u/babygrandpa-69

This is day 12 with no binging (granted, once I make it through the day). I haven’t gone more than a week without binging in months, so I’m feeling really good about it. I’ve been struggling pretty heavily with food noise, but not actual urges. Just wanted to share some positive energy in the feed. I even had a donut and a strawberry croissant the other day, both trigger foods for me (sugar and baked goods) and thought I was destined to binge. But I didn’t!!!

I’ve been having a hard time recently. There’s been a lot of bad news and family stuff going on, and then going on vacation completely disrupted my routine and led to me binging for 10+ days.
Whenever I’m stressed, I tend to want to bake and do acts of kindness for other people. Tonight, I baked 4 dozen cookies for my neighbors, the employees at my gym, and my two coworkers at the shop where I work.
My partner and I each had one cookie and split a third, and I put four more away for us to have over the next couple of nights. After binging so much last week, I haven’t really been experiencing urges, but this felt like a major test.
Usually, when I bake, I eat ingredients as I go and get caught up in the eating. Then I end up binging because I’ve already “ruined” the day. But tonight felt different, and I feel really good about it.
We snacked on a couple of M&Ms while the cookies were baking, then had the cookies when they were done. And I didn’t binge :)
I genuinely wanted to do something nice for other people while I’m feeling down instead of turning it into an act of self-harm and eating all 48 cookies lol. I’m really proud of myself for getting through tonight differently. Day 5 no binging!

TLDR: I’ve been binging nonstop for a few months, went on a family vacation and binged for 10+ days and genuinely think I tired myself out of binging from how awful it was.

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I have been in a pretty bad cycle of binging for the last couple of months. It’s similar to a lot of people’s experiences: be good on Monday, make it to Friday, binge the weekend away. Repeat. And then binge throughout the week too if I missed the “better on Monday” mark.

For the last year and a half, I have been in recovery and have successfully started to appreciate my body and gain muscle, while losing a little bit of weight simply because I was no longer eating 10,000 calories every day.

I went two months without binging from March to May, and then in May I started having at least one binge every week. July was really bad, and I was binging multiple times every week. I’m talking about eating Crumbl cookies in the car on my way to Taco Bell, then Starbucks BEFORE heading into work, and then eating at work some more because no one knew what I had eaten on the way in.
I gained about 10ish lbs back in just a month or two, and I was not feeling great in my body, to say the least.

I had a camping vacation the first week of August, and I binged before then too. While on this big family trip, I ate normally for the first day or two, and then I started binging every day for about 10 days.
Now that I am home, I am on day four of no binging.
I sincerely think I just tired myself out. Having forced “food freedom” and binging for such an extended period of time, instead of just having a couple of episodes, really showed me the exhaustion and defeat that comes with binging.

For context, I don’t restrict myself. I just avoid certain trigger foods because they consistently lead to binges for me. But attending a large family reunion where I had no control over the food and was surrounded by foods I normally avoid was hell.
I was having mood swings daily. I felt incredibly bloated and constipated, and I even questioned my life and my worthiness at times.
Maybe I really did “get it out of my system” because it was such a prolonged episode. I out-binged my binging urges.

Whatever the reason, I have not been binging since I got back. I also haven’t had any meaningful urges.
There’s a pie and chocolates in the pantry that my partner and I were sent home with, since we drove and a lot of our family flew. I know I have binged on those exact foods 10+ times in the last week. But I don’t want them.
I have been able to go to the gym and eat regularly again, and I am trying to take things one day at a time.

I also waited a couple of days to weigh myself because I knew that if I did it right when we got home, I would be extremely triggered. After three days of getting back into a regular routine, exercising, and allowing myself time to feel better physically and mentally, I weighed myself today. And it wasn’t awful.

I think giving myself that grace period was really important. I knew that if I weighed myself immediately, I would be seeing the aftermath of 10 days of binging without having any time to recenter myself. It would have made this come from a place of punishment instead of recovery.

Even though the scale is up from my maintenance weight, it’s lower than my bloated, post-binge weight was the day we left. And I have to remind myself that my body is fighting for me, and I need to give it some grace too.

I’m not saying that weight is the most important measure of recovery. It isn’t. But my correlation between feeling in a routine and where my weight usually sits is real. I know where my body tends to settle when I’ve been in recovery and feeling regulated, and I’ve noticed that it goes up and up when I’m in distress and stuck in this cycle.

