(Trigger Warning) Binge Eating Woes - How to get over them?

I began struggling with eating disorders at 16 years old. I was a tall girl, which naturally kind of took away the dainty factor that a lot of girls have. I wouldn’t eat for a few days then binge. I managed to stay rather thin until college, where I gained about 20 lbs but still wasn’t anywhere near “fat” despite what I would tell myself. I ended up losing a significant portion of my hearing between 21 yrs old and 25. They tried to combat this hearing loss with steroids which lead to a 60lb weight gain and a complete destruction of my self confidence. I’m now 26 yrs old, my wedding is planned for 11/13/21 and often thoughts of being “thin” again haunt me. I often think to myself that when I was younger I could go days with out eating and if I could just do that again... but now that I’m older I know it’s not sustainable and not healthy and that I need to lose weight a different way...


My advice, find someone who you can talk openly too about this. I struggle myself because my friends do not understand what it’s like to have an eating disorder. They don’t realize that constant talk about eating or dieting is rather triggering for me. I believe Talking it out when you have that urge to binge can be really helpful. Just a gentle reminder that eating in excess isn’t going to satisfy what you need. If you ever need support or encouragement feel free to message me on here. It’s a hard situation but I understand how it is in many ways

View Quoted Comment Definitely. I have a friend who has thankfully recovered from an eating disorder and I feel like she may be my voice of reason to whom I can vent given she’s been through this all herself (providing it isn’t triggering for her).


Perhaps if you ever need someone non biased, you have a new person to whom you can vent to, on the other side of the world?!

If thinking about your weight and eating or not eating is taking up enough of your thoughts that it's becoming difficult to focus on or enjoy other things, you should see a therapist. If it hasn't quite gotten to that level, you should probably talk to a nutritionist. They'll be able to help you get to weight you want to be (assuming it's a healthy weight for you) in a healthy way and kind of help you moderate and manage your food intake.
I would definitely recommend starting this before moving in with your parents so you're starting off in a better place than you're in now. I've never been treated for an eating disorder, but I definitely have, at best, disordered (restrictive) eating habits. My parents don't have shocking eating habits, but the voice in my mom's head telling her not to eat things is mine, so living with them would be problematic for me as well. I've been able to keep the stress at a manageable level and my weight is stable, I know I wouldn't be able to maintain that if I were living with my parents.

Have you ever heard of intuitive eating? I would start there and reach out to a therapist with experience in eating disorders.

Honestly, I've been going through serious life changes and since COVID I have definitely been eating poorly and not exercising. I completely understand. I frustrate myself with it but it really feels like an addiction. I really want to set (and keep) goals but with anxiety and depression (hitting me like never before) I continue to turn to food- carbs, cheese, and lately sugar. 😞


If you're looking for an online friend to hit up with vents, accountability partner, or just chat about stuff you can message me? 😊 I'm sure we can chat via some messenger app 👍🏻

The things that helped me recover the most was one on one cognitive behavioral therapy and group therapy and also participating in a sport. For me the sport was swimming but it could be anything. Exercise helped shift my thinking about eating so that I was eating in ways that would take care of my body and help me improve my performance rather than look a certain way and also exercise can help you with stress relief so that you aren’t eating emotionally. Another thing that helped a lot was trying to eat more good things instead of trying not to eat bad things. So I would just make an effort to add more vegetables to my diet instead of restricting. I also stopped counting calories and stopped weighing myself. Even when I went to the doctor for a check up, I asked them not to tell me my weight because it was triggering for me. Also for your situation, moving in with your parents, you don’t have to eat what they eat, you can set up a section of food for yourself that is nourishing or if you do want to eat with them find healthy recipes that you can cook and enjoy together, or eat what their eating during dinner time but practice stopping when you’re full and eating healthier for the rest of the days meals.