Binge eating disorder - what has helped you?

Hi everyone,

*I'm fairly self aware so please only respond if you feel you have something constructive to add, I don't need a telling off I do that enough to myself*

I had VSG after an enormous weight gain caused by medication/chronic pain & mobility issues following an accident. I thought by limiting the size of my food consumption I would be able to regain control. I have lost and achieved goal and that has been really positive for my spine/mobility.

Initially i was absolutely vigilant but I've noticed a recurring pattern over the past few months. From what i can see (and have researched) I have binge eating tendencies that match the criteria for BED and they are slowly becoming worse. I thought maybe it was some tough cir****tances or particular emotional triggers but I can't really blame anything, I struggle with compulsive (to the point of obsessive) eating and I've found the sliders that I can abuse to abuse myself. It's a recipe for disaster and I can see I'm setting myself up for failure. I have been consistent in my commitment to track EVERYTHING in my fitness pal so I hold myself accountable, it really is interesting and shameful to watch my decline.

I can't afford private therapy (I see a comprehensive pain management team now health psych, physio, pain & mental health teams) and due to my myriad of current medications I'm hesitant to add more.

So here's where I could use your help...

• What have you found to be useful in your own struggle overcoming compulsive eating?
• Could you suggest a book, podcast, blog, meditation, etc that was helpful?
• What CBT or other techniques do you recommend?
• Has anyone tried overeaters anonymous online? What were your thoughts? Due to my mobility issues I thought this would be one way to engage a support group.

I really appreciate you taking the time to read my post and thank you in advance should you be able to respond.

Vyvanse. 40mg/day. This is what has helped me.

I have found the support and understanding available from online OA to be very helpful. I would advise you to commit yourself to a regular time for meetings and make sure you attend at the same time each day.

That way you will be with the approximately the same group of people and able to build friendships with them.

The friendships I built on OH have also been very helpful and informative through the years.

So two books that helped me are The Beck Diet Solution- this book is more about over eating in general, but still helpful as it uses Cognitive Behavioral Therepy techniques. The other book is Never Binge Again by Glenn Livingston.

Now, these books aren't a magic wand to cure BED. But they can help, especially if you're like me where written words tend to leave a significant impact on you, more so than verbal conversations.

I also attend OverEaters Anonymous but in person, not online. I like it a lot. I enjoy the community that it offers as well as the accountability.

Are you religious? If so, a major, if not the most stirring change for me was understanding how I'm a part of Gods creation, how I reflect His image, how deeply He hurts when I hurt myself. If you are religious, I highly recommend doing a study of how your BED and self image interact with whatever god you believe in. It truly changed my perspective on my identity and self worth which then helped with my BED. If you're not religious, ignore this last bit ;)

I will definitely try to get hold of these books they sound useful. Thanks again :)

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this. It's really tough.

There are lots of online support groups that you could look into, if you're interested in that.

I'd say it's important to try to eat something healthy every 4-5 hours, so your blood sugar won't drop, as that can trigger a binge eating session. Don't go too long between meals. Try to eat your protein first, eat fresh, whole foods, and reduce any processed foods as they can be full of additives that can cause more cravings.

Eat something healthy as soon as you wake up. Drink lots of water. Try to distract yourself with something else when your thoughts turn to foods you might want to binge on.

That helped me a lot...especially keeping my mind and my hands busy.

Good luck.

have you looked up brain over binge? its a website with podcasts that are free.

Hugs to you, I understand full well what you are going through.

Thanks for the suggestion I will look into that :)

I haven't tried medication, so I can't answer to that.

What has helped me is CBT, treating my relationship with food as an ADDICTION, completely cutting any "trigger" food, and absolute honesty and commitment to logging/weighing and measuring my food for accountability.