Learn how to gain control over food and overcome binge eating. Develop healthy eating habits to lose weight and better manage stress.
Binge eating is a disorder common among obese adults. Binge eaters feel they can’t stop eating once they start. Often triggered by stress and unwanted emotions, binging is something that can be controlled with the right help and support.
Reduce chances of getting a life-threatening disease
Have more energy
Increase self-esteem
Talk openly and honestly with your doctor if you have signs of a binge eating disorder. Ask for help and be willing to do what it takes to overcoming binge eating and regain control over food.
It is just as important to avoid dieting as it is to avoid binge eating when trying to overcome this disease. Trying to drastically reduce your calories or omitting food groups while learning to overcome binge eating may send you into a yo-yo dieting pattern where you will gain and lose weight repeatedly, without any benefits to your health.
The copyright of the article Gain Control Over Binge Eating in Weight Loss is owned by Tracy Rose. Permission to republish Gain Control Over Binge Eating in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
I know i over eat ... Im only 15 and I am overweight but find no way of
controling what i put in my mouth .... Im a size 18 and would like to be a
size 14 a normal healthy weight. Im very fussy with what i eat and eat
rubbish .. ive tried to have a go at trying to eat other food but cant
physicaly put it in my mouth or i just cant swollow the food. I dont
feel there is anything i can do, i dont talk about this with my family and
dont wish to in the future. I feel i have to lose weight for my self but
still dont have the will power to do so..
From Katherine
Jan 27, 2009 12:10 AM
Guest :
Dear Katherine: You might be overeating to comfort yourself, being a
teen is very stressful and emotional and a nice warm bit of snack can help
chase the bad feelings away. But it doesn't really, does it? and being
overweight makes you feel less confident which adds to the emotional
overload. Start keeping a journal and writing down how you feel. Then start
taking a walk for 20 minutes every other day. Do those things first without
changing anything about what you eat. That will follow. Good luck! P.
Feb 2, 2009 6:05 PM
Guest :
Hello, i think i have a binge eating dissorder. Although i am not
overweight and am relatively slim i do have regular food binges where i
consume a lot of unhealthy food and feel very sick and bloatd afterwards.
My way to deal with this binge eating is to go to the gym. However,
because the binging is so extreame it has made me gain weight still over
these past few months, and although i can deal with my current body shape
and size I do fear that I have developed a bad way of coping with anxieties
and stress. When i am worried about my college work I eat, or even when I
am bored and feeling lonely I eat. It just always seems to take away the
worry- well, for that short time anyway. I feel trapped in an endless cycle
of 'binge eating'...'going to the gym', 'binge eating'...'going to the gym'
and I feel it is giving me a distorted perception of life. I consider
myself an emotional, sensitive person and I wonder if this can make you
more surceptable to binge eating? I think i am an emotional eater. I am 19
and confused about what direction I want my life to have and who I want to
'be'. Some days I want it all- the graet body, a good job, a nice guy
(which i am finding hard to find by the way as I feel this eating dissorder
doesnt really allow time for the opposie sex)and then on other days during
the week I feel like life doesnt matter or 'who I am'. I know this only
natural but during this time I eat uncontrolably then, as I said feel very
sick afterwards and whatever I have planned to do with my day (usually
college work as I am an Art student) goes 'out of the window' as I feel too
sick to do anythinhg and also very lethargic. I'm not sure i'm strong
enough to ever stop this behaviour, I feel it has become a part of me and
dictates my mood, behaviour and perception of who I am. Everything else in
life becomes irrelavent once i've binge eaten, except going to the gym to
try and burn off the food, which I am starting to find harder and harder to
do- but I have too as I dont want to gain any more weight. Infact I feel I
need to loose a few pound in order to feel better about my body and more
confident in myself. I was wondering if there is a local self help group I
could go too, or people (my age) you could put me in touch with in order to
gain support with this problem and help each other through. Thankyou,
From Kelly
Feb 4, 2009 7:56 PM
Guest :
Hi,
I have suffered from Binge eating for about 4 years. I go in
and out of stopping and starting, and therefore lose weight, then gain it
back. It all dpeepends on my situation at the time. Since October 2008 i
lost about 5kg and stopped binge eating, though i admit i did still overeat
now and then, which most likely stopped me from losing more weight, as my
natural weight is quite petite.
Recently i went on a holiday for
2 weeks, and just ate crap and did no exercise whatsoever. I told myself I
have to change this when i get home. Now that im home, Im still eating like
a pig, and today I just a binge like old times. this is really upsetting to
me. Ive already put on 2kg from my holiday and am scared I'll gain the rest
back if I dont stop this. Does anyone have ay advice? I'm really upset and
if i gained more weight instead of losing I'll be extremely sad, and not
want to leave the house or do anything. This has happened before and has
taken a tole on my friendships. I have also just started a new
relationship, and I dont want my partner to be turned off by my weightgain.
More importantly, I dont want to say to him I dont want to go out in public
because of this, as I know this will also affect him.
Please
help!
V.
