Binge eating disorder (BED) is a serious and often misunderstood eating disorder. It’s estimated that at least 1 in 25 adults suffer from BED, making it the most common eating disorder. Despite its prevalence, many people are unfamiliar with BED and how it differs from other types of disordered eating.

Additionally, BED is often misdiagnosed for people in bigger bodies when a more appropriate diagnosis might be atypical anorexia nervosa (AAN).

In this post, we will explore what binge eating disorder is and a compassionate approach to treating it.

Though many people use the language of bingeing to describe eating past full or eating food that many consider “bad” or “junk”, binge eating disorder is something far more painful and impactful.

BED is characterized by eating past full or prolonged grazing paired with feelings that the behavior is out of control and one cannot stop. People will also feel disgust, self-loathing, depression, intense distress, and/or shame around their eating behaviors. Those suffering from BED do not try to compensate for the excessive food intake through purging behavior, as is the case with some other eating disorders.

Again, inside of diet culture, it’s common and often encouraged for people (particularly women) to use the language of being out of control around food if they eat a lot at a party or a special event, eat something to soothe their emotions, or break their diet. Yet all of these experiences are part of normal eating (if that surprises you, we recommend checking out the books Reclaiming Body Trust as well as Intuitive Eating).

People with BED may say things like:

“I’ve always hidden or snuck food. It’s calming to know it’s there; a constant just-in-case.”

“Nothing can stop me once I start. Sometimes I don’t even realize I’ve started until the bag is empty and then I promise myself I won’t do it again, knowing I probably will.”

“Once the idea of getting food pops into my head, nothing can shake it. I HAVE to get the food and eat it.”

According to BED expert, Amy Pershing (who authored the fantastic book Binge Eating Disorder), the vast majority of those who have BED also have significant food restriction histories (i.e. dieting or other restrictive eating disorders).

Perhaps the most insidious part of BED is the intense feelings of shame, guilt, and self-loathing that often come after a binge. You may feel disgusted with yourself, worthless, and trapped in a never-ending cycle of eating past full or eating when you aren’t hungry paired with self-hatred. The binge urges can feel impossible to resist, like an insatiable craving has taken over your mind and body.

– 30-40% of people seeking weight loss treatments (diets, medication like Ozempic, etc) meet the criteria for BED

– 70% of people seeking weight loss surgery meet the criteria for a BED diagnosis

– 60-80% of people with BED are trauma survivors

– Rates of BED surged by an estimated 81% during COVID

It is important to know that binge eating disorder is NOT about a lack of willpower.

Unfortunately, many individuals mistakenly believe that BED can be cured simply by dieting or “eating better” – when in actuality this approach can be harmful and worsen the disorder.

Bingeing is often a response to restriction and intentional weight loss attempts can intensify binge behaviors.

Note: Many people in larger bodies are misdiagnosed with binge eating disorder, as many doctors and clinicians believe people in bigger bodies can’t have restrictive eating disorders. However, a growing body of research shows that many people in bigger bodies actually suffer from RESTRICTIVE eating disorders, like atypical anorexia nervosa.

If you find your binges only occur after a period of restriction or attempts to drastically cut calories/not eat, you may actually have a restrictive eating disorder.

Binge eating disorder originates as a wise coping strategy for surviving trauma. It is not a choice, a personal failing, or poor discipline. It is a strategy for survival that serves/served an important purpose.

Unfortunately, eating disorders move us away from choice and agency, locking us into patterns of behavior that can cause lasting harm. So, how do we honor the adaptive strategy while also moving towards more choice and less suffering?

The good news is binge eating disorder is treatable, especially through evidence-based therapies like Internal Family Systems (IFS), intuitive eating, and body acceptance work.

IFS is a compassion-based approach that views the mind as comprised of different “parts” or subpersonalities, each with their own perspective and role to play. This approach supports you in realizing you are more than your eating disorder and your diagnoses. In fact, IFS is (in our opinion) incredibly effective at helping people to cultivate self-compassion.

Treating BED with IFS can not only help reduce bingeing and the shame associated with it, but it can help you to have better boundaries; increase skills for dealing with loss, pain, grief, shame, and rage; regain a sense of joy, hope, and aliveness; build a stronger sense of self that can withstand the inevitable ups and downs of life; and, ultimately, help to heal underlying wounds from abandonment and trauma.

From an intuitive eating framework, binge eating is often a consequence of deprivation, restriction, and being out of touch with your body’s natural hunger and fullness cues. Learning how to make peace with all foods, removing the toxic “good” vs “bad” mentality, and relearning how to eat according to your body’s innate wisdom can create tremendous choice and agency – free from the “should”, the fear, and the shame.

The healing journey may also incorporate principles of fat acceptance, body neutrality, and body trust. The more we fight against our bodies and tie our self-worth to our size, the more we suffer. Self-acceptance and body respect – no matter your weight or shape – is key to interrupting the shame cycle and honoring your inherent worthiness.

Throughout this journey, you will tap into your reservoirs of courage, strength, and self-compassion. You will learn how to hold space for ALL parts of yourself – the parts that struggle and the parts that persevere. You will befriend your emotional world, increase your distress tolerance, and find self-soothing practices that don’t involve disordered eating.

It takes time, but you can emerge on the other side with a more peaceful, pleasurable, and attuned relationship with food, exercise, and your body. A life free from the tyranny of bingeing and constant body hatred. A life of self-acceptance, pleasure, and presence.

If you’ve been feeling stuck, out of control, and plagued by binge urges and body shame, please don’t go it alone. Reach out for support, especially if you’re in a bigger body.

You deserve to feel at home in your body and at peace around food.

In working with a skilled counsellor, you can interrupt the shame cycle, identify your personal triggers, repair your relationship with food and your body, and find more adaptive ways of coping with difficult emotions. (It’s important to remember that it will take work, it will be imperfect, and this is not a magic solution. That said, getting support can offer you much needed relief and hope.) You don’t have to struggle alone.