binge eating

[fantastic5d]

i am reaching out for guidance on what others who experience binge eating recommend to do to help stop the cycle. i like to think i know what the triggers are but i can’t get over the autopilot to stop myself from continuing. i am aware seeing a specialist is best but before i do so i would just like to see others opinions and experiences.  

[Matt23]

I've definitely been there.  Feeling like I just can't stop, even though I know the food I'm eating is killing me in addition to immediately feeling crappy while eating.  Dougnuts, cakes, ice cream, you name it.  

For me I think a big shift came when watching one of Leo's food videos.  He said something like "If you eat this diet, you can eat as much as you want."  For me that just made sense.  So I just started to binge on stuff that was "healthy" foods.  Like peanut butter, bananas, nuts, rice, carrots, fruits, veggies, potatoes, etc.  I think that made a big difference for me since all the sugar and chemicals etc. was just making the binges way worse. 

Then I think also working on trauma work and IFS therapy integration etc.  Some psychedelics and emotional work.  With this, one thing I've tried to do is, whenever I feel a craving or compulsion to seek food, asking "what am I avoiding or not wanting to feel"? and then trying to just feel the feeling or thought I'm trying to avoid.  Even if it's only for 5 seconds.  It's 5 seconds of feeling and healing (I hope).  Sometimes if I did a 5 second pause before binging, it would be enough to then cascade into holding for longer and healing that feeling such that I didn't feel the need to eat as much.  Then I allowed myself to eat whatever if i still felt like it (this is actually crucial since, if you make a promise to yourself that you're gunna allow yourself to eat if you just hold for a minimum time, and then you proceed to not eat it, you're psyche will backlash since you made a promise -- this is of course if you still feel the desire to eat and don't overcome the craving in that moment).

Edited April 17, 2021 by Matt23

[The0Self]

Any time you eat anything, mindfully observe what you're doing, and have your protein first. If you still want to binge, do it mindfully, but at least the excess calories will be partially used for fueling helpful processes. Any time you eat excessively in the presence of limited protein, it's essentially "all bad."

[kray]

Is it a daily problem, or is it just a once in a while binge eating ice cream and netflix night? If it's the later, then there is no need to feel guilty! Enjoy yourself  

[Matt23]

Also, maybe try drinking a bunch of H20 prior.  Might fill you up such that food isn't desired.

[integral]

Unhealthy food is only unhealthy if your under chronic stress, your life span is not being effected. 

Edited April 17, 2021 by integral

[Hansu]

@fantastic5d

Heres a good book on the topic:

 

It helped me to basically quit on the spot. It really gets your emotions going.

EDIT: and welcome to the forum!

Edited April 18, 2021 by Hansu

[Rigel]

On 2021-04-16 at 6:58 PM, fantastic5d said:

 i am aware 

Try that when you are eating

[The0Self]

Although intermittent fasting is probably one of the easiest ways to reduce daily caloric intake, it may not be all that great for binge eating. Not only that, but fasting (well, at least, prolonged fasting; 24 hours) causes analgesia by potentiating endogenous opioids -- this is usually a good thing, but in this case, it is actually a driver of opioid tolerance, meaning you'll possibly end up sweating more and notice decreased resilience. Though a 16/8 IF protocol may not cause as much of an issue as 1 meal a day fasting.

Edited April 20, 2021 by The0Self

[fantastic5d]

On 4/18/2021 at 5:03 AM, Hansu said:

@fantastic5d

Heres a good book on the topic:

 

It helped me to basically quit on the spot. It really gets your emotions going.

EDIT: and welcome to the forum!

thank you i’ll give it a read !!!