Hello, I am a binge eater at times. I'm not a grazer, I just have a problem with portion control. One cookie is too many and 100 Cookies is never enough, ya know?

I'd love to hear from former binge eaters. How are you now? What were your biggest hurdles? Do you feel free from it?

Yes. Thanks to all of yall that posted. I feel much safer saying im a binge & secret eater too. Alot of my issues are from my severe anxiety...an absent mom with a prescription drug addiction and an absent father and now a somewhat un happy marriage. I am not as big as I have been but im very unhappy with my weight. I noticed recently thinking back on the last time i lost all my weight i was at 165. I was very happy and seemed to be normal for once...i really did feel like the weight was my only issue. Soon after i had 2 pregnancies back to back and im am stuck in this weight...mental depression...being unhappy. So my question is ...was i wrong in thinking the weight loss fixes everything? What should be the first thing i work on?

After reading people's posts about how their binge eating was related to their psychological issues and used as a coping mechanism, I've no doubt that I have something going on too, but I am just not able to see the forest through the trees, yet.

I am also a binge eater and I can pinpoint exactly when I started overeating, and it was when my father passed away in 2002. I was early 20's and just started packing on the pounds, and I ate to soothe my woes.

However, its been well over 10 years now, and I have done my grieving a long time ago, I don't get upset anymore and I've come to terms. At this point I don't know exactly what keeps me eating or what issues I need to address. I do wonder if I should see a therapist about it, perhaps get to the root of the problem, whatever that may be. Generally though, aside from the typical minor annoyances of everyday life, I am a very happy person I would say, well adjusted, I rarely ever cry or get emotional, not prone to anger or depression, my marriage is great - no issues there, and overall I feel a BLESSED person. Only thing I can think of is that I eat because I'm fat, and I'm fat because I eat, and I eat because I'm.... well you get the idea.

I'm no dummy: I know that losing weight won't fix everything. But I can't think of any other life issues that make me want to eat, other than being unhappy with my fatness. Could it be that simple? Should I see a therapist? For any of you happy folks out there without major life / emotional issues, was it as simple as that for you?

I hope I'm being clear enough!

A lot of my unhappiness and feelings of worthlessness centered around my weight and how I generally felt about myself. One of the things that comes with weight loss is more confidence through feeling accomplished. I feel like if I can just do this ONE THING, I will feel great. I am doing it, and I do. Looking forward to letting my light shine, to not be invisible, to sparkle.

We often learn to binge or over eat for one reason but carry on for no specific reason..lol.Its called a bad habit!

For years I use to wait until my kids were asleep and then the food party would start.I would tell myself there were some good reasons to so this.I was lonely,I was depressed,I was frustrated,I was....but at the end of the day none of that has changed only I dont binge anymore.Can I? Of course I can.If I ate all night long,and the type of slider rubbish I use to eat,of course I can!But now,I choose not to.Is it easy? No,not always.It is hard sometimes.Some nights I make 20 trips to the fridge,open it,close it and walk back to the family room.Now I just figure it is extra exercise...lol. I do however allow myself certain things when the urge to eat becomes too great.Sugarfree popcicles is an absolute life saver for me and should I want up to 4,I will allow myself.But now 2 is my number.

Tea has become my greatest friend at night and some nights I drink lots of it.But I now know that I started eating because of one reason and kept on doing it out of habit.Could I have broken the cycle without the sleeve?I dont think so.One gets so stuck sometimes that it takes something very radical to get you moving forward again.And this is what the sleeve did for me.when you lose the weight you do feel so much better about yourself and you just dont want to go back to that old self destructive patterns.Stupid little things in every day life can make me think darn I want to eat,but now its just a thought.Most of the time!

But it takes being very mindful,not allowing yourself to make excuses,not bashing yourself all the time as that just becomes another excuse to binge,not ever giving in to feeling defeated and if you are not perfect now,to just try again.

For me,more than logging and tracking and weighing food,this is the most important part of my journey.To say no to myself in spite of how I feel and to be proud of the fact that I can be normal.

One day at a time!