Can't break the habit
Hi, I'm new here.
For the past couple of years I've been dealing with a moderately serious BED, and I feel that I am in need of some support, which is why I created this account. Eating disorders have always been a part of my life. When I was in high-school, I lost 90 lbs in 4 months, going from 230 to 140 lbs by method of starvation. Through the support of my family and doctors, I was able to turn this obsession around, and ended up at a healthy weight of 160 lbs after two years of struggling and calorie-counting.
Here we are, ten years later, and my eating has done a complete 180. I am currently 210 lbs, which, for my muscle mass and height isn't terribly heavy, but it's certainly not healthy, either. I can no longer control my late night binges, which are starting to scare me, as I'm getting close to 30, and I don't want to run the risk of developing type II Diabetes, which I know I am doing.
Because I'm an active guy, running, martial arts, etc., my weight isn't increasing rapidly, but rather I'm hovering between 210-220 lbs, depending on how severley I've been binge-eating that month.
Here's a typical night for me:
I put my son to bed, and lay down with my wife until she falls asleep. After that, I usually go back to the living room, to watch my "guy shows" or play a little video games. That's when the eating begins.
I usually start by eating any leftovers in the house - dinner leftovers never make it to a second day. After that, I will check to see if there are any sweets in the house - chocolate bars, ice cream, etc., and proceed to eat those. I have a terrible sweet tooth, and a bad addiction to sugar. Many times, if there is a quart of ice cream, I will eat the entire thing, and then replace it the following day so that no one notices. The same goes for any candy my son may have lying around. After that I will sometimes make myself another 'meal', adding even more calories to the mix. I recently tallied up what I eat in a typical night, and found that I'm consuming anywhere between 4-6000 calories daily (last night as a 'second' dinner, I ate an entire Digornio frozen pizza).
Each morning is always the same - guilt, regret, and a ton of abdominal pain, followed by a loooong bathroom visit.
I just don't know how to break this cycle. It's getting to the point where I'm actually scared for my life if I continue down this path. I don't have anyone to talk to about this, except my wife, who has tried helping me in the past. I think that having an outside opinion might help me stick to my diet plan, and stop this ridiculous eating pattern that I have developed for myself.
@SandwichProtector We sound very similiar in experiences so you are not alone there, I can tell you. Though I am in a better place than where I was a year or even two years ago, I'm still not in a healthy place. My binges are fewer and farther in between and though I know this is a step in the right track, it's frustrating sometimes to know it's something I still struggle with.
For what improvement I do have, I owe it all to being completely open and honest with my family, friends, and most of all, my doctor. Admitting it to myself was one thing but admitting it to everyone else and no longer being ashamed of it is what really set me on my path. I've learned that BED is a lot more common than I thought and that IT'S OKAY to have bad days that bring on binges.
I'm afraid I can't offer you any actual advice on what can "cure" you or "make things better". Does it ever actually get better? Who knows? I like to think so and I have hope for it. But does it make us stronger? Absolutely. I think the safer you feel coming out to people with this, especially if you can get help from a professional like a doctor or a therapist, that's when you'll see the healing begin.
Hi, I've got similar situation to you, I've already gone past age 30 and am very worried that this will be here long term, I'm single and feel BED has affected me alot in terms of relationships/work and they in turn have affected my BED, I find family and friends don't fully understand the severity, but some are supportive anyway, what has helped me and may help you is having a food/emotions diary, writing down everything you eat, and the times that you eat, also writing how you feel when you eat each time, and if you snack between meals, also finding a distraction for the binge, it may come back stronger next day but have to find another distraction second time. Hope this helps