Binge Eating Disorder - Do You Have It?

<p>Binge Eating Disorder - Do You Have It?<br>By <a href=”http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Debra_Gropp”>Debra Gropp</a></p>

<p>What exactly is binge eating disorder? It is defined as consuming large quantities of food within a very short period of time until the person feels uncomfortably full and/or sick. It is similar to bulimia except there is no form of purging involved following a binge episode.</p>

<p>Those who suffer from binge eating disorder usually feel out of control during an episode followed by guilt and shame afterwards. Most people who experience these binges use food as a way to numb themselves in order to deal with emotions that they are unwilling or unable to deal with.</p>

<p>Because we live in such a hurried, stress-laden society, binge eating has become more and more common. It is a way to cope with excess frustration, anger, anxiety, or grief. The majority of people who have binge eating disorder may suffer from chronic depression and other serious emotional problems.</p>

<p>Do you have binge eating disorder? There are certain symptoms that signify you may have the disorder if they occur more than occasionally.</p>

<p>-Eating too much food too quickly.</p>

<p>-Eating very large amounts of food whether you are hungry or not.</p>

<p>-Eating until you are sick or miserable.</p>

<p>-Feel excessive shame, guilt, disgust, anger and/or depression after bingeing.</p>

<p>-Know that your eating is raging out of control and feel helpless to do anything about it.</p>

<p>If you do suspect you have binge eating disorder, you are not alone. In the United States, it is the most common eating disorder. Most people who suffer from the disorder are severely obese but it can affect anyone. It is more common in women than in men.</p>

<p>Do you think you are a binge eater? If so, what can you do? The first words of advice are to avoid unhealthy diet practices like skipping meals, eating only certain foods, drastically limiting calories and/or cutting out foods that you love to eat.</p>

<p>These practices are unhealthy and dangerous and should never be used if you are trying to lose weight. The only path to effective and permanent weight loss is to follow a <a TARGET=”_NEW” href=”http://www.loseweight-burnfat.com”>healthy diet and exercise program</a>.</p>

<p>If you are challenged by a healthy weight loss regimen and suffer from depression, anxiety or other emotional issues, it is wise to seek professional advice from someone who specializes in the eating disorder field. They can help you find the right path to wellness.</p>

<p>There are many dangers associated with eating disorders, binge eating disorder, being no different. Binge eaters suffer from frequent illnesses due to the large volume of sugars and fats that they consume. These types of foods do not provide any nutrient value for the body, causing the body to break down.</p>

<p>This, in turn, increases the risk for many chronic diseases and conditions. The more you indulge in binge eating and the more overweight you are, the more you increase the risk for diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure.</p>

<p>If you suffer from binge eating disorder and feel helpless, remember, there IS help for you. Never be afraid to ask for it. There are professionals who are trained specifically in the area of eating disorders who are dedicated to helping you overcome the disease. Most people who seek professional treatment do very well.</p>

<p>Debra Gropp makes money on the Internet by doing everything from paid surveys to working for affiliate programs. Her articles pertain to the subjects she is most interested in, <a TARGET=”_NEW” href=”http://www.online-work-from-home.com”>online income opportunities</a> and diet, fitness, and health-related information.</p>

March 20, 2009 | Filed Under Binge Eating Disorder

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Binge Eating Men

Binge Eating - Men Also At Risk
By Kristin Gerstley

Binge Eating Disorder affects just about as many men as it does women, even though the stereotype is that eating disorders are thought to be a women’s disorder. This stereotype is incorrect. There are 25 million people that struggle daily with Binge Eating Disorder. Out of that 25 million, you may be surprised to know that 40% are men. According to Wikipedia.com, this means that three women for every two men suffer from Binge Eating Disorder.

There are different reasons as to why men develop Binge Eating Disorder. One cause is if they play or played sports sometime in their life that required them to be thin or to lose a lot of weight for a particular competition, such as a wrestling match or running. Football players and body builders are still at risk, but it is lower since these sports require some meat and muscles in order to be successful. Another reason is that the chosen profession calls for thinness, such as modeling and acting. Men feel a pressure, just as women do, to maintain a level of thinness when they are in the public eye and when they are in looked at.

A man is more at risk for developing Binge Eating Disorder at a older age than a woman does, especially if the man had a tendency to be overweight at a child. This is because growing up a man believes that he needs to be strong and be able to protect not only himself, but also a female. If he is thin, this translates to fragile and he will see himself as not being powerful and not being able to get the things that he wants in life because he is considered weak.

Treatment for men is the same as women; although, men are more reluctant to visit a professional since eating disorders are considered to be female difficulties. The professional will go into detail to find out why the man comforts himself with food. Once the reason why he binges comes to the surface, the professional can give him ideas of how to change his behaviors. Once this happens and once the man feels comfortable with the professional, then the journey to recovery begins.

Clearly binge eating disorder is not only a female disorder, as many males are affected too. Regardless of being male or female, it is important to admit that your relationship with food is not healthy and to seek help on how to make it healthy once again.

