Think I have a binge eating disorder.

So I have always had trouble with food but I could never understand how I let myself cave again and again - and while everyone needs to fight hard to stay clean I recently read an article that word for word threw out symptoms of binge eating that matched me perfectly.

-Can eat around 4500 calories in a single sitting.
-Usually gorges on food when alone.
-Followed by periods of shame, guilt, feeling bad about the food eaten.
-Eats fast
-Continues to eat while full.
-etc

There were a few more but this just paints a picture.

And continuing on it talked about how binge eating was not known to have any long term fixes and seemed to get brought on by emotional changes. So All progress I have made I seem to be losing because The last month and a half I have binged and binged and binged and I can't peg what made me slip or why I can not get back on the horsed.

A sample of what I ate on a day off.
-4 mcdonalds double burgers, 3 mcchickens
-pack of oreos
-8 ice cream cones
-store made brownies
-hot dogs
-6-7 candy bars

The calories in that lump amount is enough to make anyone sick just thinking about it.. I fear I may have binge eating disorder and don't know how I can overcome it and I also fear that I might be trying to use this to excuse my weak mind in regards to self control... thoughts?

Reading that list of food made me hungry.

I think you should read the ED thread in the nutrition section.

Everything is a disorder these days, no. It's called lack of willpower. If you don't want to eat it, don't eat it.
I had the same problem and i wasn't able to do 5 days of eating 'clean' without breaking and going to mcdonalds.
However i kept getting sick of stalling in losing weight from binge eating and eventually found foods that i enjoyed eating that i can eat whilst losing fat.

Just get a calorie counter and you'll be able to eat what you're craving for whilst still losing weight.

[QUOTE=PSVita;935037413]Everything is a disorder these days, no. It's called lack of willpower. If you don't want to eat it, don't eat it.
I had the same problem and i wasn't able to do 5 days of eating 'clean' without breaking and going to mcdonalds.
However i kept getting sick of stalling in losing weight from binge eating and eventually found foods that i enjoyed eating that i can eat whilst losing fat.

Just get a calorie counter and you'll be able to eat what you're craving for whilst still losing weight.[/QUOTE]

You may be right, but I am fully aware of my calorie consumption and my cravings become more of a thing for an activity then just urges. It does come to mental toughness, but as of right now I can't get through a day anymore let alone five.

[QUOTE=PSVita;935037413]Everything is a disorder these days, no. It's called lack of willpower. If you don't want to eat it, don't eat it.
I had the same problem and i wasn't able to do 5 days of eating 'clean' without breaking and going to mcdonalds.
However i kept getting sick of stalling in losing weight from binge eating and eventually found foods that i enjoyed eating that i can eat whilst losing fat.

Just get a calorie counter and you'll be able to eat what you're craving for whilst still losing weight.[/QUOTE]

This OP. I suggest eating as much healthy food as possible, this will stop the hunger pangs to trigger your brain to eat junk food.

[QUOTE=EnglishAsian;935052523]junk food.[/QUOTE]

What is this?

[QUOTE=PSVita;935037413]Everything is a disorder these days, no. It's called lack of willpower. If you don't want to eat it, don't eat it.
I had the same problem and i wasn't able to do 5 days of eating 'clean' without breaking and going to mcdonalds.
However i kept getting sick of stalling in losing weight from binge eating and eventually found foods that i enjoyed eating that i can eat whilst losing fat.

Just get a calorie counter and you'll be able to eat what you're craving for whilst still losing weight.[/QUOTE]

You know, I just feel guilty after eating crap. And how do I not feel guilty? By working my ass off afterwards and burning all the excess calories consumed.

Today, for instance, I ate ~600 calories over and ~238g of carbs. The solution? An intense hour+ lifting session followed by two intense HIIT cardio sessions (with a break in between, of course). About to hit the gym in a couple of hours - wish me luck! ;)

so you just drove to macds and ordered 7 burgers? thats not a eating desorder , thats lack of willpower , simple

I was feeling for you man. I suffered from anorexia when I was in my teens, and recovery was a long process. Your problem, although the opposite of mine, was giving me these "no man left behind" feelings, then I read this:

-4 mcdonalds double burgers, 3 mcchickens
-pack of oreos
-8 ice cream cones
-store made brownies
-hot dogs
-6-7 candy bars

And I began to rage.

