“We Must All Be Bingeing, Right?”
Catching up on my blog reading, I ran across the discussion on binge eating over at The F Word. First, Rachel quotes this article, where Matthew Tiemeyer says:
Here’s something I hadn’t thought about before. The definition of binge-eating disorder (BED) says that binges involve eating more food than most people would expect you to eat in a relatively short time. So what if all of the people in your world don’t find your eating out of the ordinary?
Another way of asking this question: Could the definition of BED be culturally-dependent? A blurb about a recent study suggests that black women meet BED criteria less often than white women. One of the project’s researchers says, “These (black) women could be binge eating, but they may have less anxiety and distress surrounding their eating habits, so they don’t recognize it as an issue.”
Where it really gets interesting is in the comments (all bolding mine).
Frankincensy says:
He makes a really good point, though I have to admit I bridled at “we can try to convince these women they have a problem”. If the definition is culturally dependent, it doesn’t seem right to pathologise women’s eating habits simply because they don’t fit the (white-identified) norm.
Looking at eating habits in context sounds more sensible than applying arbitrary rules about what is and isn’t bingeing, though that might pose a risk of overlooking detrimental eating habits because they’re “normal” in context (for instance, and I apologise for the cliche, a 17-year-old model may have a restrictive ED yet not stand out from her peers in terms of how little she’s eating). An eating pattern that does not cause psychological distress may still be causing physical harm, though I’m not sure whether that would still count as an eating disorder.
The always insightful Meowser says:
Bingeing is not just enjoying some brownies and ice cream; it’s inhaling ALL the brownies and ALL the ice cream as fast as you can so you can get to the whole pizza and the bags of cookies and whatever else you’re bingeing on, and stuff it all in before you can stop to think, much less taste any of it. It’s the opposite of actually enjoying food, really. And there’s an ugly racist element to this (presumably white) researcher’s theorizing that these black women can’t possibly know what they’re doing to themselves and must be lying about how much they eat.
Rachel:
During my eating disorder, I saw a shrink who diagnosed me as bulimic after asking me how often I binged and how I felt during these binges. The only problem was that I considered anything above 500 calories a day to be a “binge.”
And Fantine:
I remember being in a weight loss program at age twelve, and going through a chapter in the little textbook about binge eating. We did this exercise where we ate a slice of apple as quickly as possible, and then ate another slice slowly, savoring it. We were asked how often we binge, big binges or little binges, by ourselves or with others. There was no option for people who did not binge. We were all fat, so we must all be binging, right?
Believe it or not, I tried to restrain myself from over-quoting, so I highly suggest checking out the whole discussion. I’m still trying to formulate my thoughts on this issue, but I thought it was worth thinking and talking about. Thanks for the post, Rachel!
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Advocacy, Eating Disorders, Food, Race & Ethnicity
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Binge eating is eating beyond what is healthy for your body. There are many considerations that the normal population doesn’t take into consideration.
You KNOW when you’re binging.
“The definition of binge-eating disorder (BED) says that binges involve eating more food than most people would expect you to eat in a relatively short time.”
is that really the deifnition if binge eating? it makes it sound as though say, a binge eater would eat 2500 calories a day while the average person eats 2000 calories. it’s over simplifying and just plain wrong. binge eating is eating far far beyond what your body sais is right. yesterday? i ate 4000 calories in one sitting. THAT is binge eating. suggesting that all fat people have binge-eating disorder or that anyone who overeats from time to time or just has a big appetite has binge-eating disorder is stupid. not only is it incorrect, but it trivializes the experiences of those who really do have binge-eating disorder and is potentially dangerous to fat people in general. do all thin people have anexoria?
oh, and the comment you posted by Meowser is spot on.
“is that really the deifnition if binge eating?”
No, not really. When I was being put into treatment I was asked to quantify my binges- for it to truly be binge eating disorder (medically) there have to be a certain number of binges per week that are a certain caloric amount.
That said, I think the problem is that people fail to separate the mental part of the ED from the symptom; Some people simply overeat, either from mild stress or from conditioning or whatever. If you have BED, you know it- those binges are HUGELY tied to your emotions, and you’re just as obsessive about food as any other person with a more “well known” eating disorder like anorexia or bulimia.
