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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    why am i bingeing so much now?

    Related Topics
    Eating Disorders Mental Health
    Im recovering from eating disorders anorexia/bulimia,been recovering for a year now but last 2 weeks ive been bingeing heaps & not purging like i used to in the past but im worried that now im going to turn obese,whats happening to me? Im 165cm tall & weigh 45kg,ive put on 4kg since bingeing.
    • 2 answers
    • The Butterfly Foundation
    • Emma Webster
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  • The Butterfly Foundation

    The Butterfly Foundation was founded in August 2002 by Claire Vickery who found many ‘gaps’ in the public health system for those experiencing eating disorders. … View Profile

    Quite often what happens is that your body is trying to find a balance as it has been deprived of food for so long and is out of routine. Sometimes when you have not been eating for a long time, your body will suddenly crave food and this is not an unhealthy thing. At your height and weight, you would have to be eating huge amounts of food constantly to become obese. I know that this would be worrying you and I can appreciate this. But rest assured, you would have to consume an enormous amount of food to become extremely overweigh. However, it would be good to go and talk with your doctor or person that is your health professional about this so that they can monitor how you are going.

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  • Emma Webster

    Clinical Psychologist, Psychologist

    I am a warm, supportive and compassionate therapist, committed to assisting my clients to connect to their inner wisdom and strength, to develop mindful awareness … View Profile

    Recovering from an eating disorder is a really difficult process. It sounds like you have started taking steps to nurture yourself by having stopped the purging. This is a big step and a good thing as purging can encourage futher binge eating and health difficulties.

    I can appreciate you being very concerned about your appearance and weight and wanting to know what will happen to your weight as you continue on the recovery process. I agree with the comment above, that your body might start craving food in the initial stages as a result of being deprived for so long, and that this is a healthy process which normalises over time if you listen and respond to your body. It sounds like your weight continues to be in the low range and I'm wondering if it is the result of continuing to restrict food intake or dieting? If this is the case, continuing to restrict and remaining underweight contributes to the binge eating and treatment addressing this behaviour will reduce the risk of binging and uncontrolled weight gain. At your weight level, weight gain would actually be quite difficult, and as commented above, a huge amount of food would be required to become obese. Fear of becoming obese tends to be the bigger problem and can perpetuate the disorder.

    At this stage it is possible that the best plan may be to focus your efforts on building a healthy relationship to food and overcoming the binge eating problem. For example, introducing regular eating is often recommended which doesn't tend to result in weight gain as the frequency of binge eating drops. Since most binges contain a large amount of calories, reducing their frequency results in an overall drop and regulation of calorie intake.

    At the same time, it's important to start accepting whatever changes occur in weight. Your body tends to work with you and as treatment progresses, it will gradually move to the healthiest and most natural weight level for you. Continually struggling against your biology is a hard battle therefore acceptance around trying to live with your body may be the best move. I can appreciate that this would be difficult advice to hear.

    There are some great resources out there to help you with this process. I would also recommend you to contact your GP or a health professional such as a clinical psychologist specialised in eating problems, to help you along this journey. We would be happy to help if you would like.

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