By: Kristin Gerstley
http://www.endbingeeating.com

Kristin Gerstley is a former binge eater that now has a healthy relationship with food. She is also the owner of http://www.endbingeeating.com which is a site that helps people overcome Binge Eating Disorder. She publishes a free newsletter offering tips on how to stop binge eating and regain control of your life.

March 15, 2009 | Filed Under Binge Eating, Binge Eating Disorder

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Binge Eating - The Root of Obesity?

Binge Eating - The Root of Obesity?
By Joseph Devine

I’m sure that we’ve all experienced it on some level. We get into an argument with a loved one, or we notice that we are particularly more stressed then usually. At some point along this somewhat linear thought process, we crave something. Suddenly a quick trip to the doughnut shop or McDonald’s seems like a good idea. We order the biggest thing on the menu because we are suddenly extremely hungry. By the end of the meal, some of us might have to unbutton our shirts just to be able to sit comfortably.

This phenomenon is known as binge eating. Lots of research has been conducted on this particular aspect of the human experience and very interesting things have come to the surface. There is now speculation that binge eating is actually an evolutionary defense mechanism passed down from the days before mass transport, globalism, and drive-through service.

There was once a time when food was actually quite scarce. Our human ancestors weren’t sure if they would have enough to eat for the next day. It was appropriate to binge on whatever food was available in order to fight against famine.

Researchers also found though, that the activity is linked to emotional centers of the brain that are triggered by high calorie foods. Thus, in an attempt at self-preservation, the individual is almost compelled to eat as much as he possibly can. Researchers believe that this fight, between body and mind, takes place as many as eight times a day.

During this state, individual feel immense amounts of pleasure. As pleasure is more and more associated with binging on high-calorie foods, the very act itself perpetuates a habit of eating large amounts of calories at one time. Psychologists have gone so far as to call this activity a conditioned response to stress.

The stress back then was related more to the physical (food, chased by an animal, physical injury, etc.). In modern times, human stress has converted to the psychological and speculative. Thus the net gain in calories is not being effectively used.

Researchers argue that perhaps those individuals experiencing an unusual gain in weight could in fact have the particular gene that triggers excessive binge eating. However, behavior is largely control by the human will rather than genetic composition or emotional sentiment. Overcoming weight issues is mostly about training the mind and body to behave differently during times of stress.

If you would like more information, visit http://www.healthdirectoryforyou.com

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March 15, 2009 | Filed Under Binge Eating

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Living with Binge Eating Disorder

Live Life to the Fullest Even With a Binge Eating Disorder
By Kristin Gerstley

“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.”
- Diane Ackerman

I know this has happened to all of us at one time in our life or another. You are face-to-face with something that you’ve always wanted to do, stop binge eating disorder, but something stops you. Instead of accepting something that’s always appealed to you, the words “no thank you” come out of your mouth. Instead of asking for something you want, you find yourself too afraid to even ask.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to help people. I was never sure how I would do that, but I knew that it was something that I was extremely passionate about. I want to make a difference in people’s lives. In college, I thought about being a teacher, but then I wasn’t sure that I was passionate about it enough. I switched to marketing, but then didn’t think that I would get much out of doing that. I was lost as to how to achieve my dream of helping people. I would wrack my brain over and over to try to see what things I was good at so I could help someone. Nothing came to mind. It was frustrating.

Once I told my husband about my binge eating disorder and after I was in therapy, I just knew that I was supposed to help people with binge eating disorder. I just had a good feeling about it. The good feeling lasted about as long as it could until I started thinking that I would have to share my struggles with binge eating disorder with strangers and people that already knew me. I started to take a step back because I didn’t want to make myself that vulnerable. I knew that I could help people, but something inside blocked me from doing anything about it for some time.

My mind would race about all of the things that I could do to benefit others with sharing my story. But then I would argue with myself saying “No one will care. I’m just a nobody. What will people think?” But then I remembered searching on the Internet for other success stories from people who had overcome binge eating disorder and finding nothing. “Just try it and see what happens. What have you got to lose?”

Finally without thinking too much about it, I started writing down everything that I could about my experience with binge eating disorder. I looked over my entire journal writings and realized that I had a lot of good information to share. I stopped thinking and worrying about putting myself out there, and realized that if I was going to help someone - this was just what I needed to do. I spent many days in my office just writing my binge eating disorder eBook, and not focusing any amount of energy on worrying about it.

If I wouldn’t have challenged myself to keep moving forward, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to develop great relationship with many of you. I wouldn’t have had the chance to read the emails that bring tears to my eyes. I wouldn’t have had the chance to be doing what I absolutely love. You know many people hate their jobs. They do not like getting up and going to work everyday. I’m so thankful that I listened to that voice in my head that kept on pushing me to do this because I wake up every morning and can’t wait to check my email and work on all of the great things that I have planned. I feel truly blessed to be doing what I’m doing.

When you do the things that you’ve always wanted to do, you expand your comfort zone, discover something new about yourself, and have a lot of fun doing it. The next time you have the chance to do something, don’t wait so long. Do the uncomfortable by going through with it and saying “yes”! You do have the power to change your relationship with food and stop binge eating disorder from progressing anymore!

