I have been focusing on writing about emotional eating lately without including the distinction of the binge eating disorder. I have done both, and in my opinion, binging is more destructive.
When I have been writing about emotional eating, in my mind I have been remembering my experiences of what are technically both emotional and binge eating. One does not necessarily lead to the other even though they both have the same source. So what is the difference between a binge eater and an emotional eater?
The definition of an emotional eater is one who does not necessarily eat until full, but who does seek out food for comfort. Emotional eaters eat because they feel poorly about themselves or a situation, all of which springs from their thoughts. When they have negative thoughts, they seek out food. It is entirely possible that emotional eaters are not overweight, and we know that there are eating disorders that do not always result in overweight. It is more than likely that emotional eaters will eat based on their emotions rather than on physical hunger.
On the other hand, binge eaters eat beyond their level of comfort. Binge eating begins as emotional eating, although goes a step further. While emotional eaters may eat only for comfort and not to achieve fullness, binge eaters have a compulsion to keep going until they are literally bursting at the seams. Binging can be defined as “a habit of consuming more food than normal in a limited period of time”. It is characterized by a feeling of being out of control, leading to feelings of self-recrimination, shame, anger with oneself, depression, and guilt. All of these feelings create a cycle of more emotional eating and/or binging.
I always used to feel grateful that I was not an alcoholic, however eating disorders are just as destructive and can be deadly. It is also a fallacy that only those who fall into the extreme of either overweight or anorexia (and/or bulimia) have eating disorders. There are plenty of people who are neither overweight nor underweight who still have eating disorders. If your relationship with food is skewed and you abuse it (you eat other than for reasons of physical hunger and to fuel your body), then you have an unhealthy relationship with food.
If you would like more information, please see this site where I obtained the above definitions. Additionally, I would recommend checking out the Centre for Emotional Well Being, and Change Therapy. These links point to a post on emotional eating and binge eating respectively.
thanks for talking about this important topic (and for including a link to my web blog).
i would add that emotional eating and binge eating are even more intertwined. bingeing is not just a physical activity, it is also a state of mind. and it does not have to necessarily start as emotional eating. it can be brought on by hormonal cravings, by eating a substance (often sugar or white flower, but it can be anything else) that acts like an addictive drug, etc.
and you are totally right, weight is not an indicator for whether one has an eating disorder. (that’s why it’s not called a “weight disorder” 🙂 anyone who has a conflicted relationship with food that causes them physical, financial, emotional and/or spiritual suffering, or that interferes with their relationships, has an eating disorder.
I’m curious to get your take on emotional under-eating and binge under-eating (if such a thing exists) as it exists in non-anorexia’s.
FWIW – It’s great that you have the level fo self-awareness you do and are putting yourself out there so others can learn from your experiences. While it may make you a little vulnerable it cuts through a lot of the stigma associated some unusual eating behaviors and presents us with the reasons why you do the things you do (or did). Knowing yourself leads you to relating things like:
“If your relationship with food is skewed and you abuse it (you eat other than for reasons of physical hunger and to fuel your body), then you have an unhealthy relationship with food.”
Hi Isabella,
No problem!
Thank you for your additional comments on the connection between emotional and binge eating, I completely agree with the topic of the state of mind, as well as addiction. I have experienced the hormonal issue before as well, although I have not done much research on that topic yet (beyond what I’ve learned in “You on a Diet” and how additives affect hormones…)
Thanks again, I appreciate all of your feedback.
JoLynn
Hi Patrick,
Hmm, I’d need to think on that one. The only time that I myself experienced emotional under-eating was during a period of Extreme stress….and I did lose 27 pounds! I was not trying to lose weight. I will write about that topic later, after I can think about it some more (good question!).
I honestly do not know about binge under-eating…I will need to research that one.
Thank you for your kind words…one of my goals is to help anyone who can learn from my experiences. I am definitely far from perfect, and even by doing the writing that I am doing here, I am learning a lot about myself. I wish to get to the bottom of all issues that have held me back from accomplishing my goals, and if others can learn from what I learn, then that can only be a good thing.
All the best,
JoLynn
“binge under-eating”
I phrased that horribly. Not eating is an all or nothing, the motivation for not eating is what I was looking for.
Have you uncovered anything about people not eating because they fear having a binge response?
I’m finding more often than not that I have to avoid foods containing the combination of fat and refined sugar because it can be difficult to stop eating. To this end, healthy eating isn’t just eating the right food, it’s more about avoiding the ones that exploit this skewed relationship with food. It’s kind of like giving up smoking – if you are a nicotine addict, you can’t have anything to do with it because the chances of relapse are so high.
From what I remember when I was a smoker, the feeling / process is different in that I smoked only as much as I needed to make the cravings go away, once they were gone, my desire to smoke went away. The opposite is true for the refined sugar and fat combination. I may initially feel like eating one doughnut but if I buy 6, they’ll all be gone in a few minutes regardless of how full I may feel. So I stay away from them, which is a lot easier than enjoying them in moderation. I’ve had to adopt the food as fuel approach primarily and move away from the food as a facilitator of experience notion.
Hi Patrick,
If I am following you correctly re: you are starting to consciously avoid certain foods because they will send you into a binge…..absolutely, 100% yes, people (and I) do this (avoid certain trigger foods).
You see, there really is such a thing as a food addiction, more specifically, addiction to sugar, refined white flour, and fat. Check out my “food addiction” category….I’ve written a few posts on this already but will be writing many more, especially on the topic of sugar.
If you do cut out the addictive ingredients, it doesn’t necessarily mean (at least in my exp.) that all cravings will go away, however I don’t find myself binging on non-addictive foods.
I also believe that some additives are addictive (I’ll write more on that topic, too).
Let me know if you have any other questions, or if you have questions about any of my posts under “food addiction”, leave me a comment(s) there, and I will do my best to answer it. 🙂
Hope this helps, (you have excellent questions)!
JoLynn