This probably doesn't apply to the thin bingers, but for me the worst thing about BED is that you never get a day without the responsibility of every calorie you consume counting. Your current body is the result of every calorie you've ever eaten. Every single one, ever. There are no holidays where calories stop counting. There are no sick days where calories stop counting. There's no pill you can take once a month where your body stops digesting calories and you get some kind of a break. Every single one counts everyday forever.

This is radically different from nearly every other facet of life. Screw up at work? You could get away with it and nobody will notice. Just don't do it a bunch of times. No harm, no foul. Speeding or comitting a crime? Don't get caught and it's like it never happened. Racked up some debt (this is the closes analogue to binging for me)? Sometimes companies will work with you to relieve some of that debt. Alcoholic that relapses? You'll be okay if you can survive that day and get back on track the next.

But calories? Every single one counts. Forever. You never get a day where they don't affect you. It's like damn man, can I get one single day off?

Istg, this is never happening again. Ik we say this a lot, myself included, but I genuinely hit my rock bottom moment tonight. I binged, I will admit it, and my stomach is so so rock hard and I feel sick and nauseated and disgusted. This feeling is the worst feeling I’ve ever felt both physically and mentally. I’m putting this post out into the wild to be a reminder both to myself of how awful this moment is, and to hopefully inspire someone else to not let this happen either. Seriously, this is the most sick I’ve ever felt. Nothing is worth this feeling, nothing.

Some advice I got from a therapist

1. Disturb the routine. Most bingers do in the evenings. Find something to fill that time with instead. For me, I've become a lot more sociable. I'm into writing so I've been attending writing events, doing my own writing on the evenings I don't have plans, or I'm in the gym. I used to always buy junk food on the walk home from the train station after commuting home from work, so I walked a different route home. Disturbing the routine helps a lot, replace that time with something new, don't just leave a void and expect to not go back to what you know.

2. You can have it later. I tell myself this all the time. The shop with my favourite food in will be there tomorrow, I can have it then if I still really want it. 99.9% of the time I don't.

3. Don't keep junk food in your home. Admittedly, harder to do if you live with your family or a partner. If I buy junk food I will eat all of it on the same day. Just don't buy it.

4. Prioritise rest and sleep. The times in my life I've binged the most was when I was burned out and exhausted. Just by prioritising sleep and rest, this changed things massively.

5. Eat early in the day. I used to not eat until 2pm, have a small lunch, and then surprise surprise I'd binge in the evening. I now always eat breakfast and make sure my lunch is high in protein.

6. Hydrate. It's true that thirst can be confused for hunger. Drinking lots of water will help.

7. Not the healthiest advice but sometimes if I'm having a bad sweet craving, a diet coke/lemonade with lots of ice can hit the spot. I know soda is bad but it's better than 3000 calories. Hot drinks and herbal teas can help too.

8. You're sick of hearing about protein but fibre does wonders. Once i started making a conscious effort to eat fruit and veg daily, the cravings became so much better. IMO this is better than slamming back protein bars and shakes non stop.

Kindly share what has helped you. I'm by no means fully recovered and still have bad days, but I'm getting there.

Starting today, I’m going to eat 500 calories less than my daily intake. I PROMISE myself that whatever it takes, I’ll do it.

I don’t want to be the person who struggles with binge eating for over 10 years before finally recovering. Why not get better now? There is so much more to life than this.
Binge eating is a condition where I’M the one making the choices. It’s not my body or anything else causing the harm. It’s me! And I know that if I continue down this path, I’m going to cause more damage to my body than I even realize. And it’s not just my physical health that’s suffering, but my mental health too!! I’ve already struggled for 4 years.

PLEASE CHECK IN ON ME IN 3–5 DAYS, and I promise I’ll be completely honest about how things have been going!

​

I've been through ED for my whole life and was a fat kid for the most part of it. then after the pandemic i got into the other side of ED and lost A LOT of weight by looking myself at the mirror and hating myself saying shit about me. I'd feel so disgusted by my own body i just could keep eating. People started praising me when I knew I was suffering a lot inside. then I meet weed and started drinking everyday, 3 years passed by and now im obese again and can't even go outside, I just don't wanna be seen. Yesterday I started taking Vyvanse and got back to eating less than 1000 calories a day and at the same time im quite happy for eating a lot less and having a chance to be skinny again im just so sad I had to compel myself to that shit again. It's hard to listen from others you're fat, it hurts, but it still hurts to listen how beautiful i was for being underweight again. I feel like I just wanted everyone to not talk about my body but I know this is impossible

It’s 10:30 AM, and this is how things are going so far:

Physical activity:
At home Pilates workout with weights. 10 minutes of upper body and 10 minutes of legs.

Breakfast:
30 g rolled oats, 30 g protein powder, 5 g cardamom, 20 g peanut sauce, 10 g sugar-free fiber syrup, and 40 g frozen strawberries.

