Are You
A Binge Eater?

by Trisha Gura

Everyone overeats occasionally. There's the food feast at Thanksgiving, and the dinner party where you toss down far too many appetizers.  But there’s a much more serious condition involving overindulgence, called binge eating disorder, which affects more people than anorexia and bulimia combined. Binge eating makes people obese and can be life-threatening.

Here are seven key questions to help you decide whether you have binge eating disorder:

1.    Have you ever eaten a huge amount of food in a short period of time (more than 2,000 calories in under 2 hours)? People who binge eat a lot all at once and feel helpless to stop until uncomfortably full.

2.    Do you ever shovel food down, barely chewing or tasting what you are eating?  People who binge use food as an anesthetic for agitation, anxiety, anger, or other uncomfortable feelings, psychologically stuffing down negative emotions before they can reach the surface.

3.    Do you sometimes (perhaps often) eat alone and in secret? People who binge feel ashamed, so they cut off social contacts, relying on food as their friend.

4.    Are your cravings so strong that you eat frozen or scalding hot food?  People who binge feel so driven that they can't wait for food to thaw or cool down.

5.    Have you ever eaten food from your trash? People often know a binge is coming on and throw food away in the hopes of thwarting the urge. But they typically retrieve the food from the trash and binge anyway.

6.    Have you ever mixed strange or unpalatable foods (such as adding chili peppers to ice cream)? People who binge do this as an attempt to preempt binge eating. One woman would drop her son off at preschool every day, return home, and put all the leftovers from the night before into a pot with water. She'd combine fried chicken with salad and cake, stew the ingredients for 20 minutes, then eat the horrid concoction. She hoped the nausea from the mixture would keep her from binging. It didn't.

7.    Have you ever gone to great lengths to procure your favorite foods, which often are also your "forbidden foods" (such as chocolate, ice cream, or junk food)?  A person who binges might drive to a convenience store at 2 a.m. to buy the perfect chocolate brownie mix, then bake and eat the entire panful. As with a substance abuse problem, nothing short of shackles and chains will stop them.

Binge eating is treatable, especially if you catch it early. So don't postpone getting help. You are not alone. There are at least 4 million Americans like you, nearly 40 percent of them men.

Treatment, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, focuses on both your behaviors and the feelings behind them. Remember: it's your mind, your body, and your life. And you can take charge. Today.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR  Trisha Gura is the author of Lying in Weight: the Hidden Epidemic of Eating Disorders in Adult Women. Visit her online at trishagura.com.