Best eating disorder books according to redditors

Good job.

The hardest part is going to be keeping it off. The food environment has changed so that it's way too easy to consume too many calories. Maintain healthy habits.

(I recommend the book Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink for advice on how to do that.)

Good work, and good luck!

Yeah, that's kind of the irony of CICO/IE– when I was counting I was obsessed with food, but now that I can eat whatever I want food has actually lost some of its appeal. I still love it, but I don't get those desperate cravings anymore.

CICO's also kind of weird because nutrition is SO complex. I cut out cereal for a long time, but then I realized that fortified cereal is my primary source of iron! It seems like for every "bad" food I was cutting out I'd also cut out some essential nutrient.

I highly recommend checking out the Intuitive Eating book if you're new to this! It explains the concept very thoroughly. The same authors also put out a workbook which I haven't tried yet, but it seems very helpful.

Beverages are interesting. I probably still drink more sugar than I should, but like with all other foods my cravings for them slowly diminished after my first few "binges." When I first started IE, I would get a pizza and a root beer every Friday night. I also starting getting sodas when I went out to eat, or I'd pick them up at the grocery store. Now I hardly ever want them at all. It really feels like I fulfilled a craving (a result of dieting) and now it just doesn't feel necessary anymore. It's still an occasional treat I enjoy, but I have no desire to drink it every single day.

Fasting Girls: the History of Anorexia Nervosa, by Joan Jacobs Blumberg, is an excellent resource on how eating disorders manifested before the 20th century.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0375724486/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_72JEybZQGRK7D

YMMV, but it helps me to think of the urges as coming from something else inside me, like a separate entity. I find it easier to say no to that than to myself.

I read a book that called it the Pig, but since I was watching Dexter at the time I went with the Fat Passenger.

Intuitive Eating (specifically,the book by Resch & Tribole) has been a life saving game changer for me and my history of eating disorders. I enthusiastically recommend it to anyone who struggles with disordered eating and being fed up with "diet culture" to check out the book. I would not recommend it to anyone who wants to lose weight or meet specific body composition goals since that is kind of the opposite of the point of the book :)

Have you ever read Fasting Girls: The History of Anorexia Nervosa? It's really interesting! It's obviously eating disorder focused but it talks about Victorian Munchies like you mentioned.

I'm a 22 y/o male, was bulimic for 10 years, but have been recovered for over a year. Highly recommend reading Brain Over Binge by Kathryn Hansen if you haven't. My ED stopped almost immediately, after I read her book. Might not be everyone's cup of tea, but that shift in perspective was all it took for me. Best of luck!

I was going to suggest this one. Both along the same line of thinking - the little voice inside that wants all the food needs to be tamed.

Quite sure that it is "Conquering Fat Logic"

Everybody read this book it is the fatlogic reddit in book form, except nicer and everything is on one place.

I find it incredibly motivating.

There is also a lot of buzz going on about the concept of "mindful eating", which relies on recognizing cravings as a natural reaction of an addicted brain that you don't have to act on, rather than being forced to battle them with willpower (which often fails). There is some good research behind this idea too.

Brain Over Binge was a pretty good lay person introduction to this.

Read Brain Over Binge. It's got the best, most useful, practical, and empowering approach I've found. It basically says this: the urge to binge is not something you can control -- but giving into the urge and actually binging is entirely in your hands. I mean, literally.

There is nothing making your hand reach for food and put it in your mouth. Don't be a victim, and do not let people tell you that you are a victim. You are not. You can stop. It's a matter of rerouting some neural pathways is all (granted, that still takes a lot of work, but at least there's hope with this approach!)

She's real: http://www.amazon.com/Health-At-Every-Size-Surprising/dp/1935618253

Makes a lot of money off of people who buy into her HAES idea.

yup! It was actually this book, which talks a lot about how people get eating disorders and how you can recover from them: https://www.amazon.com/Intuitive-Eating-Revolutionary-Program-Works/dp/1250004047/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=intuitive+eating&qid=1569979124&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Congrats on your progress. Keep it up!

​

I also just learned that r/BingeEatingDisorder is a thing. I had no idea. I thought if I wasn't bulemic (didn't vomit) I was just lazy with poor self control.

​

I just started reading Never Binge Again by Glenn Livingston, and while the writing style is a bit gimmicky/hokey, he's got some good psychological tools to reprogram your brain.

I am so sorry to hear that you are struggling.
I am a totally open book about this, so happy to talk about it - especially in the hopes that my experience may be helpful to others.

The answer is...all of 'em at some point, but mostly Bulimia (binge/fasting cycles, many many diuretics and diet pills). It started when I was about 14, but I didn't begin recovery until I was 20. It has been a loooooong road, but I had an incredible team (wonderful therapist, good group, supportive family) to help me along.
I like to say that if I'm not working on recovery, I'm working on a relapse, so it's a constant effort (I like to yell, "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" in my Mad Eye Moody voice), but 100% worth it.

Here are a few things that were most helpful for me:

1. Throw out your scale. It doesn't matter, and it will only be a trigger. Don't even weigh yourself. You'll get enough of a picture based on how your clothing fits. I take photos and my measurements to track my muscle gain progress, which works for me.
   
2. "Curate" your media experience and fill it with things that build you up rather than bring you down. I follow a lot of the beautiful ladies in the Body Positive community on Instagram and just changing the shapes of the bodies I'm exposed to has helped me find beauty in ALL shapes, and worry less about my own flaws.
   
3. Stop counting calories, and practice eating intuitively (or on a hunger scale). It will take time to get back in touch with your hunger cues, but you will get there.
   
4. Make sure that when you work out, it's coming from a positive place rather than a negative one, or you won't enjoy, and it wont be a sustainable lifestyle. It's cliche, but workout because you love your body, not because you hate it!
   
5. Learning to think of food as fuel for my body rather than a reward or punishment was key. I ask myself, "What does my body need?" "What does it want or crave?" I listen to it, and satisfy cravings when I get them, which for me helps me keep balance and avoid a binge down the road. 6. Build your coping tool kit and make time for self-care. When I feel down or triggered, I'll take a long shower, maybe paint my nails, and watch some uplifting body-positive docs. I paint, and take my dog for a walk. Whatever works for you!
   
   My favorite and most helpful book has been: 8 Keys to Recovery from an Eating Disorder (https://www.amazon.com/Keys-Recovery-Eating-Disorder-Therapeutic/dp/0393706958), and I would definitely recommend checking it out.
   
   
   I hope that was a little helpful, and I apologize for the wall of text. If you have any other questions, or ever need some support, please reach out. You are not alone!

Hey! I have tried a few things that have really helped.

• A lower carb diet - After the first miserable four or five days, not having the ups and downs of sugar wrecking havoc in the brain is amazing. Reading how to do a diet like this via /r/keto helped a lot. The community can be kind of iffy at times from what I've seen.. but the information is solid.
  
  
• Counseling - I've been in treatment with a psychologist which specializes in food issues and I've shown a lot of progress, but I've also been to someone who did a lot of work with addictions using DBT or dialectical behavioral therapy. Both have been really helpful in becoming healthier.
  
  
• Overeater's Anonymous - I've gone to meetings in person, but the online meetings are more feasible for me now due to location. I haven't gone in a while, but they were very helpful when I was going through acute suffering.
  
  
• Reading - Books about mindfulness or overcoming emotional eating such as this one have really helped me.

It’s currently free for kindle!

It was part of the cultural changes that occurred in the early 20th Century.

Advertisements for depilatories for women can be found in magazines going back to the mid 19th Century. Women's fashions at that time covered most of a woman's body, so removing underarm or leg hair wasn't perceived as something necessary. However, advertisements of the time often marketed to women creams which would give them 'perfect complexions'. Part of the idea of the perfect complexion was not having hair anywhere but the top of the head. So women who were a little more hirsute than average would want a way to get rid of excess hair on their upper lip or forearms.

In the nineteen teens, women's fashions changed. A type of blouse colloquially referred to as a 'pneumonia blouse' became popular; they were extremely sheer and delicate, which meant that thick, dark underarm hair could be seen beneath them. Also, sleeveless evening dresses became fashionable, especially on the dance floor (ballroom dancing was a craze at this time.) These fads mostly occurred among the upper class. There were a number of popular women's magazines at the time, but Harper's Bazaar specifically targeted upper class women, and they were the first ones to run advertisements encouraging women to get rid of underarm hair.

[Here] (http://imgur.com/WrgTZmN) is the first known ad for underarm hair removal; it ran in Harper's Bazaar in May 1915. This was such a novel idea at the time that they don't even use the word shave; they refer to 'smoothing' women's skin. Shaving was something men did. This Gillette ad is from 1916; it was the first razor marketed especially to women. Again, no 'shave'. It referred to 'smoothing'.

I know you asked specifically about legs, but I wanted to explain where this started. By 1925, ads for underarm hair removal were common in women's magazines and middle class women had picked up the habit as well. As 1920's women shortened their skirts, these same magazine ads began to recommend removing leg hair. They would show images of women in short skirts or bathing suits with perfectly smooth, hairless legs. This Veet ad from 1924 is a great example. This one, also from 1924, specifically uses the word 'limbs' in the text, which was considered more feminine than 'legs'.

Women in the teens and twenties were going through a period of rapid social change which affected every aspect of their lives. They began to actively take part in the new consumer culture that was developing, and industries responded by making products especially for them. Women's magazines then advertised the products widely. Hair removal was marketed as a necessary female trait, and the offending hair was referred to in ads with words like objectionable, unsightly, or embarrassing, while hair-free women would be referred to as clean, dainty, and sanitary.

The ritual of removing female body hair became widespread by the 1940's, as these products became cheaper and hair-free female bodies began to be seen as normal. The practice went along with other behaviors which became common in the 1920's, like wearing makeup and trying to 'reduce' (lose weight). These things changed the concept of the feminine ideal in America.


Some sources:


The Body Project : An Intimate History of American Girls

Hope in a Jar: The Making of America's Beauty Culture

Caucasian Female Body Hair and American Culture, by Christina Hope. This was an article published in 2004 in the Journal of American Culture. I cannot find a copy of it online, but it is quite informative.

I really admire your resilience! The binge/restrict cycle is so frustrating- I have been there and it’s terrible! I would caution you to avoid excessive restriction, and I think 1200 calories isn’t enough for the average person (not a dietitian, this is just from the research I’ve done on this subject). Continuing to restrict or diet extremely will only lead to more binging- once again, I’ve been there! I would really encourage you to look into Intuitive Eating! It truly changed my life. It will give you so much freedom and will heal your relationship with food and your body! The main premise is that in letting go of the diet mentality you will get to the weight where your body is most comfortable and you feel the most peace emotionally. It legalizes all foods, which takes away their power that leads to binging on the ones you used to restrict. Our bodies innately know how what we need to eat and how much. It’ll take some time to undo the years of restriction, but your body wants to do this for you! Your metabolism will get back on track and you will be in touch with your natural hunger and fullness signals-you’ll even crave healthy foods (but will feel the freedom to have fun foods too and not feel guilty about it!). Here’s the link: https://www.amazon.com/Intuitive-Eating-Revolutionary-Program-Works/dp/1250004047 I really encourage you to look into it! Good luck :)

A few resources off the top of my head:

https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2891-10-9

http://downloads.hindawi.com/journals/jobe/2014/983495.pdf

And books I found very helpful in fleshing out these issues:

https://www.amazon.ca/Body-Truth-Science-Obsession-Weight/dp/0738218820

https://www.amazon.ca/Body-Respect-Conventional-Health-Understand/dp/1940363195/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=XHXDHBK4DZWS3BPCTM27

I read an interesting history of anorexia in women. The parts on the 16th century are the best. It is definitely a disease rooted in the need for power and control.

I completely understand. I’ll have a meal with friends, and as we’re signing our checks, I’m already planning which fast food places to stop at on the way home. I revolve my entire life around food. One thing that has been really helpful for me is the book Brain Over Binge. Might be worth checking out. I was desperate and willing to try anything and this book helped a lot.

> Why are they so easy to talk to, but regular girls aren't?

They're working off tips.

What you are asking makes perfect sense. To build confidence on the inside takes some work. It's not easy to be outcome independent. This is what works for me. First, realize that you don't really have to be anything to have confidence. By this I mean you don't have to be funny, or charming, or extremely good looking to become confident - although they certainly can help. The fact that you are simply alive is enough of a reason to be confident. Just think about it, your body is comprised of trillions of cells - life itself is incredible, you just really have to stop and think about it. YOU ARE THE UNIVERSE EXPERIENCING ITSELF - that in it of itself is enough for confidence. We are all born from exploding stars - why the fuck wouldn't be confident. I really that may sound a little cheesy, but I truly believe all of the above - you just have to be.

Another really big thing that has helped me to gain a sense of internal confidence I actually kind of got from the movie A Knight's Tale. Heath Ledger's character may he rest in peace, was talking about how the first knights became the first knights, all they did was decide they wanted it and they took it. That's all you have to do - you have a decision on how you want to act, you can either be confident, or insecure. So why not just be confident - I realize that's easier said than done, BUT if you fake it for long enough, it will eventually become your reality. Fake it till you make it - it truly does work, although you must be patient as these things will not come over night.

Also consider reading Psych-Cybernetics. It's an amazing book that has helped me a ton.

