Binge eating is something I regularly see in clinical practice. And of all the clients I’ve seen, there is a common theme. 

At some point in their past, they went on a diet. They were able to restrict their food intake in some manner; whether it be simply cutting down on calories as a whole, or cutting out some food group. 

But at some point, something changed. They had a binge. Completely out of nowhere, they were overwhelmed with a desire to eat that they couldn’t control. 

This episode created a strong mix of confusion and shame. What just occurred? Why did this happen? 

They vowed that this would be a one-time thing and starting now they were going to be stronger in their resolve. But despite this, it happened again. And again. 

In early 2019 I started working with Valentina. She’d been struggling for over a decade, first with anorexia and then binge eating disorder. We worked together over the year and Valentina made a complete turn around with her relationship with food. 

Valentina’s Story

Below, in her own words, is a bit about Valentina and what she got out of working together:

“I reached out to Chris, two months after I had sworn to myself that I’d never again enrol in any sort of counselling. Almost ten years of struggling with a restrictive eating disorder, four attempts of seeking professional help, and countless times of trying to recover on my own, had left me feeling hopeless. 

Moreover, the last shot I took at recovery resulted in an intense period of binge eating. When it started showing on the scale, I considered myself recovered and went back to a “I will restrict again but this time I‘ll be smart about it“ mentality. 

So basically I got stuck in the limbo land of not appearing unwell, sort of doing better than I used to but definitely not there yet. A fact I was completely oblivious to, as, in my mind, I was doing great, if it wasn’t for the bingeing. 

When I applied to the free initial chat, I didn’t know a lot about Chris. I had listened to two episodes of his podcast, where he stated that he was pretty good at helping clients get to a point of full recovery.

So I decided to work with him and I am really glad I did. 

Whenever I sought help in the past I felt “not sick enough,” probably because it‘s hard to recognise all the areas in your life that are being compromised by your disordered behaviours, when you’ve just gotten used to feeling mediocre all the time. 

The change I had been most desperate to make was to stop binge eating. Which at the same time constituted one of the areas I had been kind of afraid to talk about, as I feared being put on a meal plan and told that I needed to work on my emotional health.  A scenario I had experienced in the past on numerous occasions. 

But with Chris, I never felt judged and he treated my problems with compassion rather than playing the role of the expert. I think that’s a key aspect of why I kept working with him, after I prematurely quit every other treatment I’d ever attended. 

Their advice and endless ideas of what’s best for me caused overwhelm ultimately morphing into frustration and anger. So I’d stop showing up. 

There is no point in pressuring people into making changes they are not ready to make. Chris seems to be really aware and respectful of that. I felt like he was helping me move in the right direction from the point I was at.

Before I had been able to give myself permission to eat, I needed a lot of external reinforcement and Chris was able to provide that, sometimes multiple times of the week, as I wrote him an email after every binge during the first few months. 

At the same time, he encouraged me to eat satisfactory meals and quantities of food, whenever I felt hungry. I now actually cook for myself, following real recipes!!! And the binge eating did stop! 

From when I got ill at the age of ten, to the age of 20, I thought of myself as an anxious, depressed person, chronically bored, chronically numb, no interests, no hobbies, essentially failing at life. 

During the course of my work with Chris, I regained the ability to experience joy, and feel the love I have for my family and dogs (who are family too – I am a proud dog mother of two and I always feel like I need to tell people about them). 

I also now have interests outside of listening to food and nutrition podcasts, which frankly is something I am super relieved about. Chris always encouraged me to try new activities in my past time. Once he sent over a list of his favourite podcasts so I didn’t have to listen to the same Keto diet-related ones over and over again like a music track.

The idea of not having to go to the gym every day anymore also helped to free up some brain space for me to explore what I actually want to do with my life. I feel like from a personal development standpoint, I am a little behind compared to my peers, as it’s really hard to figure out your life when all you do is to obsess over food and exercises. 

Talking to Chris I became more aware of my values and what I want to achieve.

But one of the biggest accomplishments for me is that I am not constantly anxious anymore.

I can highly recommend working with Chris. He has a ton of knowledge, is compassionate, intelligent, and most importantly he knows what he is doing.

I always looked forward to our consultations, which says a lot, as I have never enjoyed talking to any other practitioners.

If you are unsure about seeking help because you don’t feel like you have “enough of a problem”, go seek help anyway. Life is so so much better without having eating issues, no matter how tiny they may seem to you!

Thanks for everything Chris!”

Do you need some help?

I’m a leading expert and advocate for full recovery. I’ve been working with clients for over 15 years and understand what needs to happen to recover.

I truly believe that you can reach a place where the eating disorder is a thing of the past and I want to help you get there. If you want to fully recover and drastically increase the quality of your life, I’d love to help.

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