by roundcoconut » Wed Apr 01, 2015 8:48 pm
Greenteen, you may benefit from reading as much literature as you can by people who deeply understand food addictions.
Check out people like Kay Sheppard and Joan Ifland, who deeply understand food addictions (which is what binge eating comes from -- a chemical reaction to particular foods, or even from binge eating large quantities of healthy foods), but whose solutions do not incorporate a plant-based diet. There is also this new woman Susan Peirce Something, whose Bright Lines Eating is perfect for binge eaters, and whose program is easily adapted to a whole foods plant based life.
What I can tell you from personal experience with all of this, is that you absolutely *can* heal your relationship with food, heal any shame about binge eating episodes (lots of people have dealt with this -- you're far from unique), and feel sane and safe around food.
Part of the prescription is developing behaviors that define certain foods and certain eating as strictly off limits. So, if you decide that mealtimes are at 9-ish, noonish, and then again at 5ish, then unless it's one of those times, then your job is to do *anything* in the living room or in the library or at the gym. (You are to away from kitchens, restaurants, and convenience stores.)
Also off-limits: foods that trigger binge behaviors. If you have binged on it in the past (except for whole foods that have been part of binges, because most whole foods need to stay), then it is strictly off-limits. This usually means all types of sugars (even fake ones), including maple syrup, honey, brown sugar or brown rice syrup. This usually means flour, or anything containing flour. And this usually means fatty and salty foods.
I find an SOS-free diet (sugar-oil-salt-free) to be best for me and my binge-eating tendencies as well. Salt is by far the mildest of the three, but I still do best even casting that out of my circle of acquaintances. Some food addicts need to restrict nuts. I do not eat nuts as part of my food plan, and I believe that's for the best.
You also need to establish a quantity for how much you will eat at each meal. It can be as simple as saying, "Anything that fits on one plate, even if that plate is mounded up with food, is fair game." For me, anything that fits in a large-ish saucepan is fair game, plus I do munch on some raw veggies as I prepare my meal.
Needless to say, do the best with your environment. Read Kay Sheppard's book "From the First Bite" -- you really need to plan your environment to seldom be in difficult situations, and you need to know how to resist like the dickens when your friends encourage you to eat a little bit of this, a little bit of this. It's not easy at first, but once people get used to you saying, "I won't eat any granola" then it's not such a shock when you say it a third time, or a fourth or a fifth.
Needless to say, your therapist has no experience with food addicts -- most people don't. It's not your job to educate them, but please understand that they are misinformed. If you want to point them to the work of Kay Sheppard, Joan Ifland' or Susan Pierce, maybe they will develop some understanding. But they are worse than useless until they inform themselves.
Best of luck! You've got work to do, but it's good work. I hope you succeed, and want to hear all about it as you go.
Quick note: eat starch at every meal. Doesn't have to be a ton, but if you don't have the calorie density of starch somewhere in the mix of every single meal, then you will be triggered to binge eat. I've learned this one first-hand so please trust me. Two medium potatoes, or a cup of brown rice is probably about right as a starting point, and then adjust up or down depending on how you are responding.