Not a movie, but I've seen Brain Over Binge listed a lot.

Congrats on moving towards recovery! The journey is hard but will be worth it in the end :) Do you have someone you're working with as you progress?

In light of your prior history, might I recommend not calorie counting and trying a more intuitive approach to eating for a while? Calorie counting can become obsessive, as I'm sure you may have encountered either in yourself or in others.

I love the book Intuitive Eating and the accompanying workbook. It was designed to facilitate recovery, though can be used by lots of people to help them have better relationships with food.

Restricting is just going to lead to more binging. My nutritionist and my therapist have suggested this program https://smile.amazon.com/Intuitive-Eating-Revolutionary-Program-Works/dp/1250004047/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1540231139&sr=8-2

It's still early days for me so I can't say for sure how it is going to work. But imho, you are setting yourself up for failure right now by being so restrictive.

You've been focusing on losing weight and counting calories for a year, it's normal to feel exhausted about eating healthy!! It takes a lot of mental energy to constantly be focused on these things and it can lead to burnout pretty quickly. I would recommend thinking about doing a maintenance period where you experiment with intuitive eating. This book is a great resource and talks a lot about how the stress of constantly being in a diet mindset can not only lead to weight gain (because stress on the body encourages the body to store fat) but also how listening to your body and giving into your cravings reduces cravings in the long term. A large part of the reason we feel like we can't control ourselves around cookies or ice cream or chocolate cake is because we've told ourselves those foods are off limits and we've built them up to be more than they are through restriction.

I am reading this book right now since I struggle with binge eating (literally make myself sick and then continue). I like it so far and it is free on the Kindle app

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014V1Q6SI/ref=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o07_?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It looks like there is some great advice in this thread, and I am going to add one more thing that helped me. Check out the book "Never Binge Again" on Amazon. It is free, comes with a bunch of free extras, and was written by a mental health professional with years of both studying binge eating and overcoming it himself. It seems really silly and contrary to popular advice at first, but after finishing it a week ago I finally feel able to remove food from my desk at work, and able to keep to my goals food wise for more than a few days.

Hey its free - worst case scenario you waste 2 hours reading it..

Mindless eating. That's the scary part - people really do believe they are eating less than they actually are.

Food for thought:
http://www.amazon.com/Mindless-Eating-More-Than-Think/dp/0345526880

> "two whole cakes-lessons from the fat o sphere"
>
> That is a book!?

That is two books, actually. Truthfully, "book" might be a generous description - they appear to essentially be collections of blog posts rendered in hard copy, in order to swindle fat people who want reassurance that nothing is wrong with them, that fat is healthy, that they don't have to lose weight, that doctors are bad and wrong about obesity, and so on.

http://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Fat-sphere-Dieting-Declare/dp/0399534970

http://www.amazon.com/Two-Whole-Cakes-Dieting-Learn/dp/1558617930

Firstly, great work on admitting it publicly.

This is a very predictable response, but I would strongly recommend this book as soon as possible:

https://www.amazon.com/Brain-over-Binge-Conventional-Recovered/dp/0984481702/

The worst thing you can do right now is start to fight yourself. This book helps ground you as well as teaching you techniques to get back to normal.

The last thing you need is to let the habit get its hooks into you, so the sooner you can try to combat the ER the better. Don't fall into the trap of burying your head in the sand until you're in too deep. It sounds as though you may already be justifying the behaviour in your head 'Well it's not that bad because...' or 'It's not a disorder because...'. But remember, this thinking persists no matter how bad things get. That's part of the reason why the prognosis for anorexia is so poor.

I didn't have full on BED, but I did have periods of time where I would just say F it and overeat. I highly suggest Never Binge Again by Glen Livingston - Kindle edition is free(!!) and Brain Over Binge by Kathryn Hansen. She just started a podcast 2 weeks ago also and it's great! Both of Livingston and Hansen use a similar technique and it's very effective in BED and overeating in general.

Have you done your macros yet on the Keto calculator? I'd start there - make sure you set your activity level to sedentary, especially as a woman with PCOS. As you know, it's harder for us to lose but it's possible.

Your post is one of the most uplifiting ones we've gotten. You two are doing great! I don't have time right now for a more lengthy comment, but know that the first 6 weeks of changing a habit are some of the hardest. Mark that 6 weeks on your calendar and keep striving for it. Then, mark the next month, and on and on. Try to take it one day at a time with reachable time goals.

Each and every time you deny an unhealthy habit it helps rewire the brain. A book that many say has helped is Brain over Binge - that's the authors website, and the book is here on Amazon.

You're doing great! Keep it up.

Thank you! Here’s the very best book on Intuitive Eating. Would also highly suggest checking out the Food Psyche podcast! It’s basically about learning to understand and respect your body’s natural hunger signals and cravings, and eat according to what you feel like without shame to get out of a diet culture mindset (which leads to a lot of yo—yo dieting and ultimately, failure and disappointment.)

This one! Accept no substitutes!

Right. Processed food tends to have all sorts of stuff added to it that you wouldn't expect. The extra stuff is there to maximize profitability, not health, and people generally don't realize that the extra junk can cause unexpected problems.

Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food" and David Kessler's "The End of Overeating" have interesting things to say on this topic. They both suggest eating real food, but come from significantly different directions about why.

For example, you'd expect "grilled chicken" to be just be chicken. Here's the list of ingredients that McDonald's puts in the "grilled chicken on their salads (from here):

> Chicken breast filets with rib meat, water, seasoning (salt, sugar, food starch-modified, maltodextrin, spices, dextrose, autolyzed yeast extract, hydrolyzed [corn gluten, soy, wheat gluten] proteins, garlic powder, paprika, chicken fat, chicken broth, natural flavors (plant and animal source), caramel color, polysorbate 80, xanthan gum, onion powder, extractives of paprika), modified potato starch, and sodium phosphates.

Wheat gluten's in there, as well as all sorts of other potentially problematic stuff that you wouldn't put in if you'd cooked it at home. The food processing industry wants you to believe they're equivalent, but they aren't.

Lots of people find that chronic health problems go away when they stop eating processed food and prepare food themselves from whole ingredients. Paleo, raw food veganism, Michael Pollan's Food Rules, etc. all have this in common.

Following the "avoid gluten" strategy also used to push people in the "avoid processed food" direction. I suspect that many of the people who saw benefit from "avoiding gluten", particularly those who were not diagnosable with celiac disease, were also deriving a significant benefit from eating real food instead of processed.

The recent move towards improved labeling is great. However, my worry about the current "gluten free" climate is the implicit assumption that eating processed crap is fine so long as it doesn't have gluten. I know that "gluten free" convenience foods make life significantly less inconvenient for celiacs and their families, but will embracing them also negate other health benefits that "gluten avoiders" didn't realize they were reaping?

It gets easier! In the meantime, read this:

Never Binge Again(tm): Reprogram Yourself to Think Like a Permanently Thin Person(tm). Stop Overeating and Binge Eating and Stick to the Food Plan of Your Choice! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014V1Q6SI

Ok, last rant: " Generally, all areas of my life get better and I just feel so stimulated"

When you said that, it really resonated with me. You should definitely read psycho-cybernetics.

http://www.amazon.com/Psycho-Cybernetics-New-More-Living-Life/dp/0671700758/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406752729&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=psycho+cybternetics

I can send you a PDF of it. One of the great messages in the book is this:

"Human beings function like a bicycle. It can maintain its poise and equilibrium as long as it is heading forwards. With no place to go, it is difficult to maintain balance and the bike will be "shaky" in its balance."

When you are on your binge, you are growing and you bring equilibrium to all parts of your life. In other words, if you want to have a "better" life like you mentioned, you need to keep growing in some aspect. You can start growing/ go on a binge with this book. Seriously, its pretty cool and eye opening.

pyscho-cybernetics -- http://www.amazon.com/Psycho-Cybernetics-New-More-Living-Life/dp/0671700758 -- many self help books/gurus are based of this book. you can get the audio book on youtube i believe or just find a review on it there.

I just got this book for Christmas and I haven't read all of it yet, but its entire purpose is to help guide you into eating "normally". I think about food too much and feel guilty a lot about eating, so I'm going through it to try to work through all of that. The biggest point she makes, though, is that it will probably take years to finally eat "normal". It's a good book and I'd recommend it.

Here’s one. Perhaps a bit salacious, but that’s journalism for you:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/420186/

And here’s a couple books/resources I found helpful that offered some useful tools. I by no means follow any of these things to the letter, I just use what works for me from them and leave the rest.

http://normaleating.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Rules-Normal-Eating-Commonsense-Undereaters/dp/0936077212/ref=nodl_

https://www.amazon.com/Fat-Feminist-Issue-Susie-Orbach/dp/0883659875 - good read whether you’re a woman or a man or a feminist or not

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1935618253

also: $1.79 on Kindle

former binge eater!

struggled for years.. years..

it's a condition that robbed me of many memories because I would often pick binges over MANY activities.. or i'd be feeling too self conscious post a binge and then shamefully cancel events.

first step is recognizing.. because the longest time i didn't even understand what was happening.

​

i will tell you my turning point was this book Brain Over Binge

https://www.amazon.ca/Brain-over-Binge-Conventional-Recovered-ebook/dp/B005F9UZ1U/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=binge+eating&qid=1565967673&s=gateway&sr=8-2

i am in not way affiliated with this book or individual. but i did find it helpful..

it's a matter of recognizing when a binge comes on and then minimizing its power.. telling this urge that it has no control over you. with time it gets easier and the more you do it the stronger you become.

do i still overeat? yes 100% there are times i eat too much or too many calories that i don't neeed to sustain me

but the binging frenzy days are over

if you do want to "diet" and restrict your calories be mindful of the number you are reaching as that could also trigger a binge since you are actually hungry

but the mindless binge frenzies i believe will go away.. at least try the book

i hope it helps! you are not alone

feel free to message me if you ever need support :)

Seconding the book, Brain Over Binge!

US Version!

Conquering Fatlogic by Nadja Hermann is the thing you want. It's basically /r/fatlogic in book form (she posted here a few years ago). Also great to give other people to get them started in the right direction.

Speaking from a residential standpoint, one of the best in America that I have researched is Monte Nido (http://www.montenido.com/) They have several locations across the country. The women who began the program is named Carolyn Costin and wrote an amazing book called 8 Keys To Recovery From An Eating Disorder (http://www.amazon.com/Keys-Recovery-Eating-Disorder-Therapeutic/dp/0393706958) which I have been using in my recovery with my therapist now that I am on an outpatient basis.
I have not heard good things about two of the places local to me in New England and their inpatient facilities and I cannot comment on inpatient hospitalizations but hope this helps anyone considering residential <3

I would suggest reading this book or listening to it on on audible. I think with what you described above it could be very beneficial.
https://www.amazon.com/Brain-over-Binge-Conventional-Recovered/dp/0984481702/ref=nodl_

Two excellent reads, I highly recommend:

https://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Binge-Eating-Second-Program/dp/1572305614/

https://www.amazon.com/Brain-over-Binge-Conventional-Recovered/dp/0984481702/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1495066465&sr=8-4&keywords=binge+eating

I used both of these during a year long, very successful recovery plan. They both explain some of the science and psychology of bingeing.

For me bingeing is caused by: restricting, weight gain, general over eating, sadness, anger, stress, frustration, boredom. lol fuck me

If you ever wanna talk bingeing, PM me. :)

Look into the book "brain over binge." It helped me a lot.

http://www.amazon.com/Brain-over-Binge-Conventional-Recovered/dp/0984481702

If you think Brain Over Binge is helpful, definitely read this book- https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250004047/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Brain Over Binge is great for starting to understand how the cycle works but this book helped me a TON more. It gives actionable steps so you'll have more clear direction. Even though I wasn't ready to stop tracking food when I read the book, I was able to take what I needed from the principals and work on it. Now that I'm ready to stop tracking, I've been able to do so without anxiety because I've already practiced the skills discussed like mindful eating, respecting hunger/fullness etc.

Hey there! I'm in recovery from binge eating disorder (about 7 months since last binge), and many of the things which triggered my binges were emotional.

I can't recommend enough the book Overcoming Binge Eating 2nd Ed by Christopher Fairburn. I've used it by myself this whole time, it's great step by step shit to understand what you're doing, why you're doing it, and how to do other things instead. You can also use it with a therapist if you so choose to, as it is heavily based in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

Basically I have a big list of things to engage in or think about if I see myself trending towards binging. Even though it's been a long time since I've binged, I think after the first two or three months, I didn't even get close anymore. Best of luck <3 <3 <3

Overcoming Binge Eating.

It's a little technical at times (talks about studies, participants, etc.) but overall it's helpful.

Focus on your health and not your weight. Weight and appearance are extremely complicated issues emotionally and are not going to help you to improve your health. Accept your body as it is right now. It does not mean that you are at your ideal weight, but you need to be comfortable with who you are.

Your long-term project should not be weight loss. It should be achieving and maintaining health. And it does not end if or when you reach some target weight. It continues for the rest of your life. Your goal is to eat a healthy diet and get enough exercise. Weight loss is not the goal, but is an indicator that your are making real progress.

Read In Defense of Food and The End of Overeating for diet information. The China Study is very controversial, but it has been a great motivator for me. Read ACJN and other journals on a regular basis - doing research is a great motivator.

