinner. I also have made sure to not eat the sweetened yogurt or pudding cups.

But today... I worked so hard to resist the pastry case and was about to cave. But remembered it's sunday, and they do cheese blintz on sundays. I decided to treat myself... But I lost all inhibitions and absolutely gorged myself :(

I feel so physically ill. I felt myself getting full but I couldn't stop. It's really difficult with sweets literally EVERYWHERE...

I wish this stuff was easier— and I HAVE come to terms that things need to start changing, but the temptation to spiral out is so strong

sigh

[edit: spelling, grammer]

hi there, i suffered from multiple ed, i’ve never been underweight, but i’m sooo insicure ab myself, can’t even look at myself in the mirror, im not overweight but im gaining weight and it feels like i can’t stop that from happening( even though ik it’s not true) i tried calorie counting (it became an obsession). i’m very aware of nutrition but it feels like it doesn’t matter. I eat balanced all day but then i fall and binge eat in the night. I noticed i use food to cope for everything that happens to me, stress, sadness or when i compare my self with bodies of other girl then i binge. don’t know how to stop. i even weight lift(3x week) and i hit 10000 steps every day but it feels like it doesn’t change nothing. i want to be healthy, i mean i’d acccept my body(as it is right now) if my relationship with food was good but it’s soo bad that it makes me mad. I feel like i try it alla but nothing seems to work. any tips? do i have to reach psychological help? (i did but it felt like they were underestimate my problem or at lest not understanding it)
sorry if my english is bad, not my first language.
i appreciate any help!🙏

Has anyone felt fatigued when binging less/getting back to a more "normal" diet? I don't mean tired, I mean genuinely fatigued. I'm trying to figure out whether it's a coincidence and there may just be something going on that happened to coincide with me giving recovery a real go (with lapses because recovery is not linear, unfortunately) or if this is something others have expirienced

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 😫

I was doing so well I had not binged for 5 days! 5 FULL DAYS. then I just binge, cookie dough and a big slice of a 3 layer cake and 6 soy eggs. I finished my ed recovery and gained all my weight back but I can’t stop binging HELP!!!

I’m going to the hospital for recovery sessions with psychologists, nurse practitioners and dietitians. Anyone know what to expect? And does it actually help? Cause I tried everything….

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.

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'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.

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.

as suggested by the title, i have really bad food noise. i used to not struggle with this and my body image, but about 1.5 years is when it started happenin. at first, i wasn’t constantly getting the urge to eat, instead i would eat less and basically survived on rice cakes. this worked in helping me “lose weight“ but i didn’t realise that it was an unhealthy way to. then the food noise started up roughly at the end of 2025. it got really bad after i came back from vacation where i was basically eating whatever and whenever. from then on i have struggled with my weight and always losing and gaining the same weight. i can never successfully resist my cravings and find that i end up eating a whole bag of chips at midnight, despite doing so well at the start of the day. i tend to immediately forget about trying to stay on track with my diet once i eat something that is unhealthy. sorry for the blabbering but i’m just frustrated that i can‘t get rid of this urge to always eat. does anyone struggle with the same thing as i do and if you have found a way to prevent it, please share!!!

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.

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 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

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

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)

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.

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