Blog - Binge Eating Therapy

It’s National Eating Disorders Awareness Week!

Leora Fulvio February 26, 2011

Well, today is the last day, but it’s time to talk about it. You don’t have to suffer alone. An eating disorder doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t eat, or that you eat and throw up. All it means is that food, your obsession with food or dieting, or losing weight, or changing your body, or exercise, feels totally out of control. It means that you feel powerless against the drive to eat when you’re not hungry, or not eat

What would you be thinking about if you weren’t thinking about food?

leora fulvio February 25, 2011

Have you ever thought about all the real estate in your brain obsessing over food takes? What kinds of things would you have room to think about, what kinds of things could you do if food, dieting, and body image had less of a hold? Some people use food to fill chronic emptiness. Others eat out of boredom, to add some excitement into their worlds. Some people use it to stuff down feelings that are too uncomfortable to feel. Many

Eating Disorder Recovery Tools

Leora Fulvio February 22, 2011

Often people talk about using your recovery tools when you are trying to stop a binge. But what does that mean? What are recovery tools? Recovery tools are anything that you use to help you get to a recovered state. And that doesn’t just mean distracting yourself from eating. These are the actual things that you do to help yourself achieve a very deep state of recovery, where you are actively working on the underlying reasons as to why you

Remember to Sign Up for the New Support Forum!

Leora Fulvio February 15, 2011

Hop on, grumble about your day, ask for support, give support, ask questions, answer questions, complain, rejoice, talk about your day… Anything but bingeing! Click here!

Book Review–703: How I Lost More Than a Quarter Ton and Gained a Life

Leora Fulvio February 14, 2011

I haven’t done a book review on this site before, but I just finished reading 703: How I Lost More Than a Quarter Ton and Gained a Life. In her memoir, Nancy Makin describes what life was like for her as a 703 pound woman. Besides the intense physical trauma that her body suffered from holding that weight, the emotional trauma that she endured was tremendous. She was ostracized by the people in her building, and teased and taunted by

Valentine Day is Coming, for Better or For Worse

Leora Fulvio February 13, 2011

For some it’s a fun excuse to paint your nails red, to buy flowers for your loved ones, to bake cupcakes, and eat chocolate bonbons. But I suspect that for each person who loves Valentine’s Day, there’s a person who hates it. It can just be a really depressing day. So, I propose for those who are on the side of hating Valentine’s Day, to make it National Self Love Day. Ask yourself, “what’s the next loving thing I can

Your Rewards are on the Other Side

Leora Fulvio February 7, 2011

It’s really hard to not binge when you want to binge. It’s really hard to go out for a run or to the gym or for a walk when you want to sit home and sit in front of the television and binge. It’s really hard to sit down for 20 minutes and meditate when you’re sitting in front of your laptop staring at Facebook. It’s really hard to go to a yoga class when your couch is so comfy.

101 things to do instead of binge eating

Leora Fulvio February 2, 2011

Distractions! Here are 101 things that you can do instead of bingeing. And many of them don’t require deep introspection or recovery activities. They’re just straight up good healthy ways to distract yourself when you want to binge. Sometimes you might just be able to distract yourself right out of a binge. 1. Call a friend, your sponsor, a support person, anyone who you can talk to who will either get your mind off

Q & A Friday- How can I avoid binges in the college dining hall?

Leora Fulvio January 30, 2011

This one comes to us from a reader in Vermont. Question: I am a junior in college and struggled with bulimia last semester. It got pretty bad but over the holidays I was able to recover and am now doing much better. However, now that I am back at school, I am finding it difficult to avoid binges in the dining hall. It is an ‘all you can eat’ system, with many many options at every meal. I usually find

Going Toward Health Rather Than Going Toward Weight Loss

leora fulvio January 25, 2011

It’s not news that being thin doesn’t equate to being healthy. However, did you ever think about the fact that aspiring to be thin can also be unhealthy? It can both mentally and physically detrimental. When the end goal is thinness, the means by which to achieve that end can often be incredibly unhealthy. Some people live on cigarettes and red wine to reach their goal of thinness, some people go on restrictive diets where they just live on meat

Friday Q & A- I feel desperate to lose weight and I can’t stop binge eating.

