Bingeing

- POSTED ON: Sep 30, 2011

                    
Many of the posts in various diet forums
deal with the subject of Bingeing.
Recently, in one such discussion,
one of the members asked other forum members this question

“Have you ever examined when the binges occur,
what feelings you have before the binge?
I mean, have you ever considered they may be
a reaction or an acting-out to something other than food restriction?
I ask this because bingeing can be a form of self-expression.”

 As a person who has struggled with a lifetime of bingeing,
I agree with the above quote, however...
I have spent MORE than 20 years in therapy dealing with this issue,
and the feelings surrounding it.

This made me feel much better about it,
and gave me emotional tools that have very helpful in my life.
BU FRANKLY all of that Therapy... plus the many, many self-help books,
and eating disorder tactics like Intuitive Eating
did little or nothing to reduce or eliminate binging.

 Recently I began seriously considering
the possibility that my binges MIGHT well be a
"reaction to something other than food restriction".

MAYBE it isn't basically a psychological problem.
MAYBE it IS REALLY a physical reaction to the way the chemicals
in some of the specific kinds of foods that I eat interact with my own body.

I don't know.
I'm experimenting with that possibility right now.


Comments:
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Existing Comments:

On Sep 30, 2011 wrote:
I tend to agree that those who imply that examining the thought/emotion triggers will somehow make the food connection go away as a matter of course are oversimplifying the process. Even the people who are successful at it probably don't really know how or why they changed their habits. I think I've said here before that binge eating may start because of one thing but it can take on alife of its own so that it may become paired with so many eating cues that it becomes a tangled mess. Bottom line: find any way or reason to just not do it. It may be easy at times and not at others. Some junkies have fewer problems with relapsing than others, and there will always be a bit of mystery to it.


On Oct 01, 2011 Dr. Collins wrote:
             oolala, good thoughts, thanks for sharing them.


On Sep 30, 2011 Karen925 wrote:
"...had we been discussing disorders of growth - why some people grow to be more than seven feet tall and others never make it to four feet - the only subject of discussion would be the hormones and enzymes that regulate growth. And yet, when we're discussing a disorder in which the defining symptom is the abnormal growth of our fat tissue, the hormones and enzymes that regulate that growth are considered irrelevant." - Gary Taubes, Why We Get Fat This is a quote that seems particularly on point. ***I'm experimenting with that possibility right now.**** I am too.


On Oct 01, 2011 Dr. Collins wrote:
             Karen, it's good to have company on this journey.


On Dec 26, 2011 Dr. Collins wrote:
Hi Dr. Collins I think that for me, personally, I have three main modes for binging. The least common is emotional. When it's emotional I tend to want bread or cheesecake. I'm not normally a sweet eater but emotional bingeing definitely points me in that direction. The second is boredom. I tend to eat when I'm bored. Which is so stupid to me. What a dumb reason to eat. But it's probably my #2 bingeing problem. Another is hormonal, which I guess can be lined up with emotional. But it tends to be very specific. Like a pregnancy craving. And the most common, and ridiculous reason for bingeing: I really, really like it, and I really, really want to eat it. This happens with Chinese and Japanese food in particular. We had a Chinese buffet that happened to serve California roles and I gained over 10 pounds just from them opening. And it was all because I wanted it, so I ate it. I have a very hard time with self control when it comes to food.


On Dec 26, 2011 Dr. Collins wrote:
             Karaisoke, you are not alone in this. What you describe is very common to me and to many, many other people. I've been at normal weight now for the past 6 years and have only able to stay here by using conscious control, using the methods I talk about here in this website. I now look at Dieting as a Hobby for me, something that I deal with every day as a part of my life, and I continually find ways to make it an enjoyable ongoing process.

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