Frantic binge eating

[Erra]

I've read alot of posts on this forum regarding how us dieters go through stages of uncontrolled eating and desperate cravings, (happens to all kinds of diet followers, by the way) that at the time don't seem to be physical and/or emotional. These episodes are one of the most ridiculously horrible and humiliating things that a person can do to themselves, and leave us feeling like total, complete failures and no good, so and so types who can't control what they put in their mouths!!!! Madness - and completely overwhelming. I feel like Katy Perry at the moment - she has the secret - and I'd like to share what I chose to do about it.

The first time I tried cohens, I started doing it after I thought I had gotten to a comfortable weight, then put a bit more on, then tried to go back to the eating plan to lose the extra. Was very, very sad and frightening. I did this, probably weekly, not sure now. I consider myself lucky though, as I have a bit of a history with substance abuse, and the auto pilot state that is geared toward self destruction was no stranger to me. Didn't make it any less humiliating, but enlightened me to the fact that I was back there, not in control of what I was doing to myself. With food!!! Pfft..I had no sympathy for myself.

My point? My point is that this is not an ok way to live, maybe once or twice in any given short time frame, while your body is going through crazy physiological changes...but not regularly, like I was. Nobody should have to try and process these actions, without help. And I do believe that the bingeing is totally triggered by the nutrients and body chemicals in our systems, but I found with myself, that the inability to stop it, was something else. So, and at the time, it was a culmination of different issues that I was trying to wade through, I found a psychologist that used counselling techniques and tools that dealt with the physiological side of behaviour. EMDR. I don't want to sound like an advertisement, but it is a form of therapy that stimulates the part/chemicals in the brain that we hold all our feelings and the beliefs that we carry with us that are associated with the lies we believe about ourselves when we experience trauma. Keeping in mind, that the fear you feel as a child about believing the booger man is under your bed, can manifest itself for the rest of your life, and make you scared of the dark/not like being alone etc. My trauma is not your trauma.

Anyway, getting a bit carried away here. Reason #1, that I wanted to post this on here is that this therapy is physical/physiological. Whether you want to or not, if you go to a practitioner who uses this therapy, the change happens in your body, within the electrical charges in your brain. Of course you have to do a little bit of work, to get to the point that you need to, but as each side of your brain is worked on simultaneously, so is the pain/belief/trauma. It is so similar to cohens, in the sense that, even if you mentally/emotionally don't want to lose weight - you will, if you stick to the eating plan. With EMDR, even if you don't want to let go of all your negative beliefs, and self sabotaging, self harming behaviours - you will if you work on them with a practitioner using this. And it's permanent. Until you get upset again, and develop new negative emotions!! Ha! ha..but you develop so many more positive thoughts and beliefs about yourself that you deal with these things differently, in positive ways in which we should all be taught, and are hopefully teaching our children.

Anyway, what a rant. I just don't like reading that others are having to go through this, and are sounding so lost and alone. You're not. Cohens has taught me so much about the human body, and mind, and obesity, I don't know if its a disease, or what it is, but it definately is not something that we should accept as ok. It's not, and there are so many tools out there to help us...can I just add that I actually consider myself to be a little bit of a naturalist?, and had a stab at everything from reiki, yoga and meditation...self help books, to try and deal with myself..(still have the odd hard time with it!!)..but finally just surrendered myself to science, and look at me now! Have to let the world know all about it!!