It's one thing to be so hungry that you eat an entire jar of peanut butter, because it's sitting right in front of you and you can't not eat it, sitting in the cupboard openly mocking you, and be so disgusted with yourself that you go an purge it back out again. That's a disorder. I've done that. Making the conscious decision to get in your car, drive around, buy food and eat it then CALLING it a disorder is a way of justifying bad behaviour. It's a way of making you feel better about it. "That's not me. That's my disorder." Remember those family circle comics, when something would get broken and the parents would ask who did it? And they always replied "Not Me"? And the whole time Not Me was actually the name of some sort of ghost or something? That's what it sounds like here.

Are there eating disorders? God yes. I've been there, I've got the tshirt and the collector's edition badge. What you're doing does not constitute a disorder. It constitutes an excuse.

End of rant.

Now that I've calmed down, if you're concerned, talk to a doctor. Don't take your mental health concerns to the internet.

Hop on an EC stack.. fill up on lower calorie foods.. or go cold turkey and realize that you don't look good after you binge over and over again.

[QUOTE=Gemuadrken;935053913]What is this?[/QUOTE]

Food that has little to no nutritional value.

[QUOTE=Voxmusculus;935084993]You know, I just feel guilty after eating crap. And how do I not feel guilty? By working my ass off afterwards and burning all the excess calories consumed.

Today, for instance, I ate ~600 calories over and ~238g of carbs. The solution? An intense hour+ lifting session followed by two intense HIIT cardio sessions (with a break in between, of course). About to hit the gym in a couple of hours - wish me luck! ;)[/QUOTE]

An hour of P90X followed by half hour of running and elliptical at the gym. Those carbs have been put to good use!

I think a lot of these comments are unhelpful and ignorant of the very real eating disorder that is binge-eating. Some foods are like drugs to some people and we all react differently so your body may not react in the same way. I don't think its always a question of willpower as much as i wish it were.

[QUOTE=PSVita;935037413]Everything is a disorder these days, no. It's called lack of willpower. If you don't want to eat it, don't eat it.
I had the same problem and i wasn't able to do 5 days of eating 'clean' without breaking and going to mcdonalds.
However i kept getting sick of stalling in losing weight from binge eating and eventually found foods that i enjoyed eating that i can eat whilst losing fat.

Just get a calorie counter and you'll be able to eat what you're craving for whilst still losing weight.[/QUOTE]

^^^^^this/10

Once again OP is a *******, guess what OP, I have a "negging" disorder, sorry bro not my fault

[QUOTE=zimblebee;1002728933]I think a lot of these comments are unhelpful and ignorant of the very real eating disorder that is binge-eating. Some foods are like drugs to some people and we all react differently so your body may not react in the same way. I don't think its always a question of willpower as much as i wish it were.[/QUOTE]

I couldn't disagree more. I would argue that it is human nature to binge eat. I know plenty of thin people that binge, average people that binge, chubby people that binge, and lots of obese people that binge. We have a society of people that binge eat. It is far too common to be a disorder. Food is pleasurable. I used to binge eat like a professional. What the OP posted is less than half of some of my worst moments. Wouldn't be surprised if I binge ate more than everyone else in this thread combined. The pleasure of food simply was more important to me (yes, even when satiated) than being thin, at that moment. My mindset, my goals, my outlook in life had to change, and I had to create new habits. No more disorder than the millions of people addicted to social media or porn. There are certain things humans are prone to do, and binge eating tasty food happens to be one of them. It becomes an even stronger urge when attempting to diet. Why else do you think so many people put back on their weight after months or years of hard work and effort? A planned, calculated fat gain? No, of course not.