What the-?
Okay, I’m irritated, both as a female and a black person, at the assumption that black females are more likely to binge, but are too dumb to realize it. That’s some racist BS. Binge eating isn’t specific to any group of people and it’s NOT a matter of counting calories! Everyone at some point binges (think parties, holidays, and heck, just eating snacks at the movies). But the binge eating issue happens when a person starts to black out while eating because of internal issues (think emotional eating, stress eating, etc). I know because I’m EDNOS and it (my issue) involves binge eating. It’s a regularly occuring thing that can be set off at anytime by anything and can happen every day or only once every few weeks (depending on the person). It’s not simply gluttony, as the article suggests. One other thing I’d like to add, most people with binge eating issues are NOT going to just tell others about it, because unlike anorexia and bulimia, which are glamorized and met with sympathy and empathy and not blamed on the people with them, binge eating issues are met with only hatred and scorn and shame and are blamed solely on the people with them.
Eating more than would be expected in a short period of time. Eating thousands of calories in one sitting. Eating the way Meowser described. They all seem to leave me in the corner with the woman saying that one cookie she indulged in was a binge.
I ate without being able to control myself, without tasting it, without thinking, my emotions going out of control… afterwards I’m left shaking, upset, and feeling sick, but it isn’t a binge because the amount I ate is the size or calorie equivalent of a normal meal? So I end up feeling less than and guilty.
C – With AN and BN you get a lot of girls that think it’s so cool to have an ED so they pretend to have one (to get attention) or use it as a diet. That leads people to believe that those with the actual illnesses are just doing it to lose weight, be pretty, or gain attention. My boyfriend honestly thought bulimia was something people do to be thin and that you can stop any time you want to.
@C: Yes, the OP appears to be confusing emotional or habitual snacking with binge eating. It’s the blackouts that separate the two, IMO. Not that everybody has an actual mental fugue, but there is some degree of dissociation, a “glazed” feeling, something like that. Also, just IME, the foods that are consumed during a binge tend to be heavy on the feel-good, anesthetizing sugars, starches, etc., while just plain overeating (eyes bigger than stomach, forgot to doggie bag and was too busy eating and talking to notice the food disappearing, etc.) can involve anything.
Oh, and how in the heck does the chain of assumptions go? Is it, “Black women are more accepting of fat figures, and all fat people are binge eaters, therefore black women must not have a problem with binge eating?”
Okay, I have to remember to type my posts in Notepad and look them over before I click Submit Comment. What I left out, again: Or is it, “Black women are all fattie-fats,” or “Black women are stupid,” or–? Because I feel like I’m reading the Underpants Gnomes’ business plan when I try to parse the reasoning behind the article.
I really appreciate the comment about how it is assumed that fat people must binge eat.
I will admit, I have had moments where my eyes are bigger than my stomach (just like most people at Thanksgiving), but I don’t feel I have ever had a true binge. When I was younger, one of my parental figures made the frequent accusation that I must be stuffing my face when she wasn’t looking – because the diets she was putting me on weren’t working. It took me a long time to come to terms with this. Its hard to be told that your eating must be disordered when you follow the same (if not stricter) dietary guidelines as “normal” people.
Yes, I can count my genuine binges on the fingers of one hand and yet here I am, fat.
This is probably the hardest topic that I’ve come across since I started reading this blog.
Binges are ___. Eating disorders are ____.
If you don’t fit into the neat little box category it’s too easy to say “Well, I guess I don’t have a problem then.”
I wish people wouldn’t feel the need to drag weight into it and confuse binging with overeating. Being fat doesn’t mean you binge and being thin doesn’t mean you don’t. You can never tell by looks.
I thought that the term “binge” had more to do with the psychology behind it than the actual food.
Like, if you feel a complete lack of control while you were eating and you do it in secret because you are ashamed, that’s a binge no matter what/how much the actual food consumption is.
Personally, I do not believe that binge eating has ANYTHING to do with what people around you eat, what they think, what is the “norm.” It is about you and you alone. Binge eating involves not only an uncomfortable volume of food but also, usually, is connected to a sense of being out of control or unable to stop. It has nothing to do with what the neighbor is eating or whether he thinks you are bingeing.