Eating location: Living room

Method: Eating one spoonful per minute.

Water: 0,5L

Feeling super full! Would definitely recommend the method to everyone! Will be updating you before going to bed later today.

To all of you out there:
I’ll be completely honest and say that, yes, I’m scared of relapsing, especially since things have been going well so far. But why be afraid of something that hasn’t happened yet?🙂‍↕️I hope I can inspire others, even though this is only day one. My initial goal is to make it to 10 days.

So a little bit of a backstory I’ve dealt with an ED basically my whole life I am 23 and it was restrictive, I’ve always been that type of person to eat super clean and super healthy and very into fitness. That in February of this year, I moved out and that honestly created such a trigger within my restrictive ED and body dysmorphia. Along the way I got into binge eating, I honestly never dealt with this before, in the past month and a half it’s been really good, but tonight was extremely bad. I ate my regular dinner, but up and realizing that one of my triggers is emotional. after this, I honestly don’t know what to do because it was so much and what I can do to make sure this doesn’t happen again

dont read next part if you get triggered of food

what i ate tonight: my regular dinner, PANCAKE BATTER (I wanted something sweet but had nothing), basically have a loaf of sourdough, I made my own chocolate icing, a lot of rice cakes, yogurt with peanut butter, more peanut butter with MORE rice cakes. I think I ate more but i honestly don’t remember its like I blacked out. i forgot I had coffee with a lot of creamer (decaf since its late😭)

I shared what I eat because I don’t want to feel alone and I honestly don’t know what to do after lol. I honestly feel ashamed and keeping it from my loved ones

I hadn’t binged in a while. I was doing really well. Then everything got fucked up.
My brother had a bone marrow transplant at the end of September. Things were fine until they weren’t. His body started to reject the transplant and he went into organ failure. Dialysis because his kidneys aren’t working, liver failure, emergency surgeries. He’s intubated and sedated so he’s under and on a ventilator. Spending time with him in the PICU made me so nauseous and I lost my appetite completely. We thought we were saying goodbye to him on Sunday, the doctors didn’t think he would make it through the night. But he did, which I’m grateful for. I barely ate for days, and didn’t think I’d have an appetite after being there. But the second I leave the hospital it’s game over. The worst week of binges since Friday that I’ve maybe had ever. I’m so ashamed. I am going between not eating at all and eating until I’m sick. I feel unworthy of eating anything and then when I break the seal I feel like harming myself with food. Like the guilt and shame will overshadow the fear and grief I feel. But then I just feel fucking worse.

in beginning of august i weighed about 130lbs. i haven’t weighed myself recently, but i guessing i now weigh 145lbs (my old weight before i started counting calories).

its been caused by weeks of binge eating…triggered by stress from school and social factors, also my mental health. whenever i binge i always feel so ashamed and wanna break it but i easily fall into my cravings. my cravings are usually the same foods over and over again (ultra processed foods like pretzels and chips).

my binging has disrupted my daily routine (academic and social).

i know i can (cause i’ve done it before) and i want to lose it, especially bc i want to look good and feel good. i’ve realized my physical body truly affects my mental mood.

tbh im writing this just to feel better especially since i just binged.

I've been fighting for my life the whole entire day. No matter what i do I'm still thinking about it.

Same as title

I used to be a massive foodie - one of my favourite things to do was trying out new food spots on the weekends and I was perfectly healthy. Was also able to enjoy random night outs and takeaways etc. BED has made me so scared of social eating and just eating out in general because I don’t know how many calories are in my food. Like I’d easily binge 2000-3000+ calories on snacks and that’d make me less anxious than having say a normal size meal at a restaurant with less calories.

Just wondering if anyone has the same/similar experience? It annoys me cuz I feel like I’m missing out on a lot of things. But so many times I’d skip trying something that’s only around for a limited time cuz I wanted to eat at home but then I’d just end up binging which frustrates me cuz I could’ve at least just enjoyed whatever food I wanted to eat and still ended up eating less.

It was the same when I struggled with binging about 10 years ago. It also makes it hard to do anything socially because food is often involved and then I’d feel so stressed out prior which usually just made be binge hard prior and after cuz stress is also a big trigger.

Hi I just had this inspiring experience I want to share. I've been CICOing since Oct.6th for ten days with 300 cal deficit per day.(TDEE 1700> trying around 1400) My life had been blah and I'm constantly missing those binge foods high of carbs and salt. I got nothing done at all in life except weight loss, so today(Oct.16th) my dumbass got really frustrated for being unproductive and decided to eat to get that flow of 'high' and focus I usually get from a binge. I ate about 620cal high carbo meal and what happened was very different from my usual binge, I didn't get high at all, nor the focus. I only got a bit of post meal sleepiness. The whole eating was literally just blah and resulted in a semi-bloated belly. I don't get high from large amounts of food like an addict anymore. So this truly is a fucking addiction that can be rewired! Maybe by sticking to a CICO plan! And this is a result for only ten days! Maybe something better will happen as I persist! Food for me is not a mighty solution for the unhappiness in life anymore. I need to find something else to fill that hole now. Let's whish it would be something healthy. I'll keep updating if anything works in any way...