In terms of exercise, what worked for me was making a goal of working out an hour every day. The challenge is then to see how many days I can do this for. On average it works out to about 4 - 5 days a week at about 90 minutes per day.

You need to build up your cardiovascular strength a lot. Start by waking an hour or so a day. When walking does not get your heart rate up that much any more, switch to riding a bike. Whenever possible, exercise outside. Expose some skin and don't use sunscreen (not 11am - 4pm though) so that you get some vitamin D out of it too.

I have been fat since puberty. Not as high a BMI as you, but emotional pain is not exactly proportional to BMI. I didn't have any friends in college. I had no boyfriends. It took me 15 years to figure out how not to feel like shit. When you are a little girl/boy, you have an image of what you will be when you grow up. Then you grow up and it's nothing like what you expected. You need to get over it. You are fat and if anyone has a problem with it, fuck them.

I am glad that someone has taken the time to "Debunk the Myths of the NIH's $1.5 Million 'Lesbians Are Fat' Study".

Otherwise my thoughts are:
-Look for documentaries on the manufacturing of America's obesity epidemic.
-Or the fact most of the physicians who signed on to "America's Obesity Epidemic" are on the boards of companies like Weight Watchers.
-Or that the number of Americans seriously effected by obesity has been greatly exaggerated by the CDC because it serves their initiatives which are not always direct promotion of health.
-Or, any of the things in here: http://www.nourishingconnections.com/obesity_myths_debunked.html
-Or Gina Kolata: http://www.amazon.com/Rethinking-Thin-Science-Loss---Realities/dp/0374103984/
-Or Paul Campos - http://www.amazon.com/The-Obesity-Myth-Obsession-Hazardous/dp/1592400663
-Or Linda Bacon: http://www.amazon.com/Health-At-Every-Size-Surprising/dp/1935618253/

Also:
>"Which brings us back to that $1.5 million in total funding. That's true! Over the past two years, the project has been received $1,520,000, in two parts."

Talking about fiscal responsibility if you want to take all that money and put it towards something to improve the well-being of the lesbian community give it to studies of cancers that disproportionately effect the lesbian community AND things like trans-health studies on the effects of hormones. AND funding for homeless youth. AND intimate partner violence.

Higher BMI in most cases is not indicative of illness. Nor is playing with it, in the form of diets, preventative. In fact negative health outcomes are correlated with rapidly fluctuating weight. And it is quite possible fat prejudice KILLS more people annually than actual effects of obesity. Also: http://fathealth.wordpress.com/study-on-physicians-disrespect-of-fat-patients/

Seriously, this stuff makes me such a pissed off paper crane.

Oh, yeah, not even to mention the millions of women effected by disordered eating. Who are certainly not helped along by "no fat people" witchhunts. Lesbian sub-group or not.

What do I think about the fact that study was conducted in the manner it was conducted in? We need more women in positions of power in biomedical research because it's clear the world at large is incapable of guarding our well-being.

Health at every size people. Health at every size. http://www.haescommunity.org/

As for why lesbians might be bigger than avg female? I think we're capable of divorcing a lot of the pressure to shrink ourselves that comes from dating men. Many men-who-are-attracted-to-women seem to never get sick of the idea of less woman to love. And, if you desire the love of men, it's hard to not buy into that exchange. I've met many gay men with severe body issues. That's equally depressing. We are alive for such a short time. Modify your body as you see fit to find peace in yourself but, do it for you not because other people have told you to. And not to conform to industry ideals if it's harmful to yourself.

I recommend the book Never Bing Again. Great book. Highly recommend it.

https://www.amazon.com/Never-Binge-Again-Permanently-Overeating-ebook/dp/B014V1Q6SI

I keep meaning to work more on journaling to get better in the habit of identifying and understanding my feelings and thoughts as a whole. Trying to find different hobbies or habits to replace the eating helps a little, too. I don't remember all the recommendations, but I think one of the books I've seen recommended also is this one but it might be another one. Hopefully someone can jump in with the book, an dI think there might be a podcast I've seen recommended, too.

There is a fantastic and informative book called Fasting Girls: The History of Anorexia Nervosa by Joan Jacobs Brumberg that I would recommend! It goes into anorexia nervosa throughout history and its origin in religion.

"8 Keys to Recovery from an Eating Disorder" by Carolyn Costin. I am currently being treated for anorexia in one of Carolyn's treatment centers and I highly recommend her approach to the treatment of eating disorders. The book covers all types of eating disorders, including binge eating disorder. Binge eating disorder is treated in the same way as anorexia and bulimia, so while all of it might not directly relate to you, the principles and information is all the same. This book is amazing and I've been reading it during my treatment. It's no substitution for therapy (which I do recommend when you have the means to do so), but it is a great starting point and can really help you in the time being.

I just want to encourage you so much with your recovery! I'm so excited that you're wanting to get help and I think this is a great start. Message me any time if you need advice or just support. I'm discharging from the treatment center on Thursday after 19 weeks, so I have lots of good information beyond what the book can give. Best of luck and you can totally do this! :)

http://www.amazon.com/Keys-Recovery-Eating-Disorder-Therapeutic/dp/0393706958

I'm using this book at the moment and I think it's extremely useful and I highly recommend it!

That's one side of the story. Not the only one. It is the side that is blessed by our fatphobic culture.

http://www.amazon.com/Obesity-Myth-Americas-Obsession-Hazardous/dp/1592400663?tag=duckduckgo-d-20

http://www.amazon.com/Health-At-Every-Size-Surprising/dp/1935618253/ref=pd_sim_b_1

www.amazon.com/Rethinking-Thin-Science-Loss-Realities/dp/B002GJU35U/ref=pd_sim_b_4

www.amazon.com/Lessons-Fat-sphere-Dieting-Declare/dp/0399534970/ref=pd_sim_b_5

http://www.amazon.com/FAT-SO-Because-Dont-Apologize/dp/0898159954/ref=pd_sim_b_6

I've thought of this also, but in the context of the term "body project". Lately, it's been assigned to be entirely about dieting+exercise, but when the book was published that sort of launched the concept ( https://www.amazon.com/Body-Project-Intimate-History-American/dp/0679735291 ), body project meant everything we do to decorate our bodies. Piercings, tattoos and makeup are just as much about the body project as weight.

Your point is also valid, sivvus, and another point in the pile of evidence that fat activism has no theoretical background to draw intellectual support from. It's a hollow marketing scheme at best, and a campaign of dangerous lies at worst.

This may be an unconventional answer, but based on your answers in other comments here I would suggest looking into Hunger Directed Eating. It's a good way to break from the overcontrolled nature of diets and get back into eating for your body's nutritional needs without overdoing it by eating too much. a really good book I enjoyed was The Rules Of Normal Eating
and I'm currently working through
Thin: How to have your cake and skinny jeans too

It is informed by cognitive behavioral therapy strategies to help people overcome the psychological barriers to eating normally, in a way that will not make you gain weight. Much like the way people who are naturally thin eat.

This is the only thing that has led to stable change for me, over time. I was struggling with managing my eating since I was a teenager and this has allowed me to think less about food and worry less about treating myself. . . and I've lost about 7 pounds (over the span of a few months).

Take a look at the samples and see if these are for you. they won't solve all your problems, but it might help give you a new way to look at post-diet eating habits.

I agree with the others about seeking professional help. I think you also may be interested to read the book Brain Over Binge. The author discusses her struggles with over eating and subsequent recovery from binge eating/bulimia. I had some problems with self control (not full out binge eating disorder) and I feel that I greatly benefitted from reading what she had to say. Someone on this sub suggested it to me and I downloaded it to my iPad right away and read it within a few days!

>Yeah, pretty much, exacerbated by anxiety. Have you ever consulted somebody, or is that a self-diagnosis? I've thought about getting outside help before, because my eating habits are definitely not normal, but at the same time they never seemed severe enough to classify as a formal eating disorder. Well, and partly shame about talking about it.

I understand the anxiety thing. I think my BED was exacerbated by anxiety and depression, as I was severely depressed for many many years. I still have pretty bad anxiety (mostly generalized and social) but its a bit more manageable without the depression added on top lol

Well to try to shorten my story.. A few years ago I hit complete rock bottom and was basically forced to be admitted to a local hospital psychiatric unit by my psychologist/psychiatrist combo. I was an inpatient twice and an outpatient for a few months.. During all that time I was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, which is linked to binge eating.

So I mean I guess its a combo of self-diagnosis and "official." I tried to get help for my BED while I was in therapy but to be honest nothing they told me to do really helped me...

Even w/o the doctors and all I knew my eating was not at ALL normal and if you are bingeing heavily every day, feel like you cant stop thinking about food, plan your day around food, cant seem to take your hands off food, cant seem to stop yourself from eating, etc, you definitely qualify as having an eating disorder.

It certainly sucks that overeating disorders dont get the attention as undereating/restricting disorders. I think that makes it way harder to get help..

I quit all the therapy and drugs and stuff years ago, as none of it did anything for me. I had to find my own way to tackle my issues haha

Here's the link to Brain over Binge on Amazon.

Here's the link to Rational Recovery (its actually meant for drugs/alcohol) but it resonated with me and my food addiction

And this video helped me find these resources.

I paid for the book but have not bought anything else. There are a lot of scams and stuff out there in regards to this ED and many other issues and I don't think I should have to shell out tons of money to tackle my eating disorder (thats just wrong). So I say try for books as they don't cost an arm and a leg, there are many BED books on amazon with different techniques and approaches.

And youtube is a great resource, TONS of videos of people suffering from binge eating and how they overcame it. Some of them suck, some of them are good, just have to keep searching.

Btw I don't cut out or replace any foods in my diet; I still eat sweets and carbs and all that good stuff. I don't believe that completely abstaining from sugar or starch will ever help because one day when I eat a cookie, a huge relapse will be waiting. My goal has been to learn to moderate, be more mindful, stop eating with tv and distractions, change all my habits, and listen to my cravings, not feel guilty about food, etc. I don't "replace" sweets with fruit lol That does not work. I eat a sweet at least once a day. I am working on eating slower, tasting my food, things like that. Personally, I completely skipped over anything I read that said "never eat sugar ever again." Thats the Overeaters Anonymous approach, and I just dont think thats at all realistic. We all deserve to enjoy birthdays, holidays, etc.

Sorry this got so long. Please feel free to message me any time. I know people think binge eating is just a bullshit disorder or problem, but if anyone knows how real it is, its me.

Oh, and I always recommend checking out Brain Over Binge for folks like me who may be fighting that particular battle. Give it a shot!

Me too! Have you read Brain over Binge yet? Her concepts worked for me, although sometimes I still choose to ignore them and conscientiously choose to binge.

https://www.amazon.com/Brain-over-Binge-Conventional-Recovered/dp/0984481702

I hope this doesn't get lost, but please look into the book called Brain Over Binge. I have dealt with binge eating for years, tried therapy, read self-help books, etc, and nothing has given me the clarity to see my binge eating for what it really was besides this book.

I've seen people recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/Brain-over-Binge-Conventional-Recovered/dp/0984481702

> I have a history of deep depression, eating disorders and many other self destructive habits.

Yup. That's me, too. All of it. Also a 24/F.

Regular, vigorous exercise is by far the best "cure." I've tried many medications and treatments over the past decade and my life transformed several months ago when I started exercising.

Part of the trick was finding a type of exercise that I truly enjoy (biking). I also do Insanity workouts, but they get kind of boring (they can be monotonous). Thinking of joining a gym to keep me motivated on cold and rainy days.

Not sure what ED you struggle with, but try reading Brain Over Binge if it's relevant. I found it very helpful.

Edit: Exercise has also helped me to truly want to respect my body and has helped deter ED urges or behaviors. I value my strength and physical ability more than temporarily gratifying self-destruction.

I have Brain over Binge on my list after seeing it recommended here and on loseit a few times. Maybe someone who's read it can chime in with a review!

Edit: nope

I highly recommend the book "Brain Over Binge."

http://www.amazon.com/Brain-over-Binge-Conventional-Recovered/dp/0984481702

Read Brain Over Binge by Kathryn Hansen.

It has changed the way I thought about my binge eating and I haven’t done it now in about a month, and I don’t think I’ll go back.

I wish you the best of luck. Actually, fuck luck. You have the power.

https://www.amazon.com/Brain-over-Binge-Conventional-Recovered/dp/0984481702

I read a similar book and it was so helpful!! Fascinating info about how studies have shown that dieting/restricting calories ultimately led to greater calorie consumption and overeating. I wish I could remember the title...

Edit: Found it! Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch

There's a book called Intuitive Eating, and it's exactly like what it sounds like. I was initially sceptical but it honestly is very powerful in changing how I think about food. It helps with slip ups, starting out and maintaining healthy habits lifelong!

https://www.amazon.com/Intuitive-Eating-Evelyn-Tribole-M-S/dp/1250004047 is the link to the book!

You do have control, you just need to be reminded. Make a decision and stick to it.

I've been reading this book (free ebook) and have been finding it very useful for taking back control of my eating: https://www.amazon.com/Never-Binge-Again-Permanently-Overeating/dp/151516294X

>Thus, these brain pathways...also perform previously unidentified functions that include the detection of gastro-intestinal and metabolic signals.

or better yet.

