Everyone, at some point in their lives, has indulged in mindless eating, whether they have binge eating disorder (BED) or not. It's so easy to do and simple to not even notice it until it's entirely too late and you've eaten far more than you intended. How can you stop mindlessly eating and take charge of your binge eating recovery?

Fad dieting is not healthy for anyone, but when you have binge eating disorder, fad dieting can be a symptom of your binge eating disorder and do serious damage to your mind and body. Almost everyone in the United States, at some point, has been on a fad diet. They are so ubiquitous in popular culture that very few have escaped the allure of the quick-fix fad diet, especially those with binge eating disorder.

When you have binge eating disorder you sometimes might find yourself overeating. There are certain times, such as holidays, celebrations, or events when overeating is part of tradition. But when you have binge eating disorder, you overdoing it is not the same as an average person overeating.

I had been discussing my binge eating disorder with a friend and they asked me if I could describe what a binge felt like, physically and emotionally. It took me a second to put my thoughts into words. Describing a binge to someone turned out to be a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. If only for the fact that you are describing mental illness and that takes a very discomforting amount of honesty to do. Here are my thoughts on what a binge feels like.

When you have binge eating disorder, coping after a binge or overeating can be tough. Binge eating disorder is a serious mental illness that is can be very difficult to control. Occasionally, you will slip and binge. The strongest person with the most self-control is sometimes not able to fight off the compulsion to keep eating and the inability to stop once you've started. You might feel a lot of different things after you've binged and that's completely natural. But remember, this one lapse does not mean that you've lost the battle. You can cope after a binge or overeating.

In 2012, my weight was out of control, my eating was out of control, and I had failed every diet that I had been on in the last 20 years, including a starvation diet. I was lost as to what to do next. But I went to an informational session for bariatric surgery, and let's just say, it changed my life.

My name is Star LaBranche and I'm so excited to be writing for the new blog, Binge Eating Recovery. I've struggled with my weight and body image my entire life. Although my eating problems went unnoticed for years, I was finally diagnosed with overeating and food addiction (now known as binge eating disorder) a few years ago. Since then, it's been a journey of discovery to find a way to eat, be healthy and feel comfortable in my own skin. It hasn't been easy and there are always setbacks, but I'm on the right path.