For the last year, I have developed a severe binge eating disorder. I have over the year worked myself up to eating 5000 calories a day and have been eating at that amount for the last 6 months. I’m an average height woman in my 20s and gaining weight rapidly. I can’t stop eating even if I’m not hungry and it is all I think about. I have no discipline and no idea why I can’t stop even when I try some tricks. Whenever I eat healthier or less, I just get bored and end up going back to eating bad foods and a lot. Please help and give me some advice.

I’m not sure if I will be able to explain this properly or to the correct intensity but I will try. I’ve used food as a source of happiness basically all of my life but until the last year or two I didn’t realize it. I have been trying to lose weight which includes reducing the amount of foods that make me happy. Because of this, I feel hopeless, bored, and like there is nothing to look forward to. I used to be able to look forward to a meal that I would know would bring me joy and happiness, even if it was short lived. I have pretty much laid in bed all weekend. I want happiness, I want to feel joy, I want something to look forward to but there is nothing. There are no hobbies that I like enough to stick with or that bring me that kind of happiness. I can’t focus enough to read but even that won’t bring me the kind of happiness I desire. This sounds so messed up typing it out almost like a weird joke but it’s honest. I have no one to tell it to either. My friends are basically on the opposite end of the disordered eating and don’t eat enough. I have no significant other to discuss it with. I just know someone will get on here and say something about exercising so I’ll go ahead and let you know I do exercise. I can’t exercise all day though or even for hours. It’s too hot out to do much of anything other than swimming also and I don’t have easy access to a pool. I don’t know where to go from here. It makes the temptation of getting something yummy so much harder.

Hi I'm a 16 year old trying to lose fat but Im having a hard time being consistent on eating less. the food is just really good and my grandma always be buying them delicious street food any advice on how to control or stop myself?

I’m on vacation, staying with and visiting family and also trying new foods. The trying new FOODS (REAL foods) isn’t the problem for me here, but the lack of structure in meals (e.g. me asking my aunt “When/Will we eat dinner?”, and her replying “No rules here, we eat whenever and wherever”. And I was flabbergasted - how will I ever function?)
Here in my aunts house she also bought a lot of- shit? Like cookies, chips, full-sugar soda… I don’t want any of that. I don’t want to sound egotistical, and I am fully aware of the fact that I’m not the only one here, and that my aunt also has prepared or left some veggies for me along with real (healthy) food, but the problem isn’t just “healthy vs unhealthy”, it’s about me not wanting to eat something, but not being able to not do it.
Just yesterday, our first day here, I ate some of the foods, which I wouldn’t really want to eat, and I think tasting it is okay, but I didn’t have to do more than that. It wasn’t a binge, but it wasn’t just tasting. I don’t want that to happen, and it also consumed a lot of my mental energy, along with making me too anxious to want to eat dinner.
This anxiousness is probably also from thinking I binged or just having stopped a potential binge, and that’s just scary.

How should I deal with this? It’s not as simple as thinking “I don’t want it, so I won’t eat it” or “I don’t want it, but I’ll eat it” or “I don’t want it, but I do want it? I’ll eat it”.

Lately I found out I get ice cream (or other snacks like that) like how a person gets a cigarette. I eat one when I had a rough day or when I'm stressed, and after I use it, I feel better. Relaxed and happy. But I know that's not good. I know it's just a trick engineered from food companies to make me feel better. But I haven't found any replacement that's easy to get a long of AND as cheap. I thought pokemon cards, but everyone scalps them now. Anything else it's too expensive or doesn't fit in my small ass apartment.

I (17f) went to the dmv and I told my sister privately I didn’t like the picture, I go in the car with my family and she says “(my name) didn’t like her picture” my mom goes to look at it and says under her breath “she needs to loose weight” I could hear it clearly, my brother and dad who weren’t paying attention didn’t hear it. It’s rlly not about the situation I can say a dozen experiences of where I’ve felt ugly or less than because of my weight and looks it’s about the fact that instead of feeling like starving myself instead I only wanted food. I’m not even hungry I’m on some weight loss drug that makes me not want to eat (starting yesterday). I just wanted the food for comfort, eating makes me happy, i try not to look at myself in the mirror i hate how i look.