OP, sounds like your diet may have been too harsh or restrictive leading to these binges. I did the same thing, dropped from 305 to 154, then binged back to 190.....was taking in 1500 cals a day, and 20 carbs or less. Now I'm cutting on 22xx calories a day, consuming about 220-250 carb/170-190 prot/55-70 fat.....the macros fluctuate day to day. I enjoy Ice-cream, candy, pop-tarts and all other kinds of goodies, while at the same time getting 4-8 veggie servings, 2-3 fruit servings, 30-40g of fiber, and of course hitting my P/F/C macros.

I think I started binging because I perceived certain foods as bad and thought oatmeal was clean and a Reese's bar was dirty....which I think is called orthorexia.....which got me to lose a ton of weight, but I ended up binging 30lbs of it back within 1 month.

My breakfast and lunch normally are quick things like fruit/candy/pop-tarts and whey....sometimes quick oats if I have enough time to sit and eat. I normally have to wait until I come home for the night to hit most of my macros including my micros (veggies) and to cap off my fiber for the day. I'll make burritos, quesadillas, a pizza, burgers, umm....w/e I can imagine...it's all the same ingredients just in different proportions. I think you should learn to do this, this is how I stopped my binges honestly. By truly enjoying the foods I like, whilst still staying in deficit. I LOVE Reese's and burritos....so in my cut they go. Only difference between a cut/bulk/maintain for me is the quantity....that's it.

For example been sitting home for 3 days with nothing to do, been cooking all kinds of good meals.....I just had a white fish quesadilla, with spinach, salsa, cheese....whole nine yards....wish I green peppers....will have the same for dinner except with chicken. For breakfast I had egg white burritos. I just count, weigh and measure ALL of my ingredients so I know what I am allowed and what I am not.

Hope I gave you a good perspective. This is exactly how I overcame binge eating. What you're going for is LONG TERM.....so you have to start it now, and be able to do it the rest of your life. Make it sustainable. If the quantity is what your crutch is, then it will take a little more effort.

I've found that a ketogenic diet is very good for fighting cravings. Try a week of it just to see.

[QUOTE=SLO;935036403]Reading that list of food made me hungry.

I think you should read the ED thread in the nutrition section.[/QUOTE]
I know that I have that problem but the one thing thats helping me is that I try to use what I have to my advantage. I love technology and so I downloaded an app that counts all my calories. I also told my friends what im doing and their very supportive. I think if anybody has this problem then they got to find what works for them.

Geez, OP, send me all that money you're spending on this pre-packaged food and I'll show you what to eat.

Have you looked into OA?

I binged a fair bit over the holidays but nothing like that, ended up putting on about 5 lbs. I started incorporating 1/10th of my daily calories as "treat" food every day. I'll have some chocolate, make a small cheesecake, or whatever. If I see something I like I will make sure to fit that into my treat category the next day. Restriction from certain foods caused me to binge after a while. I think the first step for you is so identify that you have a problem with food, which you did. The next step is to stop obsessing over weight loss, just eat at your deficit calories every day and eat the foods you like. That doesn't mean go out and eat McD's, you can make a much better burger than McDonalds at home in 20 minutes anyway. I eat around 3 meals per day, this works for me. With two meals per day I was too hungry and would graze, same thing with 5 meals per day. Find what works for you. Stop sitting around at home too much, boredom will most likely cause you to eat for no reason. Drink a **** load of water. These are the things that are working for me, recently I found out that I've been binge eating on and off for over 10 years, which explains why I was an obese kid. Think about why you're doing it and then find solutions to your problems.

Hope this helped man, good luck.

Eat more satiating foods. When the desire to binge hits force yourself to down a protein shake and a plate of vegetables with the promise that you can still go out to McDonalds AFTER you've eaten those foods. You will probably still go to McDonalds but you won't eat nearly as much.

Do that for awhile then force yourself to eat two plates of vegetables (go ahead and add cheese or seasoning and whatever you want.) and two protein shakes before McDonalds.

Remember any progress and any change is better than nothing. Do something; do anything. Be creative in how you deal with the problem. Everyone is different.

ITT: people not aware that this thread is old