The best Eating Disorder Self-Help books: Reddit reviews

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

I went to a nutrition counselor to help me get past my disordered eating. I used the book Intuitive Eating to work through some of my unhealthy attitudes towards food.

500 or even 1000 calories a day is not enough. You may need to seek out some professional treatment. It made a huge difference for me and is step 1 on treating yourself and your body in a healthy and loving way.

Edit: you may want to check out some of the resources on the eating disorders subreddit.

Yeah, that's kind of the irony of CICO/IE– when I was counting I was obsessed with food, but now that I can eat whatever I want food has actually lost some of its appeal. I still love it, but I don't get those desperate cravings anymore.

CICO's also kind of weird because nutrition is SO complex. I cut out cereal for a long time, but then I realized that fortified cereal is my primary source of iron! It seems like for every "bad" food I was cutting out I'd also cut out some essential nutrient.

I highly recommend checking out the Intuitive Eating book if you're new to this! It explains the concept very thoroughly. The same authors also put out a workbook which I haven't tried yet, but it seems very helpful.

Beverages are interesting. I probably still drink more sugar than I should, but like with all other foods my cravings for them slowly diminished after my first few "binges." When I first started IE, I would get a pizza and a root beer every Friday night. I also starting getting sodas when I went out to eat, or I'd pick them up at the grocery store. Now I hardly ever want them at all. It really feels like I fulfilled a craving (a result of dieting) and now it just doesn't feel necessary anymore. It's still an occasional treat I enjoy, but I have no desire to drink it every single day.

Intuitive Eating (specifically,the book by Resch & Tribole) has been a life saving game changer for me and my history of eating disorders. I enthusiastically recommend it to anyone who struggles with disordered eating and being fed up with "diet culture" to check out the book. I would not recommend it to anyone who wants to lose weight or meet specific body composition goals since that is kind of the opposite of the point of the book :)

I was going to suggest this one. Both along the same line of thinking - the little voice inside that wants all the food needs to be tamed.

I'm a 22 y/o male, was bulimic for 10 years, but have been recovered for over a year. Highly recommend reading Brain Over Binge by Kathryn Hansen if you haven't. My ED stopped almost immediately, after I read her book. Might not be everyone's cup of tea, but that shift in perspective was all it took for me. Best of luck!

Everybody read this book it is the fatlogic reddit in book form, except nicer and everything is on one place.

I find it incredibly motivating.

That's like saying "I know I have heart disease, but due to modern medicine at least I'm likely to survive another decade or so".

Personally I would just rather not have heart disease.

But nobody taught her the necessary tools to change her weight, she thinks this is her fate now, with which she has to arrange herself. Just one good book and she could take matters into her own hands.

Oh, honey. You ARE sick, even if you don't present with a horribly underweight body. Talk to your GP. They CAN help. Use your access to therapy. It CAN help. Stop worrying about eating healthy, and just worry about nurishing your body and KEEPING IT DOWN until you've reset your B/P habits. Brain over Binge is a book that may help you. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0984481702/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_.m1rCb9PR318M

yup! It was actually this book, which talks a lot about how people get eating disorders and how you can recover from them: https://www.amazon.com/Intuitive-Eating-Revolutionary-Program-Works/dp/1250004047/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=intuitive+eating&qid=1569979124&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Congrats on your progress. Keep it up!

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I also just learned that r/BingeEatingDisorder is a thing. I had no idea. I thought if I wasn't bulemic (didn't vomit) I was just lazy with poor self control.

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I just started reading Never Binge Again by Glenn Livingston, and while the writing style is a bit gimmicky/hokey, he's got some good psychological tools to reprogram your brain.

Hey mate I feel your pain and I am going through this currently... For the past 20 odd years to be fair. For me I sought councilling and I'm I was recommended a book which helps 90% of the time. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1572305614?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

It is a long struggle mate and I feel for you but so far this has helped me lose over 7stone (47kg) (106+ lbs). I recommend the book or at least councilling.

Please see my other post in this thread about Never Binge Again. You absolutely DO NOT need to find the root cause of your unhappiness and 'emptiness' to stop binging. You just have to stop binging to stop binging.

It could take you years of therapy and meditation to "discover" some magical "root cause" that makes you binge. You can do TONS of damage to your heart in that time.

I'd say stop binging FIRST. Right away, and then go find out what your root cause of sadness is. Don't let your brain TRICK YOU into thinking you have to find some primal cause to stop killing yourself with food. Read the book. It's a life-changer for real. (Or one of the other two books I mentioned if you don't like that one).

You look good IMO (but... also you look really sad dude!) and don't deserve to be brought down so heavily by this. but I totally understand the feeling and I bet a lot of guys here do too.

