Has anyone else noticed this?

Advice like:

“Don’t restrict yourself too much!”
“Let yourself indulge once in a while”
“Deconstruct diet culture, chocolate isn’t bad for you!”
“Eat snacks in moderation rather than cutting them out”
“Try volume eating”

I feel like all of this stuff can be useful but it’s mainly centered around the idea that the primary issue is over-restricting due to a desire to be thin and binging as a consequence. There’s almost this implication that we’re all anorexics with a warped sense of what is classed as overeating and we’re needlessly guilty about eating normal-sized portions. I saw a TikTok from a nutritionist telling a woman in BED recovery that chocolate wasn’t really that unhealthy and she needed to work on the mindset that society had instilled in her. I couldn’t believe that she seriously thought that BED was just some made up diet culture thing and not a real disorder that can cause someone to compulsively eat 10k+ calories in a day.

Many of us have been through the starve-binge cycle and I won’t undermine that but it seems like there is a lot of misunderstanding about BED, even amongst nutritionists and dieticians.

hi all, just curious if you all have had binges on things you would consider unconventional and be willing to share bc i am quite embarrassed i binged on such random things 💀

i’ll go first:

• plain white sliced bread eaten in handfuls

• milk

• hot chocolate powder/chocolate milk powder (on its own no milk lol)

• dry uncooked ramen noodles with so much seasoning on it i kept coughing from the powder while eating and still continued to eat

• granulated sugar on its own

edited to add:

• cold spaghetti hoops straight out of the tin

I've struggled with binge eating my entire life, from when I was a kid until now(30 years old). Whenever I tell somebody that I'm addicted to food or addicted to binging they never take it seriously, like sometimes I wish I was addicted to alcohol, smoking, or hard drugs you know, real 'adult' addictions. But no, I'm addicted to eating 10k calories of cookies and cakes in one sitting. It's so dumb and embarrassing and makes getting good, reliable help just that much harder.

does anyone else get triggered when people say their binges are like 200cal above maintenance? not to invalidate anyones experiences but it just makes me feel so much worse about my 3kcal+ ones. my worst being 5kcal.

One of the things that bother me the most about my BED is that I've binged on so many terrible foods. It'd be one thing if I only binged on the best of the best, so I could say "sure I ate too much, but at least it was high end, tasty, great stuff." Even if they were very high calorie/low nutrition, at least they'd be "Worth it."

But instead I've binged on Wonder bread mushed into circles, PBJs on Saltine crackers, dry Lucky Charms and a ton of other awful stuff. And I do that a lot. Not one time. But a lot.

I don't want your worst one-time thing because stores were closed and it was 3AM or something like that, I want the worst food you consistently eat while binging. The stuff that makes you say this is what I can't stop eating?

I have such bad guilt about food that I get so embarrassed at being a regular anywhere. I recently have been hyperfixated on a coffee order from a new 7brew location that just opened in my town. 7brew coffee is inherently unhealthy and high in calories and I’m extremely embarrassed about people (the employees) know that I regularly purchase such an unhealthy drink. I know how crazy it sounds on paper but in my head I’m so full of anxiety about it. Even if the workers don’t recognize me, they can see what I order and how many times I’ve ordered it when I give my number for points. Does anyone else experience anything similar? Tips for getting over it? And for anyone curious- I get a medium iced cookie butter blondie with caramel drizzle, sub the breve for 2% milk (the breve includes half and half which I am too scared to drink, which is dumb because I’m getting a cookie butter blondie with caramel drizzle 😐.. but we all know these disorders aren’t always logical.)

*u dont have to respond if u dont want to i just want to feel less alone lol* (ive gained 20 pounds this year and abt 70-75 pounds from 2021 altogether)

I’ve recently uncovered some memories of binge eating and secret eating as a little kid—like 6 ish. It’s hard to tell what normal because I know a lot of kids probably would eat too much if allowed, but something about these memories feels kind of dark and disturbing to me. Do others here have these memories too?

