Recently I posted my latest article on the subject of binge eating across multiple Facebook groups. The responses I got were very interesting and informative. I wanted to share them with you in the hopes that it may help you on your path:

“I stress eat and as most days I’m stressed out, I’m reaching for a choc bar or sweet snack!! I had a really stern to talk to myself last week (not crazy honest!) and I’m now drinking water instead of going for a snack. It’s not the sweet fix but I find drinking cold water seems to bring me calm when I’m trying to escape the chaos of the kids!!”

“I used to binge eat when my daughter was in bed, because it was quiet and I could bring out all the stuff I didn’t want her eating! I’ve stopped buying chocolate and such in the shopping for the last few weeks. I also brush my teeth after tea to try to avoid eating excess later on. It’s helped a lot to not have particular things in the house. I’ve noticed I won’t binge on bigger things that require effort to prepare and I’ve noticed a great change with my body since stopping the night binge.”

“Binge eating is from restricting (usually). Waiting too long between meals was my trigger. I’ve only recently discovered that.”

“I’m reading a book called The Diet Fix and it explains how restrictive dieting can lead to binge eating. I’m still trying to make peace with food. I just want food to be food and not some guilt inducing enemy that not some enemy that hold me hostage.”

“I really struggle with bingeing and I have a lot of triggers. Have you read the intuitive eating book? It’s been very helpful for me to recognize my triggers. Feelings of deprivation, black and white thinking around food, emotional stress… all of these and more can be triggers for me.”

“Just throwing this out there – why are you focused on curving the unhealthy side? Perhaps that may be where the root cause is? 

We binge in response to restriction of some kind. Whatever that looks like for you. For me it can be not having my prized item in the house, not having food, niggling diet thoughts, etc. 

What are you restricting? What are you allowing?”

“I have binged for as long as I can remember (mostly binge free for a little over a year now), even as a child coming home after school, I would eat and eat and eat. I have also dieted/restricted/ purged since the age of about 10. 

The bingeing came to a head last year when it became a daily occurrence, when my son got home from school and he and his little sisters were playing wildly and it really stressed me out. That’s when I realized I binged to relieve or drown out the noise and stress. Restricting and trying to lose weight were also a factor. 

I read books upon books trying to stop bingeing, and the single most helpful thing besides quitting dieting, was to feel the feelings. If I was stressed, sit and breathe through the stress instead of going to the kitchen. It was hard! It took commitment! But I no longer turn to food for stress, instead I try to do something relaxing. If I do want to binge, I remember that I don’t have to do that to deal with stress anymore, and it’s especially helpful that no foods are off limits. I don’t have to try to get everything in in that binge session.”

“I had a real problem with bingeing. I worked through the Cravings Change Workbook with a dietitian and that was the beginning of the change…although that workbook has some dieting mentality it also has a lot of emotional strategies for dealing with bingeing which were helpful. As I was starting my IE journey at the same time, I think both things helped me out of that pattern. Mostly getting away from restricting.”

Binge eater here!!! Almost 2 months now binge free… what helped – books: Brain over binge; The little book of big changes. Videos: www.lydiawente.com. All interviews of body love society.

I love that there are communities out there standing by to help others. As you can see, there are several different options out there to try if you are struggling with binging. Perhaps the best part of all of this is that when things get hard, it’s good to know that you are not alone.