RE: Binge Eating Disorder

[Guest guest]

I think it was in the IE book where they talk about the desire to eat "crunchy" or hard foods could be a way to release anger. It just sounded like you were eating a lot of "crunchy" foods and was wondering if you might be able to pinpoint some angry feelings. Just a thought. I could be completely off base here.

--Alana

-------------- Original message -------------- From: meritaten27@...

My daughter is in her final year of college, a psych major. She is taking a class on eating disorders this semester. She downloaded a 40-page assessment document for class on diagnosing eating disorders. Well, I copied and took the assessment. The results were exactly what I have always known in my heart since I was only 11 years old: I have binge eating disorder.But...why would putting a clinical name to what I've always experienced first, set me off on a binge; and, second, make me feel so very, very bad? I polished off the cherry tarts, sat reading with a huge can of mixed nuts at my side, chomping away, got the large popcorn at the movies and ate it ALL... I feel really bad about myself right now. I'm not only not losing any weight, I believe I'm gaining (and not just water from the popcorn and nuts salt).I know IE is the only right approach, but these disgressions into old habits are really painful and distressing.&n

bsp; I feel like an alcoholic who's fallen off the wagon.Beckett

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[Guest guest]

I read that, and I do the crunchy foods sometimes too- but I think mine is not anger but rather anxiety.

I think it was in the IE book where they talk about the desire to eat " crunchy " or hard foods could be a way to release anger. It just sounded like you were eating a lot of " crunchy " foods and was wondering if you might be able to pinpoint some angry feelings. Just a thought. I could be completely off base here.

--Alana

-------------- Original message -------------- From: meritaten27@...

My daughter is in her final year of college, a psych major. She is taking a class on eating disorders this semester. She downloaded a 40-page assessment document for class on diagnosing eating disorders. Well, I copied and took the assessment. The results were exactly what I have always known in my heart since I was only 11 years old: I have binge eating disorder.

But...why would putting a clinical name to what I've always experienced first, set me off on a binge; and, second, make me feel so very, very bad? I polished off the cherry tarts, sat reading with a huge can of mixed nuts at my side, chomping away, got the large popcorn at the movies and ate it ALL... I feel really bad about myself right now. I'm not only not losing any weight, I believe I'm gaining (and not just water from the popcorn and nuts salt).

I know IE is the only right approach, but these disgressions into old habits are really painful and distressing. & n

bsp; I feel like an alcoholic who's fallen off the wagon.Beckett

More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail!

[Guest guest]

-

>

> But...why would putting a clinical name to what I've always

experienced first, set me off on a binge; and, second, make me feel so

very, very bad?? I polished off the cherry tarts, sat reading with a

huge can of mixed nuts at my side, chomping away, got the large

popcorn at the movies and ate it ALL...? I feel really bad about

myself right now.? I'm not only not losing any weight, I believe I'm

gaining (and not just water from the popcorn and nuts salt).

>

I feel like an alcoholic who's fallen off the wagon.

>

> Beckett

Hey,

I know how you feel. The whole process of learning IE scares me to

DEATH. I don't know how to trust myself or anyone else for that

matter. But you know what? That is just what IE is, a process. We have

to learn to forgive ourselves when we fall back into bad habits. Your

actions don't define who you are. So what if you ate a WHOLE tub of

popcorn! You're still a beautiful, smart, fun person, and a wonderful

mom. But it is so good that you recognized what triggered your eating

binge. I am sure I have gained weight too. I have " legalizing "

things left and right. I have to keep telling myself that my weight is

not the focus. I need to change my relationship with food.

