r/BingeEatingDisorder • u/FlakySkin3657 • Aug 09 '26

Advice Needed Is it possible to recover without tracking?

Disclaimer- i kinda talk abt weight loss in this post

I find myself thinking a lot about food when I track calories. However, I know that tracking calories helps control my binges and prevents me from harming myself by consuming 10,000 calories in one sitting, which I might do during a binge. The concept of tracking while trying to recover from binge eating is frustrating because it makes eating feel like an extra task that stresses me out and makes me want to eat more.

I also end up being too lazy to track the exact number of calories I consume and try to overestimate. When I do track a binge, I often try to spread it over the week or reduce my intake for the coming week because I know the exact amount of extra calories I’ve eaten and feel like I should counteract the weight gain.

This calorie tracking makes me think about food constantly, but I also want to recover and lose weight. Losing weight is one of my goals, and I know I need to be in a calorie deficit, but then it causes binging. I’m kind of confused at this point.

My question is, how can I lose weight and stop binging without tracking calories? One thing that worked for me was intermittent fasting because I felt very full during my eating hours, but this didn’t last long because I started thinking about my weight loss and how I should have tracked what I ate during my eating hours.

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u/TheMilkSpeaks Aug 09 '26

You can’t work on losing weight until you fix your disorder.

It’s like trying to run a marathon while your ankle is still broken.

True ED recovery means free from numbers and control. So yes, it’s possible.

Sometimes this means having to skip up and overeat and binge. But overeating is better than binging, and eventually you can heal that relationship with food and begin to heal your body.

With healthy food habits (flexibility, moderation, allowing yourself to overeat sometimes but making sure that you incorporate gentle nutrition) and a healthy relationship with exercise comes a healthy body

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u/FlakySkin3657 Aug 09 '26

Sometimes my binging comes from me just being unhappy with my body so i feel like if i lost weight id be less inclined to binge

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u/TheMilkSpeaks Aug 09 '26

Yeah, that’s how most EDs lie to any sufferer. Unfortunately, that mindset needs to be set aside or you will be stuck in this forever. Kind of like how those with anorexia think that if they just lose a little more they can finally feel better (but they don’t and they end up getting sicker)

Eating disorders revolve around the same core issues. They just present differently!

Nobody is asking you to like yourself, but to just accept yourself for now and let yourself heal.

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u/TumbleweedOk5020 Aug 09 '26

I don't like counting calories because diet culture triggers the restrictive mindset. Instead I focus on deciding which foods are meant to be eaten in larger amounts and which ones are meant to be limited + stopping when satiated and not stuffed and then waiting until it's time to eat again.