Feb 19, 2009 12:35 AM
Guest :
hey my names sam and i have identified tht i am currently suffering binge
eating disorder as in times where my emotions are everywhere i will binge
on over 50000 calories usually on sweet carbohydrate foods to satisfied my
feelings, however these feeling of being satisfied do not last as i become
angry and uptight with guilty feels where i feel worhtless pathetic and
FAT! my binge eating has gone on for about a year now every since i
was discharged from an eating disorders unit in stafford for anorexia to
which i suffered for 5 years. every since leaving the unit and coming face
to face with daily normal life again, boy expectation stress, having to get
my own food instead of being given it, work pressure, family life problems
and my moms anorexia i have developed this new eating disorder where i
binge uncontrolably! i used to go to cognectic (or however you spell
it) therapy and i found it useless, i keep food diarys which as soon as i
look at what i have eaten end up feeling more guilty so binge again, i
exercise everyday which is an obbsession of mine anyway i have an unhealthy
relasionship with exercise as its the only safe space i find where im free
from food and exercise!, ive got to the stadge where i cant stand the
way i am anymore, i have become really fat and chunky, which is making it
worse as i still have anorexic tendencies it feels lik i have 2 sides to my
head one uncontrolable voice allowing me to binge and binge when i feel
uneasy and the guilty anorexic side telling me to starve and punishing me
by hours of exercise please help me i dont want to feel like this
anymore, therapy is not helping i cant talk to my parents as mom doesnt
understand as her eating disorder would never allow her to binge eat please thankyou sam
Mar 5, 2009 1:13 AM
Guest :
Hi,Sam! I can totally relate to you. I too, have gained weight and am well
headed into the overweight category if I don't stop binging this very
minute. My clothes don't fit anymore or they barely do and I can't seem to
stop binging. I do it every day. I have finally gotten to exercise again,
but no amount of exercise can keep me from gaining weight at the rate that
I am eating.
Anyhow, I think salvation comes from two areas.
Well, actually one. Our minds. Stop fretting about the result of our
disorder- the changes in our bodies, weight gain- and focus on changing our
attitude towards food. One step at a time. I refuse to panic anymore. Food
is just one aspect of life, and it is something I can overcome. I need to
tell myself that every day, every hour, in order to succeed at this.
Good luck getting over this, guys. I know it's tough and it's soooo
easy to reach out for that cookie yet again and then keep on eating. And
then tell yourself you're starting over tomorrow. But we are KILLING
OURSELVES slowly by doing this. And I want to live.
Mar 21, 2009 10:42 PM
Guest :
hey guys: well i have a similar story to sam's, just i didnt have
anorexia as long. Last year i was healthy and fit 5'8" and i weighed
136lbs. For whatever reason i fell hard to anorexia and within two months
had lost twenty pounds. My desperate parents put me in therapy and sent me
to a nutritionist. i was forced literally FORCED to act happy to have my
parents off my back. i quickly gained weight back but not how everyother
anorexic does. i binge ate my way back to my normal weight. i was happy for
about a month and then realized my eating was out of control. i binge eat
every single day. and its so frustrating. i used to love myself and now i
have gained TWENTY effin pounds. yeah, twenty pounds in three months. thats
rediculous. i told my mom about it, and my dad knows too. and my
nutritionist knows, but i feel like they arent really helping me. my
nutrtionist doesn't really address me as a "binge-eater". she
says my body doesn't know how to act now that I'm getting food.. i just
want to scream at her "I NEED HELP!!!!" i used to be the
queen of exercise. i ran and ran and ran because i loved running. now i
feel worthless and fat and haven't run in a month. i haven't done any
exercise and it's stupid i'm complaining about it. I have both the mindset
of a anorexic and a binge eater, like you sam. I either loose complete
control, or eat NOTHING all day. I'm destroying my body and i need help and
support so badly. i have it i guess, they just dont believe me. -nicole
Apr 29, 2009 7:18 PM
Guest :
Hi guys, I currently have a craving for eating all my lunch I brought
for work, even though it's only early. Therefore I decided to search the
web for inspiration to stop my binge from occuring. I have been
dieting on and off since I was 12 years old, constantly feeling self
conscious of the way I look. However, last year I got a new boyfriend who
was quite popular among the ladies. Therefore I unconsciously made a few
female frenemies. After hearing one comment that because I wasn't "the
skinniest of girls" and therefore not good enough for him, I decided
to go on a major weight loss expedition. I was obsessed with losing
weight, everything I ate I would burn off later in the gym. I ended up
losing 11.5 kg in about 3 months. However, now I suffer from extreme binge
eating and dieting. It seems that because I was in that weird state of mind
for so long, I no longer knew what and how much I could really eat. So now
because of those 3 months of extreme dieting, I've had 12 months of
fluctuating and binge eating. After starving myself and binging, I
decided I'd had enough and just want to be healthy and happy. My best
advice is to eat a wide variety of foods - if you have toast for breakfast,
don't have in for lunch - because it makes eating little amounts of food
more exciting. Now, after writing this note (and if you've gotten this
far I applaude you) I no longer have that craving to binge :) Thank
you for listening, and your unintentional help :) H.
May 22, 2009 3:28 PM
Guest :
I know I have beinge eating disorder I am 14 and I wear 222 ponds I have
been trying forever to lose weight but when I tried to go to a program my
insurenge said no because they only cover for anerxia and bulemia eating
disorder
Aug 14, 2009 10:07 AM
Guest :
I have a binge eating disorder - I either restrict my calorie/fat/carb
intake for one or two weeks and then I binge for one week solid . The cycle
for me is almost 4 years now....I dont know what to do...its not
healthy,,,
