MY HEALTHED STORY

While my career path seemed to be going great my life and mind where not. I was very insecure about the way I looked and started watching what I eat and working out a ton. I discover that binging a purging was a great way to "control" my weight. What I have learned and what I want to help you with is that this is not true. You are NOT in control of your Bulimia, but you can be. It was not until 2 years ago that I learned that by Bulimia was the cause of my physical body trying to over come this starvation mode I had put it though. I will talk more about this later but when I learned that this was physical and that I was not crazy my life changed. I thought I had been crazy. I had been told that I was Bipolar dealing with depression and anxiety and thats what casted the bulimia but it was the complete opposite the bulimia cased everything! I had been married for 5 years and that ended because I was not able to make thought through desitions. I can't wait to share with you this sciences behind this. Please reach out and ask me anything you would like.
My passion is to help women live life to their fullest potential. I am on a mission to stop eating disorders and self insecurity. Lets build each other up! Though the power of mindful living one day at a time.

UNDERSTANDING BINGE EATING & BULIMIA

The desire to binge has A LOT to do with food and is MOSTLY a physical / biological condition. Due to food restriction and continual purging most bulimics/binge eaters are severely malnourished and are suffering the side effects of starvation. Studies show that the effects of starvation are incredibly similar to that of eating disorders (Polivy & Herman, 1976). They also show that many of the symptoms that might have been thought to be specific to anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are actually the results of starvation! (Pirke & Ploog, 1987).

Simply put, research has shown that a restrictive diet (and bingeing and purging/fasting is a form of restriction) can lead to every single symptom of bulimia. This is happening because your body thinks that you are in the middle of a famine and it is doing everything it can to ensure you are eating enough food.

To recover, we need to remove the starvation state, you need to teach your body that the famine is over. To do this you need to provide your body with regular, balanced, adequate food.

Weight in recovery

Research shows that most people with bulimia (who are in the healthy weight range and who adopt regular eating habits and don't purge) end up within 1kg of where they started, and some even lose weight (http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au). This is usually your set point weight.

If you are underweight at the start of recovery you need to be prepared to gain some "needed" weight.
If you are overweight at the start of recovery you'll likely lose some weight during recovery, although weight loss tends to be very gradual.
If you are within the "normal" weight range for your height and build then you may gain a little weight, but the chances are that you will end up at a very similar weight once you are fully recovered.

STAGE 1 IN RECOVERY: STRUCTURED EATING

This is one of most powerful things you can do to reduce the urge to binge. By following the steps in this stage you can expect around a massive 50% to 90% of reduction in your binge urges.

To begin with...

Visit your doctor for a check up before starting any self-help program.
Aim to eat at least three meals and three snacks every day, ensuring you eat (at least) every three hours in the day.
Don't wait for hunger, eat according to the clock. It can help to set your times prior to starting.
For now, stay safe and stick to foods you feel comfortable eating.
Next, ensure you have a portion of fat, carbs and protein in each of your meals (preferably snacks too). This will help rebalance blood sugars, provide nutrition and reduce binge urges. The more balanced the meals the better, but only eat foods that you are comfortable with.
Finally over the next few weeks gradually increase the size of your portions until you are eating around the recommended calorie amount for your age, height and activity level and body type. Give your body time to adjust. You don’t want to feel uncomfortably full and risk purging. After a few weeks if you are still regularly binging then you may need to increase the amount you are eating with each meal.

If you binge, or binge and purge you must still stick to your structured eating plan.

Your weight will fluctuate a little during this period. This is normal, do not panic! (your weight will not balloon out of control.) Everyone experiences bloating at the start of recovery for around a month and it’s absolutely 100% perfectly natural, and normal. Research shows that most people with bulimia (who are in the healthy weight range and who adopt to regular eating habits and don't purge) end up within 1kg of where they started, and some even lose weight (http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au).

It's all about trust between you and your body... keep reminding yourself that you’re not broken or ruined by bulimia and you can get normal back. It is very common to experience an increase in emotional mood swings at the start of your recovery. This is part of the process of change. This is to be expected. and in time it will calm down a lot.