So, go easy on yourself, you're still learning,

Tanif

[Guest guest]

What she said -

Hey,I know how you feel. The whole process of learning IE scares me toDEATH. I don't know how to trust myself or anyone else for thatMatter. But you know what? That is just what IE is, a process. We haveTo learn to forgive ourselves when we fall back into bad habits. YourActions don't define who you are. So what if you ate a WHOLE tub ofPopcorn! You're still a beautiful, smart, fun person, and a wonderfulMom. But it is so good that you recognized what triggered your eatingBinge. I am sure I have gained weight too. I have "legalizing"Things left and right. I have to keep telling myself that my weight isNot the focus. I need to change my relationship with food. So, go easy on yourself, you're still learning,

-- Re: Binge Eating Disorder

->

[Guest guest]

Beckett, I haven't read any of the responses yet but I wanted to let you know that I am in the same boat. In fact, realizing this is what made me seek out a nutritionist who directed me towards Intuitive Eating. I can tell you that for almost a year now my binges have been minimized. At first, of course, I stayed in the pattern of being good/bingeing but then broke that and have had more and more time in between binges. This is a victory for me! I am not saying I am binge-free (I hope I will eventually get that way but you never know). Sometimes I feel frustrated at my lack of progress with IE. In a year I have lost maybe - maybe - 10 pounds. I know that's better than gaining weight but it still is frustrating that I haven't lost more. So when I start to get down on myself for not adhering to all the principles I should be adhering to, I try to remind myself

that I have done all right and that not bingeing nearly as much as I was before is a good thing and progress. I was scared when I, too, took an assessment and figured out what I had. It made me binge more, too. It was almost like "well, this is my diagnosis so I had better live up to it". After seeing a nutritionist for a while I realized that was illogical! Why use a disorder in order to live my life in that same way? Why not use the diagnosis to make myself better? I haven't seen my nutritionist for a few months now but she definitely helped me immensely. I highly recommend one who is well-versed in IE. Good luck, meritaten27@... wrote: My daughter is in her final year of college, a psych major. She is taking a class on eating disorders this semester. She downloaded a 40-page assessment document for class on diagnosing eating disorders. Well, I copied and took the assessment. The results were exactly what I have always known in my heart since I was only 11 years old: I have binge eating disorder.But...why would putting a clinical name to what I've always experienced first, set me off on a binge; and, second, make me feel so very, very bad? I polished off the cherry tarts, sat reading with a huge can of mixed nuts at my side, chomping away, got the large popcorn at the movies and ate it ALL... I feel really

bad about myself right now. I'm not only not losing any weight, I believe I'm gaining (and not just water from the popcorn and nuts salt).I know IE is the only right approach, but these disgressions into old habits are really painful and distressing. I feel like an alcoholic who's fallen off the wagon.Beckett More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail!

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[Guest guest]

Just this morning I felt that IE is like wearing away stone with a

drip of water. Talk about slloooowwww. But each drip takes a little

bit more of the stone away and its really a very gentle process too.

Afterall, I didn't acquire all my non IE patterns overnight so why

should I expect IE to be a 'snap' type of change? Already I'm seeing a

'dip' in the stone and a lovely little pool of water to watch itty

bitty waves in :)

Katcha

>

> Beckett,

>

> I haven't read any of the responses yet but I wanted to let you

know that I am in the same boat. In fact, realizing this is what made

me seek out a nutritionist who directed me towards Intuitive Eating.

I can tell you that for almost a year now my binges have been

minimized. At first, of course, I stayed in the pattern of being

good/bingeing but then broke that and have had more and more time in

between binges. This is a victory for me! I am not saying I am

binge-free (I hope I will eventually get that way but you never know).

>

> Sometimes I feel frustrated at my lack of progress with IE.

Good luck,

[Guest guest]

Katcha, I love your analogy of the stone. Beautiful!

--Alana

-------------- Original message --------------

Just this morning I felt that IE is like wearing away stone with adrip of water. Talk about slloooowwww. But each drip takes a littlebit more of the stone away and its really a very gentle process too.Afterall, I didn't acquire all my non IE patterns overnight so whyshould I expect IE to be a 'snap' type of change? Already I'm seeing a'dip' in the stone and a lovely little pool of water to watch ittybitty waves in :)Katcha>> Beckett,> > I haven't read any of the responses yet but I wanted to let youknow that I am in the same boat. In fact, realizing this is what mademe seek out a nutritionist who directed me towards Intuitive Eating. I can tell you that for almost a year now my binges have beenminimized. At first, of course, I

stayed in the pattern of beinggood/bingeing but then broke that and have had more and more time inbetween binges. This is a victory for me! I am not saying I ambinge-free (I hope I will eventually get that way but you never know).> > Sometimes I feel frustrated at my lack of progress with IE. Good luck,

