Binging/fasting

[Raw Rabbit]

I am a teenager (16 year old female) and I have had some troubles with binge eating. I discovered raw veganism when I was home sick looking into becoming a vegan. Since I found it, I have had good and bad days. This has been going on for about 2 months. I love eating raw foods, I love the way it makes me look and feel. Oh I also gained 25 pounds from unhealthy eating in the past year, so I am very depressed about that. I was wondering a. Do I need professional help? I have talked to my mom and she has tried to help me. I get back up on my feet then fall back down, over and over again. I cry myself to sleep every night I binge. It isn't a good feeling and when I'm raw, I don't binge at all, I feel almost as if I am eating too little. b. Would it be safe for me to do a water fast? I do have a juicer to do a juice fast but I am in school during the day so I can't bring juice there or it won't last. So I guess I'm asking if it is a good idea for me to fast, and if so, for how long? Also, if you have any other ideas or advice I would GREATLY appreciate it. I have been going through this cycle over and over and my body is just getting beat down from it. Thanks for reading!

[maggiesdaddy]

I don't think that anyone here can tell you if you should seek help or not. I can tell you my experience though.

In high school I was in a bad relationship and I binged and purged. After the bad relationship ended I stopped purging and just binged. I gained 100 lbs and I kept that 100 lbs for three years.

I now am in therapy for eating disorders and I am being treated of OCD and Depression (both with medication and with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). I finally feel in control of my body and although it will be a LONG time before I can learn to love myself, I not feel that I am on the right track. It has been a long road, but I am now able to avoid many "trigger foods" or deal with my emotions better and can go much longer between binges.

I am about to graduate with my BA in Clinical Psychology and I feel that after much research into what I could do to overcome my issues, this was the right track for me.




Again, I don't think that anyone here can tell you what to do, but maybe my story will help. From past experience I would say that if I were you then I would, for now, avoid a fast. For me, a fast would often end successfully, but a few days after it was over I would have worse binges than before doing the fast. It was better for me to not do the fast.



I hope that helped!

[Aleesha Sattva]

I would have an honest discussion with your Mom...

And... I would not suggest you fast. First of all, I don't agree with anyone who is still growing (and yes you still are) fasting. Second, in light of your possible eating disorder I would get that under control before I'd ever consider fasting.

(((hugs)))
Aleesha

[EZ rider]

Karen Carpenter's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Carpenter life is a tragic story with a bad ending caused by ED.

[mellowgirl09]

I am a teenager (16 year old female) and I have had some troubles with binge eating. I discovered raw veganism when I was home sick looking into becoming a vegan. Since I found it, I have had good and bad days. This has been going on for about 2 months. I love eating raw foods, I love the way it makes me look and feel. Oh I also gained 25 pounds from unhealthy eating in the past year, so I am very depressed about that. I was wondering a. Do I need professional help? I have talked to my mom and she has tried to help me. I get back up on my feet then fall back down, over and over again. I cry myself to sleep every night I binge. It isn't a good feeling and when I'm raw, I don't binge at all, I feel almost as if I am eating too little. b. Would it be safe for me to do a water fast? I do have a juicer to do a juice fast but I am in school during the day so I can't bring juice there or it won't last. So I guess I'm asking if it is a good idea for me to fast, and if so, for how long? Also, if you have any other ideas or advice I would GREATLY appreciate it. I have been going through this cycle over and over and my body is just getting beat down from it. Thanks for reading!


Don't water or juice fast you can severely harm yourself, you are still growing and developing.

You need to forgive your mom and dad for their imperfections. Anger is what's causing your problems. It's not food.

[Raw Rabbit]

Thanks guys, I really want to end this cycle on binging then eating raw, then binging then eating raw. It is really been harming my healhth, i have missed a lot of school lately. Some days I feel like there is a switch I flick off, and I don't binge any more. Then other days, I binge like crazy. Right now, I don't know weather to try and stay raw, or just to try to eat normally and once i have my ed under control, try to eat high raw. If you have any other suggestions I would love to hear them. Thanks again.

[Amii]

I might be able to help you out a bit if you could answer these:

a) During a typical binge, how many calories would you say you consume, or could you just list what you might normally eat during a binge?

b) If there is a sense of shame in regards to this, does it set in pre or during the binge, or afterwards?

c) Do you feel full whilst bingeing but carry on, or are you not getting full?