>Food palatability and hedonic value play central roles in nutrient intake. However, postingestive effects can influence food preferences independently of palatability, although the neurobiological bases of such mechanisms remain poorly understood. Of central interest is whether the same brain reward circuitry that is responsive to palatable rewards also encodes metabolic value independently of taste signaling. Here we show that trpm5/ mice, which lack the cellular machinery required for sweet taste transduction, can develop a robust preference for sucrose solutions based solely on caloric content. Sucrose intake induced dopamine release in the ventral striatum of these sweet-blind mice, a pattern usually associated with receipt of palatable rewards. Furthermore, single neurons in this same ventral striatal region showed increased sensitivity to caloric intake even in the absence of gustatory inputs. Our findings suggest that calorie-rich nutrients can directly influence brain reward circuits that control food intakeindependently of palatability or functional taste transduction.

It's good to know there is also a reward system that stems from neurons in the gut, as well as the ones in the tongue. Great observation.

>This is a troubling idea

I am not sure why this is troubling. The gut-brain pathways are exactly not well understood. What is understood is exactly the taste-bud opioid pathways and how to exploit them.. Is there a way to fool the gut system? Surely. The early easy fruit show this has to do with chewing and saliva processing. There are probably even better ways to do this.

The implication of the conclusion is that we are wired for overeating, whereas the conclusion from the actual study, indicates we are wire to overeat palatable food with some component that exists in the gut that can also be trained to overeat. Not exactly the same thing.

Read this book. It will help you understand why you feel powerless sometimes and give you some strategies to try and turn it around. Very helpful.

Oh, honey :( I do the same thing sometimes. I'm twice your size, but it happens to all of us. The best thing I can do for myself is to remember that getting down on my body isn't productive, and won't help me get anywhere... so I might as well learn to love it as it is.

You might enjoy the Health At Every Size book. Not only does it have some awesome science (with sources!), but she also does a really great job of helping you be less hard on yourself and start to love what you've got.

good attitude on "trying means option to fail" have you read Never Binge Again (great book btw)?

Read Never Binge Again. It's not very long and will be very interesting to you.

First of all, if he has binge eating disorder, he should get help. I went to an outpatient treatment center for BED, and while it made me really frustrated that I gained weight while there, it did stop the binge eating. That's important, because if you try to to diet while you have BED it can make it worse and result in not losing anything.

Second, the idea that you can put back weight significantly faster than you can lose it is generally false. You may well see a significant amount of weight gained, but it's just water weight, not fat. I used to spend a month dieting, lose 4-5 pounds, and then I'd have a full weekend of cheat days (binge days really), see the scale go up by 7 pounds and say, "what the hell was the point of that full month of dieting when I gain more than that back in 2 days??" and then give up. But of course, there is no way that I actually gained back the 5 pounds that I lost, I'd have to have eaten 18000 calories over my maintenance amount to do that (roughly 21,000 calories over 2 days). What was really happening was that I had stored a lot of water weight, and by giving up at that point it eventually became real weight (by consistently over-eating day after day).

I'd really recommend the book, "Conquering Fat Logic". I generally find that self-help type books are nothing more than a scam, but I actually found this one really helpful. The author goes through and chapter by chapter addresses ideas that I hear constantly cited as fact. She cites studies to back up why each of them is false or as she says "fat-logic."

Life Without Ed https://www.amazon.com/Life-Without-Ed-Declared-Independence/dp/0071422986/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=life+without+ed&qid=1570768680&sprefix=life+without+&sr=8-1

14,000 Things to be Happy About https://www.amazon.com/14-000-Things-Happy-About/dp/0761181806/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=14000+things+to+be+happy+about+book&qid=1570768746&sprefix=thinks+to+be&sr=8-3

The Wish List
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0761107568/ref=dbs_a_w_dp_0761107568

Power Thought Cards: A 64 Card Deck https://www.amazon.com/Power-Thought-Cards-Card-Deck/dp/1561706124/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?keywords=louise+hay&qid=1570768837&sprefix=Louise+&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFLQUk5SktaRkFQMDEmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTEwMzk3NDVENTdNWUtINjJRNUomZW5jcnlwdGVkQWRJZD1BMDU1NzIwMzIyMzU4VEZZTllETUQmd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

Zen as Fck: A journal for practicing the mindful art of not giving a sht https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Journal-Practicing-Mindful-Giving/dp/1250147700/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?keywords=calm+the+fck+down&qid=1570769032&sprefix=fuck&sr=8-7

This is totally familiar. I have the exact same dichotomy in my head and body, and have stuggled with eating disorders because of it. I have two references for you that have been very helpful to me:

1. http://www.amazon.com/The-Taming-Chew-Holistic-Compulsive/dp/0142002372
   
2. http://www.amazon.com/Mindless-Eating-More-Than-Think/dp/0345526880
   
   Good luck, you aren't alone!

Interesting. Something similar was mentioned in Brain Wansink's book Mindless Eating (which is a book about various psychology experiments related to eating). Except that their conclusion was that men consistently thought that eating a lot made them more manly/attractive but it actually had no effect on women either way (that said, women might still expect men to eat a lot, they just don't reward it with thinking it's more manly/punish not doing it with thinking it's less manly).

ETA: https://books.google.at/books?id=_0AvbmnwWXEC&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100&dq=mindless+eating+date+women&source=bl&ots=sJc0we6sBP&sig=dulVtpD5cNggzxF2ac1ktNQEHEo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wmeZVN2QIsOaygOqrIKwDA&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=mindless%20eating%20date%20women&f=false

Mindless Eating (a book)

I can't recommend Lessons From The Fat-O-Sphere enough! OP, here's a link if you like. Another great one in the same vein is Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls. If your gyno says you're good to go, then I wouldn't worry too much. Obviously improving your health in general is a good goal, but don't tie your self-worth to it. You're already great.

I read! a lot! my favorite blog is http://danceswithfat.wordpress.com but i also read books- i highly highly recommend lessons from the fatosphere by kate harding and marianne kirby. I've also read Fat!So? by Marilyn Wann, The obesity Myth by Paul Campos. Health at Every Size by Linda Bacon PhD, and I'm currently reading Fat The Owner's Manual by Ragen Chastain and Fat Sex by Rebecca Jane Weinstein.

I also write... I write for three body positive blogs- my own, fierce freethinking fatties, and axis of fat. So I writ eout my insecurities and my strengths and I try my best to get back on track.

I have the same struggle. I recently received a gift card to Kohl's (they have a respectable, if not huge, plus size section) and decided to get some new things for fall, and god did I have to work hard to keep myself from spiraling downward. I find that one thing that helps a lot is reminding myself that if things don't fit or work for me, then that's not my fault. Blame the clothes, not your body. Also, I've recently made a personal rule for myself that I will not buy things that I don't love. I'd rather have two pairs of pants that I love than five that make me sigh with resignation whenever I wear them.

Also, I highly recommend the book Lessons from the Fat-O-Sphere. It really changed my perspective on a lot of things. If you have an e-reader, PM me and I'll send you a digital copy. Actually, even if you don't I'll convert it to pdf and you can read it on your computer. :)

These are some great books I've read recently:

Influence: Psychology of Persuasion. How salespeople use psychology tricks on you.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/006124189X?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00


Power of now. The present moment is the only thing that exists. Very deep book and not too hard to get through.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0340733500?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00


Psycho-cybernetics. A book about psychology, more about improving your self-image and confidence.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0671700758?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00


Think and grow rich. A good book that will motivate you to work harder.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1906465592?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00


Way of the superior man. Great book on relationships with women and what it means to be a man.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1591792576?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00


Mediations by Marcus Aurelius, nearly 2000 year old book! Great wisdom in here but I'd read some of these other books first. Make sure you get this version (Gregory hays translation) if you do buy the book, as apparently it has the best translation.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Meditations-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0753820161/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1425294467&sr=1-3&keywords=meditations

I read a book several years ago called Psycho-Cybernetics, which is more about how to re-program yourself than it is the attempts of others programming you. But it provides a great understanding of the unconscious self and how it manifests in your thoughts and behavior, which was pretty eye-opening.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0671700758/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

As far as techniques used on television...I've not seen a great central source to discuss that material. But learning about psycho-cybernetics allows you to immediately recognize when someone is saying something with a specific intent of embedding a thought in your mind, or to change your opinion. I consider myself fairly observant, but I think anyone who spends some time reviewing the topic will get a broader perspective on speech, and how to use their analytical part of the brain to filter out phrases that prey on your weakness.

Obviously, I really like this subject and wish everyone was more educated on it. They'd find themselves supporting more informed opinions.

EDIT: A good example is to watch some crappy primetime TV show, which shouldn't be too hard to find, particularly ones with government agents. You will hear the words "conspiracy theorist" freakishly often. What's funny is that in these shows, the theories usually turn out to be true. As they now say...truth in fiction, fiction in news.

The Body Project is a really interesting history of beauty standards and body image. A good chunk of it covers the '50s. I don't care for the author's editorials and preachy tone, but the anecdotes are nonetheless compelling.

Since you plan on becoming pregnant, it would definitely not hurt to also monitor your mineral and vitamin intake. Sure, you can always just take some cheap multi vitamin and hope that this will magically fix everything but the problem with that is that this is still a topic where so many questions have been unanswered (in which case can artificial vitamins replace their natural counterparts? this is possible in some cases but not all; are the vitamins alone just as valuable as they would be in conjunction with various other substances that would be naturally found in food? what are these substances, how many more are there that we haven't even discovered yet? am I overdoing it and damaging my kidneys in the long run) and so many bad supplements (a vitamin overdose can be just as bad as a lack; some vitamins interact with each other in a non ideal way but are still combined into one convenient pill) that one would be one the safe side if we got most of our vitamins and minerals from whole foods.

I don't know how many calories you have to consume to weigh 320 lbs but I would bet a lot that you did not get there by eating mostly unprocessed foods but that worthless (in terms of nutrition; I know it feels like the taste is worth a lot ;) ), empty food such as potato chips, cakes, fluffy fake bread, pizza, flavored cereals/yogurt/juice/.... with tons of sugar and so on make up a lot of your diet. Pumping all that stuff into your body, not providing much in terms of nutrition but still forcing your organs to process that crap is not exactly making your body any younger either.

The overeating is a whole other issue that can not be fixed so easily by starting to buy healthy stuff and cook for yourself. All the motivation in the world will not fix it if you don't understand what triggers your problems (but by saying "I tend to "eat my feelings"" you already show us that you understand at least part of the trigger; there definitely are other ways to deal with them, we just have to learn them if we didn't do that as a child). In summary, there are 2 things that help me personally:

• read lots of books on that topic. this helps me to gradually develop a better and better understanding of my behavior and while not every book might be 100% helpful there is always something to take away from it. it also helps to keep motivation up when you read about these topics daily. two books I enjoyed are for example: food addiction, shrink yourself
  
  
• find out what triggers my binge eating attacks, both emotionally and also physically. emotionally, I do the same as you do: I have a problem and I try to swallow it. as soon as I realize what I am doing, dare to acknowledge that feeling and kind ask myself kindly what else I could do about it I have almost always won. getting there is the more difficult part. what triggers my binge eating physically is as far as I have found out any form of sugar (I'm not sure yet if this also goes for fruit but I'm afraid it does) and probably also processed carbs. as long as I eat vegetables, fish, yogurt, eggs, whole grains (and I'm talking about real whole grains that I prepare myself, not any of that fake crap that just says "whole grains" on the packaging), nuts and so on I'm in control. as soon as I eat anything with sugar, no matter whether it is a light yogurt or a frozen convenience meal that would otherwise be comparably healthy but still has some added sugar in it things go straight to hell and I can't stop eating. Forcing myself to drink lots of water helps a little but what currently works for me is staying abstinent from sugar. I don't know whether this will ever change once my addiction is under control but currently I can only take the all or nothing approach.
  
  
• no carbs for me in the morning - no cereals, no oatmeal, nothing. eggs or yogurt keep me satiated and binge free much longer.
  
  I personally track not only my calories and macro nutrients but also my vitamin and mineral intake using this software: http://spaz.ca/cronometer/ (screenshots: http://imgur.com/a/YWUCk/cronometer_screenshots_2) I would highly suggest that you start tracking everything, at least for a while. It will help you to understand how much you should be eating but how much you are eating in reality and which of your vitamin and mineral goals you are meeting and which ones not.
  
