Archive for April, 2008

I just finished updating my profile on my Shine blog.  (You should check it out: http://tinyurl.com/4nwor2) 

I thought it would be a good idea to say something like “A fast food binge used to include x amount of calories”…  So I set out to figure out how much I used to eat.  Of course, I thought I would share it with you, you know, so you don’t think you are alone in this.

Here goes:

Taco Bell:
Bean Burrito, sans onions      350 calories, 9g of fat
Nachos                                      330 calories, 21g of fat
Soft Taco                                  200 calories, 9g of fat

Sonic:
Cheddar Peppers                    290 calories, 17g of fat
Ranch Dressing                       260 calories, 28g of fat
Tator Tots w/ Cheese            290 calories, 19g of fat
Coney Dog                                600 calories, 33g of fat

McDonald’s:
Quarter Pounder w/ Cheese 510 calories, 26g of fat
Fries                                          380 calories, 20g of fat

TOTALS:
3210 calories and 182 grams of fat

And just for the fun of it, I’m going to throw in a few pictures of me while I was knee-high deep in binge eating.

See, I was right there where you might be…  Don’t lose hope because you can get out of the bingeing cycle.  You have to have patience and work at it.  You have to know that you might fall down (and that is ok), but that’s it more important to pick yourself right back up.  You have to keep trying.  I did and I know you can too.

I’m back from one of the most fun girl weekends I’ve had in a long time!!  It was great hanging out with my friends and celebrating such a special time.

Since it was in Dallas, I decided to drive there.  It’s only about 3 hours from where I live, so I made some fun CDs to prepare for my road trip.  I think I was so excited on the way that I couldn’t think about anything else.  I was singing and dancing at the top of my lungs =) 

On the way back, I was so tired from only getting 4 hours of sleep the night before so my mind started to drift.  I needed to eat lunch, so I stopped somewhere and then I remembered that this road trip was the first one that I’ve taken by myself since college… which is when I would binge eat.  Of course I started thinking about that…

I would drive from Lubbock to Houston (which varies from 8-10 hours of being in the car) and it would be my excuse to just binge and binge.  I guess it was probably from boredom, but it was also just because I could.  I was alone and there were tons of fast food places on the side of the road.  I clearly had my pick of whatever I wanted.

This is back when I ate meat and I one of my favorite binge places was McDonald’s.  I would order a Quarter Pounder with cheese, fries, and a Dr. Pepper.  I felt a rush immediately.

Hopefully I would see a Sonic because I loved cheddar peppers with ranch, a coney dog, and tator tots with cheese. 

A binge for me wouldn’t be complete without Taco Bell…  a bean burrito, nachos supreme, and a soft taco.  Of course since I was on the road, I would have to be careful so that no one would see me eat.  I was (and still am) weird about this when I was driving.  It felt like I was exposing myself too much and that some random driver would know my secret.

Do any of you do this?  

It was such a rush to have all of these food choices in front of me and I just couldn’t eat it fast enough…  Of course this was hard since I was driving, so sometimes I would pull over to a place that seemed deserted to binge. 

I would love to hear from any of you that do this, so please share if you can.

Hi everyone,

I found a couple of videos on binge eating that I wanted to share with you today.  Click the play button on the video for it to play.

Binge Eating Video Part I.

Binge Eating Video Part II.

A new survey was released about disordered eating and was sponsored by SELF Magazine in partnership with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  This survey of American women between the ages of 25 and 45 discovered that a total of 75% of all American women have unhealthy thoughts, feelings, or behaviors related to food or their bodies. 

This survey came from 4,023 women and proved that all age limits and even ethnic backgrounds are affected.  There is not one specific group that has more disordered eating tendencies.  This may be interesting to you because before I started studying binge eating, I figured that it was mostly white women between the ages of teenage years to upper 20’s.  I wasn’t discriminating against anyone, but it seems like my friends that are not white are so much happier with their bodies.  They love their curves, or their slightest bigger butt. 

This survey was done so that women can begin to love their bodies and not be so obsessive about themselves.  You can find a report in the May 2008 issue of SELF that provides tips to help women find a balance in their approach to eating.  Some of the tips include:  separating mood from food, eliminating extreme thinking, eating breakfast, and finding realistic body role models. 

I really am excited that SELF is putting these tips out - I haven’t gotten the magazine yet, but I really hope they are good.  The topics sound great and I believe in them all!  I really think that this will help out everyone, whether they have binge eating or not.  So many people go on random diets that are so unhealthy just to lose a couple of pounds…  they probably end up doing more damage than anything.

Some other interesting facts that would found in this study include:

• 75% of women report disordered eating behaviors or symptoms consistent with eating disorders; so three out of four have an unhealthy relationship with food or their bodies
• 67% of women (excluding those with actual eating disorders) are trying to lose weight
• 53% of dieters are already at a healthy weight and are still trying to lose weight
• 39% of women say concerns about what they eat or weigh interfere with their happiness
• 37% regularly skip meals to try to lose weight
• 27% would be “extremely upset” if they gained just five pounds
• 26% cut out entire food groups
• 16% have dieted on 1,000 calories a day or fewer
• 13% smoke to lose weight
• 12% often eat when they’re not hungry; 49% sometimes do

Women can take a version of the survey at http://www.self.com to see how they compare with other readers’ answers and share their thoughts in the Hot Topics section of the magazine’s Web site.