[Raw Rabbit]

a) Usually I will consume well over 100 calories, binging on toast, sandwiches, chips, crackers, litereally anything I can find, even if i don't necessarily like the food I am putting into my mouth.
b) I do feel a lot of regret during but I don't stop, and after the guilt definatley kicks in, making me just want more. I wake up the next morning feeling sick and that's when the guilt is the most.
c)I get very very full, to the point I can barely move, I am stuck on the couch and I feel like crap.

I hope I could help you help me :) Thanks.

[EZ rider]

My experience with binges has taught me to heed the earliest weak hunger signal that my body sends me and get something to eat. If I ignore the signal the hunger signal comes back stronger and a binge is more likely to occur.

[maggiesdaddy]

I see your current weight and stuff under your post. How tall are you? You are still growing (as mentioned) so you need more calories than someone in their mid 20's or 30's.

How many calories do you eat during the day while you are raw? It may be possible that you are burning much more than taking in and your body and brain are craving fuel at night.

[Raw Rabbit]

I am 5'6 and I'll go through a typical raw day for you :). I wake up, I make a juice consisting of:
1 apple
3 clementines
a handful of baby carrots
2 celery sticks
1/2 cucmber

This really kick starts my day, especially becuase I never liked eating breakfast, it always gives me a bad stomach during school.
For Lunch I usually bring a green smoothie in and only drink about half of it because I take forever and only have 30 minutes, plus I talk a lot :).
When I get home I have fruit. Mostly just fruit I have cut up like melons or grapes or something really juicy. I can't tell you how much, it varies.
As for dinner, I don't really know what I do, I forget haha but I think maybe I'll finish my green smoothie or make a gorilla sandwich or something yummy and filling.

[MysticTree]

My feeling is that you need to eat more and adding sprouted things like lentils, alfalfa, mung beans, sunflower and even brown rice would be a beneficial thing.

You could also add seaweeds and avocado

your food spectrum seems too narrow and the quantity too little.

[Mary Kay]

At 5 ft 6" you should weigh approximately 130 lbs if you are of average build, with average muscular structure. I agree that since you are still growing, that fasting would not be a good thing....

It sounds to me like you deprive yourself most of the time, then get REALLY hungry and binge.

And you've lost a LOT of weight in just one week!

I'd think eating a more CONSTANT regulated diet will help you --be it high raw or not. Not the ups and downs like you've been putting yourself through. Whatever you decide, make sure that whatever you eat has some nutritional density.....Pretzels are not nutritionally dense ---etc.

I hope this helps and agree you need to really TALK to your parents.

Best of luck,

Mary Kay

[maggiesdaddy]

I agree with Mary Kay.

Did the binging start only after being raw?



It sounds to me like you need to eat more food during the day (raw or not). I an sure that it is very difficult, especially since you are at school for the majority of the day, but perhaps you could try to eat higher calorie raw (or not raw) foods?

[Raw Rabbit]

Thanks so much everyone! I think what I'd like to do (for now) is go raw until dinner. I love running I used to run for miles and miles a day without end. I stopped because I had soccer practice every day last fall, then winter came, I got a job and the streets were just a sheet of ice. Since then I haven't gotten back to it, and that's what I think is really scaring me. I just wish I could. Last year I wasn't raw, or anywhere near it, but now on days where I have eaten cooked food, I can't run after. My body just shuts down I can't do much and it stinks. If I eat raw untill dinner I can run, come back shower and do all my things, then have that cooked food my head wants. I think trying to jump into 100% was messing with my head. I was an emotional eater before raw, that's how I found raw, but I think it is more often since then. Thanks for all your help! :)

[Amii]

Hi RR :)

Sorry I'm late getting back to you but good news - it very much sounds like you binge out of habit, not out of having an eating disorder. Which means this is easily fixed.

I only have an A-level in Psychology behind me in this area but I consider myself "specialised" on the subject of eating disorders, so here are my thoughts:

You said you eat over 100 calories (or possibly you meant 1000, but either way) which is what is typically during a deprivation -> binge type of moment, not through having an eating disorder. People who binge because of bulimia or binge-eating disorder typically consume at least 2500 calories in one binge before purging and then possibly starting over again. You also said you feel shame whilst you are doing the eating, whilst a person who is bingeing in response to an ED often doesn't recall much of the binge and the shame and guilt sets in afterwards. Finally you said that you feel very full and awful during the binge, whilst someone bingeing for an ED binges to the level they do because of the overwhemling emptiness inside them.