  Some other comments that I made previously. If I repeat all of that, this would be even longer than it already is...
  
  http://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/e5f5v/hey_rfitness_can_you_teach_me_how_to_eat_healthy/c15fx7u
  
  http://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/e250y/motivation_lacking_new_to_r_fitness/c14oc7l
  
  http://www.reddit.com/r/90daysgoal/comments/d65lo/still_taking_participants/c0xua91
  
  http://www.reddit.com/r/90daysgoal/comments/d1t04/i_am_scared_to_be_hungry/c0wxskn
  
  http://www.reddit.com/r/90daysgoal/comments/d1t04/i_am_scared_to_be_hungry/c0x175q
  
  
  I'm sorry that this got so long. Usually I don't try to bother people too much with all the healthy eating stuff and only talk about overeating. Mentioning your age and your wish to become pregnant has somehow struck a nerve with me and although I didn't have time to post anything here yesterday I came back today to look for your comment and post something. I still struggle with emotional eating but eating healthier has already improved my health noticeably. I have no kids yet but from what I've read on the other boards that I visit eating healthy can make such a difference when it comes to becoming pregnant. And looking better as a side effect of course never hurts either. :)

Bless you I've been addicted to food all my life it strangles your life,messes up relationships ,rules your life and stifles your dreams ,I'm 40 and finally I'm getting help,it's so frustrating there is so much help for anorexia everyone takes it seriously but when it comes to binge eating you are shamed,blamed ,called names villified just visiting fatpeoplehate here on reddit you can see the level of abuse aimed at overweight people,there is no anorexichate subreddits because it's acceptable to dismiss overeating and laugh and mock it where anorexia is accepted as a mental health problem .
Well binge eating is no different the difference is your symptoms you wear in layers over your body,you need to stop the self hatred I don't mean the whole fat acceptance thing yes you need self acceptance,but you know it's unhealthy it's a miserable existence my heart breaks for people struggling with binge eating it's so misunderstood,it doesn't feel like it but you can beat it ,I think put any diet or weight loss in the back of your mind that will naturally come when you deal with the other stuff ,there are lots of reasons people binge eat and turn to food,mine was a comfort thing and it helped me glean some comfort from my abusive loveless childhood,I really think the brain in overweight people has a different chemistry you can be addicted ,if you're in America you're lucky because you have fat addicts anonymous and overeaters anonymous,there are places out there , started with a brilliant book called "the anatomy of a food addiction the brain chemistry of overeating by Anne Katherine
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0936077131/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/278-1600377-5182136
She approaches it with an addiction point of view and an emotional aspect as well
Drugs and alcohol you can stay away from ,food is everywhere you can't just give it up its in my opinion a lot more difficult to tackle food addiction than alcohol and drug addiction ,as the quote about comparing food and alcohol addiction rings so true
"Having an addiction to.alcohol is like having a tiger and trying to keep it in a cage ,having a food addiction is like trying to keep a tiger in a cage and taking it out for a walk 3 times a day "
and she has different sections to go through the process of beating the addiction ,the last chapter being weight loss,and she says don't be tempted to jump to weight loss section at the end she tells you exactly how to.start the process what support to get ,I found it so helpful and she stats away from the spiritual religious stuff she is gentle but practical .
This is a serious addiction you deserve get help as much as drug addicts and anorexics do ,I know the constant pain I feel for you sweetie but it's achievable you just need to.set up.a support system ,your wife needs to educate herself about it ,there are face book groups you join and there is always someone to respond to a post if you're struggling with a desire to.binge ,there is a way out I promise you ,I've only just started myself I'm at 230 pounds and for a woman that's not healthy ,I know the Shame ,how it affects everything you do ,the frustration of feeling out of control being at the mercy of this illness it's horrible I.know you're in your own private hell ,trust me you're not alone the world is waking up to people like us ,you deserve as much support as a drug addict as anyone else with a mental illness it's not your fault you aren't a bad person you aren't lazy you aren't weak you are fighting a horrible addiction and you're trying to do it alone you need to read what you can to ask for help and ignore anyone who dismisses it because there are a lot if ignorant professionals out there please look at the link I sent for that book ,loom at other books on the subject see what approach works for you,you can have a normal life this world needs you to.help other people like us .Trust me sweetie there is a way out .

https://www.amazon.com/Intuitive-Eating-Evelyn-Tribole/dp/1250004047/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Life changing. Get an intuitive eating nutritionist as well if the book resonates. Ignore the 90's era cover, the inside is pure brilliance.

My adult fitness journey started with intuitive eating. I like this book pretty well (haven't finished it yet), but there are probably others as well.

Also, I got a personal trainer. I highly recommend this. Try to find someone/a gym that respects you as you are now and is understanding of your past, not someone who is going to be triggering for you. I was able to save a lot of money by having a student trainer at the local university gym.

Even if you don't have a trainer, maybe if you get a gym membership, some employees can point you in the right direction for where you are now. :-)

Edit: Should mention I haven't lost much weight doing intuitive eating, but it has changed the way I think about food and fitness, and has inspired me to want to be in better shape for me, not for some weird societal standard. Also, happiness.

Intuitive Eating

Health at Every Size

Body Respect

Body Kindness

I would also recommend Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program that Works https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250004047/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ZXYxCb4PMZG4M

I found it to be a really great book that forces you to really look at yourself and your habits and your goals. Like another poster mentioned, number one thing you have to give up when committing to intuitive eating is the diet mentality. One of the biggest mistakes people make when new to intuitive/mindful eating is looking at it as another diet and keeping the goal of losing weight in the back of their mind.

I myself am still struggling with this part but as with anything, it takes time, patience, forgiveness and learning to actually trust your own body.

>These days I obsess about (fill in latest idea I want to try) for a while (2 days to a few weeks) and then I BINGE.

The binge is your brain's way of rebelling against a sudden change in diet, or a prolonged self-denial of comfort foods, and is its way of rebounding back into a safe, comfortable world.

How did you think of food before? Were you a "comfort" eater at all, did you graze without thinking too much about it, or were you very mindful of eating the foods that would most nourish your body? Try and remember the thoughts and feelings you used to have when you ate before - and compare them to the thoughts and feelings you have when you feel like bingeing now. And try and think about why you might be bingeing, too - try and have a dialogue with your inner voice, and see if there's some other deep need you might have, and are using food to supplement that need. Pay attention to what happens when you go into the "binge spiral" - are you having feelings of fear, loneliness, or self-loathing because of an event? Play "scientist" with your body and mind, and just observe the pattern for a little while. It might clue you in to what's really going on.

If you're having trouble, I can't recommend this book enough. It sounds gimmicky, but my therapist actually recommended it, and it really rings true in so many ways for me. They outline several types of dieters - you sound like you're the "Professional Dieter":

>Professional dieters [...] have usually tried the latest commercial diet, diet book, or new weight loss gimmick. Sometimes dieting takes place in the form of fasting, or "cutting back." Professional Dieters know a lot about portions of foods, calories, and "dieting tricks," yet the reason they are always on another diet is that the original one never worked.

It's time to calm down. Change is slow. Add one new change every week (or month!) and work up to your new lifestyle. Don't worry about the mistakes along the way - it's a process. Your eating habits are supposed to last for the rest of your life, and that's not something you can tackle in 2 weeks.

This book is helping me with this same issue right now. I haven't finished reading it but it's already making me think about food differently. A note however, the book doesn't endorse keto/low carb or any other diet for that matter, but what the authors say is still incredibly helpful, IMO.

This book was an amazing tool to help me reign in my unhealthy eating patterns. It helps you become more mindful of your eating habits and forces you to really ask yourself why you overeat. This isn't a cure by any means and you absolutely should seek additional help, but it could be a great tool in your recovery arsenal =)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250004047/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Get this book. Read it cover to cover. I have a serious problem with what I call a slippery slope. It always starts just like you described with just one bite that snowballs into regaining weight until I can knock some sense into myself. This book is the only thing that has helped. I've read it 3 times since November. Plus it's got a nice sarcastic tone that I like.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/151516294X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_J3fEybY3HFK76

I recommend Overcoming Binge Eating by Christopher Fairburn as a place to start.

There is a [book] (http://www.amazon.com/End-Overeating-Insatiable-American-Appetite/dp/1605297852) about how food manufacturers basically are very aware of this, and they deliberately manipulate sugar, salt, and fat levels in foods to make them more addictive.

You are probably just trolling but it is just not that simple for a lot of people. Some reasons:

1. In the US and many of those other countries, the environment is such that tempting, fattening, not very nutritious food is everywhere. Try finding healthy food at an airport. For someone like me who visits the US from time to time, I am astonished at what is on offer. Even the "wholegrain" bread there tastes like cake and is full of fructose. Salads are accurately described as "oil with a lettuce leaf and cheese".
   
   
2. Food companies deliberately design foods to be as addictive as possible. Yes, addictive - they fire up the same parts of the brain that cocaine lights up. Rats will make almost at much effort to get to processed breakfast cereals as they will to get to cocaine. See http://www.amazon.com/End-Overeating-Insatiable-American-Appetite/dp/1605297852 for a long discussion of these issues.
   
   
3. Quite a few people come from a genetic background of famine and poverty that has led to selection of people who put on bulk whenever they get the chance. For these people losing weight is orders of magnitude harder than it is for those who are effortlessly thin.
   
   Losing weight is a bit like holding your breath - easy to do for a while, but for many people it is impossible to sustain. Try holding your breath for 4 minutes - you will see what I mean. Something lower down the brain kicks in and overrides your best intentions.

Read what the former FDA commissioner says about the business of food. You feel the way you do, because you are supposed too. As in it is happening by design to practically everyone.

The End of Overeating

I've seen sample chapters online if you search for the pdf...

About how big chains use science to make "alleged" food irresistible to as many victims that they can. I wish I would have read it 10 years ago. Very enlightening.

May I suggest a good book for this?

"End Emotional Eating: Using Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills to Cope with Difficult Emotions and Develop a Healthy Relationship to Food"

I started reading it after a suggestion from a friend and it's really been helping me get a better grip on my relationship with food.

That's a very long time I hope you find your answer, it's never clear what the answer is. I had serious binge eating but also chronic depression problems for the past 3 years (although I had both growing up until I transformed my body @ 16) and what has worked for me has been starting Wellbutrin. I feel more goal driven and passionate about my hobbies again. I'm eating logically and tracking everything, treating food as fuel.

I do fall back every once in a while but it's so far in between where it used to be every other day or 3 days of eating 6k-7k+ Calories on those days and heavy depression and starvation/cardio the next days. I abused a lot of bronkaid (EC stack) and stuff because of the bodybuilding circle to try to stop my binge eating when cutting weight. I almost started purging, that's when I went to see therapists and psychiatrists. I knew it was getting close to the borderline.

I also resonated a lot with this man maybe it can pull some strings for you. The way he explains it is to a 'T' and the book he recommends is really cheap and provides strategies to combat and understand emotional eating.

Good luck!

I have a major addiction problem with food. I was anorexic as a teenager and I have swung to the opposite side of the spectrum since. I am finding two books to be very helpful at the moment:

[End Emotional Eating] (http://www.amazon.ca/End-Emotional-Eating-Dialectical-Relationship/dp/1608821218/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420336121&sr=1-1&keywords=end+emotional+eating) by Jennifer L. Taitz
It applies to all addictive thought processes. It's helped immensley with my sober life, and to get a handle on the processes of addiction and recovery.

[Healing your Emotional Self] (http://www.amazon.ca/Healing-Your-Emotional-Self-Self-Esteem/dp/0470127783/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1420336179&sr=1-1&keywords=healing+your+emotional+self) by Beverly Engel

Extremely helpful for depression and for helping to examine the underlying issues behind maladaptive behavior.

Maybe this kind of reading is not your thing, but it's worth a mention. Take care.

Hey, I have the same problem that you have. Yeah, it's pretty insane when the monster surfaces. Sometimes it stays through the day. The guilt feeds it through. I can't speak for you but I can tell you what I've been doing.

I started seeing a therapist and a few things became clear very early.
I had shame that I needed to deal with. Anxiety that I needed to control. Finally, I need to learn how to eat again.

I'm doing pretty well so far. I've learned not to judge myself. I have hard days sometimes. It's learning to pick yourself up from those hard days that is the challenge right now.

I suggest getting a therapist that specializes in eating disorders. Also, find a registered dietician that deals with eating disorders. If you can handle it, try mindfulness. It is particularly helpful when learning to eat properly again. I found a lot of help with a book called End Emotional Eating. I'm sorry, I can't link to it at this moment. I'll try an add it in an edit later.

Edit: Here is the link to the book and a few others.
For dealing with bing eating:

1. End Emotional Eating by Jennifer Taitz: http://www.amazon.com/End-Emotional-Eating-Dialectical-Relationship/dp/1608821218
   
2. 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food by Susan Albers: http://www.amazon.com/Ways-Soothe-Yourself-Without-Food/dp/1572246766
   
   If you have problems with shame:
   Healing the Shame that Binds You by John Bradshaw: http://www.amazon.com/Healing-Shame-Binds-Recovery-Classics/dp/0757303234/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1453094655&sr=1-1&keywords=Healing+the+shame+that+binds+you
   
   A little disclaimer about this book. I had my doubts going into it. I'm not very religious and this author talks about religion and god right from the beginning. Whether you are religious or not, it may come on a little strong. Later on, I realized that he was more into the spirituality of it than anything else. He even speaks about how you can associate this with whatever belief or non-belief system that you have (belief because his religious passages are mostly based on the Judeao-Christian belief system). What I really liked about this book is that it helped me understand how the shame I felt in life affected me. It was like an epiphany. What's great about this book is that he examines shame at the family level and you won't believe how powerful those revelations can be. The reason I suggest a therapist is that these revelations often need a guiding hand to help you along the way. I hope that you are able to find the help you need, despite living far away from possible treatment centers.

Bulking?

I'm sorry. That sounds horrible. I'm glad you're posting here because it sounds like you do actually want to recover. I recently read an interesting book called Brain Over Binge and a lot of what she writes sounds similar to what you're sharing with us. She isn't diabetic but it's the same concept of accidentally starting terrible habits and the desire to be skinny and feeling shame over your choices. She also mentions the book Rational Recovery which is about alcoholism but covers a lot of the same concepts.


