I was bulimic for about 2 years, from 2005-2007. When I decided to start this fast, I made sure not to let my eating disorder interfere- I wanted to do this for spiritual reasons, not to lose weight. But now I am worried that this may trigger a relapse back into bulimia. Does anyone have any suggestions, or ever been in a similar situation?

I had a big problem with overeating and junk food prior to fasting last year. The main thing in letting go of the obsession with food I think is to concentrate on the change of eating habits. My goal was not only weight loss but removing junk food and changing my diet back to a healthy one, and beyond to a better one than I have had it previously. So the focus has never been on the fast itself, but on the change of lifestyle, the overall plan. I think as long as you have a clear goal in mind and stay focussed on that goal- or series of goals- that you can steer clear of the danger of falling back into bad habits again. Be clear about how long you are fasting for and how you will break the fast and stick to your plans- only changing them as needed for biofeedback reasons but not allowing the mind to manufacture other excuses for deviating.

Good luck with your journey, I hope it goes very well for you.

Take care,

Andrew.

Bulimia is a serious disease and you're right not to consider it lightly. Fortunately I don't have the problem, but that might mean I am perhaps less qualified to comment.
The most important tool dealing with bulimia is discipline.
Fasting can improve the control if you use it to practice discipline. For example: Make a simple rule that you fast one day per week. Then stick to it, never ever eat on that day. This reinforces your control over your primitive animal instincts such as eating.
You may add to (following) the fasting day one day on juice only or a few days on fruit only.
What I have found working well in my patients is that, on the fasting day and for the 6 days following that, you make a list of all the foods you would have liked to binge on, or would simply like to eat but which are not part of your chosen diet. On the day just before the fast, you go through this list and eat them all. Since you fast the next day, whatever junk you would have eaten this way has only a few hours to do any damage, then they are eliminated (during the fast). This also serves to
(1) alleviate the craving and
(2) help you experience how these junk foods REALLY make you feel.
You will likely feel quite sick after eating a whole week's list in one go, and this will reinforce your resolve not to need to write them down on next week's list..
It's like letting steam off a pressure cooker to prevent it from exploding.
Try and let's get feedback.
André

I have a 18+ year history with anorexia and bulimia.

All conditions are a progression of underlying issues....


I'm curious, what eventually triggered this coping mechanism in 2005-2007?

The fear of relapsing becomes the secondary condition.

I've talked with and seen a lot of fasters who use fasting as a control method.........when in reality, the same behavior is transferred into the fasting itself.

In my personal opinion, the fasting journey does amazing changes to our bodies and minds....in a sense, we are FREE of food. That light and ethereal feeling is quite heavenly. We'd be crazy not to think it wasn't!

Quite realistically, it's the POST FASTING journey that relinquishes or senses and we must begin to re-learn about our bodies,minds and spirit as we walk back into our real world of eating. It's quite an intimate feeling during the fasting and even a more intimate journey as we resume eating......

What makes you anxious about eating?


Yours Truly,
Misslinda

What makes me anxious about eating is the belief that we can each process only a given amount of nutrients in a lifetime. Thus, every time we eat, whatever we eat is subtracted from our "lifetime allowance". If the nutrient is more concentrated, such as a "supplement", we process a larger portion of our lifetime allowance, thus age faster. During a fast, we use none of our allowance. Perhaps the allowance actually pay interest (get a bit bigger) during a fast.

Of course we can do a LOT of damage by eating too little, and this will negate all the benefits of stretching the allowance. But bearing in mind that we do start consuming the remainder of our allowance when breaking a fast, this could help with a bit of self discipline.

André

Hen Jen,

Bulimia is dangerous, and possibilities of a relapse are high if not handled properly. I would suggest taking an expert advice on this. Try exploring this resource: http://www.eatingdisorder.com/ . You can get free live help over there as well. Good Luck!

Welcome to the forums, ronbraad! And thanks for the link, it is really valuable. I agree we talk about a dangerous disease, athough not quite as dangerous as anorexia nervosa. We have found some success in treating both these conditions with regular short fasting periods, likely because it helps create more of a "communication" between mind and body. It is the absence or deficiency of such communication that underlies body dysmorphic syndromes like these.

André

I was bulimic for 24 years...YES!!! 'cause it's done in secrecy...I think the best thing is to stop calling yourself names and know that your behaviors are not YOU intrinsically, the core of anyone always starts off brilliant, it's the quite internal stories we tell ourselves that create the behaviors. )

Heylo.

I was bulimic for a year and a half then I started fasting because I was sick of being bulimic and dealing with the painful affects of bulimia. I'm 5'7, 20 and at that time I weighed 129 when I started fasting. However, the fasting got out of hand and I fasted for 40 days then I ate because I got scared that I was going to die but then I started fasting again. I was so starved, and having had a BMI of 20 at the time, I started losing the muscle because I shed all of my body fat. So, the fasting got out of hand and I lost nearly all muscle and it was painful. Now I'm relapsing back into fasting and it's scary but some how I'm trying to find healing through fasting but I'm abusing what fasting really is supposed to be about.

I wish you luck and want you to know you aren't alone.

NANCYFAST - You are so right. It is the internal dialogue that drives us.

FAXINGBERLIN1 - I wish I knew the right thing to say that might help you or, in the alternative, I could put my arms around you and give you a hug. Words are so inadequate when you don't know what to say. On the other hands, words, as much as silence, can be so painful too. Please don't think that any delays or lack of response to your post is an expression of indifference. I imagine most people just aren't sure how to respond.

As much as I don't understand your problem at all, I certainly do understand what got you there. We all have our demons. I wish you the best in your struggle and will remember you in my meditations.

I agree with Meditating, dear Faxingberlin1.. we all feel with you I'm sure.

To control such an evil disease, there will not be one simple answer. But if you can bring ANY discipline into your eating habits, it will be something to build on in future. So: Every week, ONE fasting day following on ONE feasting day (See the "notebook diet" in "Health Won") leaves you with 5 days to "control".. not as difficult, at least, as having a whole lifetime to try and control...

In short: Fast 1 day every week. From day 2 to day 6 you follow a diet, any good diet.. and keep a list in a notebook of all the things you would have eaten if you did not follow the diet: Everything you crave.. then, on day 7, you go through the list and eat it ALL.. preferably in one go. This ought to put you off most of these for several days! And, you have NOT eaten any more than you would have, had you been following your "normal" pattern. Plus, you actually "enjoy" what you are going to have, long before you have it, satisfying the psychological need: Tell yourself that, once "in the book" you are entitled anyway, you ARE going to have it.. just not right now. Plus, all the junk in there has only ONE day to affect your body, because on the next day you fast.. eliminating most of the toxins.

Let's hear how it works for you.

André