January 09, 2014

Brain Over Binge

The temp was -7 this morning, so I really didn't have any hope that all of the ice had miraculously melted overnight. Today was another day inside :/

I was SO SORE when I woke up today, thanks to the Ripped in 30 DVD I did yesterday. My whole body aches, but my legs... oh, my legs! I was more sore this morning than I was after running the Chicago Marathon--honest. I briefly thought of skipping my run, but I thought maybe running would actually help with the soreness, so I decided to just take it really easy.

I had four miles on the schedule, and since my treadmill and I have become BFF's over the past three weeks, I got to watch some more of Medium while I ran today. I ended up running an extra half-mile so that I could finish the episode.

I was surprised to see that I burned over 100 calories per mile again! Other than my aching body, the run didn't feel too hard, but my heart rate was up higher than typical for an easy run. I may end up taking it really easy for tomorrow's 12-miler.


As I mentioned in my New Year's post, one of my goals for 2014 is to really work on resolving my binge eating. I've read dozens of books on it over the years, but I never really felt like they were directed at ME... until now. I read a book called Brain Over Binge by Kathryn Hansen (Amazon affiliate link), and it was very different from all the other binge eating books I've read.


It's not about discovering all the triggers and things that cause you to binge (which is what most of the books I've read have been about--I learned that pretty much everything can be a trigger for me!). Instead, it separates binge eating from other issues, and just looks at binge eating in and of itself, separate from your feelings. I didn't really read anything that I didn't already know, but the way the author wrote it all out and explained things really made sense to me.

The author was bulimic for a long time (she didn't vomit, but instead purged by overexercising). She binged several times a week, and the binge eating took over her whole life. One day, she read a book about the brain that was geared toward substance addiction, but made a lot of sense in regards to binge eating. She started looking at her binge urges in at totally different way, and she stopped binge eating cold turkey.

I only just read this book a couple of weeks ago, so I can't say that it's "life changing" or anything just yet. But since finishing the book, I've been binge-free, and I feel really good about it. I still have urges to binge, and have had several opportunities to, but I started looking at the urges differently, and I haven't acted on them. And best of all, I don't feel like I'm walking on egg shells, trying to avoid a binge, knowing it's coming at any moment.

I've been hesitant to write about the book here, because who knows if I'll still be binge-free in a month, a week, or even a couple of days? But it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. I'll update periodically about how it's going. As I was typing this post, I discovered the the author actually has a blog, so I'll be reading some more over there. Here is a link to her blog: The Brain Over Binge Blog. I've read some really positive feedback on this book (from a few of my blog readers), and I wish I'd read it sooner! I think I just never checked it out because I assumed it was geared toward bulimia, and I'm not bulimic. But it's definitely geared toward binge eating, which is a part of bulimia (as the author explains).


The kids' school was canceled AGAIN for tomorrow. A whole extra week of vacation! Can you believe it? That never happened when I was a kid ;)  The high temp tomorrow is supposed to be 36, so I'm praying that it melts all this ice. I'd like to go visit Mark tomorrow.

20 comments:

  1. I want to read this, thanks for the suggestion. I'm currently reading "Overcoming Overeating".

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  2. Thank you for posting about "Brain over Binge" - I checked it out after one of the Motivational Monday postings when it was mentioned. I've struggled with binge/emotional eating despite having bariatric surgery - I went a long time without a binge episode. The ironic thing for me is that I work in a graduate school of social work at a major university and we also have a world renown hospital on our campus so when I decided I needed to tackle my problem I thought I'd be able to look in my own backyard so to speak, but came up empty. There isn't much help out there unless you go to OA or have a diagnosed eating disorder. I'm glad to see though that there are programs starting to be developed and that binge or emotional eating is starting to be recognized as a problem.

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    1. I went to a couple of therapists (and even a psychiatrist) when my binge eating was at its peak... but they pretty much acted like binge eating wasn't a disorder unless I also made myself throw up. It was so frustrating! I didn't go for very long. But I'm really glad that it's being recognized more and more, and there seems to be a lot more help out there for it.

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    2. I am really surprised and disappointed to hear that. (Not as disappointed as you were, I'm sure). The DSM-IV lists Binge Eating Disorder as a classification under the diagnoses Eating Disorder NOS (Not Otherwise Specified). So...it is a "thing" just like bulimia with purging and anorexia are. How frustrating to go to someone for help and get nothing. I'm really sorry!

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  3. I did Jillians 30 Day Shred DVD one day and I was in SO much pain the next day that I could not walk. Binge eating is a problem that I have, I would like to check this book out.

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  4. I always ache after Jillian's dvds, but if you do them a lot, you get used to them. Earlier this year I was doing her workouts twice daily and running a few times a week and that is what got me down to my lowest weight. It's just so hard to keep that up though. I am going to have check out that book. I haven't binged in almost 2 weeks myself. I went for the longest time and rarely did, and this year I struggled with it off and on, mostly from summer on. I had the urge to really bad earlier today, but I didn't.

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  5. Your kids will be paying for it come June and they won't be so happy. ;) At least that's how my district did it, they built it one snow day, and then anything after that we had to make up at the end of the year. :(

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    1. I think we're allowed 4 snow days before they have to be made up. But it's only January, so we may be in trouble come June!

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    2. I think your governor just signed a law allowing schools to lengthen the school day to make up weather days rather than having them tacked on. So, maybe 15 min longer school day for the last few months vs. extra days at the end.

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  6. Kathryn Hansen had a couple of interesting guest appearances at Alan Standish's podcast "Quit Binge Eating" http://quitbingeeating.com/
    She is in episodes 32 and 13.
    All the best. I really enjoy your Blog. James

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    1. How did I not know about that podcast?! Thanks so much for the tip. I'm going to download the episodes today :)

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  7. Im watching "Doctor who" while on my treadmill runs now - Im on season 5 show 1.... have you checked that out?

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    1. I love DW! I wish I hadn't already seen them all and could watch while running, lol! I hope you're enjoying it!

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  8. I'm so glad you found a book that really resonates with you, that's always a great feeling when it all just... "clicks!"

    I have to share with you, I finally broke down and bought a Garmin 305 from eBay last week, as well as a foot pod. Today on my lunch break I was searching for a manual to read online, and I had to giggle - your 305 tutorial post came up as one of the top results on Google. I thought "duh!" I had read it before and had forgotten you posted it! I am so glad you did, I can't wait to start setting it up tonight! :D

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  9. How can you watch tv shows when you are running? Doesn't it make you dizzy? What about the noise from the treadmill?

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    1. I don't get dizzy; if the screen were bouncing, I'm sure I would ;) My treadmill has speakers, so I just connect my computer to the speakers, and it's pretty loud!

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  10. I read the book a month and a half ago (saw it on a SparkPeople page)...and felt like it spoke to me as well. I thought I had it licked, and on my way to a cure but alas Christmas did me in big time. I binged on foods that I haven't had in a long time. I guess I could have chalked it up to restricting... which I tend to do in order to lose weight - but I kind of just went back to my regular routine this month, got back on track etc. If you go a long time between binges, like I do now, it seems to be more difficult to nip it in the bud and retrain your brain since you just fall back into your regular way of dieting and exercising on off binge times.

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  11. What kind of treadmill do you have?

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    1. It's an Epic TL 1700 that I bought at Sam's Club a few years ago. Nothing fancy, but it does what I need it to :)

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  12. Hi, I also have this book and it is a fantastic companion. Can i suggest hypnotherapy as another approach which will also complement the book. I have found hypnotherapy has worked wonders for my BED. L x

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