Being honest with yourself about why you're in therapy is important. It's time to turn that honesty on its head and ask yourself if you want to really get better. And if you do...you can get there with help. Bulimia is a very serious problem, and you know this...you know that you can actually die from it. Please be kind to yourself and your future life. Good luck!

I highly recommend Brain Over Binge. Even if you only have issues with bingeing and not purging, it's a great read. The author had tried every type of therapy under the sun, medications, the whole works, and it turned out to be rational thought that helped her most. If you've struggled with getting better, then getting worse, it may be worth a shot to change your approach. Good luck!

Step 1: Read Brain Over Binge. it's a book about a woman overcoming bulimia by separating herself from her addiction.

Step Two: Know that you are choosing what you eat. You control your choices, not your food. Every time you want to choose to overeat, ask yourself, "How will I feel about this in the morning?" If the answer is anything negative, then stop.

---

I know that's easier said than done, I have been exactly where you are. The hardest part is taking yourself out of the moment. Separate your mind from the voice telling you that you need the food. You don't need that food, it'll only bring you temporary joy and long-lasting pain. You are an intelligent, amazing human being and that voice in your head, that urge pushing you towards food is just an animalistic addiction. It's a craving. You're not a lab rat proving the addictive qualities of sugar, you're stronger than that.

---

If reading is your thing, you might want to check out a book called Willpower: Rediscovering Our Greatest Strength. If you're a Christian, I'd also recommend Made to Crave.

Please, read "Brain over Binge" twice. Start from Chapter 10 on the re-read. There is no easy cure-all, but this should help. All power to you my friend.

I once cried on the couch because I wanted X and couldn't have it because I wanted to lose weight instead. Not giving into my cravings actually caused me physical pain.

I lost 90lbs a few years ago, and have gained 60 back.

The big thing that helped/helps me is Brain Over Binge (it's for bulimia but talks about binge eating in general) along with /r/bingeeatingdisorder. I've never been diagnosed with BED, but on some level I can definitely relate with it.

I just read this book on Kindle and it helped me immensely. Your story sounds exactly like the author's. I highly suggest you check it out.

Read this and do what it says. I was a binge eater for 27 years and this was the only thing that ever helped me.

Here's the thing, and it's hard to acknowledge - you CAN. And more importantly, you need to. Yes, you may feel you know yourself, but right now you don't know what you are capable of doing - because you feel you can't.

By saying that you are "all or nothing," and that the "in-between" is impossible, you are admitting that your mind is in an incredibly unhealthy place right now. And more often than not, an unhealthy mind is the reason we all gain weight in the first place.

You're wasting your teenage years hating yourself? You won't love yourself any more if you lose the weight because then you're loving yourself with strings attached. "I will love myself as long as I'm this weight." "I will love myself as long as I never binge." That's not love, that an ultimatum. That's abuse.

Take a deep breath, and then another, and another. Try this exercise - imagine if you were your little sister, or brother, or someone younger than you that you love dearly (even a young version of you). Imagine that they've just come to you crying, because they hate themselves - is it because of their weight? Other issues? What would you say to that person? How would you comfort them? What beautiful parts of them are they blind to that you see? You would want to take care of them, right? Make them happy, and help them see what an amazing person they are.

That's how you should start treating yourself - with love, with understanding, and most of all, with forgiveness. You're currently holding yourself hostage, and punishing yourself for stepping out of line. Stopping that will take time, but again... it's part of your journey.

Please, please, please do me a favor and buy or borrow this book from your library - it's called Life Without ED, and it's a book about overcoming eating disorders. http://www.amazon.com/Life-Without-Ed-Declared-Independence/dp/0071422986

Whether you feel it is true or not, binging and purging are not easy to overcome and for many (and many on this board, myself included) it is a lifelong struggle.

Next, if you're currently in school, check with the school nurse and see if the school employs a nutritionist - what you need now is to STOP counting calories and learning how to get back on track with eating, and learn how to be okay with eating.

But most importantly, please realize that you CAN.

I agree with /u/xXChocowhoaXx. I doubt there is much you can do. Eating disorders are usually way deeper than they seem, and aren't as simple as not eating enough lunch or whatever. I would put the most effort in to helping her get some help. It might be a little too upfront, but I have a close friend who had an eating disorder and she told me about Life Without Ed, and said she really liked it.

Though if you wanted to take a stab at it, you can put her height, weight, age, sex, and activity level in a tdee calculator and get how many calories she should eat. That will tell you how many calories she should eat to maintain her current weight, but it will also give you a BMI. You should then increase the weight in the calculator until the BMI is in the healthy range, then use that as the # of calories she should be eating to maintain a her weight at a healthy BMI.

As far as foods, I would go with calorie dense, easy to digest stuff. When you're malnourished, macros (like protein or carbs/fat) are nowhere near as important as overall calories. Calories are king, macros are queen, and micronutrients, source of the food (organic or not), etc are all... um, jesters? :P So I would emphasize calories over stuff like protein. The fitness wiki has some good stuff on diet. A trick with caloric density is to eat fats. Fats have 9kcal/gram as opposed to carbs and protein which only have 4kcal/gram. So for a given weight of food, you get over twice as many calories by eating fats as opposed to carbs/protein. Oils, while they aren't the healthiest thing in the world, are super calorie dense and can be snuck into foods really easily. 1tbsp of olive oil has 110 calories, and it's pretty much flavorless. Easy to add to stuff to up the calorie count. Peanut butter is also really calorically dense - 1tbsp has almost 100kcal. Another trick might just be to find out whatever she likes and will eat, then just make a ton of it or find ways to increase the calorie count.

Boyfriend of a recovering ED person. She has been in recovery for about a year now, and nothing comes easy with it. It is daily that she has to remind herself to keep with the program and that even when she falters, she has to get back up and get back on track.

If you are looking to recover (and congrats to that!), here are a few good first steps. You will need to find yourself a treatment program. I would suggest be starting out by going to the doctors, tell them you are bulimic, and then they will be able to recommend to you a specialist and/or treatment programs in your area. Also, do not keep it a secret anymore. By telling your friend and family will make you accountable and will be telling yourself that you in fact have a problem. This will also open the door for better support from your loved ones.

Also, please keep in mind that you need to do this for yourself and not because others are wanting you to recover. As the boyfriend, this is the hardest thing for me do do is to leave the recovery to her because I always want to fix things. She has become stronger for it though.

Also, here is a good first book to read. This book is written by a recovered ED person and it really gives a good perspective into the life and recovery involved. http://www.amazon.com/Life-Without-Ed-Declared-Independence/dp/0071422986

Again, congrats on making the first step! Just make sure not to give up. It is a long road ahead, but it is well worth it in the end.

Live without Ed is a great book. Puts the ED in a character (his name's "Ed") you can respond to and eventually live alongside and choose to not listen to.

Good luck :)

Read "Mindless Eating." It's an interesting look into the psychology of food, and its given some good ideas on how to avoid over eating.

You've probably heard a lot of it from magazines,stuff like "use smaller plates" and stuff like that. This book dives into the details of that. It's not a guide to eating less, but it shows why we eat how we do. I found it very helpful.

the best tip was focusing on what I'm eating. I spent many work lunches scarfing down food while enjoying the comedy styling of the Daily Show. Now I sit out in the lobby and enjoy some real sunlight and savor my food. I almost ALWAYS end up eating less when doing this.

Get used to throwing food out, or portion it out in small bits, saving the rest for later.

Read Mindless Eating - it's a fascinating and useful book about the psychology of eating from a professor who studies just that at the university food lab (Cornell I think).

http://www.amazon.com/Mindless-Eating-More-Than-Think/dp/0345526880/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311770097&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Mindless-Eating-More-Than-Think/dp/0345526880/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332061191&sr=1-1

and

http://www.amazon.com/Judgment-under-Uncertainty-Heuristics-Biases/dp/0521284147/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332061219&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Influence-Psychology-Persuasion-Revised-Edition/dp/006124189X

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345526880?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00

http://www.amazon.com/Mindset-The-New-Psychology-Success/dp/0345472322

http://www.amazon.ca/Salt-Sugar-Fat-Giants-Hooked/dp/0771057105

http://www.amazon.ca/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/1594201455/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1425300234&sr=1-1&keywords=in+defense+of+food

http://www.amazon.ca/Mindless-Eating-More-Than-Think/dp/0345526880/ref=pd_sim_b_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=0PJDH57XQVR2RN712MSF

http://www.amazon.ca/The-Diet-Fix-Diets-Yours/dp/0345813588/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_z

• This last one is by a guy who also has a decent website: http://www.weightymatters.ca/
  

See, I think blaming the media is a convenient scapegoat for the problem.

I did a Google search because I wanted to see the history of mental illness associated with body image, such as anorexia. If the media was truly fueling these problems, you'd see a marked increase in the past couple of decades.

But instead I found a government report that documents the earliest incidents of anoxeria to the 1600s, far before the modern media as we know it existed. And there's a highly rated book on the subject which similarly reveals that anorexia has prevailed in many cultures throughout history, without the modern media.

So it looks like these mental illnesses are inherent in any culture that values the attractiveness of women, or every culture that ever existed in human history.

Read this..
You are not alone. You do, however, need professional support. I have been dealing with this disorder on and off for almost 30 years.

The book was written by two therapist who have both had eating disorders, so they are more attuned. I am working through the book with my own ed specialist.

I think knowledge is power. I would start educating yourself through books. One of my all time favorites is this one
http://www.amazon.com/Psycho-Cybernetics-New-More-Living-Life/dp/0671700758/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1407878989&sr=8-2&keywords=the+new+psycho+cybernetics

Most self help books draw their knowledge from the above book. It really opened my eyes.

What exactly are you looking for help in? Trying to lose weight or trying to get motivated or something else?

I would also add:
New Psycho-Cybernetics

Your welcome! Glad it helped. The relaxation thing is something most drummers don't want to hear because it seemingly has nothing to do with music. It also makes people feel weird or self-conscious. But it absolutely works.
There are several books on the subject that really helped me. https://www.amazon.com/Psycho-Cybernetics-New-More-Living-Life/dp/0671700758

https://www.amazon.com/Effortless-Mastery-Liberating-Master-Musician/dp/156224003X

https://www.amazon.com/Inner-Game-Music-Barry-Green/dp/0385231261

One other thing I wanted to mention is the concept of dancing and drumming. There is a direct connection between the two. In Bob Moses book Drum Wisdom, he states that it behooves all drummer to dance. I tell tell students, if you're embarrassed about dancing in front of people go in your bedroom, shut the door, and dance. Again, this makes people feel weird, but it works. You don't have to be a good dancer. You just have to learn to relax and move with the music.

Try reading Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz. I just began reading it not too long ago and it covers changing your personality. The book is often referred to as the original self-help book. Don't believe when people say it's impossible. You aren't the same person you were 10 years ago. People are always changing based on their experiences. You can create the experiences to make yourself into the person you want to be.

Hi!
I have a solution that can fix this problem once and for all, don't worry about the other comments for now just follow this.
Your fear of failure is a self fulfilling prophecy. The reason you feel you are a failure is because this belief was reaffirmed in you over time, we believe our thoughts and they create a self fulfilling prophecy. A study was done on a student who had bad grades, through hypnosis he had the belief installed in him that he was a success, every morning by a therapist. This led him to become one of the top in his class.
There's a book I think everyone should read on this called psycho-cybernetics. I know The name of this book makes it sound boring and complacated but the book is life changing.
http://www.amazon.com/Psycho-Cybernetics-New-More-Living-Life/dp/0671700758
If you dont want to read the book you can still stop this cycle of failure, here is how, using these excercises. This will take you ten minutes a day, and it may feel silly at first, but if you do this the level of change it creates will be ridiculous. You will not believe how effective this is.
There's a few disclaimers.
1:You have to do this every day for at least 180 days, I reccomend doing it for a whole year. this does not work if you miss a day, if you plan on doing this here and there, or maybe once every second day, just forget it. If you,are not doing this every day you will be wasting your time.
2:It will take 21 days before you start seeing the results of this. Therefore reserve any judgements for these twenty one days, you may feel it is stupid or it will never work, but don't make any judgements until you have done this consistently for 21 days.
Here is the excercise.


1: Affirmations, for five minutes every morning you will close your eyes and in your head say the statement "I am a successful person". Over and over in your head for five minutes


2: Visualization: for five minutes every day you will visualise what it is like to be a successful person, e.g sit down and imagine getting a report with a grade A plus (or whatever grades you have in your country), Imagine how this success feels. Get as much detail as possible, where are you sitting, what sounds are there, who is there with you. It's ok if your Visualizatiom is a little hazy at first. Just stick with it.
Here's a video on how to properly do visualisations to help you.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q89nSsjWjFs

That's all you have to do, if you do this, you will experience a huge change in your state. It won't require you to put in effort to change your habits you can just relax, that will be taken care of for you by the subconscious mind as you start to get past 21 days of doing this excercise.