Thanks to http://psychcentral.com/ for the information.

I wanted to share the news with you real fast before I go out for a walk…

I’ve decided to do another binge eating eCourse.  It will focus on mind and body transformation so that you can learn to feel good and accept yourself.  You can see all the details here:

http://www.endbingeeating.com/special.html

Take a look at the offer and if it sounds like something you are interested in - all you have to do is enroll!

If you have any questions about the eCourse, send me an email - I’m always happy to help!

OK, my dog is begging me to take her for a walk now…  Gotta go! 

I’m off to Dallas for the weekend for my best friend Leslie’s bachelorette party!!  I am so excited about having a girl’s weekend!

It seems like there has been so much exciting things going on in my life lately and I feel so lucky that I am binge-free.  If I was still bingeing, I don’t know how excited I would be about any of the activities I’ve been doing lately.  Like I’ve mentioned a bazillion times before, I just wasn’t comfortable with myself and would have much rathered staying inside. 

I would have dreaded a weekend like this a few years ago.  Are you doing everything that you want to be doing in your life, or is binge eating holding you back?  Take control of your binge eating so that you can live your life without worrying about bingeing.

Here is a picture from my bachelorette party with Leslie:

I hope you all have a great weekend!!

Last night I was thinking about all I need to do really provide help for you all on my site.  Rob went to play poker and I had the house to myself.  I was thinking about what I would need from someone that beat binge eating disorder. 

What advice or tools would really help me end the struggle with bingeing?

As I was pondering over this, I remembered what it was like years ago when Rob went out somewhere.  The feelings of bingeing would flood my head and I would be consumed with finding enough food to fill my mouth in the quickest amount of time.  I would leave the house with my keys and my wallet and be on my way. 

Candy.
Chips.
Fast food.
Cookies.

I wanted it ALL. 

When I would come back home with all the food, I would just binge and binge until it was all good.  Don’t get me wrong, satisfaction was sure there, but only for the first few bites.  Throughout the rest of the time eating, I was just going through the motions.  When I was done, I felt guilty.  Sad.  Disappointed.  You name it and I felt it.

Back to last night…  The advice I would give someone now (who was like me and planned the binge as I did) would be to schedule something so that you are not alone. 

Make plans with friends. 
Go for a walk. 
Plan a dinner out with people so that you don’t binge. 
Get a massage. 
Paint your nails. 
Whiten your teeth (you can’t eat or drink with those on)
Take a bath.
Call a friend. 

While all of these things seems obvious, it is harder than it looks.  I was moody and so very grumpy when I took myself out of my binge eating situation.  It was such a fight and a struggle, but I won…  and you can too.  Just give it a try and show yourself that you are worth more than bingeing!

I’d also love to hear what “tricks” you use as distractions from binge eating!  Feel free to leave a comment - You never know who will read it and find it helpful!

I thought it might be fun to include some pictures of my wedding day.  I haven’t gotten a chance to include any in a newsletter, so I thought this would be the perfect place to post! 

I hope you enjoy them!

Husband and Wife!

My Dad, Mom, Me, Rob, and my Brother

Me with my Bridesmaids

Cutting the Cake

Me & my Maid of Honor

Our Last Dance.  It was just us (minus the videographer, photographer, and band).

Rose Petals

In the Rolls Royce after a Perfect Day!

What if there was something attached to our mind so that we could record everything that we told ourselves, good and bad?  I bet we would be surprised to realize that we talk worse to ourselves than anyone else does.  We are literally our worst enemy, and this is everyone, not just people that have binge eating disorder. 

Our negative self-talk starts as soon as we wake up in the morning.  It really gets going when we take that first look in the mirror, step on the scale, put on a shirt that’s just a little too snug to make us comfortable, or binge eat.  This is about the time that we start beating ourselves up and take it another step further…  We turn everything about our body into something negative. 

It’s not just about the scale; we obsess about that extra pound.  Instead of looking in the mirror and appreciating something on our face, we go crazy about that pimple that seems so monstrous.  Instead of forgiving ourselves for that last binge, we think way too much about all of the food we consumed three hours ago, which doesn’t help anything.  It’s an endless cycle.

Our fears about our looks naturally lead us to compare ourselves with others all of the time.  We always wonder why we can’t be as pretty, popular, or skinny as her or her or her, or all of the models that stare at us from magazines, television, and movies.  Let’s face it:  We are obsessed, but will never win when we put ourselves up against stylists, airbrushes, and plastic surgeons.   

It’s very normal to compare ourselves.  It’s just part of human nature.  However, it is so detrimental to our own happiness, not to mention when we are trying to end binge eating disorder. 

If we must compare ourselves to someone else, what if we did it in a more healthy way?  Instead of wishing we looked like Jessica Alba or Angelina Jolie, how about being thankful for the legs that are still attached to our body instead of the woman that lost hers while fighting for our freedom in Iraq?  How about being thankful that you have both breasts that are healthy instead of a woman that is battling breast cancer?  At least this kind of comparison will tap into our reserves of empathy and gratitude instead of endless self-judgments, fears, and jealousy.

When you live your life with gratitude for your situation, things just don’t seem as bad.  Work daily on the fight against binge eating disorder and notice all of your successes.  Be thankful for your life, binges and all, because it really could always be worse, but at least you can gain control over bingeing.  The same can’t be said for losing your legs.