I need help. I had an everything bagel with veggie cream cheese & a large Dunkin lemonade pink pineapple for breakfast, 2 Swiss and turkey sandwiches with 2 apple snapples and a tall stack of Pringles sour cream and onion, an for dinner a 40 piece nugget meal from McDonald's yesterday. I didn't realize how many calories I had ate. My lunch alone was over how many calories I should be eating in one day.

(Pls delete if not allowed!!)

Hi all, 20F, have struggled with BED since I was around 16, I was on phentermine for a year when I was 18/19 and it helped but unfortunately my BED has taken control again. It’s not even abt the weight, it’s mainly how much of a toll it’s taking on me mentally. My psychiatrist has decided to start me on Vyvanse to see if it will help. Has anyone been on this medication and has it helped? What are some things I should look out for? Any tips or experience is appreciated!

Hello im posting for the first time because I’m very desperate for help. I started college a month ago and have spent my entire first five weeks binging. I have occasionally suffered from binge eating in the past but it was a very different situation. I restricted a lot and was losing a lot of weight and would occasionally slip up and binge back then it was very easy to break out of because I know about the binge restrict cycle. I just followed everyone’s advice which is don’t restrict and it will stop. But what no one talks about is the kind of BED that’s not restriction caused im not hungry im just gaining tons or weight because I can’t stop binging. I don’t see any triggers i really don’t think restriction is the issue if anything it kind of controls me. It just feels like a totally different disorder now and I feel like there is zero solution because I can’t identify the root. I am so lost and just feel like giving up im so tired.

I need some suggestions. I have a teen who I'm pretty sure has Binge Eating Disorder. She is in 8th grade and it has gotten so bad. Last night she ate 8 ice cream cookie sandwiches. 😭😭 We have discussions, and she tells me about how shes feeling in the moment. Like she can not control it. Its like she has to eat them all. Until they are gone.

She will get up in the middle of the night to search for any snacks she can binge on.

This isn't about the weight gain at all. My family has a huge history of t2d. I too am a t2d and deal with BED.

Im noticing her mobility has decreased.

I've brought this up with her psychiatrist, but maybe im not stressing just how bad it is. Even if theres no snacks, she will eat whatever she can find. Uncooked pasta is the biggest thing. 2 nights about she ate half on a 16 Oz pack of pasta.

In the past she's begged me to ask her doctor for a glp1.😭😭 But shes 14 and our insurance doesn't cover it unless your a diabetic.

Shes also already on vyvanse, which hasnt helped.

I just don't know what to do. Hers is so much worse then mine. And its started so much earlier.

Any suggestions?

I binged today after 2 weeks of not doing it. I feel sick, but it wasn't too bad if I'm being honest. In the past my binges have been extreme, I'm talking 5-10k. Today it was "only" around 800. I actually managed to stop myself, which I'm proud of.

I'm going to forgive myself and get right back on track tomorrow. It sucks that it happened but if I keep thinking about it / beat myself up because of it, it's gonna cost me more. Keep fighting y'all!

I'm seeing a lot of advice about replacing bingeing by getting obsessed with something else, but due to depression and a lifelong struggle with a sense of self, I find it so hard to be truly interested in anything. Anyone else have this issue? How did you overcome it to live a full life where you find joy and comfort in things outside of food?

I work out, walk my dog, read, sometimes do crosswords and I have a guitar but nothing is my go to hobby or really a hobby at all.

Throughout the 5 months I was never once given a tip on how to not binge at every meal. Meanwhile they would constantly offer advice for the girl who never ate breakfast or lunch. Today I skipped a session and usually we are given a warning but I was kicked out. This was from one of the top hospitals in my country in Canada. I'm so pissed, there's no hope for me

Currently the most depressed I’ve been in my life. I have been binge eating thousands of calories every.single.day for the 3 weeks. I’ve gained about 10 pounds so far. I recently finished uni with what now I see was a completely useless degree. I’m broke, living in a shitty shared house with strangers and working a shitty low paying job. I genuinely do not want to be alive, and I cannot afford therapy. No free services where I live.
I just don’t want to be here anymore and I can’t stop binge eating because in my mind, I don’t even see the point of stopping, even though I know I’m just sabotaging all my chances of getting out of this shit environment/getting a better job if I’m too sick, fat and broke from buying all the food to even start applying for better positions. I just don’t wanna be here.

Today is finally the first day in forever that I haven't binge eaten! I felt like I was stuck in an endless tunnel, but today is different. Even though it's only 6 in the evening, I would normally have eaten half the kitchen by noon.