I really agree with the last couple of posts above me, amongst others.
I firmly believe that binging/eating disorders are about much more than a specific caloric amount or one’s weight. It is about how you feel while binging, throughout the day, about your body and self, etc. I don’t think a certain amount of food constitutes a binge – I think it is really about the psychology and feelings behind it.
I also do not believe that somebody cannot be underweight and have a “real binge”. I’ve had EDNOS for several years and mainly go back and forth on a daily/weekly/monthly basis between binging and restricting. I rationally realize that I am not (and have never truly been) overweight. Yet, I have had days of consuming thousands of calories [4000+]. More typically, I go through periods of restricting all day and consuming 1000+ calories [sometimes 2000-3000+] in one sitting. I realize that 1000 calories or less for a day is realistically still not enough- yet consuming that all at once, in the emotional state/way I’m talking about is *still* a binge. Sitting on the floor crying hysterically/staring off into space while scooping peanut butter straight out of the jar by itself because you’re depressed – is a binge.
I do have some days/periods where I consume 1000+ calories and consider none of it to be binging. It is all about how it is consumed and how I am feeling. I may have X amount of calories one day and feel okay-ish about it, not really considering it binging – having had the food spread through the day, in reasonable quantities, etc. The next day I may have a significantly lesser amount of calories, but feel like I’ve truly binged – having had in all in one sitting while feeling completely out of control, unable to stop completely emotional/dissasociated, etc.
[I'm not sure what exactly I was saying here anymore. Forgive me for this long ramble. I really need sleep. And ironically, am trying to distract myself so that I don't binge. I usually don't post here, just lurk sometimes. I'm sorry for the intrusion, hope I didn't bother anybody.]
I’m finding myself agreeing with the last few posts as well. And Winter? Thanks for posting. I can say with complete confidence that nobody thinks you’re intruding!
My husband is slender and also very physically active, but has issues around food and will often tell me “I’ve been eating junk all day” if he’s been having a bad day. He does it because he’s upset and it makes him more upset, although we are talking amounts of food which won’t harm a six-foot guy who habitually cycles 18 miles a day.
Yet I’ve never been able to persuade him to bring this issue up with his therapist, and nobody is ever going to suspect he has these issues, because he doesn’t look like it.
I don’t think, as an adult, that I have any real issues with food at all (apart from being vegetarian, if that counts) but I definitely shy away from talking about what I eat and how much I eat, because I think people will make assumptions because of what I say – whatever I say.
I think the original article was somewhat unclear on the actual difference between binge eating and binge eating as a psychological disorder. You can binge eat without having any psychological disorder. You can also restrict your calories to an unhealthy extent and also not have a PSYCHOLOGICAL disorder.
The term “anorexia” gets thrown around quite a bit on the internet, but while the17 year old model who eats an apple and a can of tuna fish or 20-year-old wrestler who eats 500 calories a day and spends hours in a sweatbox trying to get down to weight isn’t healthy they probably DON’T have anorexia nervosa. Anorexia is more about anxiety and trying to exercise control over some aspect of one’s life – in this case weight- usually because of some external pressure such as abuse physical/sexual or fighting in the home (which the patient doesn’t have control over).
Bingeing, as a disorder is essentially the same thing as bulimia (non-restricting) except there is no purge. The people who have BED have a loss of control when they eat, they also binge alone. Again, just because someone eats alot of food at once doesn’t mean they have BED, a psychological disorder. BED is also NOT the reason most people become obese. You can binge and not be fat, you can have BED and not be fat, and you can be fat and have never binged. Size and BED are largely unrelated.
Eating disorders are a very specific type of extreme relationship with food. You may not have the best relationship with food, I”ve been there, but not have one of these disorders. I disagree with the researchers who seem to have decided that since these black women eat more than THEY think they should they MUST have a disorder, even without psychological distress – the very criteria which would make it a disorder.
Binge eating is usually defined as eating significantly more than most people would eat in a circumscribed period of time and doing so while feeling somewhat out of control. Of course, the definition (the best we have, yet) is largely open to interpretation, and many will talk abt “subjective” vs. “objective” binges.