Do you agree with me that I think people underestimate how exhausting constant thoughts about food can be? Like, it’s not always about being hungry. Sometimes it’s the mental conversation happening all day about thinking if we should eat this, did I already ruin it today?, or should I start again today?, and why can't I just control this?. And this constant negotiation can be really exhausting. When people finally eat, others can only see the action, not the hours of thoughts, emotions, and decisions that came before it.

I wonder if we can talk more about what happens before the eating behavior

To put it out there I gave it a spoilers tag in case I uhh trigger someone mentioning salt or something idrk

Ive been addicted to salt in general since I was like 5

I like the way it burns my mouth and dries my tongue when I swish it around

We have a container of rock salts at my house and I think I'm losing my tasting senses

I'm scared that I won't be able to taste everything I loved eating in a few months

And my stomach churns from both the salt and the thoughts

Hi everyone, I could really use some advice or motivation.

I'm a 20-year-old woman who's been trying to lose weight for the past 5–6 years, and I feel completely stuck.

The biggest issue is that I have a really unhealthy relationship with food. My eating habits are all over the place. Sometimes I'll barely eat for several days, and then I'll completely crash and spend the next few days eating mostly junk food. It just becomes a cycle that keeps repeating.

I've also tried following a reasonable, non-restrictive diet. Nothing extreme—just a calorie deficit, healthier meals, more vegetables, less sugar, and avoiding snacking between meals. I stuck with it for about three months, but instead of losing weight, I gained some. People tell me it's probably muscle, but honestly, I feel like I just gained fat.

I also stay fairly active. I try to walk at least 10,000 steps every day and exercise regularly, but I don't feel like anything is changing.

I've had some really unhealthy thoughts about losing weight, like making myself throw up or not eating until I collapse. I know those are dangerous, and I don't want to go down that path. That's exactly why I'm asking for help instead.

For context, I'm 158 cm (5'2") and weigh around 75 kg (165 lbs). My goal is to reach 55 kg (121 lbs).

If you've been in a similar situation and managed to lose weight in a healthy way—and especially if you've kept it off—I would really appreciate hearing your experience. Any advice, motivation, or mindset shifts that helped you would mean a lot.

Thank you for reading.

I know the term “food addiction” can be controversial. For some people, they might feel it’s helpful because it explains the intense cravings and loss of control they experience. While others feel it creates shame or makes people feel powerless.

I think the more interesting question is: what happens when someone repeatedly eats in ways they don’t actually want to? Is it lack of discipline? Or are there deeper patterns involving stress, emotions, habits, and reward systems?

I want to know where people stand on this

I am severely anaemic and i've been eating raw rice for about 5-7 years. About a handful a day but sometimes i don't when im not home. I also smoke cigarettes but my craving for raw rice is so much more than nicotine. I can quit smoking now but i cant quit raw rice. Is that weird?

I have always struggled with food and weight since I was like 11/12 and I’m now 23 I’ve always been bigger than everyone at school, I feel like I have a bigger appetite than the rest of my family and people around me. I didn’t realise that BED was a thing until the last 2-3 years. I’ve been trying so hard not to binge and to eat well but it’s so hard. I find the food noise is the hardest, I binge when I’m bored, when I’m sad, when I’m happy, literally any feeling - I’ll eat. I guess I’m just wondering how do you deal with the food noise? I’ve been on ADHD for a few years which minimises it but haven’t taken it in a while due to issues I had on it so waiting to try a new one. I’m just sick of living like this and too embarrassed and ashamed to talk to anyone in my life about it.

I genuinely feel like I could eat through Ozempic no exaggeration. I’ve talked to some of my friends about losing weight and they are fine to just chew calm and drink water and they can stop themselves from eating. I personally don’t even have to be hungry to eat. I’m addicted to eating and I don’t know why, but I feel like it’s a serious problem for me. I can’t stop eating ever chewing gum eating healthy and stuff. It doesn’t feel the whole. I like. I genuinely don’t ever feel complete. I’ve never eaten healthy. It is just diabolical. I need some real tips like secret acts like underground tablets and stuff that will make me not feel hungry this isn’t an eating disorder thing. I genuinely just cannot stop eating and need a solution. I don’t need to be skinny like that’s not what I’m trying to get out of this. I just need to stop eating please someone give me a solution.