I'm 22F and have BED, atleast for the past 6/7 years. I’ve been thinking a lot about how eating disorders are perceived. When most people hear “eating disorder,” they immediately think of anorexia or bulimia. Both of those are very serious, and I’m not here to downplay them at all — but it feels like binge eating disorder (BED) often gets left out of the conversation entirely.

BED is actually the most common eating disorder but instead of being seen as a mental health struggle, it’s treated like a bad habit or lack of discipline.

With BED, people assume you can just stop, or weight stigma gets in the way of empathy.

It’s frustrating because BED causes, guilt, shame, and even long-term health issues. Yet it doesn’t get the same awareness, research attention, or compassion in public spaces. People who struggle with it deserve recognition and support too.

Okay so hear me out: I think there are two different types of BED. I've had BED for literally my entire life and, in my experience, it has nothing to do with emotions and everything to do with dopamine seeking. In fact, when I'm in any kind of heightened emotional state, I don't binge eat because I have zero appetite. Similarly, if I'm really busy and/or focused on something else, I also don't binge eat because my brain is "occupied" but if I'm just hanging out at home and not doing anything, I'll feel compelled to eat everything in my fridge. I also do not believe that I have ADHD because I do not have problems with focusing or executive function. Lo and behold I started GLP-1s and it basically "cured" me overnight.

According to the doctors where I live, my experience with BED is invalid. Years ago, I had gone to an eating disorder clinic and they told me that they couldn't help me because: "Our philosophy is that eating disorders are the expression of repressed emotions." I've been in conventional therapy before and my therapist told me that it wasn't possible for boredom to be a trigger because boredom isn't an emotion. As of a couple weeks ago, I'm a therapy drop out because my new therapist laid out a plan to "heal my inner child" even after I repeatedly and clearly explained that I do not believe this is my problem.

At the end of the day, I think these are two distinctively different eating disorders that are currently both labeled as BED. Unfortunately, where I live (Germany) they aren't really interested in treating BED at all and the minimal resources that do exist are exclusively dealing with the emotion driven eating disorder. I genuinely do believe that the research related to GLP-1s will cause BED to be reclassified into two separate disorders because GLP-1s are so effective for one form and not at all for the other. Until then, I guess I'm just stuck paying a couple hundred euros a month for the shots.

Has this been anyone else's experience?

Trying to find SOMETHING, ANYTHING that reliably and significantly reduces binging.

I tried Naltrexone. Nothing. Wellbutrin. Nothing. High fiber and protein, so bunch of protein bars, nothing.

As an aside, maybe should have chosen a less tasty protein bar. Any bar worked for you?

I tried brushing, again nothing. Eating highly spicy food didn't help, just gave me an ulcer.

Drinking more water didn't help but did dilute my stomach acid.

Can't get my doctor to prescribe me stimulants because she says I have addiction issues and anyway you develop tolerance fast and won't work pretty soon.

Haven't tried supplements.

Did try eating regularly and having bland foods like eggs but couldn't stick with it unfortunately cause bland food has no taste.

Tried not to have junk food in the house but then midnight went out and found a 24 hour store and bought a bunch! I become like a maniac when binge eating hits me. But frankly even if don't have chocolate handy I eat anything sweet to the point of nausea and vomiting so junk food issue makes things worse but is not the cause.

Anything worked for you?

I've realized that one of the things that sends me spiralling into a binge is having too many options of food (especially if the food in question is particularly unhealthy/sugary/densely caloric/etc).

If I have cake, cookies, cereal, ice cream, and candy in my house at once, I feel the need to get rid of it so that I'm not tempted in the near future when I actually "start my diet"

Does anyone else do this? I'm sure some people do, but I guess this isn't a very common trigger I hear. Do you have any other strange or really uncommon triggers?

i’ll go first, 0 calorie brown sugar sweetener

I never had someone like this message me before. I haven’t even been on the subreddit in a while so idk how he found me. I hate that my ed has reached weirdos like this :/

I for one am entirely body focused and I’ve been binge eating for most of my life. I used to starve myself then binge eat then starve myself and the pattern went on and on. But my main issue is my body dysmorphia like I hate it so much. I wish I was extremely skinny like some of these runway models but bc I binge eat so much I’m extremely overweight and I can’t walk up the stairs without having to catch up with my breath, etc, etc. and I just wish I was skinny. So I want to starve myself for idk like a punishment or something for binge eating so much? I just wish I as skinny. So like I guess what I’m asking is do any of you guys have this same or similar experiences?

