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I bought a book several weeks ago called "Getting Better Bit(e) by Bit(e)"  - a survival kit for sufferers of bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorders. I found it quite useful to some extent. The problem is, I don't suffer from bulimia. I have anorexia. The book was suggested to me by an outreach worker from the fostering agency in charge of my placement because I have times when I binge and purge. The reason I wanted to talk about a specific part of the book is to see if it would help anyone else. The reason that the book hasn't helped me in regards to binging is because you have to start eating regularly and eat enough calories to keep yourself nourished. I'm currently not at the stage where I can do that, so my binges are still going to continue because of the physiological side of things. 

To start, it talks about why your eating may be uncontrolled. It talks of both the physiological and psychological reasons behind bingeing. 

The physiological aspects of bingeing can involve it being the direct result of starvation. If you aren't eating enough calories, the body will scream at you with overwhelming cravings for food; telling you that you need more nutrition than you are currently giving it. The more you cut down your food intake, the more prone you're going to be to end up bingeing. Alcohol and drugs can also make the risk higher for binges as they reduce inhibitions.

The psychological reasons? Boredom, stress, loneliness, depression and tension can often lead to binging. Food can (in the beginning) serve as a form of comfort for these feelings. Both psychological and physiological reasons behind bingeing often occur together and at the same time. 

So how do you stop a binge? I shall use the extract from the book that tells you, straight up.

"A lot of people feel that if only their binges could be cured, they wouldn't have a problem. Unfortunately bingeing as a symptom can't be treated in isolation. In trying to tackle the physiological aspects of bingeing, it is very important:
  • that you work on eating regularly at meal-times to give your body proper nutrition and thereby to reduce strong cravings for food that are going to set you off again;
  • to try as hard as you can not to omit meals after bingeing, as this will programme the next binge;
  • that you deal with the consequences of bingeing, e.g. vomiting.

If you treat these aspects of your problem, you will soon find that binges decrease in duration and frequency."

As you can see, for as long as you are starving or restricting, binges will continue whether you like it or not as the body will not give up until you binge. The cravings will become worse and more constant until the point where you give in. As much as I hate to admit it, this is very true. I'm accepting the fact that my binges will continue until I'm ready to eat a 'normal' caloric intake and that bingeing is a symptom of an illness, not an illness in itself.

I hope this helped. Even if you don't want to hear it, it's the truth and the facts. You may even be in denial. I know that after every one of my binges I sit there and say to myself "I am NEVER going to do this again". What happens? I do it again. I say the same thing the next time. And it happens again. No amount of willpower can seem to stop it. 

Good luck! If you're interested in buying the book then I've listed the details below.

Getting Better Bit(e) by Bit(e) - a survival kit for sufferers of bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorders
by Ulrike Schmidt & Janet Treasure

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Getting-Better-Bit-Sufferers-Disorders/dp/0863773222/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342784950&sr=1-1 




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