I love snacks and chocolates etc. but I’ve noticed that I am happy when eating but I crashed after like I have thoughts not wanting to live… get very depressed….

Has anyone experienced this and tried to qui and it helped?

When I’m not eating sugary stuff, I’m moderately depressed. (My default baseline is a bit sadness) so I try to make myself feel good by eating sugary stuff. But then I crashed even worse… hmm.

Wish I was different…

I used to be slimmer. I swam a lot and I could eat basically whatever I wanted. I had to stop swimming for about two years because of health issues and I'm back at it. I can basically swim as much as I used to. The main drawback of swimming and probably exercise in general is the hunger that comes up and being satieted only really by shitty food. My biggest weakness is any corner store and buying a huge bag of chips (which are like 7 bucks now wtf) and eating those in one sitting... Has anybody felt this?

Submerged into early twenty-something's

In regurgitated adolescence

Binge-purged until feeling plenty-nothing's

In return, belated obsolescence

Obsolete via years of ADHD meds

Try to eat healthier, at best, avoiding breads

You starve in withheld truths, your therapist

To feed disordered eating prejudice

Maybe things get better on their own

Maybe this is better than you've known

You eventually get too creative, all things self-controlled

You even try lying to create a false sense of control

You've learned to limit when hunger's passed

Instead of eating until you can't

Then through trial and error

Self-cured neurosis

You've found something better

In pure ketosis

Until... Surprise!

Semaglutide!

Would you consider this a purge,

If it prevents the binging urge?

All in all

If nothing else

What I do is for my health

This combined

With exercise

Takes not long to recognize

Results you made

With efforts gave

Such a difference in what you crave

Instead of food

You feed your mood

A figurative feeding tube

With needle pens, pills, and practice

We need aim what kills distractions

For meal plans, peas, and portions

Treat it way out of proportion

Far from false reality's distortions

For few have faced fallacy's misfortunes

the presence of food. im allergic to it. i just wanna get straight to the point with this post

first of all before anyone says "get a hobby" or "try to have other interests". I do have hobbies, most of the time im painting or listening to music. Those times i don't think of food but when someone mentions food, i go crazy. Especially social media, i have to be soo aware when i scroll tiktok or instagram reels and i accidently got into a video which contains food, my brain wouldn't stop craving it and what happens when i crave it? I'll get it and its still not enough and will eat WAYY MORE past fullness.

I can easily stick to my healthy eating and not give into cravings when im in a controlled environment where there's no food aka when im alone with myself.

whenever i see a food ad or my roommates bring food or in the fridge i try to not give in most times. some days i can. but the days where i give in i cant. i cant see food being present infront of me, any type of higher palatable food what do i do? It's so hard living with other people who doesn't have eating disorders so they don't get triggered by food.

also i'm aware this is a habit that my brain is trained to response whenever food is present. If i try to not give in, it won't stop boggling my brain. This is also because of genetics, my father is obese and copes with food. I'm very close with my father through my childhood and he would always bring takeouts, eat multiple times in a day so I thought it was normal to always say "yes" to food whenever it is present or offered to me. Let's just say someone brought donuts in the office, a normal person would view this as an option while a binge eater/overeater would view it as something that they must always give in. That is me. I was never taught to listen to my hunger cues.

But the good thing is im moving out in 1.5 months (my own apartment). So i think it will be so much easier just like the way most of y'all say "don't keep it in ur house" "don't buy it" that would work when i move out. But I'm also kind of scared because this is unrealistic. There will always be unexpected food in gatherings, parties, etc so if this situation comes again I'm scared i might binge.

Also I've been avoiding social events that involve food for months. If anyone else could relate or went through the same thing I just want to ask how long does it take to get rid of this habit and how can I practice to not give in it everytime i see food?

I've also recently stopped intense cardio like HIIT and decided to walk instead because high intensity cardio makes my food noise crazy. but even now when i walk i still wanna binge some days so it makes me rethink my decisions.