Brain Over Binge

Assuredly, it was not the trigger, because loneliness does not cause binge eating. I may have indeed been lonely, but I didn't want companionship—I wanted large amounts of food. Once the urge surfaced, it became the problem in and of itself.

Regardless of anger or any other feeling, someone's voluntary hand muscles have to fire a gun.

idea of binge eating for pleasure seemed foolish.

he idea of gorging myself with incredible amounts of food—for any reason—simply stopped making sense and became a disgusting prospect. In the absence of irrational urges, binge eating is not something anyone would do for pleasure or as a way to cope.

The problem with this approach was that the triggers weren't the problem. The equation of all my binges looked like this:
Trigge r —> Urge —> Binge —> Purge

my recovery doesn't hinge on how good or bad I feel about myself, because my recovery is over. I'm glad I didn't wait until I developed good self-esteem to stop binge eating

Finding healthy ways to cope was a worthwhile life goal, but it wasn't necessary for complete recovery from bulimia

While I was in therapy, I often asked myself, If I stop binge eating, how will I cope? But once I stopped binge eating, the question became only, How will I cope

Distraction from life was a side effect of my bulimia.

There was nothing special I had to do to cope with life after bulimia, just as there was nothing special I needed to do to cope with life before bulimia. I didn't have an inherent deficiency in coping with life; I was no different from anyone else who struggles to deal with life the best way they can. Sometimes I cope well, sometimes I don't; but this has no bearing on my recovery.