Hi flying lotus,
So I signed up just to share my story and findings so far on this topic. i'll try to keep it short. Or at least i'll try.
I started binge eating around 18/19 because my poor diet gave me no energy, but it did make me gain weight. Not Ideal and i decided that i had to lose some weight. The first thing that pops up on the internet is basically: move more and eat less, just count your calories.. Well, that turned out to be the perfect way to start an eating disorder... (binge eating disorder it was). So to fast forward, i learned a lot about nutrition and figured how i can lose weight without having to gain it all back and without being hungry all the time. But i noticed this disorder was still there. Once developed the ego, never broke it down.
My solution to binge eating:
So after struggling daily with either the feeling of extreme hunger or so bloated i could barely walk, i figured it out. I started watching all the video's on youtube i could possibly find on people recovering from binge eating. Not all really recovered, but some did. The thing in common was that all they did was to stop ALL restriction. I tried this too. After years of struggling daily most of the ego and thoughts that came along with it were gone.. Like really not there...
Process i went thru:
- first preparing myself for the weight gain. Not having restrictions means full on binge eating, especially on the first couple of days. In this time i had no restrictions. Every time my ego tried to tell me what to do, i ignored it completely or did the opposite. This is not easy.
- After a while of no restrictions, i noticed that my binging became less. Almost as if my mind went like: I can have food whenever i want, no need to binge.
- So now, one year later, i never had a binge or any related thoughts. It is gone
What is left is an addiction:
I learned that the way to deal with childhood trauma was eating... So the first thing for me was to try to solve my trauma.
Months of crying, unlearning certain habits, reading, talking, changing everything in my life situation (building a tiny house) and ayahuasca later. Trauma became less and my addiction was way better as a result. As were so many other things in life.
But still, if i have stress, i eat. It's like i control what i do for the most part, but this.. it is like someone grabbing the weel, running people over and giving the weel back plus all the consequences. So i found the video of Leo helpful and making my addiction weaker by just sitting there and staring at it. Sometimes it does not work, but the small wins help me. It is actually getting better.
I'm now in a place where i can really enjoy my day, i am a girl, i look and feel healthy size 34/36 Europe and quite easy to maintain.
Much more ayahuasca and reading, meditation yet to come. But I've come a LONG way.
If anyone has tips on solving food addiction, please share
xx