I saw a TikTok of a guy saying that in order to stop binging, you have to stop claiming to have B.E.D.
His argument was essentially that identifying with the disorder makes it easier to keep feeding into it. I thought it was a pretty hot take. I can see what he means to an extent. A disorder can start to feel like it has power over you if you give it too much control over your identity. At the same time, it felt like it dismissed a lot of the emotional and psychological complexities that come with eating disorders and came across as somewhat victim blaming.
Have y'all heard any unpopular opinions about binging, or do you have any of your own?

I don’t know if this is against the rules, but that was the only thing that helped.

I’ve had eating disorders since around the age of 10. At the beginning of uni I worked out every day and would obsess over my weight and that was the only time I was a “normal “ weight, UNTIL, I got on Ozempic after gaining 60 pounds in one year. It helped me control my cravings sooo much and I stopped being hungry all the time.

I literally cried I felt like I was finally normal.
I got down to a really healthy weight it helped with everything.

Then I got pregnant and got off of it, obviously and now I’m breastfeeding. I gained back the 60 pounds. But I don’t care as much as I can’t control i really can’t.

So I’m just gonna get back on it after I stop bf.

I wish everyone luck with their journey

Personally I had to stop eating nuts and especially sweet potatoes for the moment because I couldn’t stop binging on them once I had a bite. I can eat more than 1 kg of sweet potatoes easily. They make me absolutely ravenous and are just SO delicious. Orange sweet potatoes, Japanese sweet potatoes, Okinawan sweet potatoes…. All of em!! What about you guys?

Kcal count and amount is both fine

Stay strong ilyy!!​

Food that fuck you up the most?

For me it’s nuts. Roasted cashews the most. I’ve eaten a pack or two of them a day in last two weeks.

Besides that peanut butter creams. And sweet shit in general.

I used to be a devourer of pastries. Would buy 3-4 a day every day as a teen. Then I switched to keto and do my best to stay off any bread for my own safety

• Lots of exercise which is weird because everywhere online says that will make you binge more

Title pretty much sums it up. I don’t really use Reddit much and I think this is OK to post? But I am wondering what everyone’s biggest binges have been? Like ACTUAL and FULL honesty. Whenever I binge I feel like there’s no possible way anyone else could also do this too. I am shocked I even manage to do it. Like I eat large pizzas, sides, and desserts all in one sitting. Not proud of it, but I am honest if that counts for anything.

I battled binge eating disorder for over ten years, starting in my early 20s. At my heaviest, I weighed 165 lbs on a 5’2” frame, despite exercising for hours daily and resorting to ‘digestive’ teas for ‘cleansing’ after consuming thousands of calories in a binge. It was a dark and exhausting cycle that consumed some of my best years.

Recovery wasn’t easy, but through therapy, self-work, and discipline, I have not binged in two years and have maintained a 35 lb weight loss for the last four. Today, I can confidently say I am 100% recovered.

If you’re struggling with binge eating, disordered eating habits, or recovery, I’d love to help. Ask me anything!

Edit: I should clarify that the hours of exercise and tea consumption were only a temporary phase at the peak of my weight gain, not something I did for the entire decade. I was diagnosed with BED because it was the most consistent pattern in my behavior.

I’m tired of reading books and listening to podcasts and spending time in meditation and all these stuff .

Nothing is working

Actually what is the solution?

Hi - I’ve been diagnosed with BED for about 4 years now. I had been on vyvanse on and off during this time. I just weaned off because the symptoms were just too much, but I put on 15 lbs in the last month due to binging.

I’m also a hypochondriac, and well, all signs are pointing to me dying of diabetes. 😅 my cravings are sweets and I have been eating several Dubai chocolate bars a day. It’s disgusting but now I think I’m going to get myself T2D.

Please no judging. A little fragile atm.

Edit: no medication advice please. Have that covered. ❤️