» Stop Binge Eating

Brand New Updated Edition is Now Available

Nadine Ann — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 02:19:33 +0000

August 16, 2010

After completing an exhausting update of The BreakAway Program, the new Step-by-Step Binge Eating Disorder Treatment Program is now done.

The entire 425 plus page program has been printed in color and is now in 5 hardcover binders (one for each module) so that our clients can make notes, highlight paragraphs, use the journal in each module easier and go back to review the program easier. It’s wonderful! The eating disorder treatment program now covers more ground with more examples and lessons.

The website is updated for new clients but existing clients can still use the member login area to view the workbooks.

Best wishes for healing!
Nadine

February and love is in the air!

Nadine Ann — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:38:04 +0000

Girl Scout cookies just arrived in my town yesterday and I now have 90 cases of cookies being dispersed throughout my daughter’s troop. I am the “cookie mom” and in charge of ordering all the cookies and getting them all distributed to the girls so they can then deliver them to the people who bought cookies from them. Problem is, I ordered 17 boxes of cookies so my daughter whould make the level where she could earn a T-shirt!

Now I have 17 boxes of cookies in my cupboard. Here is my plan to NOT EAT THEM ALL!

I will donate most of them to the Troops at Hanscom AFB. Every year the Girl Scouts do this amazing cookie drive and donate thousands of cases of cookies to the troops and they then send them overseas and wherever the troops are. Isn’t that wonderful?! So I just have to remember that I am donating them to a very worthy cause and that should take the sting out of me not eating them!

The other hard thing that I will have to deal with is Valentines Day. Hopefully I will NOT get any chocolate candies or heart shapes Hershey Kisses! I love chocolate and for me I am lucky because if I don;t go near it I am fine but if I have one then it’s all over. So I will simply avoid it and be fine.

I love my husband but if he gets me any fattening food for V Day we may not make it to Year 11!

Three ways to stop overeating … for good – The Herald Dispatch

Nadine Ann — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 14:24:47 +0000

TITLE: Get Healthy Tri-State: Three ways to stop overeating … for good – The Herald Dispatch

NEWS Get Healthy Tri-State: Three ways to stop overeating … for good

December 26, 2009 @ 12:00 AM

The Herald-Dispatch, Huntington WV

Next time you’re obsessing about another holiday eggnog or chocolate bombe cake a la mode, ask yourself this: “Would you shove that stuff into a friend’s body?” Mouth too full to answer? Use these strategies to nix bad habits and eat right:

1. Get lost (in your mind). When you want to eat to feel better, walk around the block (go ahead and put on your boots; we’ll wait) and think about the bad feelings that are driving you to the fridge. Maybe you can start sorting them out instead of hiding them behind three extra inches of abdominal fat. If the walk isn’t enough, try meditation or prayer. In some people, these calming focusers quiet the subconscious drive to eat.

2. Plan. Big decisions about food need to be made in the supermarket, not in your kitchen. Avoid filling your home with junk, and it’s easier to eat right. Shop the edges of the supermarket rather than the middle.

3. Pay it forward. One of the keys to waist-size success is how you balance two competing forces — immediate gratification (those chips) versus delayed gratification (a better body, better sex, fewer wrinkles, not to mention a longer life!). It’s tough, because immediate gratification is hard to resist. So try flipping the immediate gratification into a long-term consequence, and turning the delayed gratification into an immediate, visual picture. Like this: Think hard about the negative consequences of the chips (picture a clogged artery). Now visualize yourself two sizes smaller with all the grandchildren you want (or just Brad Pitt or Megan Fox lying next to you).

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Start Y’er Wrappin

Nadine Ann — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:08:00 +0000

It’s Monday and I only have a few days left before Christmas to do my wrapping. My 8 year old is in school for the next few days so I am going to get it all done while she is there. I hope. I bought the fancy wrapping paper cutter from Scotch and I bought the pop up tape dispenser that goes on your hand so I am armed and ready to go. Now I just need the motivation. I supposed I could have taken my own advice when it comes to setting goals and just done a few at a time so I wouldn’t be overwhelmed but clearly it’s 3 days before I need to have them completely wrapped and I am sitting here typing this! Okay, so I will head up stairs right after this and do a few. Then later do a few more. Maybe I’ll get into a groove.