If you're really having a hard time, and people's comments don't reassure you, I'd encourage you to look into resources for body image issues/BDD. It's not just for women believe me. It might sound dramatic but hair/face is actually one of the biggest target areas for people, especially men. I struggled with it a lot when my hair started thinning, just sort of got really obsessively down on myself and felt hopeless and worthless because of it for almost a year straight. Really missed out on life frankly. It can really distort how you think and even how you see yourself in the mirror. I used to see the ugliest dude in the mirror, and I made a sad face just like yours when I would take pictures to check constantly if I looked alright/how bad it was. If any of that resonnates with you, therapy and even self help books can really help.

It looks like there is some great advice in this thread, and I am going to add one more thing that helped me. Check out the book "Never Binge Again" on Amazon. It is free, comes with a bunch of free extras, and was written by a mental health professional with years of both studying binge eating and overcoming it himself. It seems really silly and contrary to popular advice at first, but after finishing it a week ago I finally feel able to remove food from my desk at work, and able to keep to my goals food wise for more than a few days.

Hey its free - worst case scenario you waste 2 hours reading it..

So I always suspected Teddi's company was just her eating disorder as a program, but holy cow. I had intensive treatment a few years ago for a decades-long ED, and this program is exactly what it is like to have an ED. It's insane how many strangers have been walking around with the exact same thoughts in their heads, same style of self-criticism (and again, what the coaches say and their relentless rigid thinking about "doing better"- in my head, when i was sick, I called that "voice of reason" ana...) and sadly, self-destruction in the name of "self-improvement". Emily is really doing the Lord's work and honoring the voices of sufferer's tremendously. If anyone is being triggered by this stuff or confused, this book is very helpful for any disordered eating and of course please try to see a medical doctor or psychologist any time you need to <3 https://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Binge-Eating-Second-Program/dp/1572305614

Hi Michael, welcome to the sub! Please please please read the Intuitive Eating book, it tells you everything you need to know. https://www.amazon.com/Intuitive-Eating-4th-Anti-Diet-Revolutionary/dp/1250255198/ref=sr_1_1?crid=D9KCMTLRVNYS&amp;dchild=1&amp;keywords=intuitive+eating&amp;qid=1596554265&amp;sprefix=intu%2Caps%2C248&amp;sr=8-1

this is a great idea! I've recently noticed just how much weed dehydrates me—even though it's DEFINITELY not as bad as alcohol, it's significant. In addition to ^this comment about boredom & dopamine, I'd like to recommend this book on binge eating to everyone: https://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Binge-Eating-Second-Program/dp/1572305614

The American Psychological Association cites that text as the most current and evidence-based approach to treating binge eating via CBT. Which is just a fancy way of saying that any educated individual can read this book and gain valuable psychoeducation about how to deal with binge eating. If you're looking for additional support, look up some therapists in your state that provide treatment for individuals with eating disorders. You don't have to meet the criteria for something like anorexia or bulimia to benefit from some additional support!

Check out this ebook. It's free on Amazon. I never considered myself a binge eater, but when I read this, I saw so much of myself in it. https://smile.amazon.com/Never-Binge-Again-Permanently-Overeating-ebook/dp/B014V1Q6SI

One of the things he talks about is that self-destructive, beating yourself up cycle. "Well, I've already messed up. I can't stick to anything, so guess I may as well just eat."

You can and should love your body.

Picture your body like a garden shed. You can and should love it for all the useful things it holds and all the things it allows you to do.

Despite all that, you still need to clean out the shed once in a while, so that the clutter doesn't burst the walls and wreck the shed and you can continue to enjoy having it around for years to come.

Same thing with your body. You need to clean it out and offload some of the excess so that you can have it around for a while.

I don't think you fought to build a 400lb body, or that you think that every pound of that needs to be honored.

You fought to build a good life, with a good partner, and a good job, all of which you want to enjoy for years to come.

So keep up the fight so you get to enjoy the rest of your life.

Also, buy the book Conquering Fat Logic by Dr. Nadja Hermann. https://www.amazon.com/Conquering-Fat-Logic-ourselves-metabolism-ebook/dp/B07CZ3K2W3

It's really helpful.

I’d suggest reading the book Intuitive Eating. It has some really useful guidelines about identifying your hunger cues and respecting them.

In the meaning, definitely don’t wait until your stomach is growling! Most people don’t do that, and it could risk under-nourishment. I think in recovery if you’re thinking you might be hungry, you probably are. You should feel free to eat as much as you want at any time.

Making “treats” a regular part of meals and treating them neutrally, not making a big deal about it or saying “you have to eat x before you have y” can really help. I follow @feedinglittles on Instagram and they talk a lot about intuitive eating and how kids are actually really great self regulators when given the chance, and certain types of foods aren’t seen as “off limits.” It’s the perceived scarcity of the food that makes your brain feel like you need to binge it because you don’t know when you’ll have it again.

