Binge eating.

[carlosm]

Hi everyone,

To keep it short, I lost a lot of weight that took me 12+ months and now I'm with my ideal/healthy weight. I feel perfectly fine most of the time, but since a few months I been having some really horrible episodes of binge eating, as in going to the closer 24/7 and just buy all the sweets and craving food that I can think of and eat it. Most of the days I just eat healthy and exercise as usual, but this episodes of binge eating happens a few times a week. And is not like I'm hungry, because obviously with the amount of food that I ate regularly is just enough, but this episodes could make me consume 2k+ calories in a few hours and still keep eating until I cannot eat more. I lost all the mindfulness, all the control that I have.

I've been thinking a lot lately about self-image, how I relate to food and other questions, trying different practical solutions (changing diet, hours, etc), but still happens. If funny, the last time that happen I was in a social meeting and my brain could not stop telling me to eat, could not even focus in the conversation that I was having.

Do you have any meditation that could help with that? Or any books/suttas/etc?
Metta,

[David2]

Do you have any meditation that could help with that?

Every meditation technique can help with that. Important is that you practice every day.
And don't expect results after one or two days.
Very good for establishing a daily habit is visiting a retreat that lasts at least several days.

[bodom]

Donapaka Sutta: King Pasenadi Goes on a Diet

Once when the Buddha was living at Savatthi, King Pasenadi of Kosala ate a whole bucketful of food, and then approached the Buddha, engorged and panting, and sat down to one side. The Buddha, discerning that King Pasenadi was engorged and panting, took the occasion to utter this verse:

When a person is constantly mindful, And knows when enough food has been taken, All their afflictions become more slender — They age more gradually, protecting their lives....

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .olen.html

[carlosm]

Do you have any meditation that could help with that?

Every meditation technique can help with that. Important is that you practice every day.
And don't expect results after one or two days.
Very good for establishing a daily habit is visiting a retreat that lasts at least several days.

Thanks for your reply, I've been having a daily practice for the last 3 months, mostly twice 45 minutes a day, breath meditation. I was thinking that some body meditation, in blood, inner organs would be helpful, what do you think?

Donapaka Sutta: King Pasenadi Goes on a Diet
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .olen.html

Thanks, I have read this before but I would try to keep it in mine. I'm reading the Puttamansa Sutta often too that caused a huge impression on me the first time.

[manas]

Thanks for your reply, I've been having a daily practice for the last 3 months, mostly twice 45 minutes a day, breath meditation. I was thinking that some body meditation, in blood, inner organs would be helpful, what do you think?

Hi carlos,

I'm finding that restraint in matters of sensual pleasures is easier if we can get some taste from meditation practice, so you're on the right track by meditating twice a day. Of course the pleasure of meditation is subtle, and is not the same as sensual pleasure, so it cannot be considered as a 'replacement', but it is superior. (i've only recently begun to understand this.)

Try to be forgiving of yourself if you binge. And while bingeing, don't throw your mindfulness out the window; still eat with awareness, don't let it be an impulsive, 'guilty pleasure' which happens so fast it's over before you know it. If you do it without guilt - literally observing yourself eating, observing the flavours, observing your craving for them, observing the sensation of the food after it's been chewed and is being swallowed (this can foster some disenchantment, I've found...), observing how you felt before, during and after the food - then you at least learn something. That's my experience in dealing with compulsions, anyway, others might have different ideas. And of course, if you can find a way to quickly divert your attention to something else, and not engage in the binge at all, so much the better. It's just that in my experience, compulsions can take a while to heal fully, so a bit of patience might be called for, and a lot of metta (goodwill), and I mean: towards yourself.

[bodom]

The pleasant drink, the pleasant food,
Hard, soft, whatever it may be:
Through one door it is loaded in,
Through nine it trickles out again.

The pleasant drink, the pleasant food.
Hard, soft, whatever it may be:
Man may in company enjoy,
Yet in discharging it, he hides.

The pleasant drink, the pleasant food,
Hard, soft, whatever it may be:
Man may enjoy with full delight,
Yet in discharging, feels disgust

The pleasant drink, the pleasant food,
Hard, soft, whatever it may be:
The whole, after one single night,
Will reach a state of loathsomeness.

- Vism XI, 23

[carlosm]

...

Hi carlos,

I'm finding that restraint in matters of sensual pleasures is easier if we can get some taste from meditation practice, so you're on the right track by meditating twice a day. Of course the pleasure of meditation is subtle, and is not the same as sensual pleasure, so it cannot be considered as a 'replacement', but it is superior. (i've only recently begun to understand this.)

Try to be forgiving of yourself if you binge. And while bingeing, don't throw your mindfulness out the window; still eat with awareness, don't let it be an impulsive, 'guilty pleasure' which happens so fast it's over before you know it. If you do it without guilt - literally observing yourself eating, observing the flavours, observing your craving for them, observing the sensation of the food after it's been chewed and is being swallowed (this can foster some disenchantment, I've found...), observing how you felt before, during and after the food - then you at least learn something. That's my experience in dealing with compulsions, anyway, others might have different ideas. And of course, if you can find a way to quickly divert your attention to something else, and not engage in the binge at all, so much the better. It's just that in my experience, compulsions can take a while to heal fully, so a bit of patience might be called for, and a lot of metta (goodwill), and I mean: towards yourself.

Thank you for your words, really encouraging and good advice, I would try to be observing all the time even if I end up in some binge situation and try to forgive myself. I've been thinking about patience, seems to be the most difficult part, I can see how this episodes are not that common how are used to be since I meditate, but still occur. Thanks again, metta to you

....
The pleasant drink, the pleasant food,
Hard, soft, whatever it may be:
The whole, after one single night,
Will reach a state of loathsomeness.

- Vism XI, 23

.

Great text, thank you, I would printed and read it often.

[manas]

Thank you for your words, really encouraging and good advice, I would try to be observing all the time even if I end up in some binge situation and try to forgive myself. I've been thinking about patience, seems to be the most difficult part, I can see how this episodes are not that common how are used to be since I meditate, but still occur. Thanks again, metta to you

You are welcome. I will add that I'm speaking with some personal experience here. As long as it is not breaking any of the five precepts, a compulsion can be investigated like that, in my experience. I once saw it as 'bringing light into a dark place', the light being mindful awareness, the dark place being the state of mind that craves and indulges it's craving.

May we all continue on the path of purification...remember that (other than the totally unbound) we all have our own personal 'mix' of defilements...