I’ve been kind of “wrapped up” with my own thoughts lately about women and cancer because two of my friends were just both diagnosed with stage 1 ovarian cancer. Both of them…can you believe that? And it’s within 5 weeks of each other. I have been struggling with how I can help them. I am the type of person that needs to help those around me whom I see struggling. I guess it’s just who I am and I like that about me because it is rewarding when you help someone but there are some things I just can’t fix. And for these two women, I don’t know how to help them.

Sometimes I do too much when I should let them figure it out on their own. For example, my 20 year old daughter and her boyfriend are trying to save their money for a trip we are all taking in February to Las Vegas. Her boyfriend, Chris, came by the house after work one night frustrated beyond frustration! He was hoping to make enough money to go out for dinner but he still hadn’t finished his Christmas shopping so they were disappointed that they had no money. I wanted to go upstairs and get the $25.00 gift certificate I bought to the Olive Garden to put in her Christmas stocking so that they could go out and be happy. I am a fixer. I am EXACTLY like my mom and she drives me nuts sometimes when she tries to fix things! So I withheld my instinct to make everyone happy and let them figure it out themselves. It certainly isn’t going to kill them to have to stay in for a night and eat soup.

I’m not sure what my friends will need but I am always going to be here as a friend for them. I have a feeling if I can just be patient enough, I’ll know what they need from me because they are simply going to tell me and that’s the best thing I can do for them.

I feel the same way about binge eating. When you are ready to get help tell the people around you exactly what you need. Tell them because trust me, they don’t know how to help you. They don’t read minds. They may care so much about you that it may seem like they are trying to “fix” it but I will go out on a limb and say that they truly want to help you but they don’t know how so they are guessing on what you need. It’s the same thing for my friends with cancer. I want so badly to “fix” it so they won’t be unhappy. But I am not in a position TO fix it. I am only in a position to be a friend and do as they ask me.

Well, I’ve put off wrapping long enough! Take care and please say a little blessing for my friends.

What would we do if we didn’t eat?

Nadine Ann — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:51:16 +0000

I am writing this from my office at home and it’s coming up to lunch time. I’m hungry! But working from home has it’s disadvantages when it comes to eating! First, I have to pick from the same old boring thing day after day. Secondly, I eat alone. It gets so monotonous that I hope to just find something, eat it, and move on.

So I was thinking also about how we use food to celebrate happiness and sadness. We eat like pigs on holidays and funerals. Obviously we have to eat to sustain life but what if we didn’t bring out all this food and drink? What if we found another way to celebrate? Like play games or go ice skating? There must be something we could do besides eat ourselves into oblivion!

Now think about this too. What if scientists finally come up with a pill that we can take so we don’t have to eat. This magic pill would fill us up and make us feel satisfied. You would never have to eat again! WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH YOUR TIME IF YOU NEVER HAD TO WORRY ABOUT FOOD AGAIN?

Think about that for today!

Stop Being Such A Pig And Get Off Your Lazy Butt

Nadine Ann — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:04:56 +0000

Now that is something you don’t hear a Binge Eating Disorder Specialist say every day huh?

But I mean it.

Why don’t you just stop stuffing your face full of garbage and act like a regular human being?

People who don’t binge eat can’t possibly imagine why you would want to eat so piggy that you make yourself sick? I mean really, where is your self control?

So what’s the big problem and why don’t you just stop binge eating and eat healthy? Why the heck can’t you get to the gym and work some of the fat off your body?

Do you think you have more problems than the rest of us? Do you want more attention than the rest of us? Do you think you get special treatment by binging? Do you really think no one understands you and no one loves you?

Okay, I know you are fuming right now.

