Hi! My name is Laura. I have a problem. I'm a binge eater. And for the first time in my life I'm doing something about it.
I have a problem. I've mentioned it before but I don't think I had the right label before. See, I'm reading a book on Binge Eating disorders. No, I'm obviously not anorexic and I'm definitely not bulimic. I know what many of you are thinking "Big Surprise! You're overweight because you eat too much" I know this, but what people don't know or maybe just don't understand is the lack of control when one is bingeing.
When I look back I can see where it started. I think I was prone to it in Shilo but it became a problem when I was living in Petawawa for reasons that I don't need to hash out in my blog. Then when I was living with my grandparents I didn't have the opportunity to binge which is why I lost weight. I gained weight again when I lived on my own and lost weight when I lived with Dawna where again I no opportunity to binge. Through all of this even though I've lost weight in the past I never really fixed the problem and I never really figured out how to deal with stress.
I'm now at the self-help portion of the book. The first step is to monitor EVERYTHING I eat, the good the bad and the ugly. I've also started walking in the evenings with my good friend and "litte sister" Dre. It's only been 2.5 days but I have NOT binged! I know the walking at night is helping a lot. It's my prime binge time.
I'm not looking at calories right now and I'm also not denying myself anything. One of the biggest reasons I binge is because I try to deny myself "bad" foods. Denying food creates this cycle that causes me to binge which causes me to diet which causes me to binge and so on.
A big part of bingeing is secrecy, eating alone, hiding what you eat and how much you eat. Which is why I felt compelled to share with all of you. Binge eating is rarely discussed as the real problem that it is. I always thought that I was just lacked willpower and was lazy. I thought if I just diet enough or lose enough weight that I'd stop eating this way. We hear so much about anorexia and bulemia, but not much is said about binge eating.
I'm so thankful to my dear friend who handed me the book Overcoming Binge Eating by Christopher Fairburn. I highly recommend it to anyone who even thinks they have a binge eating problem.
EXERCISE
Some of you may be wondering whether or not I've kept up with working out. The answer is mostly yes. There was a week I didn't do much of anything, but overall I have continued to bike and I've also started walking at night. I plan on getting back to the gym soon, but I'm in desperate need of new running shoes. Yes, I realize this is probably an excuse and I'm aware of that. At least I'm still getting in a lot of exercise. I bike 19.3 km most work days and I've even went biking last weekend. Saturday I went biking with my husband...alone! (My husband and I getting out alone together is almost unheard of!) We biked 14.5 km that day and had such a wonderful time. Sunday I biked 8 km. Daily I've been biking 18.3 km and wlaking close to 5 km at night.
I have a problem. I've mentioned it before but I don't think I had the right label before. See, I'm reading a book on Binge Eating disorders. No, I'm obviously not anorexic and I'm definitely not bulimic. I know what many of you are thinking "Big Surprise! You're overweight because you eat too much" I know this, but what people don't know or maybe just don't understand is the lack of control when one is bingeing.
When I look back I can see where it started. I think I was prone to it in Shilo but it became a problem when I was living in Petawawa for reasons that I don't need to hash out in my blog. Then when I was living with my grandparents I didn't have the opportunity to binge which is why I lost weight. I gained weight again when I lived on my own and lost weight when I lived with Dawna where again I no opportunity to binge. Through all of this even though I've lost weight in the past I never really fixed the problem and I never really figured out how to deal with stress.
I'm now at the self-help portion of the book. The first step is to monitor EVERYTHING I eat, the good the bad and the ugly. I've also started walking in the evenings with my good friend and "litte sister" Dre. It's only been 2.5 days but I have NOT binged! I know the walking at night is helping a lot. It's my prime binge time.
I'm not looking at calories right now and I'm also not denying myself anything. One of the biggest reasons I binge is because I try to deny myself "bad" foods. Denying food creates this cycle that causes me to binge which causes me to diet which causes me to binge and so on.
A big part of bingeing is secrecy, eating alone, hiding what you eat and how much you eat. Which is why I felt compelled to share with all of you. Binge eating is rarely discussed as the real problem that it is. I always thought that I was just lacked willpower and was lazy. I thought if I just diet enough or lose enough weight that I'd stop eating this way. We hear so much about anorexia and bulemia, but not much is said about binge eating.
I'm so thankful to my dear friend who handed me the book Overcoming Binge Eating by Christopher Fairburn. I highly recommend it to anyone who even thinks they have a binge eating problem.
EXERCISE
Some of you may be wondering whether or not I've kept up with working out. The answer is mostly yes. There was a week I didn't do much of anything, but overall I have continued to bike and I've also started walking at night. I plan on getting back to the gym soon, but I'm in desperate need of new running shoes. Yes, I realize this is probably an excuse and I'm aware of that. At least I'm still getting in a lot of exercise. I bike 19.3 km most work days and I've even went biking last weekend. Saturday I went biking with my husband...alone! (My husband and I getting out alone together is almost unheard of!) We biked 14.5 km that day and had such a wonderful time. Sunday I biked 8 km. Daily I've been biking 18.3 km and wlaking close to 5 km at night.