You're most likely bingeing through a lack of calories (your daily diet sounds as if you're eating about half of what someone not growing would need, so someone growing needs even more than that)

So in conclusion, I think you are going to be fine :)


I'd say the first step to prevent the bingeing is to up your calories to maintenance level (at least 2500 a day). If you find yourself continuing to binge, try to reduce the amount each binge until you find yourself just eating a normal amount.

I'll try and get back again but going to bed now, Hope you're feeling better :)

[Raw Rabbit]

Your advice was very helpful. It was simple to understand, yet complex enough to sound legit. I had been thinking the same thing because that's what someone else responded, that I need more calories. I do find it hard to do because I'm at school for most of my day but I will be out soon so that's a plus. I am so happy to hear its not and eating disorder, I never thought it was serious enough to go see the doctor, I knew there was some way in my mind that I could just stop all together. I have been able to control myself during a binge by just taking myself out of the situation, or distracting myself before even having the chance to binge. I will try to do my best raw, because I can't even run anymore if I'm not eating all raw, and I have two months to build back up to 7 miles for a road race in august. Thanks everyone for all your advice!

[Bananna]

Your experience has been similar to mine after finding raw...the last few months I have more and more been moving towards using raw as a tool and a friend, not an ideal. I have done enough experimenting with different foods that I know that dairy gives me acne, emotions and is addictive. And that gluten products are arthritic/achey and addictive. And both affect my endometriosis...so for Me, it has really helped to do as you say, keep my eye on raw and look for ways to fold it into cooked meals. Such as with spaghetti, I will have it on a bed of raw spinach leaves instead of noodles. Or I might have heaping amounts of the veggie portion and much less of starches.

I understand what you mean about the 'switch'. I used to binge everyday, unfortunately, but now I can go for several days and the binge I do end up having is much more controlled. I have reduced stress a lot, changed how I view the stressors I can't control so much, let go of ideals....weird, but I realized that going raw and having some slip-up made me stressed out, and that stress would cause me to binge. ...that's why I had to let go of the 'all raw' persistent goal...I was actually getting a lot of anxiety around it, which led to stress..and then binging.

Now I find myself just Wanting to have apples because I Love them. Huge salads with my favorite raw/mostly raw dressings. And eating very lightly through the day and having a nice hearty supper. I'm trying to follow my intuition as much as I can and pay attention to how certain foods make me feel....such as dairy and gluten.

I am considering some eating therapy, an interesting book on tape I just got is by Marianne Williamson and it's called "A course in weight loss". She has been on Oprah and the book really focuses on the bigger picture and the spirit.

If you do notice it's become more prominent since going raw, maybe try what I'm doing and just focus on the positive of it and let it pull you towards it as you want to go and just try and note what specific foods do for you/don't do for you. And most of all, don't be hard on yourself!

Do what you need to do to lower stress, embrace the stress you need to, find stability, be kind to yourself. The very best thing I'm finding for when you are 'in a binge' is to simply stop and acknowledge that you are doing it. ....somehow it interrupts the 'beast' from within and it loses its grip minutes later.

Sorry for the novel...just hit close to home. ;)

[alicia12]

Hey I feel your pain. I was going good for about 2 years on raw food. Never falling below 80 percent and then bam a taste here and there led to just out of control eating. I love love the lifestyle of eating raw. I went into it overnight and am grateful I found it. As the winter months came and the beginning of the year I fell off. Different things started to happen in my life. I didn't have the support or motivation. I kept on trying to fast but just would stop and start with raw and end up eating the wrong things over and over. I have been suffering because of it. This amazing thing that happened to me I felt was taken away. I'm here to tell you that I know its time for a change. I'm here to get the support and motivation to keep me going. I just started my 21/30 day water fast. I got to stop and detox myself completely of the junk. I understand it takes sacrifice. I hope you understand to. Do what it takes. Keep reading about raw. Look at the amazing things its done for so many people. I can tell you that while raw I was having the best time of my life. I know what its like. Its incredible. We can make it through this.