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STAGE 2 IN RECOVERY: STOP BINGEING AND PURGING

If you have had bulimia for a long time, your brain may have been conditioned at a subconscious level to have stronger cravings for food under certain emotional conditions. This is simply an automatic habitual reaction and it has nothing to do with your personality, upbringing or self esteem. We can remove these binge urges by applying the Accept, Distract and Delay technique.

You are not expected to just stop bingeing. But if you do binge do try to resist purging.

You can also use the A.D.D Technique to prevent purging.

If you do binge try to avoid going into the binge trance by eating with full awareness of what you are doing, when you are doing it.
This can help to reduce the intensity and duration of the binge.

Realize that purging is not effective for weight management.
Aim to lower your stress levels by taking a time out each day to relax Ensure you get a good nights sleep.
Remove any potential triggers from your home environment.
Keep yourself busy throughout the day to help keep you distracted. Create a new routine for after meals to help prevent purging
Cut back on excessive exercise and laxatives gradually.

Understand that there is no such thing as a perfect recovery. EVERYONE relapses along the way, but these episodes of relapse provide invaluable learning experiences. After a relapse, give yourself 5-10 minutes to figure out why it happened and how you can be better prepared in future.

Remember, at any moment you can stop the binge-purge cycle, even when you think you've already taking actions towards a binge.

STAGE 3 IN RECOVERY: MAKING PEACE WITH FOOD

By listening to your body very closely you can learn from it.
To help us make peace with food we want to get out of the habit of labeling foods as good and bad, instead label foods as “sometimes foods” and “all the time foods”.
To help us overcome our harmful food rules, we can start adding portions of our favorite “sometimes” foods to our meal plan. Over time build up to including one or two portions of your “sometimes” foods to your meal plan every day.
It can really help to start to get into the habit of eating slower. You don’t have to eat at a snails pace, just start eating your meals a little slower than usual. In time this will help you to accurately eat the right amount of food that is perfect for you.
Paying attention will also really help you to understand the intimate relationship between food and your body. You will get a better understanding of what foods really satisfy your needs and how much you really need to eat in order to feel comfortably satisfied.
It can also really help to eat all your meals in one place. Make it pleasurable and relaxing. Sit down when eating; perhaps try lighting a candle or playing relaxing music.
Begin to ask yourself "How hungry am I and what does it feel like?" multiple times throughout the day. This will help you to reconnect, understand and trust your hunger.

STAGE 4 IN RECOVERY: SELF ACCEPTANCESTAGE 4 IN RECOVERY: SELF ACCEPTANCE

As crazy as this sounds, the best way to feel thinner and happier is to stop restricting and

to allow yourself to reach your natural healthy set point weight.

Once you stop binge eating and purging, and begin eating in a healthy, balanced way, many biological and physiological changes will occur in your body. As a direct result of these changes, the amount of body-negativity you experience will decrease and your obsessive thought patterns will diminish (Fairburn, Marcus, et al., 1993).

Realistically you're going to need to wait for at least 6 months, and maybe a little longer, for those natural improvements to take effect.

Changing the way you feel about yourself and losing that desire to lose weight or achieve the perfect body will take time. It's a process. So for now just keep focusing on your freedom and keep discovering how incredible life can be once bulimia is out of the picture.

Action Step:

Make a list of your positive attributes and review it whenever you are in need of a self- esteem boost.
Delete or remove anything that is not recovery-friendly from your phone, computer, and tablet.
Throw away glossy magazines and consider changing your TV viewing habits.
Get rid of your “skinny” clothes.
Commit to avoiding toxic conversations, situations, and people.
Set some body checking limits and actively reducing the amount of time you would usually spend agonizing over the way you look
Throw away your scale! Don’t rely on a scale to inform you of your progress. Your mood, energy levels, reduction in binge urges and improving relationship with food and your body will tell you all you need to know about your progres.

STAGE 5 IN RECOVERY: INTUITIVE EATING

Intuitive eating is an extremely powerful and simple way to eat food that will allow
you to maintain a healthy weight for life without any pain, suffering, rules or plans.
This is an advanced stage of recovery. Only start this stage once you have stopped bingeing and purging and are able to listen to and trust your hunger signals.