Dr. Kerri Fullerton ND

Intuitive Eating. Health At Every Size (HAES) Doctor

binge eating disorder

Why do I binge?

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If you don’t already know my story, I have a history of both Binge Eating Disorder (BED) and Bulimia.

‘Binge’ has become a word that’s used fairly loosely now. It’s not uncommon for someone to say that they binged watched a show.  So too with food, it’s common for someone to describe any kind of overeating as a binge.

But what is Binge Eating Disorder (BED)?

BED is the most common of the eating disorders. It’s currently estimated that 30% of people seeking professional help for overweight or obesity have BED.

BED isn’t ‘just’ overeating. It’s eating a large amount of food (although this varies from binge to binge) in a short amount of time WITH feelings of being out of control. Binge eaters often eat very quickly. They don’t have to be hungry to eat and will eat to physical discomfort and may still not stop. 

Sometimes the binges are driven by emotions – stress, anger, boredom. The eating is a coping mechanism (even if they know that it doesn’t work).

The most destructive part of BED is the effects on self-esteem and self-worth. There are tremendous feelings of guilt and shame about the food and the way it was eaten. There’s often a lot of secretive food behaviours while they try to hide the binging. 

What causes BED?

While there’s still much debate around the ultimate cause, we do know that the most common trigger is restrictive eating. 

For example, one of my patients developed BED after doing a cleanse with her friends. Yes, cleanses are restrictive diets.She was in grade 10 and at the time, she didn’t have any food or body image issues. Not that she loved every part of her body everyday, but she didn’t have an unhealthy relationship with her body. She just wanted to be included with her girls. And cleanses are touted to be healthy right? By the time that I started to work with her she was 5 years into BED and she had MAJOR food and body image issues.

Once the restricted diet is over, the binge occurs. Sometimes the binge is the mark of the diet being over. And then the feelings of shame sink in. Self-loathing settles. And then the ‘obvious’ answer is to ‘tighten the reins’. Kitchen clear outs and new plans are often the go-to answer. Maybe it’s to skip a meal the next day to ‘make up for it’ or to practice ‘portion control’. Unfortunately, these restrictions just cycle back into another binge. 

Is it Primary or Secondary BED?

If you binge, ask yourself this question:

Is there a time of day that my binges happen most often?

If you answered ‘yes’ then you likely experience secondary binge eating.

This type of binge eating happens secondarily to dietary restriction and responds very well to dietary interventions.

Primary BED also responds well to eating interventions but may also need the support of a professional trained in this field. Medication has been found to be helpful with this type and I’ve also seen great results with some natural options as well.

How to stop binge eating

BED responds to eating enough food. It responds to the inclusion of more foods, not less.I know that’s scary to think about and I’m not suggesting that you just go out and buy all of your forbidden foods. 

Intuitive Eating is a researched backed system to help you make peace with food and your body. I’m trained in this system.

The principle that we teach before bringing in the forbidden foods is Honour Your Hunger. That means eat! Eat regularly to avoid getting overly hungry. This alone can greatly reduce the number of binges experienced. 

Eating regularly often requires some planning, especially if you’re prone to skipping meals or just grabbing a quick bite. 

And yet meal planning can cause a lot of stress. 

Next week I’m running a free webinar called Mindful Meal Planning. 

I’d love for you to join me. It’s free and there’s nothing to buy. I will also introduce Intuitive Eating during the webinar.

You can register by clicking here.

Dedicated to helping you find peace and power with your body,

Is Food the Answer to Your Mood?

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“I just need to get my weight down and my food under control. Then I’d feel better.”

Have you ever thought that? It would be shocking if you said no.

I’ve seen so many books, blogs, and posts claiming that if you want to take care of your mental health you need to take care of your diet.

While I won’t disagree that food can impact mood, I’d like to talk to you about how your mood impacts your food. And more importantly, how you can take care of it.

When I was about 12 years old I told my mom that I wanted to lose weight. I truly believed that if I could change how I looked then I could change how I felt. And who could blame me? Look at the message of every weight loss or fitness commercial. The before is sad and frumpy. The after is happy and confident.

