Hi everyone.
Andrew suggested I post these as I have found them successful in my battle against my disorder.
It would be a very long post if I did them all in one go, so will list them here and then explain each of them a little more in depth in their own threads if people want me to.
There are 6 steps in the therapy that I did, and the speed that you go through them is completely and utterly up to the individual, and an important thing to get your head around is that it is ok to go back a step as well. If you have moved on and find that you really don't work yet on the step you have gone on to the you just go back to the one you did manage have a bit longer there and then try again.
So the steps.
STEP 1 - Getting started, this is the most important step of all of them and the one that you should make sure you do not rush through, as getting this right is the underpinning part of everything else.
This step is about recording, it is about starting to identify the reason you binge. The things you binge on. Where you binge, and the times that you binge. This gives information that later on will be important to help overcome your binge eating.
I have a recording sheet that is used that I would be happy to share with people but apart from emailling it on request wouldn't know how to put it on here.
STEP 2 - Regular eating, most of you will identify with the very erratic eating patterns that often go along with BED, the periods of eating very little which lead to binging, the restricting of food types or amount. Well this section is to encourage regular eating, and involves one of the biggest things that have helped me... The advice that if you have had a binge DO NOT then try to compensate for it in any way, have your next meal when you were going to have it and have what you were going to have.
STEP 3 - Alternatives to binge eating, as we are aware most of us will be using our binge eating to hide other reasons. This is the step where we begin to explore that more fully and look at what alternatives are there for us to use.
STEP 4 - Problem solving and taking stock, this step carries on from the previous one continuing to look at ways to prevent further binging. I found that by this point my binges had virtually stopped.
STEP 5 - Dieting and other forms of food advoidance, This step is there to help achieve lasting recovery and help with the issues that lead to binging and it's continuation.
STEP 6 - What next, this is the end of the process and continues to look at skills needed to maintain the recovery.
I hope this made some sense, and if anyone wants more details then I would be happy to sort it out for you.
Jacqui
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