leora fulvio January 21, 2011

Question: Submitted via email by Diane from New Mexico Hello, I am 26, female, 5’7″ and weigh 180lbs. I would like to be between 150-160. I am very active but struggle with Binge Eating at night. Sometimes I throw it up when I’ve really lost control. I am so distraught at the thought of living with this forever. It’s painful to live in secrecy and have it interrupt my life. I need help, but am so busy (2nd bachelor degree

Bingeing in the Car

leora fulvio January 17, 2011

Car binges are super common for people dealing with binge eating disorder. I’ve heard many stories of people intentionally car bingeing, by going from takeout restaurant to takeout restaurant and planning their day or evenings around their binges, to more unintentional binges, like picking up groceries and bingeing on them on the way home. Bingeing while driving is of course dangerous as your attention is not focused on the road. In fact, according to a 2009 study done by the

Friday Q&A- Do I have an eating disorder?

leora fulvio January 14, 2011

Question: Submitted via email by Dagny from Vilinus, Lithuania Hi,I would be very happy if you could help me to answer one question. I am not sure if I have an eating disorder or I am simply eating in an unhealthy way. Recently I have started reading articles about it. Since then I suspect I have a bulimia: I have most of the symptoms but I never purge. Five years ago graduating a school and starting a University changed my

Letting go of perfection…

leora fulvio January 9, 2011

One of the motivating forces behind eating disorders is the drive to be perfect. People hope for a perfect body, perfect eating habits, flawless skin, trying to act perfect by always saying the right thing, they try to keep a perfectly clean home and car, and on and on and on– whatever the individual definition of perfection is . The problem is of course, that nobody is perfect so in the strive for perfection, failure is inevitable. Often, because of

Bingeing Consciously

leora fulvio January 4, 2011

I was reading this post by Chevese Underhill Turner, the founder of BEDA (Binge Eating Disorder Association) and remembered why binge eating is such an incredibly useful coping tool. Binge eating is one of the quickest, easiest ways to completely shut down without going to sleep or taking a drug. It’s not that different for many people than getting high or getting drunk. It’s another way to turn your brain off and keep you from being in the now. But

Top Ten Foods To Always Have in The House

leora fulvio December 28, 2010

In recovering from an eating disorder, I believe that it’s crucial to have a list of foods that are healthy, nourishing, easy, and non-triggering to always have on hand. These of course are an individual choice. You need to think about what foods for you are non-binge foods, are healthy, you could make a meal of if you needed to. And just make sure that these are always on hand. These are my top ten: 1.)Apples 2.)Avocados 3.)Eggs

Friday Q & A- People are always obsessing over what I’m eating. What do I do?

leora fulvio December 18, 2010

Question: Submitted via email by Katie in Chicago, IL I feel like everyone I work with is constantly scrutinizing my food. They notice what I eat (or don’t eat) for lunch, they notice if I take a cookie at work or don’t take a cookie. And god forbid I should indulge in some of the office goodies, people will say things like, “whoah, she’s eating. Katie’s eating a cookie!” or if someone brings cake in they’ll say something like, “I’d

The Office Christmas Party, Social Anxiety, Food, Stress, and Binge Eating

leora fulvio December 9, 2010

In the last post, I talked about the holidays, but here I want to focus specifically on the office Holiday Party. This can be particularly triggering for many people. And for many people who suffer from binge eating and social anxiety, the holiday party is an anxiety provoking nightmare. And when you suffer from binge eating disorder, these parties might be the perfect recipe for a binge. Even if you don’t binge during the party, the buildup and stress about

Friday Q&A– I can’t stop binge eating at college and I need help.

leora fulvio December 4, 2010

Question– submitted by Anita via comments section Hi, i am a twenty year old girl who has developed a binge eating habit. this is going on for about two years now and i have put on 9kilos. i feel disgusted with myself none of my clothes fit me and i can’t even concentrate on my work i am a student and have so much work to be getting on with but when i binge eat i can’t concentrate on anything.

Friday Q & A– How do I prevent a binge at the airport?

leora fulvio November 19, 2010

Question: Submitted via email by Isa in Loma Linda, CA I’m leaving for Vermont to visit my parents for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately I have a four hour layover in O’Hare and I’m really scared. Layovers are usually a time when I go from Cinnabon to Pizza Hut to McDonalds to Chilis to Starbucks and eat several full meals at places I would never ordinarily eat. I am totally freaking out. I can’t even imagine what four whole hours in the airport

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