My Mom didn’t want me to do anything crazy so she took me to see the doctor. It was the best of the options that she had at her disposal. The doctor proceeded to ask me what I wanted to weigh, and then told us that I didn’t need to lose weight. But if I was determined, then Weight Watchers was the way to go. It was then, as it is now, viewed as the ‘healthy way’ to lose weight (I’ll do a rant on that another time).

Off we went to the first meeting and weigh-in. I was already within my BMI range (again, another rant for another time). But that didn’t stop them from signing me up and helping me lose weight.

That was the beginning of my dieting cycle. From age 12 to age 30 I lost and gained 15, 20, 30 lbs, over and over again. Each time I lost, I gained a few more.

Now I don’t blame my mother or my doctor. They only did what they thought was best.

If they knew then what I know now, they would’ve referred me to a psychologist. Someone who would’ve helped me understand why I thought that my happiness and confidence would be found within how I looked. Maybe they would’ve had me read More Than A Body by Lindsay and Lexi Kite.

You see, I was struggling with anxiety, but nobody knew, me included. And the repeated failures at weight loss only added to my anxiety. I developed depression as well. I couldn’t understand my lack of will power. I developed binge eating disorder that progressed to bulimia. I didn’t tell a soul.

Here’s what I know now.

Food is very powerful at affecting mood. In fact, in can raise neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. It can also decrease the stress hormone cortisol.

Lately this has been seen as a bad thing in the media. It’s been called “addiction” when in fact it’s not at all. To create the environment for addiction-like behaviours around food, first you must restrict. That’s worth repeating. In order to create the food addiction model in mice and humans, they must first RESTRICT the food.

My dieting created more food cravings.

Then to add insult to injury, being in a state of depression, anxiety and or stress, actually limits your ability to implement lifestyle change.

Research published in Basic Clinical Neuroscience last year showed that when we are in a state of stress, depression, and anxiety that our memory is diminished, our impulse control is decreased, it’s harder for us to plan, and we aren’t able to go with the flow as easily. All skills that are required to make lifestyle changes!

What can you do?

If this feels a little depressing and frustrating, I hear ya.

The good news is that there is a way out of the endless loop of hanging your hopes on the next big thing only to be left feeling like you failed again.

Step 1: Get a proper assessment done

I get it – you want to feel better. And yet very few doctors, nurses, naturopaths, dieticians, fitness trainers or nutritionists are going to first assess your ability to make the necessary changes.

Find someone who is going to assess your stress levels, and your mental health status. These pieces need to be addressed first, from a chemical perspective.

Does that mean that you have to go on meds? Of course not. There are wonderful herbs, amino acids, and other natural solutions available. Just be sure to seek out professional help – someone who has the training necessary to support this. Someone who won’t shy away from telling you that meds might actually be the best option right now.

You can find professionals around the world who have been trained in Intuitive Eating and understand the dangers of prescribing a diet by using this link here: https://www.intuitiveeating.org/certified-counselors/.  Yep, I’m on there.

Step 2: Get Treatment

That sounds silly I know but you’d be surprised how many people don’t get treated once the problem is identified.

Whether it’s “just stress” or it’s depression and/or anxiety, it won’t go away with awareness alone.

Some don’t want treatment because they see it as a weakness. They ‘should’ be able to just figure it out. Please know that the chemistry is strong and real. Getting treatment makes you stronger not weaker.

Maybe you don’t want treatment because you think that it’s a forever thing. While sometimes that’s true, often the treatment is just a temporary thing. Like using a crutch with a broken leg. Once it’s healed, then you can start rehab and create a lifestyle that will support your healed self.

This is where the team approach can be very helpful. Maybe the psychologist identified the problem and you need the naturopath or the MD to help with the treatment side.

Step 3: Make lifestyle changes that will last

This is the step that we all want to start at. We want to exercise more and eat better.

When you have steps 1 & 2 in place, you’ll be in a position for step 3 to be successful.

Lifestyle changes need to be slow, steady and sustainable to have any lasting impact. And that’s what you really want right? You don’t a temporary solution. You’ve been there and done that.

It’s time to put the horse before the cart.

Dedicated to helping you find peace and power with your body,

Dr. Kerri

P.S. If you’d like to chat, book a connection call. It’s free and there’s no pressure. If I can’t help, I probably know someone who can.