new and needing advice - Eating Disorder Recovery Message Board

soccerdonovan21 · 02-21-2006, 07:15 PM

hey im new here and i have had problems with eating for about 10 months now. it started out that i just thought i'd eat helathier foods to lose a little weight( i was a little overweight), but at the time i started exerscising more(with my sports teams). anyways, when i went to the doctor for a physical i had lost a little too much weight. what i was eating would have been normal for someone who wasn't playing sports like i was. i had gone too far, without really knowing it. after i had been advised to gain some weight, i worked on it and got to be a really good weight for me. i was doing really well for a few months. since then, i started bingeing and it just seemed to be getting worse... at first it was once a month, then twice... and so on. it has really been a big problem for me because it caused problems with my sports, and even my friends. i'd binge the night before or the day of a really important soccer game or race, and not be able to play my best or run my best because my stomach hurt. i would even sometimes avoid my friends because i had nothing to wear(clothes wouldnt fit) or didnt want them to see me like that.i have always been very motivated in school too, and i even find it hard to concentrate on schoolwork after a binge. i would get really frustrated with myself, and think "why is normal eating so hard for me? it's not too difficult of a concept." ill be fine for a few weeks and think im over it, then it comes back and i binge again! over the coarse of the time ive been bingeing, i have gradually been gaining weight. i have been seeing a nutritionist for a month or two now, but it isnt helping as much as i would like. i really want to tell my best friend, but i dont know how to. any advice on how to tell a friend? or any tips that help from bingeing? it seems that after a binge, its all i can think about, and i hate it!

Jonistyle2 · 02-22-2006, 08:15 AM

hey sweetie, i hear your pain. i too had a long stretch (9 months-ish) of binging and i KNOW how absolutely terrible it is. it's fantastic that you've been seeing a nutritionist, that's a very good step towards getting over this. have you tried therapy? something deeper inside you is causing the binges and therapy is by far the best way to uncover what's bothering you and heal yourself. an eating-disorder specializing therapist will be able to help you learn not to binge by helping you realize why you binge in the first place. i STRONGLY recommend that (it's how i beat my binging. i haven't done it in MONTHS and i don't even get the "urge" anymore).

For the immediate present, stick with your nutritionist (although a therapist will be more helpful in the long run) and make sure he/she knows about the binging, etc. Check out "Overcoming Binge Eating" by Dr. Christopher Fairburn - it's VERY insightful and helpful and i think you'll find a lot to relate to in it. Finally, for some tips on stopping binging, i wrote a LONG post on this board like a week ago (I think it's titled "binger.") I explained a lot of the things that worked for me, so hopefully some of them will help you. good luck!