Disordered Eating (Binge, Compulsive, etc)

[Jennifer Ostermeier 45]

I have a binge eating disorder and have been working with the issues tassociated with bingeing through herapy, intensive outpatient work, group participation and a few other things mixed in there. I have been approved to be sleeved. I plan to continue work on this issue both pre and post surgery. I am curious, have any of you suffered from disordered eating prior to surgery and how you deal with that now? ​

[♥dreamable 189]

I have a binge eating disorder and have been working with the issues tassociated with bingeing through herapy, intensive outpatient work, group participation and a few other things mixed in there. I have been approved to be sleeved. I plan to continue work on this issue both pre and post surgery. I am curious, have any of you suffered from disordered eating prior to surgery and how you deal with that now? ​

Yes, compulsive eating disorder here. (I mean seriously, look at this thread I just wrote earlier tonight) I only had my surgery a little over a week ago, so I am not so great for getting long term advice from. I think continuing to work on it with your therapist is an EXCELLENT idea.

However I will say this. I quit smoking over 3 years ago. It took A LOT of hard work and dedication to resist the urges. In fact there are still days now where I get the craving/urge and think, "man I could really use a smoke right now!!!" However I learned to re-condition myself.

I always smoked in the car when I didn't have kids (it felt like I was being rebellious or something- so I ALWAYS chain smoked like crazy then). I had the hardest time not wanting a cigarette everytime I got into my car after I quit. So I had a system with my mom and sister- and everytime I got into the car and was really having a STRONG urge to smoke, I would call them to talk. They both knew this and all I had to say was, "I'm in my car talk to me" and they would talk. It helped distract me enough until the urge went away.

Finally I was able to get in my car and know in my head that the urge would soon go away, I just had to find good music to listen to call my mom or my sister to chat. However on a positive note, a lot of the times I get in my car and am driving, even though I no longer have those urges to smoke the minute I get into my car.

I also always smoked in the morning when I had coffee. Now I read Reddit while I have coffee. I stopped caffeine a few months before my surgery, so now I just browse Reddit whenever I have 'free' time to kill (like waiting to be called back for an appointment etc...)

I guess what I am saying, is you are going to have to find something else to do to distract yourself long enough that you can train yourself to know "this craving will pass soon". I know I am going to need to do this with food too in the very short future. So far I haven't had ANY urges to eat, but my stress level has been pretty minimal since surgery and I'm only a little over a week out.

I know those urges will most likely come back at some point. I already have a plan for work hours- I am going to take a quick walk around the building. The time it will take will be enough for the craving to subside, fresh air is awesome AND what better way to combat an unhealthy past thing than to replace with a HEALTHY way to cope!

I was a major night time snacker (it was like party time for mom after the kids went to bed), so I need to figure out what strategies I need to implement to help with those.

There is a lot of information that might be helpful with DBT therapy. It focuses a lot on mindfulness and emotional regulation (not being at extremes, but finding a middle ground) and I really think that might help, I know it has helped me a lot. Make a list of coping skills and hang in on your fridge, and hang one on your walls, or in your car or wherever you tended to have those urges. I would say like 50- just a list of different things you can do to distract yourself for a period of time to keep you from giving into the compulsion. It can be ANYTHING- like going for a walk, coloring, playing a game on the computer, watching a funny video, taking a bath or a shower, playing with a pet etc.

Ok, hopefully that helped or will help others

[Jennifer Ostermeier 45]

Thanks so much for your quick reply. I took a look at the string you started earlier as well. I am interested to see if there are people who feel like they have overcome their eating disorder. Or is eating disorder recovery similar to alcohol recovery… Something we have to do for the rest of our lives. Just curious. I am doing DBT therapy as well. Trying to get as much in on the front end, prior to surgery, so that post surgery. I am really starting to think that I will never be able to stop seeking outside resources.