I Suffered from Binge Eating Disorder...

It’s Monday- the first day a week.

Like every Monday, you wake up feeling confident and ready to conquer the day. NOTHING can stop you!
And so, the day goes on. You have a stressful and busy day at work or at school and you’re feeling overwhelmed with so things to do. The kids are driving you absolutely BANANAS. I know you have a lot on your mind.

There’s no time for the gym. No time to eat normally throughout the day. No time for yourself.
Before you know it, you find yourself in the kitchen late at night, binging on all the food to deal with those pent-up emotions. 

It is here, late at night, in the kitchen, that you finally have some time to yourself. No one is watching you. It’s just you and your comfort food. Food is your escape.
 
It’s Tuesday morning.

You wake up out of a food coma, feeling the effects from the night before. Your joints hurt and your knees ache. Your face is puffy and the numbers on the scale are bigger. You’re not even hungry for breakfast, maybe not even for lunch.

You’re mad at yourself for allowing your late-night snack to spiral out of control into a full-blown binge so you decide to restrict your food intake for the rest of the day- again.
You have yet another stressful and busy day at work and yet another late-night binge.
 
And so, the cycle continues.
I know because I’ve been there...  
 
Inside a binge is deep and dark.
I remember going to bed every single night after a late-night binge hoping and praying that everything would be alright…
…that I would wake up tomorrow with a blank slate - feeling better and more motivated.
…that I would finally be able to snap out of it, take back control, and reach my fat loss goals once and for all!

I remember asking myself if there was something wrong with me.
WHY  couldn’t I just put down the food? 
WHY didn't I have any self-control?
WHY… WHY… WHY...?
But I never had any answers. 
 
All throughout high school (and much of college), I was carrying around a lot of emotional baggage. I thought I was miserable because of my weight, so I would obsess over it.
“If only I were 10 lbs. lighter, I’d be so much happier.”
 
But the truth was that I lost those 10 lbs. with ease and I was STILL unhappy! Then I regained the weight (and then some) even faster than I had lost it.

I was so embarrassed. My confidence was at an all-time low. Some days, I didn't even want to get out of bed or look in the mirror. 

With the help of a good friend, I quickly realized that something else was going on- something that had absolutely nothing to do with my food or my weight.
 
“The bottom line, whether you weigh 340 pounds or 150 pounds, is that when you eat when you are not hungry, you are using food as a drug, grappling with boredom or illnesses or loss or grief or emptiness or loneliness or rejection. Food is only the middleman, the means to the end. Of altering your emotions. Of making yourself numb…For a variety of reasons we don’t fully understand (genetics, temperament, environment), those of us who are compulsive eaters choose food. Not because of its taste. Not because of its texture or its color. We want quantity, volume, bulk. We need it—a lot of it—to go unconscious. To wipe out what’s going on. The unconsciousness is what’s important. Not the food…”
--Genene Roth
 
If you’re an emotional eater or if you suffer from occasional binges, I want you to know that YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!! 

I got help and you can, too! 

Seek the help of a Registered Dietitian (RD) and a qualified health care professional so you overcome this obstacle, stop using food as a drug, and start living your most fulfilling life!

To schedule your FREE 15-minute nutrition consult, please email me at  saradelucaRDCPT@gmail.com or visit www.fitRDeLuca.com for more info!

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