I've been weight restored for quite some time now, and was doing REALLY well with my ED in terms of maintaining a stable weight and eating enough. It all took a turn for the worst at the beginning of this year where I started binging and cannot stop (or don't know how to) I've gained 21 lbs and it's really getting me down.
Any advice/tips on how to stop?
Hi! nashmegan9 ☺ Massive pat on the back to you ~ for how far you've come 👏 🎈My feeling is some eating disorders are based on Emotional Eating. So maybe try to remember what set you off with binging. What emotion are you stuffing down with food?? You don't have to tell me, please be honest with yourself. You do need to go to your GP and get a referral to a counselor /therapist that specializes in Eating Disorders and get back on track. If you need the help of a dietician short term ask for help with that too. 21 pounds may seem like a lot ~ but its not really 💕
Fantastic that you beat your ED - but it looks like there still may be some issues around food for you that need resolving. I suggest you contact your GP - or if you have any contact with the people who helped you before - get back in touch - don't try to do it alone - you will need help, guidance and support - but you've beaten it before - you CAN BEAT IT AGAIN - so don't feel guilty - but do get help. Good luck
Stop weighing yourself. Please just stop weighing yourself.
Before eating, sit down and think about whether you're actually hungry or experiencing some other sort feeling. If you can't tell, try and do something fun for 10-20 minutes - draw, go out for a short walk, listen to music, anything. If, after 20 minutes, you still can't stop thinking about food, the chances are you are actually still hungry. In which case, eat something. Something substantial but not overly filling - e.g. sandwich. If you're still hungry, repeat the process.
It's a bit hard to give any other advice with the details you've included but it's understandable if you don't want to share more. However, in general cases, here are my two cents:
1) You're not actually weight restored for you, especially if you're still at the bottom of the healthy range and you feel like you're nowhere near getting your period. You may be weight restored according to BMI charts but you need to realise that most people don't belong near the bottom of the healthy range. Some do, but most people are somewhere in the middle and some people are naturally a bit higher. I don't want to include numbers but I feel like I have to in order to prove a point. My skin was constantly cracked and bleeding and my heart was starting to fail at a BMI of around 20. Below 21 and I can feel muscle wastage when I walk, have goosebumps when it's 25C outside and look extremely pale all the time. At the same time, I know plenty of people who function perfectly fine at a BMI of 20-21 and some that have to stuff themselves silly to reach it. This is kinda why I feel like you should stop weighing yourself. I'm currently somewhere between BMI 21-22 and it will probably rise above 22 by the end of puberty which I kinda paused for several years (basically, I look and kinda act like a 15 year old... although I'm 18). When I do weigh myself, I still get that uncomfortable feeling in my head but I'm at a point where I can at least shrug it off and move on with my life. Judging from your post, you're not quite there yet so the best thing you can do is not weigh yourself. Or if you're worried about your weight spiralling out of control, get weighed blind by parents or by whoever's treating you if you're still getting treatment.
2) How old are you? How long have you had an eating disorder for? If you're still under 20, or even in your early 20s, the chances are you're still growing. And growing means you need plenty of food, especially if you've had an eating disorder for a long time and potentially have lots of catch up growth to... well, catch up on. Growth will mean weight gain because of height but also because of bone, muscles and organs.
3) Are you avoiding food groups? That usually leads to binging because your body needs a variety of foods, even the ones the media goes on about being unhealthy, to function properly. From other people's accounts and personal experience, I know that people with EDs often avoid meat, dairy, starchy food, fat, etc. - I would have rather jumped off a cliff than eat bread through several periods of my ED. Start including a variety of foods if you are restricting or avoiding certain things and the binging will likely subside. It may be hard mentally at first but once you get past the first piece/few bites/slice/whatever, you'll realise it's not a big deal.
4) What are you binging on? If it's lots of 'junk food', the chances are you're not feeding yourself enough and/or regularly enough. If it's literally anything you can get your hands on, see points 1 and 2 again. Also, may I point out 'enough' is very different for different people. I'm not sure how much you're eating and I don't particularly feel like you should share if you don't want to, but take the government guideline with a grain of salt. It's generally only accurate for slightly older women who don't do much other than housework and picking up the kids and whatnot. Again, if you're young, especially since you've had an ED, you probably need a substantial bit more.
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