STOP Overeating, Beating Binge Eating And Other Eating Disorders , livre ebook

Table of Contents
Book 1: STOP Overeating, Beating Binge Eating And Other Eating Disorders
Book 2: Binge Eating Disorder
Book 3: Binge Eating: Learning to Control the Urge
Binge Eating: An Emotional Disease
Effective Solutions to Control Binge Eating
By: Joy Marensky

Chapter 1- What Is Binge Eating and the Binge Eating Cycle?
Holidays and family gatherings often serve as occasions for even those without food issues to overeat. There's nothing particularly worrisome about having an extra piece of pie now and again, but when uncontrollable consumption becomes a regular fixture in your life, you could be engaging in an activity known as binge eating. The good news is that there are ways to break out of the binge eating cycle. With treatment and support, even the most food-addicted individuals can find hope.

Common Binge Eating Features
The basic concept behind binge eating is compulsion. More often than not, this compulsion is driven by depression or, at the very least, extreme mood swings. The desire to turn to food is one that often has its roots in childhood or one's early 20s. Gorging episodes usually last two hours or so, though some binge eaters may spread their episodes throughout the day. If you start eating based on cravings - not hunger - and continue eating well past the point where you are full, it could be a sign of binge eating.
The Binge Eating Cycle
Binge eating provides comfort for a certain amount of time, but it is almost inevitably followed by feelings of guilt and regret, a pattern of weight gain, and increased self-loathing. Since individuals who binge eat use food as an escape from these very feelings, it's easy to see how a vicious cycle can begin. An outsider may find it hard to imagine why someone who feels bad about their weight would turn to food to solve those feelings, but it is a very common psychological response. Without therapy, it can be extraordinarily difficult to break the cycle.
Common Symptoms
If you aren't sure whether you or someone you love suffers from a binge eating disorder, here are some of the most common symptoms. If you experience many of these symptoms, it could be a sign that you need help:
Your eating habits lead to embarrassment and shame
You feel out of control when eating your favorite foods
You feel panicked in situations such as a trip to the grocery store
You continue to eat after your stomach is full
You hide food from others and eat in secret
The Effects of Binge Eating
Unfortunately, a real binge eating disorder cannot be ignored. Not only does a regular pattern of food abuse often lead to obesity, but it can lead to a host of physical and emotional problems. Health issues are common amongst people with food issues, some of which can be very serious. Depression, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, certain cancers, joint pain, and gall bladder disease are but a sampling of the problems that can accompany a binge eating disorder.
Causes
Due to the prevalence of obesity and obesity-related diseases in America, doctors and scientists have placed a great deal of focus on finding the root causes beneath binge eating and food compulsion. Genetics, experiences, and emotional makeup are usually at the heart of any serious eating disorder. Biologically, a dysfunctional hypothalamus gland can impair a person's ability to understand when they are satiated. Some studies have shown that serotonin deficiencies could be to blame for eating disorders in many cases.
Not all binge eating disorders are rooted in biology, of course. At a time where obesity is a widespread cultural problem, the pressure to be thin has never been greater. Women, particularly, must face a society with little tolerance for even mild amounts of extra weight. Additionally, when parents use food to reward their children, it can create deep psychological connections that can be almost impossible to break without help.
Fighting the Urge to Binge
A comprehensive approach to solving a binge eating addiction should include professional therapy and - in some cases - prescribed medication. That said, there are some things you can do on your own to curb your tendency to binge. Here are five effective strategies for overcoming the urge:
Find an alternative - Since the majority of binge eaters do so because it helps them manage stress, one of the key elements of beating the addiction lies in finding alternative methods of coping. Exercise, deep breathing, music, and distracting activities can all help you manage stress in a healthy, sustainable way.
Eat regularly - Binge eaters often have very irregular eating schedules. For instance, there may be no planned mealtimes. By cutting back to three pre-defined meals per day, sprinkled with a set amount of health snacks in between, you can gain a measure of control over your eating habits. A regular eating schedule can also help you avoid the extreme cravings that may accompany skipped meals.
De-Clutter your home - Throw out all of the "bad" food in your home. If your cupboards are stocked with Twinkies and Doritos, it will be that much harder to walk the straight and narrow path.
Stop following fads - The process of losing weight should be a gradual, slow one. Concentrate on getting enough exercise, eating healthy and nutritious meals, and stop looking for the next magic solution.
Get to know your body - Binge eaters and others with compulsive food disorders often have trouble telling the difference between hunger and cravings. Learn what it means to actually be hungry and, by extension, what it feels like to be satisfied. Use these physical sensations rather than your emotions to guide your eating.