Right now, I’m trying to remember that my body is not the enemy. It’s been trying to get me through this, and I need to meet it with a little more compassion than I have been lately.

My duplex neighbor is watching our cat while my partner and I are away. As a thank you, I made a whole tray of blueberry lemon cheesecake bars this morning before work. They're sitting in my fridge cooling as I write this. On my lunch break I'm going to cut them up, bring a few to my coworkers, save one for my partner and me to try, and box up the rest for my neighbor.
I love baking. I love the smell, the process, and the tactile nature of making food. But of course I made something that I, a chronic binge eater, want to eat all of. When I got to work, my mind was racing. I was thinking about eating the whole tray by myself on my lunch break. I almost went next door to the coffee shop for a sugary drink and pastries just to quiet the urge while I waited to get home.

Instead, we got busy at work, thank God. I had some water and planned a high protein, high volume lunch so that when my partner and I have a bar together, I won't feel so out of control.

I'm writing this to say that it passes.

This morning I only tasted a tiny bit of the cheesecake batter. We still have a whole box of graham crackers in the pantry. I could have, and wanted to, started binging before 10 a.m. I'm sure the urges will come back later today too, especially after I actually eat one of the bars.

But today, the voice in my head that says, "I don't actually want to binge," is a little louder. It isn't always. But every time I listen to it, it gets stronger.

I don't want to binge. The real me doesn't want the shame, guilt, or physical pain of binging. I want to enjoy baking and cooking without them becoming a danger zone. I don't want to give up something I love because my disorder tries to turn it against me. Today, I have a little hope that I can trust myself. And today, that feels like enough.

I went for an hour walk today, did an ab workout, ate my regular breakfast and snack, and I'll be having lunch soon.

I'm going to a friend's house tonight, and she offered to make us a charcuterie board. I politely declined because I'm just not in the mental space where I can have "just a little" of something. I know that with the urges I've been having, it would likely turn into a binge for the rest of the day.

Next week I'm leaving for a 10-day camping trip where I won't have much control over the food. I'll be packing some safe foods for the times when other options feel too triggering. But there are also plans for pastry shops, ice cream, burger places, and other restaurants while we're in town with my partner's family.

While we're away, our neighbor is watching our cat. I told him I'd bake him something as a thank-you. Looking up recipes has my binge brain trying to convince me to make two cheesecakes so I can eat one myself.

The thing is, I don't want to go into this trip feeling bloated, uncomfortable, or disappointed in myself. I'm really trying to hold off. Even so, the urges are incredibly strong today, and my binge brain keeps trying to negotiate ways I can binge over the next few days.

Today marks 5 days binge free, and I'm definitely feeling how hard this part can be.

For the past month, I haven't been able to resist an urge once it hits. I'm up >!8 pounds!< after losing >!35!< this past year in recovery and feel really terrible about myself. I've been stuck in a cycle of restricting one day and binging the next, usually every other day. I went 54 days with no binging between march and April. Since May I have been having way more episodes. I’d just given up on saying no to urges.

Yesterday was different.

I ate pretty normally. Before work, I had a bite of my partner's lunch, and it triggered me immediately. It was this greasy, saucy wrap with fried chicken and pickles, and it tasted so much better than my tuna salad.

Then I got to work. There were candies, chips, and donuts in the break room. We were so slow that I was practically running laps trying not to binge. I know that feeling right before I give in, when I start telling myself I'll just start over tomorrow. It hit hard.

Instead of giving in, I just sat with it. Honestly, it was awful. My mouth was watering, my mind was racing, and I felt completely consumed by the urge.

But I didn't binge.

Eventually work got busy, and I didn't have time to think about food until I ate the snack I'd packed about four hours later. After work, I ate my usual meal prep dinner. Later that night, my boyfriend asked if I was in a place where I could eat ice cream without it triggering me. He doesn't struggle with food, but he knows I've been deep in this cycle. Instead of asking if I wanted some, he asked in a way that helped me stop and think. I realized that eating sugar before bed would probably send me straight into a binge, so I turned it down.

This morning, I woke up and the scale was down a little. I'm mostly weighing myself for data so I can see the reality of my actions, and I'm hoping to lose some of the bloating and water weight I've put on. More than that, though, I was genuinely grateful that I'd made it through the urge.

It was the first time in a while that the urge didn't win.

It was miserable in the moment, but waking up today reminded me that it was worth it.

