Why Am I Still Fat? A Struggle with Binge Eating

You’re trying to eat healthier and exercise, but somehow you still can’t seem to keep the weight off. You may have been trying to achieve a healthy weight for years and wondered, “Why am I still fat?”

Symptoms of Binge Eating Disorder

If you can’t control your eating, or if you eat to relieve stress or comfort yourself, binge eating or emotional overeating may be at the core of your struggles with weight.

The most common symptoms of binge eating disorder include:

• Frequent episodes of uncontrollable eating
• Eating large amounts of food, rapidly, in secret, continuously throughout the day, or even when uncomfortably full
• Eating to relieve stress or worry, or to comfort yourself
• Feelings of shame, guilt, or disgust about eating behavior
• Preoccupation with shape and weight
• Low self-esteem and/or poor body image
• Depression and/or anxiety
• Unsuccessful attempts at dieting or binge eating treatment
• Trying to control weight after a binge through over-exercising or becoming excessively restrictive with calories
 
Causes and Risks of Binge Eating Disorder

While there is no definitive cause of binge eating disorder, the following factors may be at work:

• Genetics
• Family History of Eating Disorders
• Low Self-Esteem
• History of Dieting
• Cultural and Social Pressures

Because binge eating disorder is often associated with overweight and obesity, there are a number of health risks, including:

• Heart Disease
• Diabetes
• High Blood Pressure and Cholesterol
• Gallbladder Disease
• Depression
• Joint and Muscle Pain

Types of Binge Eating Treatment

Many people with binge eating disorder will not be able to control their eating on their own. Like other forms of disordered eating, binge eating is a mental health issue that typically requires professional intervention.

In many cases, comprehensive binge eating treatment is the best way to combat the health risks and address disordered eating patterns. Some of the most common therapies used to treat binge eating disorder are:

• Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy – to challenge negative thoughts, feelings and habits, and help you deal with binge eating triggers
• Interpersonal Therapy – to improve your relationships and communication skills
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy – to help you cope with difficult feelings that trigger binge episodes
• Behavioral Weight Management – to treat obesity using a lifestyle change approach

Finding a binge eating program that addresses both obesity and binge eating can be a challenge. While weight loss programs can help you reach a healthy weight, they may not address the underlying emotional and psychological issues. Eating disorder treatment programs, in contrast, provide intensive therapy but do not always aid in weight loss.

Losing weight is important for overall health, but if it isn’t done gradually with an emphasis on lifestyle change, it can trigger or worsen binge eating. Similarly, treating binge eating disorder without addressing obesity and the associated medical problems hampers long-term recovery.

The best binge eating treatment programs blend the best of both weight loss and eating disorder treatments. Structure House, one of the nation’s leading residential weight loss programs, offers a specialized binge eating program that combines nutrition, fitness, therapy and skills training. In the “Bridge Program” at Structure House, a multidisciplinary team of registered nurses, exercise specialists, registered dietitians, licensed social workers and clinical psychologists provides the various types of care you need.

With specialized binge eating treatment, you can return to a healthy weight while developing the skills you need to manage binge eating patterns.