Chapter 2- Signs and Symptoms of Binge Eating Disorder
Everyone overeats now and then by taking a second helping or ordering their favorite dessert when they are already full. However, binge eaters overeat consistently and are not able to control their habit of overeating. They eat to comfort themselves when they feel stressed in order to deal with undesirable emotions. Yet, while binge eating may be comforting for a short bit of time, afterwards they tend to feel worse than before they ate.
Basic Symptoms of Binge Eating
Compulsive overeating normally begins in the late teenage years or in young adulthood, and it often starts after a strict diet. A binge eating occurrence usually lasts no more than a couple of hours, but there are some individuals who binge regularly throughout the day. A person who is a binge eater does not have to be hungry to eat and can even eat when full. Sometimes they eat extremely fast, which can make them feel as if they have not eaten. Common symptoms include:
Recurrent episodes of uncontrollable eating
Feeling extremely distressed or upset during or after binging
No consistent efforts to manage the binges by fasting or exercising
Physical Signs of the Binge Eating Disorder
There may or may not be physical signs such as overweight or obesity. Many people who binge are of a normal weight. Nevertheless, there are various apparent behavioral indicators of this eating disorder.
Often dieting without success
Repeatedly gaining and losing weight
Consuming large amounts of food
Ingesting food rapidly when binging
Eating when full or not hungry
Continuing to eat until uncomfortably full
Regularly choosing to eat alone

Emotional Symptoms of Habitual Overeating
People who are binge eaters are characterized by uncontrollable emotional feelings of stress. When they are binging on food, they feel a momentary soothing numbness that is quickly replaced with an overwhelming feeling of guilt and despair. Other responsive symptoms include:
Embarrassment over the amount of food eaten
Never feeling full or satisfied
Desperate yearning to lose or control weight
Feelings of depression and guilt about overeating
Sensation of isolation and difficulty expressing feelings
Feeling out of control and anxious
Uncontrollable Habitual Binging
There are some people with this eating disorder that try to diet or eat normal after binging, but with little success. For these individuals, trying to curb their appetite just leads to more and more episodes of binge eating, which generates a ruthless cycle of overeating benders that produce these symptoms:
Repeated episodes of intense binge eating without any control
Feeling of tremendous distress during or after gorging food
In contrast to the bulimia eating disorder, there are never any efforts to try and make up for the binges by vomiting, going without eating, or exercising more often.
Binging Causes Feelings of Guilt and Hopelessness
Those with the binge eating disorder continuously struggle with a state of mind of hopelessness caused by feelings of remorse, repulsion, and misery. They are constantly apprehensive about what kind of effect the obsessive eating will have on their bodies, and they exhaust themselves with worry and lack of self-control. While they so badly want to put a halt to binge eating, they simply do not know how to stop.
Binge Eaters Try to Hide Signs of their Eating Disorder
The Binge eating disorder causes its victims to feel embarrassment, leaving them shameful of their eating habits. Sufferers frequently do all they can to hide their symptoms and choose to eat alone in secret. They often stockpile or hide food to eat when they are binging, because they’re not able to control their urges to eat large amounts of food. When they do eat around other people, they tend to eat normally. Still, when left alone, food bingers will eat th