Awaiting an OCD assessment with a new therapist and psychiatrist. I have many symptoms, but I'm wondering if my binge/restrict eating cycle could be related as well. I was hoping to reach out and see if anyone else has experienced something similar.

I do extremely well with routines and schedules that I've predetermined. If I've made all of the decisions in a way that feels right, I have no issues with eating. But if I have even one day where my safe routine is disrupted, I quickly and compulsively overeat. I'm talking 7,000+ calories in a day.

It doesn't usually feel emotional. It feels more like a compulsion driven by anxiety or irritation when my day isn't structured the way I expected. Is this a symptom?

Has anyone here been diagnosed with both OCD
and BED?

I’m going in for an OCD assessment soon because a lot of my struggles with food seem to be rooted more in compulsions than emotions. I really struggle when I feel out of control, off schedule, or like I’m not being as disciplined or "optimal" as I think I should be. I tend to binge when things don’t go according to my strict plan for my diet, routine, or lifestyle.
After talking with my therapist, she thinks there could be a connection between OCD and my binge eating, so I wanted to see if anyone else has had a similar experience.
If you’ve been diagnosed with both, I’d love to know:

Have you noticed a connection between your OCD and binge eating?

Has OCD treatment, especially medication or ERP therapy, helped reduce your binge episodes?

My younger brother relapsed in his leukemia. I found out yesterday.

I feel so strange. On one hand, it feels selfish that all I want to do is eat compulsively and gorge myself to numb the anger I have at the world. On the other hand, I feel guilty for even having an appetite. Like I "should" want to restrict right now. If I was "normal," wouldn't I have no appetite?

I already binged on July 4th after planning to make July a binge-free month. Now the urge feels even stronger.

But yesterday, after hearing the news, I still meal prepped for myself. I still went healthy grocery shopping, even though all I wanted to do was spend my whole paycheck on milkshakes and cheesecake.

I don't really know what to make of any of these feelings. I'm just trying to get through today.

On top of everything my therapist told me yesterday (good timing right) that she’s leaving the office and not carrying over clients.

I feel like a hypocrite getting people motivated not to binge on this sub and then binging. I binged yesterday :(. Embarrassingly and in front of a bunch of people. Trying to remind myself that I’m allowed to eat today. But I don’t feel worthy of it. This is stupid.

With the Fourth of July here, I know many of us will be surrounded by barbecues, ice cream, desserts, fried foods, and celebrations. I wanted to write this as much for myself as for anyone else.

A holiday doesn't have to become a binge day.

Yes, the food will be there, but it doesn't have to dictate how your day unfolds. Instead, focus on what the holiday is really about for you. Spend quality time with friends and family, enjoy the warm weather, laugh late into the evening, and watch fireworks with the people you care about.

It doesn't have to be a day of losing control, and you don't have to isolate yourself out of fear of what might happen with food.

Think about how you can prepare yourself. My plan is to stick to my normal routine. I'll eat breakfast and lunch as I usually would, and I may even have a dinner planned that feels safe and satisfying for me. I'll avoid foods that I know are triggering because, for me, once I start, it's incredibly difficult to stop.

But we're all different. For someone else, restriction itself might be the trigger. If that's you, your plan may look completely different, and that's okay.

The important thing is to know yourself. Make a plan that supports your recovery while still allowing you to be present for the holiday.

Don't let food addiction steal another evening from you. The memories you'll make with the people around you are worth so much more than a binge.

Take care of yourselves, and have a safe and happy Fourth of July.
(P.S day three no binging for all of July! Going strong!)

Great success! Here we go day two. I think I’ll check in every couple of days for accountability:) good luck all!

My goal is to not binge for all of July- I made a post about it the other day and received a lot of support and others wanting to do it with me. I’m not sure what the best way to make a public group chat with everyone is- so let me know if you have a recommendation!
My issue is that because I solidified that I don’t want to binge all of July, I binged hard yesterday. Woke up with an extra 10 pounds of fluid and bloating. It’s ridiculous. I did it to myself. This is a new month, a new day. I’m gonna hold myself to these next 31 days. I want to recover from this.

I love them when I’m not binging, hate them when I have to restart them. I feel anxious about “timing” them correctly. What’re other people’s thoughts?