This will work, it's not a matter of "maybe if you do this things might change" they are guaranteed to change, this is how the mind works, it is a fact that if you do this properly it will work for you, the only reason it won't work is if you don't do the excercises. And most people don't, they either start strong or fizzle out after a couple weeks. The reason for this is because the mind naturally resists change, this means you may find yourself wanting to stop, maybe after a week of doing this you will start telling yourself it is stupid or it is not working, maybe you'll start telling yourself I must be doing it wrong (this happened to me with visualisations) just be persistent, remember all you have to do is get through those 21 days, than it will become a habit and become easier. I know it seems stupid to think that you will have trouble getting through this, it's only ten minutes a day of simple excercises, but you will experience resistance, it caught me off guard when I started doing visualisations, I found myself stopping twice because I was convinced it would never work, but I used visualisations and affirmations to go from having social anxiety to being outwardly confident.

Stick with these affirmations and visualisations as crazy as they might sound, they work, wonders :)

check this book out

the author was a former plastic surgeon who saw the type of mindset you have in his patients, even post-op. this book addresses how to change that mindset. look at some of the amazon reviews to see what others think about it

Read Psycho-cybernetics by a plastic surgeon (Maxwell Malz) who had to help disfigured people adjust after corrective surgery.

http://www.amazon.com/Psycho-Cybernetics-New-More-Living-Life/dp/0671700758

Check out a book called Psycho Cybernetics by Maltz. Its focus is redefining perception to facilitate a positive self image.

Here is the amazon link for reviews: http://www.amazon.ca/Psycho-Cybernetics-Maxwell-Maltz/dp/0671700758

Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz

Seriously, read Psycho-Cybernetics, it's not a multi-million copy bestseller for nothing.

Psycho-cybernetics for sure.
http://www.amazon.com/Psycho-Cybernetics-New-More-Living-Life/dp/0671700758

This post and most of the replies seem to be reeking of mis information and/or misguided people. Do your research. I'll just leave this here.

http://www.amazon.com/Your-Drug-May-Problem-Revised/dp/0738210986/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426745893&sr=8-1&keywords=your+medication+might+be

http://www.amazon.com/Psycho-Cybernetics-New-More-Living-Life/dp/0671700758/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426745906&sr=8-1&keywords=psycho+cybernetics

Sometimes, initially, it was just because surface doubts (including self-doubt) got the best of me, and in those cases we often got back together again. Eventually, if deeper issues persisted, we broke up for good.

To be more in tune with myself in the way I described in my previous response, I think I first did a lot of research about women’s issues. I grew up with all brothers and by the time I reached menarche my stoic mom had already had a hysterectomy due to health issues. I love reading and learning, and when I was a teenager I read a book called The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls, which gave me a new historical perspective.

I did a lot of writing and reflecting, by journaling my thoughts and feelings. I paid attention to myself, just like you’re doing, and sought to understand myself more when I felt my emotions creep out of control. I didn’t necessarily try to stop them when they came up, but honor them for a moment, allow myself space to express whatever I was feeling, and let it pass through me. Then move forward with confidence and trust in myself.

In adulthood, I adopted practices like yoga and meditation. I continue to read and learn new things, being open to greater truth and understanding. I check in with myself often and regularly participate in professional therapy sessions.

Good luck on your incredible, feminine journey. After hating myself and my body in girlhood, I have learned to continually embrace my own femininity. It’s a process that never quite ends, I’m afraid.

Some quick reads: here and here. Or you can look into books like this one. I also like The Beauty Myth. A lot of feminist literature has great discussions about how and why women struggle with body image problems.

I'm in the same situation, carbs still make me go crazy and the only thing that helps is being really strict about them. I've been throwing up for 10-15 years now but things have gotten a little better at least. Sometimes things are easier for me, especially when I'm on vacation and there are no problems to think of. I'm doing yoga now which helps a little. I can recommend an book on that topic that I found quite interesting: Anatomy of a Food Addiction: The Brain Chemistry of Overeating

For me it is MUCH easier to eat in a strict way if I don't make any exceptions whatsoever. I just had 4 "perfect" weeks where I just said "no thanks, but I don't eat sugar/pasta/... at the moment" and everyone, including me, was fine. The cravings are gone after a while and everything just becomes so very, very easing. Which is definitely a good thing for someone like me with a history of disordered eating. I even got through a big birthday party and a trade fair (two days surrounded with nothing but sugary energy drinks, perfect little tramezzini and the most beautiful muffins that I've ever seen) and everything was fine. Not a single slip. I just didn't eat all the crappy food because I didn't have to think about whether or not I wanted them. There was no decision to be made because I just didn't eat that stuff at that point in time. If I was going for an "everything in moderation" approach, I would have decided to make an exception and things would have gotten straight to hell from there on. When it starts, I can eat so much crappy food. So, so, so much crappy food, people often would not believe how a normal sized woman could eat to much junk food in so little time.

But then last week I had to take a flight while I was sick and I just had to eat some white bread since my stomach was very upset and everything else would not have worked and I would have gotten sick on the plane otherwise. Since then I'm once again struggling to get back on track. The cravings are back and I have to fight just as hard as always to get rid of them and I have lost quite a few fights last week. I hope that I will manage to get back on track next week and it will be a little easier than usually since I just had those 4 perfect weeks (my personal record up to now) but it still sucks. And next time I will just try to make it to 5 weeks. And after that maybe one day 6 or 7 weeks – we'll see...

Edit, another thing: since you mentioned that you are an emotional eater, I can recommend a book that I found quite interesting: http://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Food-Addiction-Overeating-Compulsive/dp/0936077131
It doesn't just cover the psychological aspects but also the brain chemistry behind food addictions. But to sum the whole book up: if you do have a food addiction, eat less carbs. And once you are truly addicted, you might have to do it for the rest of your life, just like an alcoholic has to stay sober and can't just drink alcohol in moderation. I think that's what I have to do but since this is fortunately healthy anyway, there could be worse things that could happen :)

Edit, one more thing: to get back on track, I have to be really strict. No fruits at all since they trigger bad easting behaviour as well. When I've done that for a while, things get easier and I can re-add a little fruit and a little rice every once in a while. But not too much. As soon as I end up standing in front of the fridge, desperately looking for something sugary, I know that I've had too much.

tl;dr: I'm definitely an abstainer: http://happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2012/05/quiz-are-you-an-abstainer-or-a-moderator/

http://www.amazon.com/Rules-Normal-Eating-Commonsense-Undereaters/dp/0936077212

I LOVE this book. It helped me immensely. Even if you don't have all the same issues or have more/less than she did, it is a great way to help you think about things.

http://www.amazon.com/Brain-over-Binge-Conventional-Recovered/dp/0984481702/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

I've been reading a book called Brain over Binge by Kathryn Hansen off and on to start trying to deal with my eating issues. I've been finding it very helpful so far, she talks about how she got into these bingeing habits and how she would "purge" by spending hours and hours at the gym the next day trying to undo the damage. She also talks about how traditional therapy and exploring the idea that the bingeing was replacing something or was as a result of some unresolved trauma or emotion wasn't working. Then one day she was in the book store browsing the eating disorder books when she happened to decide to wander over to the addiction recovery section. She ended up picking up the book Rational Recovery by Jack Trimpey. She started reading it and things started clicking into place for her. As she was reading she would basically just replace the words alcohol or drugs with 'food' and it all still made sense. I haven't gotten much farther than that yet but she talks about how this book Rational Recovery explains how to basically stop your addiction very quickly basically by using mindfulness techniques and separating out your primitive, animalistic brain responsible for survival urges and where your addictive urges come from with the conscious, evolved human brain, the part of the mind for acting on those urges. She was explaining how it's important to realize there's a distinct difference between the two and that the animal part can't actually make you act on anything, that's the conscious mind, so you can choose to not act on those addictive urges instead of giving into them or even feeling like you have no control over them. She realized she had been basically just giving into the urges as a way to alleviate the upsetting and uncomfortable feelings they were causing.

I think I might give Rational Recovery a try after I finish Brain Over Binge.

This helped me understand and overcome my binging. Hope it helps.

https://smile.amazon.com/Brain-over-Binge-Conventional-Recovered/dp/0984481702/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1523929290&sr=8-1&keywords=Brain+over+binge

Shaming does absolutely nothing for "health" (which so many average to unhealthy thin people obsess over when it comes to fat people) and only encourages eating disorders. I'm stressing only.

I've been all over the spectrum. I was an overweight pre-teen turned a teenager with an eating disorder (bulimia) which led me to lose weight- but also to therapy and anti-anxiety medication at 15. I recovered and gained a lot of weight back, which my college self worked hard to get off. It became extreme and I was doing 80 minutes of cardio on top of biking to work and eating ~1200 calories a day (while being unable to cope and eating 3000 calories a sitting because I was just so damn hungry) to keep myself at 117 pounds. I then got into weight-lifting, turned my obsession over calories into macros, which was just as unhealthy. I even became a manager at a gym I was so obsessed. Now graduated, in therapy and on medication again, I don't count calories and sit at a healthy ~130lbs without going to bed hungry or spending my life on a treadmill. I eat healthy, workout 5-6 times a week, but I'm 100% a part of the anti-diet and body positive movement.

Please note, then nowhere in my journey have I ever been unhealthy. I've had a gym membership since 14. At 180 pounds I didn't have any health concerns, and the most unhealthy behaviors I've done was puking up my food or binging because of my hunger when I was (surprise!) trying to diet.

You can say that my story is "different" but it's not. My parents and peers had the same mentality you did as I was growing up. I remember vividly my dad yelling at me that if I didn't stop being "lazy" that I would be (and I quote) "300 pounds and absolutely disgusting." Telling anyone this, especially children who are extremely more likely to develop an eating disorder if they diet because their brains aren't matured enough to handle what's basically a famine, is dangerous.

With any movement, there's going to be extremes. So much of the body-positive movement works to fight against stories like mine - a healthy teenager wanting to lose ~10 pounds because then they'll be "beautiful" turning into a lifelong struggle with food. If allowing fat people to just exist as fat people and be okay with their body angers you, seek help and look internally. Also, If you want to throw stones however, look at the health and fitness movement and the bullshit they promote as well.

Also: Any minor on here wishing to lose weight (especially if it's vanity pounds) please read the book Brain over Binge and know that you can have a healthier lifestyle without dieting or starving yourself.

http://www.amazon.de/Brain-over-Binge-Conventional-Recovered/dp/0984481702/ref=sr_1_1/279-1882819-9691824?ie=UTF8&qid=1457932940&sr=8-1&keywords=brain+over+binge

https://www.amazon.com/Brain-over-Binge-Conventional-Recovered/dp/0984481702

never read it, but I intend to

Read the reviews on this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Brain-over-Binge-Conventional-Recovered/dp/0984481702

Just know that there is hope.

I seriously think it's a terrible idea. It just leads to even worse binges when you do break the fast.

I used to have a serious binge eating problem myself, what helping me tremendously was this book.

Hey have you read Brain Over Binge? I thought it was pretty helpful. https://www.amazon.com/Brain-over-Binge-Conventional-Recovered/dp/0984481702

I can't recommend Brain Over Binge highly enough. It's the only thing that's worked for me after over a decade of binge eating.

I was re-introduced to intuitive eating several months ago. My real intro to this was a little too extreme and contributed to a rapid 5-10 lb weight gain and even more anxiety than I had at the time (which was significant—I had gained 20+ lbs back after a 50 lb weight loss/FINALLY getting myself in the healthy weight range for my height, which I’d held onto for almost two years). This second intro came from a nutritionist, and she recommended a book called Intuitive Eating that gave me a much healthier perspective than I’d bought into previously: https://www.amazon.com/Intuitive-Eating-Revolutionary-Program-Works/dp/1250004047

Before I decided to jump into this, I had been super bogged down with feelings of guilt and responsibility and failure related to tracking food, weight, workouts, etc. Often when I did track I’d get disappointed and when I didn’t track I’d be anxiety-ridden. I’m over it. I paid a ton of money for an online personal training program 6 months before my wedding date, and that was a mess. The nutritionist I’d seen knew I needed to repair my relationship with food but that wouldn’t guarantee any weight loss before the big day. I couldn’t do it. I was totally determined to lose back the 20+ lbs and be able to show my “real” self at my wedding. Well, I was hopeless at sticking to my diet plan. It drove me nuts. I felt like a total failure. Thankfully I had the support around me (my therapist in particular is a saint) to ditch the dieting and do what I knew in my heart was the right path—committing to being in touch with my true hunger, confronting emotional ties to food, and believing sincerely that I am enough.

I am one month away from my wedding today. I am as strong as I’ve ever been and I have never felt less anxiety over eating/food choices. I realized at my second dress fitting I can’t completely go off the rails cause that sucker needs to zip, but I am on the path to true peace with my body and how/what/why I eat for the first time in my life.

I hope this is helpful :) it was great to share!

I just wanted to reaffirm this message.

Being so out of control around food, eating emotionally, eating large quantities of junk food past the point of fullness, regret after eating, shame about "lack of self-control", seeing certain foods as "forbidden".....all of these point to disordered eating.

I was finally diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder last year and completed a recovery program in the spring of this year. It was so, so helpful to me to learn why I was doing that. One of my major goals was to recover before having kids so that I didn't pass on the food behaviors to them.

This kind of disorder is often made worse by trying to increase control over food - dieting and restricting often leads to a cycle of bingeing.

I would highly recommend reading Intuitive Eating for getting a handle on it, and definitely some sort of therapy or treatment program (depending on how bad it is).