Now let me ask you this:

Do you think these questions are insane and completely unjustified?

Do you think society sees overweight people as stupid and lazy beings who should just stop stuffing their faces and go on a diet?

Then that is EXACTLY why we must get the word out to the world about the truth about binge eating disorder. We must educate society the same way cancer survivors educate others who suddenly find themselves in a world they thought they understood but clearly never did until being diagnosed. We learn from others who have been through it and who talk about it openly with others. And society appreciates them doing so because it helps us fulfill our need to know…our quest for the truth.

A wrong belief gets formed when there is judgment and a lack of facts. It is a misconception that society has about compulsive overeating and it needs to be cleared up.

Binge Eating Disorder is such a “private and silent” disorder because people are simply afraid to talk about it for fear of being judged.

What do you think? Are you ready to speak out?

Can You Stop Binge Eating in College?

Nadine Ann — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 01:35:01 +0000

We’ve all heard of the freshman 15 (those 15 pounds gained from eating and drinking too much) but what happens if it doesn’t stop there and you find yourself suddenly with binge eating disorder?

College is so stressful and it can absolutely start an eating disorder.

It helps to understand that there are different types of binges and they can be caused from stressful situations in your life. Getting married, having a baby, moving to college, divorce and so on. They are all huge stressful events even if some of them are happy events.

There is also the role of alcohol which can be addictive and can also lead to binge eating. You eat drink and be merry right? Wrong!

It’s really difficult to know when it’s becoming a problem because there are usually so many other factors involved. For example, you and your friends are out until the early morning hours and come back with munchies galore. You eat. Your schedule is so different at college than it was at home and the times you eat are completely messed up. You eat more. You are cramming for exams and those snacks help soothe your brain. You eat and eat.

Here is how you can tell if you are just having a college weight gain or having an eating disorder. You just don’t feel right about it. You don’t feel good about how much you are eating. You are gaining weight and feeling depressed about it. You feel like crap!

Get some help before it goes on too long and becomes a habit binge.

photo credit: werkunz1

5 Tips to Stop Binge Eating

Nadine Ann — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:27:53 +0000

Tip #1Give yourself permission to eat when and what you want. There is nothing like saying you “can’t have this” to make you want to have more of it! If you are binge eating you feel shame and guilt on top of all the calories you are consuming which is causing you to binge even more. When you get to the root cause of why you are compulsively over eating you can then work on a healthy eating plan.

Tip #2 Develop positive coping skills to use for managing stress. Stress is a huge concern for binge eaters because negative or bad stress leads to unhappy feelings and emotions which leads to wanting to soothe those feelings which lead to binging. That is a typical binge cycle. Practice assertiveness training if you are having trouble dealing with stressful situations.

Tip #3Acknowledge your feelings and emotions. People who binge eat sooth their feelings with food because they don’t know any other way to deal with their painful emotions that they do not want to face. By dealing with your feelings you can face them head on instead of burying them in the sand. What is it that you are running away from? What is causing you pain? Binge eating has nothing to do with being out-of-control but everything to do with not facing your true feelings.

Tip #4Use the power of your brain to bring about changes. It’s called the Law of Attraction. When you focus on what you want instead of focusing on what you don’t want you will get more of what you want. In other words if I said, “I want to be happy, healthy and confident” versus “I don’t want to binge anymore or feel bad”, what is my brain actually hearing? In the first sentence it hears happy, healthy and confident and in the second sentence all it hears are negatives. Your brain does not hear the word “don’t” so change the way you talk and you change the way you think.

Tip #5Grab a journal and start keeping track of exactly when, where, and why you are binge eating. See if you can determine what feelings you were having so you can deal with those feelings. Were you stressed out? Did the boss tell you he wanted to see you? Did you not make a deadline? Did you get in a fight with your boyfriend? What are you having trouble dealing with? All these things can help you better understand what triggers your binge cycles so you can become more aware of them.

Nadine Ann, C.N., H.H.P.