Hi! My name is Lydia Wente. I was a Lifestyle coach that had coached hundreds of people to better health, but also had a terrible secret: I would regularly feel like I had lost total control, my body hijacked, leading me to eat massive amounts of food, and only stopping once the pain became too unbearable. I felt totally insane. Once I was in my right mind again, I would panic and restrict my calories to do damage control. Then the cycle would start all over again. For more of my story, you can watch this video: This was my secret, terrifying struggle for years until I found Kathryn Hansen. After reading her book “Brain Over Binge,” I was done with binging almost immediately. Now, …
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So, How Do I Lose Weight?
If you’ve read my books or followed my blog, you know that I don’t believe dieting is the answer, but I also don’t ignore the question. It’s a reality that binge eaters are often well over the weight that is best for their unique body. Setting unrealistic goals and expectations is of course not advisable, but if that extra weight doesn’t naturally and gradually come off after binge eating stops, it can make dieting seem alluring. That is why staying focused non-dieting strategies is key. But, what does “non-dieting strategies” mean, exactly? Is reducing excessive portions, too-frequent treats, and/or soda, dieting? Is focusing on eating a variety of healthy foods, dieting? If done with the right mindset, …
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Upcoming Newsletter (and Book Recommendation)
I wanted to let you all know that the blog posts from now on will be included in a newsletter format. The “Brain over Binge Newsletter” will go out once per month to all subscribers, and in the newsletter, I’ll also include links to helpful resources (that can assist you with the two recovery goals: dismissing urges and/or eating adequately), articles, any coaching or support group opportunities, and any recent interviews or media. I think it will be useful to have all of this information in one place each month. If you have already subscribed, there is nothing you need to do to begin receiving the newsletter. It will come to your inbox just like the blog posts currently do. If you aren’t …
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FREE “Beat the Binge” Video Training Series (from Lydia Wente)
In my last post, I mentioned that I’d share helpful information and resources from a variety of sources from time to time. Well, it certainly didn’t take me long to find another great resource!! A little over a week ago, Lydia Wente the Lifestyle Coach wrote a helpful guest blog post (How to Get Unstuck with Recovery), and just yesterday, I found out that she is about to offer a FREE, 4-part video training series titled “Beat the Binge.” ?It’s currently open enrollment, click here to be included: www.lydiawente.com As she shared in her guest post, Lydia fully recovered from her years of binge eating after reading Brain over Binge. In fact, her testimonial is now on the back cover…
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Weight loss and recovery: a personal moment
I don’t talk about weight and weight loss on the blog very much, because I firmly believe in putting weight loss on the backburner in the early part of recovery, at least until you have a few months binge-free under your belt. But for those of us facing health or mobility problems related to our weight, it is something we have to address eventually. And it’s really tricky, because by this point, we have figured out that “dieting” leads to binging, but how do you lose weight without dieting? It’s not impossible, but I think it’s a difficult subject – and it probably varies a great deal from person to person, so I’m not going to give specific advice on how to lose weight. So … …
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The secret to quitting binging: #3
This is the third post in a new series, where I discuss my top tips for quitting binging. These tips – or practices – have worked for me and many others in long-term recovery. In the first two posts, I talked about how important it is to eliminate food-related guilt (click here to read the first tip) and to put weight loss on the backburner (click here to read). In this third tip, I’m going to talk about mindful eating. What is mindful eating? Simply put, it’s the practice of eating with mindfulness. Mindfulness involves being in the present moment and focusing your attention on the current internal and/or external sensations, feelings, thoughts, and observations of the world. Mindful eating is simply …
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Feelings vs. thoughts
Feelings vs. thoughts A huge part of recovery is about learning to recognize, accept and deal with our feelings, without using food to soothe us. Even difficult feelings like sadness must be accepted as part of life. It’s important to honor ALL feelings. Fighting or suppressing them never works. However … it’s also important to learn the difference between thoughts and feelings. Thoughts are based on rules, beliefs, and judgments that we made up ourselves or learned from others. Thoughts are not fact, although we often assume that they are. It’s important to question our thoughts when they are negative, because they are often based on faulty beliefs and judgments. Feelings, however, are actually accompanied by physical sensations and can be described in one word …
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Weight stigma – why the judging has to stop
It’s Weight Stigma Awareness Week! Weight stigma and its close cousin, body shaming, both contribute to poor health. In fact, much of the health risk associated with obesity is a result of that stigma, which causes stress and anxiety, raising cortisol levels and thus worsening one’s health condition. Furthermore, body shaming makes people even MORE likely to binge, purge, or starve themselves. Anyone who thinks that making negative comments and assumptions about an overweight person is actually “helping” them, out of “concern for their health,” should think again – this actually makes things worse, not better. And this is even more true for those of us who shame ourselves – we can’t hate ourselves into better health. Only love can do …
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Healthy eating – it’s not just about the food
So, what IS healthy eating? This phrase is thrown around a lot, and its meaning is vague at best! Here’s what I’ve learned during my eating disorder recovery. We can argue all day about what foods are the healthiest, and even the experts can’t agree. Everybody seems to agree that fruits and veggies have lots of nutrients, but still, every body is different. When striving to “eat healthy,” consider both nutrition and what works best for your body (broccoli is generally considered healthy, but if it makes you feel ill, then it’s probably not healthy FOR YOU!). Don’t forget the importance of balance – eat a wide variety of foods, including treats*. This is basic intuitive eating. But here’s the thing … Healthy eating …
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When life is just crazy
Hi all! I’m going to take a break from my usual advice-focused posts and talk a little about my personal life. As some of you know, I’ve been in recovery from BED for over a year. I followed an approach mainly based on intuitive eating self-help books, individual and group therapy (including CBT), and many of the tips I’ve discussed in this blog (getting rid of food guilt, putting weight loss on the backburner, and eating mindfully). My recovery isn’t based on willpower at all (because willpower is a limited resource), and I almost never have binge urges. Recovery isn’t always a smooth path, but it’s mostly been wonderful … Until recently. I am now pregnant with my first child. And it has completely turned …
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Does counting help? Numbers and recovery
Today’s guest post is written by an amazing friend of mine, a fellow disordered eater in recovery. I’ve been seeing a lot of numbers lately. Numbers of days binge free, numbers of days trigger food free, numbers on a scale, numbers of calories consumed. Don’t get me wrong—I love numbers just as much as the next person. They can be very useful and informative in the right context. I’m just not sure what these numbers are telling you when it comes to caring for yourself or whether they are useful at all for recovery. The numbers come from the diet mindset. We are so programmed to count—everything! These numbers seem to be a trap of sorts. After a number of days of being binge …
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The secret to quitting binging: #4
This is the fourth post in a series where I discuss my top tips for quitting binging. These tips – or practices – have worked for me and many others in long-term recovery. In the first three tips, I talked about how important it is to eliminate food-related guilt (click here to read the first tip), to put weight loss on the backburner (click here), and to eat with mindfulness (click here). This fourth tip discusses the essential question of figuring out why you binge. So, why do you binge? How can you find out? The answer is different for everyone, and it may be fairly simple or fairly complicated. Or maybe you (like me) will discover that the reasons are actually much more complicated …