[Guest guest]

Gillian, thank you so much. And you are right on target.! I am very, very sensitive to being "labeled" (long, boring explanation having to do w/bullying in childhood that I won't get into here), and, yes, my coping mechanism is bingeing. As you say, there are worse coping mechanisms. And it was probably one of the shortest binges I've experienced all year, simply because I was able to recognize what I was doing. Baby steps, baby steps... Or, as they used to say when I attended Silent Unity, "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better".

Beckett,

This is a little late, but I wanted to respond. I had a completely different experience than you. I was studying fitness and nutrition to become a personal trainer and when I saw there was a name to what I was doing, it was a huge relief. I knew I didn't have anorexia or bulemia, and but I couldn't put my finger on what it was I was doing. And of course at the time I thought I was the only one in the world that did it. So I felt a lot better knowing it had a name and I wasn't the only one.

But that fact is that it bothered you. And what is your patterned response to upset? It's to eat. So you were just following your normal pattern, and that's going to happen until you slowly over time build a new pattern. And that is what you are learning to do. Binging is a coping mechanism, and not the worst coping mechanism in the world, right? And the truth is it will happen again, but it will become less over time. Just use it as a learning opportunity. You were aware of it, that's improvement over the past, right?

I don't know if this is helpful, but you really sound quite normal and I would just keep looking forward. You are doing great!

Thanks!Gillian

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[Guest guest]

Beckett,

You're so welcome and I'm glad it helped. You mentioned that this time around your binge was much shorter. That's what happens as you progress with IE. It's not that the binging stops, at least not right away. But the binge duration gets shorter because it's easier to snap out of it, and the time in between gets longer. So that's very cool! What's happened to me over the years I've been doing this is now I still occasionally want to binge, but my body won't let me. I can't get past full, which I think is pretty cool. It's frustrating at the time, because I want to do it, but it just means I need to find a better way to cope or get my needs met. So great job!

Thanks!GillianGillian Hood-son, MS, ACSMHealthier OutcomesIt's not just about losing weight! Want to eat your favorite foods without gaining weight? Get your copy of our fr*e special report, "6 Simple Steps to Guilt Free Eating" by visiting http://www.healthieroutcomes.com

From: IntuitiveEating_Support [mailto:IntuitiveEating_Support ] On Behalf Of meritaten27@...Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 7:52 AMTo: IntuitiveEating_Support Subject: Re: Binge Eating Disorder

Gillian, thank you so much. And you are right on target.! I am very, very sensitive to being "labeled" (long, boring explanation having to do w/bullying in childhood that I won't get into here), and, yes, my coping mechanism is bingeing. As you say, there are worse coping mechanisms. And it was probably one of the shortest binges I've experienced all year, simply because I was able to recognize what I was doing. Baby steps, baby steps... Or, as they used to say when I attended Silent Unity, "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better".

In a message dated 02/09/08 11:11:15 P.M. Central Standard Time, gillianhealthieroutcomes writes:

Beckett,

This is a little late, but I wanted to respond. I had a completely different experience than you. I was studying fitness and nutrition to become a personal trainer and when I saw there was a name to what I was doing, it was a huge relief. I knew I didn't have anorexia or bulemia, and but I couldn't put my finger on what it was I was doing. And of course at the time I thought I was the only one in the world that did it. So I felt a lot better knowing it had a name and I wasn't the only one.

But that fact is that it bothered you. And what is your patterned response to upset? It's to eat. So you were just following your normal pattern, and that's going to happen until you slowly over time build a new pattern. And that is what you are learning to do. Binging is a coping mechanism, and not the worst coping mechanism in the world, right? And the truth is it will happen again, but it will become less over time. Just use it as a learning opportunity. You were aware of it, that's improvement over the past, right?

I don't know if this is helpful, but you really sound quite normal and I would just keep looking forward. You are doing great!

Thanks!Gillian

Who's never won? Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music.