Notice to publishers: You have rights to republish this article on your website as long as you keep all links in tact and clickable. Thank you.

Kristin Gerstley is a former binge eater that now has a very healthy relationship with food. Since 2005, Kristin has helped thousands of people who suffer from Binge Eating Disorder through her website: http://www.endbingeeating.com You can also get free tips and information by joining Kristin’s newsletter at: http://www.bingeeatingdisorderhelp.com

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March 10, 2009 | Filed Under Binge Eating, Binge Eating Disorder

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Commit to Stop Binge Eating

Commit to End Binge Eating
By Kristin Gerstley

When you want to stop binge eating, you need to make a decision and change your old habits. Perhaps these habits have been around for years, but no matter how long they have been your fallback, you need to make changes and create new, positive habits for yourself. You need to end the pattern of binge eating. You need to stop playing games with yourself.

How do you do this, you say? First and foremost, you need to make the decision and commit to fixing this disorder that has control of you and your life. Make a commitment now to yourself. Do not put it off until tomorrow, next week, or even next month. Like Oprah says, “The space to live in is not ‘I’ll try’, not ‘I want to’, not even ‘I really want to’. It’s ‘I have decided’.” When you make that decision once and for all, you are declaring a commitment. You are stating this to yourself and the Universe and this is powerful!

One of the most important things that you can do is to start seeing yourself as you truly are. Don’t look at yourself as the person that is a victim of your circumstance. Instead help yourself to get over the situations in your past that gave you that particular mentality. Do whatever it takes so that you can literally transform yourself into the person that you want to be, without hindering yourself and falling back into the old habits that you have become so used to.

Another important thing to remember is that no one is perfect. It is not necessary to constantly stab yourself for binging. We all have flaws. You need to let it go and keep on moving forward. All of the added stress that goes along with criticizing your every move will just keep you at a standstill and that will be enough to drive you crazy. Realize that you may have binged, but don’t keep nagging yourself about it. Let it go!

Finally, no matter how many times you fall down, always pick yourself right back up and press on. Do not dwell on your failure; instead continuing moving forward, keeping your goals fresh on your mind.

Most importantly, you deserve to feel good about yourself. Make YOU your number one priority and always strive to live your life to the fullest. Always keep yourself in mind. Believe in yourself and know that you will get past this and that the life that you have always wanted and dreamed about is just around the corner.

Notice to publishers: you have rights to republish this article on your website as long as you keep all links in tact and clickable. Thank you.

Kristin Gerstley is the owner of http://www.endbingeeating.com which is a site that helps people overcome Binge Eating Disorder. She also publishes a free newsletter offering encouragement, tips on how to stop binge eating, and regain control of your life.

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March 5, 2009 | Filed Under Binge Eating, Binge Eating Disorder

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Binge Eating No More - I Used to Eat the Whole Refrigerator

Binge Eating No More - I Used to Eat the Whole Refrigerator Plus Everything in the Cupboards
By Jana S.

What should you do if you feel like you are about to lose yourself in an eating binge?

I struggled with binge eating for many years. And I am about to share some ideas with you of alternative things you can do instead of bingeing. Choosing to do more healthy behaviors instead of bingeing is very important in recovery from binge eating.

However, I must tell you that for most people, another essential part of recovery and healing from binge eating is to do some personal internal work on what is causing you to turn to food as coping strategy in your life.

So, yes, these alternative healthy choices are very helpful and important to gaining freedom from bingeing - but you need to also know that working with a group or a trained compassionate counselor will also help you tremendously and is just as important as the following list of alternatives. Okay? Great!

Remember to be kind and gentle to yourself when you are dealing with that all-consuming desire to go crazy with food and binge. See the desire to binge as an opportunity to really delve into what might be causing the pain in you that makes you want to turn to food to deal with your life in that moment.

Here are just a few of the things I choose to do avoid a binge:

-Take a relaxing bath

- Go for a long walk

- Do yoga - I love this for taking my mind off food. I get to breathe deeply, stretch my body, and enjoy the break from stress and pressure.

- Go out to my garage and beat on my punching bag - it relieves my stress and helps get any frustration out of me that I might be holding inside.

- Put on my headphones and listen to several of my favorite upbeat songs - and dance around if I feel like it!

- Get away from temptation. Since recovering from binge eating, I no longer bring foods into my home that trigger my binge eating tendencies. But if you can’t control the foods that are allowed into your home and your roommate or your spouse has stashes of foods in your home that you like to binge on then you need to prepared with a strategy that will get you away from the food that is calling out to you. If you have tempting food in your home, get out of your house and take a break. Go to a friend’s home and visit, or meet a friend at a park and walk together. Go to church. Pray.

Learn what I did to stop binge eating and become happy, healthy and slim.
http://RawFoodDietWeightLoss.com

Get many more free tips on how to stop binge eating
http://HowCanIStopBingeEating.com/

March 1, 2009 | Filed Under Uncategorized

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