I was in denial for a long time because I thought it was just normal to keep going on strict diets and then falling off the wagon and eating allll the things. I managed to sustain that pattern for many years until the strict diet window got shorter and shorter and the bingeing/blowout cheat was happening almost daily. It's a miserable existence and I'm so happy to be out of that cycle.

I hope your husband can find a balance too!

With your background and trigger areas, you might like Intuitive Eating. I'm not 100% on board with everything in it, but I think it's interesting and worth a read. Not super science heavy in terms of what each nutrient does, but maybe a good balance to something like that. https://www.amazon.com/Intuitive-Eating-Evelyn-Tribole/dp/1250004047

Free on Kindle... haven't read it, but seen another awesome poster recommend it.

https://www.amazon.com/Never-Binge-Again-Permanently-Overeating/dp/151516294X

Hey, I know I'm late to the party but I just wanted to make you aware that there are a few self-guided cognitive behavioural therapy programmes out there that might be able to help if you're still suffering from this problem. I've been ignored about this issue too and after however many years I'm sick of wasting my time, money and health and I'm sure you are too. As a jumping-off point, you might like to try reading Christopher Fairburn''s Overcoming Binge Eating which explains what this disorder is, why it happens and how to help yourself.

E: amazon UK link to the book here

I lost 50 pounds starting when I went on lithium without trying because it helped me focus on better choices and it is only associated with weight gain in 25% of patients, and especially those who struggle with weight, because it's just one more straw on the camels back. A major issue is the thirst from eating the salty meds leading to drink high caloric drinks. Gaining 50 pounds is certainly not to be expected, and there are certainly ways to manage any increased cravings.

I think it's worth exploring the idea that your periods aren't happening because of your eating habits related to your fears about taking the lithium impacting your eating disorder which is known to impact menstruation, whereas lithium is not known to do that. If anything, your menstruation is known to affect your lithium levels.

I so deeply implore you to consider reading cbt books on diet and your eating disorder, and use pen and paper to make a plan, count your calories, manage your cravings, and your thoughts around eating and your imagine etc, because it is what science says will give you the best shot at managing. Check out this book (is that a good book? [preview it here}(https://www.amazon.ca/Overcoming-Binge-Eating-Second-Program/dp/1572305614/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=eating+disorder+cbt&qid=1574045900&sr=8-3) Just guessing) Or look up any book that you like and try to find it on libgen. The Diet Trap book in my list is also a good general book on eating.

Doesn't have to be hard like any thought around eating or your weight or your image, you can do reality testing on, actually go and make sure its true, or test if it's true in a real experiment, put it on paper and see if there are other explanations. Part of my disorder was believing because I felt so strongly about it, that it had some validity, but that's part of my disorder, that I get too easily certain and too easily entrained with certain ideas and interpretations. Therapists try to help us with this, but you can also open yourself up by just looking for evidence for each thought.

Lithium is amazing and changes my brain. I'm so happy I quit drinking. I'm so happy that I quit smoking weed, lithium is still fixing me after all this time, it literally grows your brain and fixes white and grey matter abnormalities. In the unlikely event that you gain a little weight after all of the efforts you make with what is in those books, the stability and brainpower you gain will be there to help you make stable choices to bring it back down. I got to my ideal weight finally this week, for me the intermittent fasting thing works, I just ended up in this pattern I didn't try, it, I just stopped caring about breakfast and was happy with black coffee, and I stopped buying food that was super calorie dense like peanut butter and butter, I gotta chew way too much now and the vegetables take up space. Anyway the point is I fully believe that you got this. And trust me, if you give it several months, and you work on it, you can get high on your own supply, as in brain chemicals, especially when you are on lithium and your brain hasn't adapted to the presense of other ones and is full time making its own.

Don't forget that you are always always beautiful!

jebus, they talk about it like its the gd deficit. It's not rocket science. Here, Olive Garden, allow me to help you out: Stop over buttering everything. Stop using so much oil. Use higher quality grains in your bread and they will be more filling, so people will eat less of them. Increase the amount of vegetables in your sauces.

Oh, here's one, TRY MAKING STUFF FRESH? Don't they have everything in ready to microwave bags? It's another chain restaurant that's essentially serving you giant t.v. dinners reheated for use.

And Red Lobster... try less butter, oil, frying, refrying... I was reading a book which talked about different chain restaurant food, and the process it goes through. For example, chicken tenders at Chili's... they're first deep fat fried at the slaughter house! They're deep fried again at the processing plant and then for the third and final time to warm them before getting them to you. This is often the case, they're tender and moist when they get to you - but you're not getting one layer of deep fat fry...but three. Which is sad, because that's why foods are so immediately tasty; sugar, fat and salt.

Our palate as a nation is unfortunately seeped in unpleasant things. It's a billion dollar industry that works hard at chemical food flavoring (cheese, bbq flavor, all of those include no trace of the original flavor they're mimicking)... so to some, the real thing doesn't even taste right anymore. I hate cooking with a passion, but I do it. And now when I go out, like TBickle said, the food just tastes awful, like it wasn't even worth the gas to go eat there.

Read The End of Overeating by David Kessler.

Just thought after reading your comment that you might like this book, I am reading it now.

http://www.amazon.com/End-Overeating-Insatiable-American-Appetite/dp/1605297852

the author used to be the head of the FDA. It's pretty good and goes into what you are talking about.

First off, by the numbers you mention, it does not sound like you're a "fat" person.

As someone who has struggled with being overweight for 20 some-odd years, and gained/lost/gained/lost and am finally 80 pounds lower than my heaviest weight, here are my tips:

• Intuitive Eating, all the way. Eat when you are hungry, don't eat when you're not. In life, often the best answers are the simplest. I think this goes for eating. When you are truly hungry, EVERYTHING is delicious. Once you get used to it, you don't need to count calories (not to say you should be unaware of them). Growing up a fat kid/fat young-adult, I had some horrible habits. But I'd always be very interested in how "thin" people ate. I noticed that they pretty much ate whatever they wanted. I figured my genetics just made me fat. Not so. I just ate WAY too much. But once you can really hone in on your body's signals of hunger and fullness, you can just follow them to success. I finally lost the last of my weight (40 lbs) doing this (well, I would still like to drop a few more). At first, I didn’t trust that I wouldn’t over eat. But magically (not really, the body is just really an amazing piece of evolution) I lost weight! In that way, you can eat whatever you want. That being said, I prefer eating healthy, balanced meals. Just makes me feel good.
  
• Plan your meals. For the most part, I wake up in the morning knowing what I'm going to eat that day and have prepared accordingly. Trying to figure out what you're going to eat while you are hungry is dangertown. This is especially important when you first start out.
  
• Failure is part of the process. I wouldn't have finally found success if I hadn't "failed" so many times. I've lost weight eating "low-carb" and by severe calorie restriction. I, of course, gained it all back. (By the way, I've lost weight eating mostly meat and while being a vegan--so, don't believe all the bullshit (that I totally bought into) with low-carb or any of that crap. It's all about eating less calories than you burn. A calorie is a calorie.
  
• Read The End of Overeating and watch Food Inc. I think an understanding (and despising) our food system is very helpful to making better food choices.
  
• Exercise is great, but you're probably going to just eat more to make up for it. I'm not saying exercise doesn't matter, it does, but it's not the end-all be-all of weight loss. I feel that it's so much more about what/how much you eat.
  
• Know that if you're doing it right, it's a relatively slow process. Dramatic weight loss will come back on (and probably more), I guarantee it.
  
• Also, know that if you're doing it right, it's becomes easy and second nature.
  
  Best of luck!
  

This message is going to get buried, but I hope by chance you read it. Two books on food changed my life and helped me eat a very healthy diet and lose weight and keep it off permanently:

http://www.amazon.com/Omnivores-Dilemma-Natural-History-Meals/dp/0143038583/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266444146&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/End-Overeating-Insatiable-American-Appetite/dp/1605297852/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266444075&sr=8-1

Read This It's not a diet book, it's a how to stop being obese book. It educates how the food industry plans on keeping obese people obese.

Since I'm in marketing I find most of it all too telling >_<

I'll be more specific...

I struggle with what The End of Overeating describes as "conditioned hypereating". I am wondering if cutting out casein could create less of a dopamine (et al) response thus resulting in less of a powerful urge toward hedonic eating.

Definitely real she literally wrote the book on HAES.

I haven't gotten close to finishing it but I like it so far: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0312321236?pc_redir=1409996414&robot_redir=1

Also Health At Every Size is a good book about the politics of eating and dieting and the science behind intuitive eating:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1935618253?pc_redir=1409897841&robot_redir=1

I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to get more in touch with their body especially around food and weight.

Body Respect: What Conventional Health Books Get Wrong, Leave Out, and Just Plain Fail to Understand about Weight https://www.amazon.com/dp/1940363195/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_1Jy7CbKB1D448

This book in on my reading queue for this reason:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005F9UZ1U?ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_2lCYCbG548G8C&tag=kpembed-20&linkCode=kpe

this book seriously changed a lot for me. i used to binge and feel so out of control and i would cry while driving home with food i knew i was going to eat even though i didn't want to REALLY, but felt like i had to eat it. like i needed it almost. so i feel like i was pretty extreme. i would seriously implore you to check out this book. i stopped binge eating. and then now, being on keto, it's even easier to resist. best of luck to you!

Yesterday someone linked this book, which is free on kindle:

https://www.amazon.com/Never-Binge-Again-Permanently-Overeating-ebook/dp/B014V1Q6SI

I’ve looked it and will write a review, but it is something you might find helpful - it’s about mental tricks for fortifying willpower in our terrible food environment.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


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amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

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Yes! I'm on day 138 today and I've replaced alcohol with junk. When I first quit I promise you I had a pint of haagen daz every Saturday AND Sunday for a month. As soon as I quit drinking I started exercising, so I was already doing that

What has helped me lose weight still is intermittent fasting. I was doing OMAD- one meal a day during the week since August and now I'm fasting 1-2 days per week. I still eat junk though so it's not ideal. I'm trying to make better choices. I have an all or nothing personality, whether it be with alcohol or food. It helps me not to eat during the day. Now that I have the fasting thing down, somewhat, I'm planning to swap out "bad junk" to less bad junk. Like instead of ice cream, eat banana ice cream. Instead of snickers, eat dark chocolate.

It's a process. I used to have tons of healthy food ready made in the fridge but still order takeout or have junk. At least it's not just me. I hope to improve my relationship with food one day. But good for you for not drinking or smoking.

I also read this book called never binge again -> https://www.amazon.com/Never-Binge-Again-Permanently-Overeating-ebook/dp/B014V1Q6SI

If you are a rules person, this could help you. It's free with Kindle unlimited. It helps you manage food obsessions. Like I only have real ice cream every other week and I have to go to the ice cream shop to get it.

You've got about 2 weeks with no food intake before your body starts cannibalizing its own muscle, if you are moving around a little each day (basic resistance training.)

Before that, your body is going to first exhaust its stores of glycogen, then switch over to fat (aka ketosis aka what the people doing keto are trying to accomplish.)

But after about two weeks with no calorie intake at all, your body's protein supplies are exhausted, and in order to keep the organs going, your body will begin to dissolve essential tissues like bone and muscle. (You can always rebuild those in better times - if you stay alive. Body knows its priorities.)

Anyway TL;DR: You've got two weeks on a desert island where you'll only lose fat first. After that, better go full Castaway and start eating raw shellfish if nothing else.

(Source: Conquering Fat Logic. It's a good book. )

Conquering Fatlogic has helped many people to identify flawed thinking around weight, health and weight loss.

You can do this, you really can.

Being set back like that doesn't mean the end of your life, as long as you change it now.

Get back on the horse and give it your best!

Also, I too have big problems with binging. My work is pretty damn stressful and I don't snack at all, so when I get home and get relaxed it's like the flood gates open and all I can think about is eating food.

I highly recommend you read this book;

https://www.amazon.com/Never-Binge-Again-Permanently-Overeating-ebook/dp/B014V1Q6SI

​

You don't even have to read the whole thing, just the first 2 chapters to get a grasp on the concept. It has helped me so very very much in stopping binges.

Yeah, I don't think you need tips, but a strategy. I recommend this book, and it's free if you have a kindle:

Never Binge Again

The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by Kessler is absolutely indispensable when it comes to understanding and recognizing the mechanism of food/sugar addiction, and how painfully hard all these companies try to make us addicted to their products. Can't recommend it enough.

You are right that we have different perspectives, but the woman is right. The cancer society has based their campaign off of bad information.

If you’re interested in reading more this book does a good job of summarizing the state of the science and why we as a society need to think harder about weight and how we should treat people with bodies different than ourselves.

https://www.amazon.com/Health-At-Every-Size-Surprising/dp/1935618253

Best of luck. Hope you don’t find yourself in a situation where your body grows for reasons you can’t control.

Then I'd suggest this book to them, which proves (like the poor OP) that it's societies hatred of fat people that makes them unhealthy, not being fat.

https://www.amazon.com/Health-At-Every-Size-Surprising/dp/1935618253

Read this. Weird title, but great book.

Yes, but this is merely restating their problem with much more words. OP clearly states that they have a problematic binge/purge pattern going on, telling them "you are stuck in an unhealthy pattern, you need to change it!" is kind of useless, IMHO.

OP: read Brain Over Binge by Kathryn Hansen. It's life-changing.

Edit: added link to book.