Megan (one half of Feeding Littles and a registered dietitian) struggled with disordered eating (obsessed with “healthy” foods) and through her studies and learning under the authors of this book, she began to untangle her warped relationship with food.

I personally didn’t/don’t feel like I struggle with diet culture etc, mainly because my mother never made comments about her own weight or that of mine or my sisters. My family didn’t do any diets growing up, etc. I never realized what a gift that was until college when I had friends who were dreading “freshman 15” and similar comments from their mothers while home for break. Even with that background, I’ve been learning so much about intuitive eating and been making changes in the way we talk about food around our daughter through @feedinglittles. I’m ESPECIALLY on guard about it around my husband’s family, where all women in the family are constantly talking about how “bad” they are for eating xx or how “I’ve been really good this week, I can have some y” and everyone is always yo-yo dieting and the first comment out of someone’s mouth to greet you is about how much weight you’ve lost. It’s bad.

Anyway, hope that’s helpful to you!

I struggle with this as well (in my case it's pizza and fried foods). I hear this all the time and it's so true, moderation is the key! Completely eliminating certain foods from your diet often increases your chances of binges and setbacks. The book "Intuitive Eating" has been a big help in re-shaping my mindset about eating. One of the chapters discusses how allowing yourself to have the "bad foods" whenever you want helps reduce their appeal and therefore prevents binges. The book describes it much better than I can. Here's the Amazon link if you're interested =) https://www.amazon.com/Intuitive-Eating-Revolutionary-Program-Works/dp/1250004047/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1508960908&amp;sr=8-1&amp;keywords=intuitive+eating

https://www.amazon.com/Intuitive-Eating-Workbook-Principles-Relationship/dp/1626256225/ref=asc_df_1626256225_nodl?tag=hyprod-20&amp;linkCode=df0&amp;hvadid=312673449485&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=13967070814893487094&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo...

Welcome! I suggest the IE workbook, even if you read the main book as well. It has phases/chapters, so you will not be suddenly eating everything you want, if that is scary for you (after years of disordered eating and dieting, it was for me). It has lots of activities to self-reflect and get back in touch with your body. "Challenging the food police" is the stage that a lot of people think of as eating pints of ice cream as it encourages you to break your food rules, but the chapter immediately after is "feel your fullness" and it moves into emotional eating and coping from there. The final step is gentle nutrition, which is another on that fat logic likes to ignore. Warning: starting to eat intuitively is not always an easy process, but it is so freeing once it clicks. Good luck <3

Never Binge Again(tm): How Thousands of People Have Stopped Overeating and Binge Eating - and Stuck to the Diet of Their Choice! (By Reprogramming Themselves to Think Differently About Food.) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014V1Q6SI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_gMecGbY92V0SD?_encoding=UTF8&amp;psc=1

Please read this book. The ebook is free (and the guy has it free as a pdf on his website if you can't get it from Amazon). I finally grudgingly read it after seeing a guy on r/keto recommend it over and over, and I saw so much of myself in it. Even if you don't consider yourself a binge eater (I don't myself), check out this book. It's short, but it's kind of an eye opener.

Never Binge Again(tm): Reprogram Yourself to Think Like a Permanently Thin Person(tm). Stop Overeating and Binge Eating and Stick to the Food Plan of Your Choice! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014V1Q6SI

Just get right back on track. You will feel normal again in about a week. I have been there and done that, so I know. Don't get derailed over a couple days of bad eating. They do not undo weeks of hard work, but your Inner Pig (from the aforementioned book) wants you to think they do so that he can binge on and on and on. Silence that nasty inner voice and do your thing.

I am coming back to this convo today to let you know about another resource I found yesterday. I wasn't feeling well Saturday so I spent a lot of time on the couch reading. :) This book, Never Binge Again, has great reviews and is free for Kindle on Amazon and also this guys website. There are a bunch of free resources on his website to supplement the book. I read almost the entire book in a couple hours (it's short), and it was very impactful! It's not for everyone, that's for sure, but I know it's already helped me. Going to keep The Pig caged for sure, haha! If you read it you will know what I mean. :)

I feel your pain. I am the same way with sweet stuff. If you haven't run across it yet, check out this guy's book. Free on Amazon if you're in the U.S.; free PDF from his website if you're not:

https://smile.amazon.com/Never-Binge-Again-Permanently-Overeating-ebook/dp/B014V1Q6SI

http://neverbingeagain.com/index.php/main/readerbonuses

I recommend these books:

Brain Over Binge

Intuitive Eating

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