Hi Franseeley and Hellbunny,
I've been binge eating for about 10 years, and heard just about every piece of advice (and judgement!) out there. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that everyone is different so what works for one will not work for another. However, for what it's worth, here's my two cents:
When I was first diagnosed I was very upset as sweet foods were my favourite and as a well-behaved child it felt like a punishment depriving me of something I loved so much. My diabetes team told me I could eat what I wanted, and just to adjust my insulin to make sure I kept my blood sugars under control. As much as this is exactly what I wanted to hear at the time, I was so angry and upset about my diagnosis that I literally did eat whatever I wanted. I would binge eat chocolate and sugary food, sneakily eat treats when I was out so nobody would know. I went through better patches where I didn't eat too much, and bad patches where it was so bad I'd think about eating sugar straight out of the bag! I didn't even admit what I was doing until a few years ago, when I got therapy (I tried so many different types- counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy, regressional stuff) but the one that worked for me in the end was hypnotherapy, along with silly little things I did to help myself, like putting posters up everywhere saying "Eat more veg!" and using a "well being" diary full of healthy stuff. In hypnotherapy my therapist taught me, whilst under hypnosis, to turn down the craving feeling (sounds stupid but it worked) and also to love fruit and veg. I'd try to spend time everyday focusing on the good things I'd done, instead of worrying about the bad things. Anyway, the therapy helped me to WANT to stop eating chocolate etc (because that was part of the problem- I felt guilty about it, but I couldn't even imagine having to live without it... I wanted to be allowed to do it, not to stop doing it), and when I felt ready, I cut out sugary food altogether. Many people told me that would never work, and that I should just cut down, but my problem was that although it was partially psychological, it was mostly a physical craving. It didn't happen when I was stressed or upset- it was all day everyday, and it was better whilst I was eating, and worse an hour or so afterwards. If I ate a chocolate bar, I'd instantly feel happy, because I enjoyed the taste, and I'd be calm after I'd finished it. Then about an hour later, I'd feel anxious, and moody, and the only thing I could think about was more food. So I'd eat more and feel better, and so it continued. So I decided to go completely cold turkey, and I cut it out completely. A few tricks helped- I didn't tell myself I was cutting it out for good, I'd say "just for today, I'm not going to eat sugar", and then at the end of day one, I'd say "okay I'll try just one more day" and tell myself if it gets too hard, I can stop. When I got cravings, I'd distract myself with a puzzle (logic puzzles or codebreakers), it took my mind off it so the thoughts that I struggled to ignore about how I NEEDED chocolate, disappeared, or I'd say "okay, I REALLY want chocolate now, but if I'm going to eat it, I have to have it after tea". The idea was that the longer I put it off, the easier it was to say no when it came to it because I'd think "well I've come this far, why ruin it now?". I didn't touch the stuff for MONTHS, and was very proud.
Then I was at the diabetes clinic and my consultant wasn't happy that my basal/bolus ratio wasn't 50:50 (so half of my total daily insulin wasn't background, and half quick acting). Mine was about 65% background and 35% quick acting because I wasn't eating so much anymore. He wanted me to up my bolus ratios (so more quick acting with food) and drop my background. But this caused hypos (and a LOT of them) after meals (because my bolus ratios had been spot on) so I started craving sugar again worse than ever. I started binge eating again, my daily insulin totals went up, and my cravings got worse, and so it continued. I put weight on, and started underdosing my insulin to keep it off, my HbA1c was over 14%, everything was terrible. Fast forward to my worst binge eating day a few months ago, and I started hypnotherapy again, and recently gave up sugar again. The mood swings for the first few days are unimaginable, I'm the most amicable person you'd ever meet, but I was SUCH a moody *****! I was furious, and upset, and my boyfriend had to stop me from leaving the house to go and buy food. But now I'm sugar free and proud again, and for that it was worth it. After the first few days of moodiness, I stopped having the cravings altogether. I didn't think about sugary food at all and that made it much easier.
I also used exercising as a way to get my anger out. I'd run on a treadmill and picture the food that I wanted so badly whilst I was running, trying to associate the sugar as being the enemy, and direct my anger towards the food rather than the diabetes.
Anyway, apologies for the essay! I hope some of what I said helps you in some way. If you have any questions, ask
Sarah