Okay y'all. I binged yesterday, but I didn't binge today, which is a huge win considering my binges have recently been turning into 2 to 3 day binging episodes.
With the 4th of July coming up, a trip at the end of the month that goes into the first week of August, and all the other fun summer plans, I want to challenge myself (and you!) to go the entire month of July without binging.
My goal is to stay consistent with my routine and my meals so that when the inevitable holidays, vacations, and celebrations come around, I can trust myself and my body to navigate those stressful or triggering moments. I don't want holidays to automatically mean binging anymore.
I can't keep letting binging define my celebrations. Too many weddings, birthdays, holidays, concerts, and camping trips have a binge memory attached to them. I'm ready to change that.
Who's in? Let's make July about making memories, not binge memories.

I always need a little something sweet, but sugar is also one of the things that triggers my binges a lot of the time. I also tend to eat sweets way too fast and don't feel satisfied by them, even when I slow down.
I got the Dally konjac jelly packs, and I snacked on one for about 10 to 15 minutes while drinking some tea. It was my first time trying them, and they checked a lot of boxes for me. They fulfilled my need for something sweet, satisfied my sensory need to eat something with a fun texture, and I didn't binge on them.
I'm not sure if this is helpful, but I'm on day 4 of no binging. I went to the store to get tea to help with my current urges, and that's when I saw these. They definitely didn't fill me up or satisfy actual hunger, but they gave me something to snack on without making me spiral.

I am a 24F, 5'8", and about 138 pounds. I started my weight loss journey in April 2025 and have gone from 169 pounds to 138 pounds. I did hit a low of 133 once but it came out of nowhere and didn’t last long- I swear I was just ultra dehydrated or something.
My goal is to maintain around 130 pounds.
I go to the gym 4 to 5 times per week, but I seem to have hit a plateau. I've gained a good amount of muscle, but I still want to get leaner, especially in my thighs and arms where I carry stubborn fat.
I've been maintaining my weight on about 1,800 calories for a while. I was thinking about dropping to 1,500 calories to lose the last 8 pounds before slowly increasing calories back to maintenance. Is 1,500 calories too low? Do I risk losing muscle mass? My goal is to get as lean and defined as possible.

TW for mention of p*rging.

I’m so done with this disorder. Any joy that was a part of the actual binge has been stripped away from it at this point. I don’t want to do it, I don’t enjoy it. The food never “hits” the way it’s supposed to. I binged all day today.
Mindless. Eating.
I didn’t even really have the urge. I just caved because I figured I would eventually binge again so why not save myself the disappointment later on and just do it now.
I didn’t even want to binge. I just did it.
I binged multiple times and proceeded to make myself p*rge multiple times. I’ve never made myself throw up before. I’m so ashamed. It was the most vile dissociative experience I’ve ever had. I’m done. I actually think I prefer the feeling of being hungry and getting to eat a meal and stop when I’m done with it than feel this fucking full.
I went to a wedding party and I couldn’t even stand or drink water or alcohol at a close friend’s party because I was so sick from just eating all day. I wore a loose and unflattering shirt and felt how distended and uncomfortable my stomach was. Worst part is I still tried to keep eating, I just physically couldn’t do it. That’s the only thing that stopped me. The wedding is tomorrow and honestly at this point I’m not even intimidated by the cake or food. I feel more prepared now to move forward without ever binging again. Because this is nothing to want. This feeling that I’m chasing is empty. It doesn’t exist. There used to at least be some pay off in the enjoyment of the food but I just don’t enjoy it anymore.
I’m not even feeling guilt about the binge. I’m more so just fucking over doing it. This is gonna be the binge that ends binging for me I swear to myself.

For context, I’ve struggled with binge eating my whole life. I spent the last year in and out of deficits and successfully losing some weight. Before then, I never purged unless I felt physically ill and it was already happening on its own.

Recently, though, I’ve started making myself purge after binges, and it’s something I’m becoming concerned about- because now I’m falling back on it as a safety net for my binges.

Is there a progression from BED into purging behaviors like this? Is this something others have experienced? I feel very familiar with the BED world and community, but I haven’t learned as much about bulimia, so I’m not sure whether this could be a sign that I’m developing it or whether I should be seeking additional support.

I do have a therapist that I talk to about my binge eating, but I haven’t told them about the purging yet. Part of why I’m asking is because I’m trying to understand how concerned I should be and whether this is something I need to bring up sooner rather than later.

I’m sorry if this is triggering or insensitive. I’m asking because I’m worried about where these behaviors might lead and want to better understand what’s happening.