How do I stop being bulimic?

By Kelly Clark / Understand

How do I stop being bulimic? answered in 3 steps
“The horrible mental obsession with dieting is gone” – Clarissa, UK
Stop being bulimic & unlock your HAPPY weight

How do I stop being bulimic?

My extreme dieting at 14 years old soon turned into bulimia.

Restricting and over-exercising led to bingeing. And within a year, bingeing triggered purging.

I thought the problem was that I lacked willpower and that’s why I was “on” and “off” diets.

…Years later I realized I was caught in a vicious cycle:

No matter how hard I tried to stick to my (self-defeating diet) and despite hardly eating anything most of the time, I was always between 10 and 30 pounds overweight.

Bulimia made the rest of my world chaotic

For the 10 years I was bulimic, I had chipmunk cheeks.

My knuckles were always red with deep cuts (which I told everyone was just clumsy me with my curling iron).

And once in a while I’d have a blood-shot eye.

Also, my hair was always breaking off because it was so brittle.

At one appointment my hairdresser kept holding up broken clumps for me to see in the mirror. She cocked her head and looked at me silently while smacking her gum. Then in her thick French accent, that came out staccato-ed because of all the gum chewing, she said:

“You know (chew, chew) you should get your thyroid checked (chew).”

Though she spoke to my reflection, her mouth was beside my ear. Each word smelled minty. With a trace of tobacco.

On the second floor of that cinder-block building, sitting propped up in a barber shop’s chair with a plastic robe tied tightly around my neck, 15-year old me wondered if Lisa was right.

Perhaps that was why I couldn’t lose weight.

Maybe I did have a thyroid problem.

(I didn’t.)

That was just the physical struggle of being bulimic.

The worst part was wondering:

Who would I be and what could I create,
if I could answer this question—

How do I stop being bulimic?

I wasn’t doing my best at school or work because I was always hungry. Or over-exercising.

And I hated eating in public.

If I had to, I’d cover my mouth while I chewed because I was embarrassed to be seen eating.

Though I was overweight, the truth is that I was scared to eat an actual meal. And worried about everything I put in my mouth.

Someone I trusted even told me I’d struggle with my weight for the rest of my life.

For years I thought I had a slow metabolism.

Approximately 30 million Americans live with an eating disorder— National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders[Thankfully I was wrong. The problem wasn’t my metabolism (or yours if you’re worried). The problem is dieting.]

I even believed I was addicted to food because I thought about it All. The. Time.

For most of high school I only ate fruit before noon (because a book called Fit for Life suggested it.) Then I’d have an iceberg lettuce salad with ultra low-fat dressing at lunch before running up to 17 km with my cross country team.

Not knowing how to stop being bulimic put me in all kinds of risky situations

In the fall term of Gr. 10, I was on a run by myself. I’d started late because I had a Student Council Meeting right after school. A few kilometers in, my vision went all blotchy. So I lay down on a carpet of leaves hoping I could collect myself. Looking up I could barely make out the long empty limbs of trees reaching like claws to the sky.

Alone in the middle of a forested area the world started spinning and so did my thoughts. I wanted to keep running to burn more calories but I was also worried about what was going on in my body. And I kept thinking of a scene from the tv show Little House on the Prairie where a girl encounters a man dressed up as a mime in the woods and it’s implied something terrible happened.

Fear drove me back to school. Through empty hallways I made my way to a changing room that was never used because it had showers but no shower curtains. There I lost my sight completely.

When I eventually got home that night the first thing I did was weigh myself. I’d only eaten pineapple that day.

After intense over-exercising I also wrecked my knees

Since I’ve been seventeen I haven’t been able to run long distances.

And I spent $1000’s on symbolic jewelry, day planners, etc. all to mark a new start…

I hate to think about the money I wasted on 100’s of diets and bingeing.

Or the time I lost when I’d punish myself for breaking my diet. Like I’d cancel plans with friends or burn my diaries to draw a line in the sand before starting a new diet.

Another pattern I didn’t even recognize for ages was how much I “watered dead plants” (people who treated me badly). I didn’t trust myself with food. So I didn’t trust myself with anything.

Including if it was ok to stand up for myself.

Who could you be, if you stopped spending all your energy on dieting?

It’s possible!

What I want you to know is that things can change fast

None of these things I’ve listed above will get in the way of you making MASSIVE change.

In fact, all those really tough experiences can make getting your life back on track even easier.

Stay with me…

If you’re truly fed up with bulimia and being preoccupied by dieting and counting calories and having secrets and, and, and—the list goes on and on.

And you’re ready to MAKE TODAY COUNT!

You’re more likely to Trust The Process.

I was.

My life got better quickly

When I was finally open to:

trying something new
listening to someone else’s advice (rather than trying to fix the same problem with the same solution)
& being kind to myself

(And that’s a big one!)

…living became enjoyable and fun again.

Now I’ve been healthy (and my HAPPY weight) for 22+ years.

The best part is that food is a COMPLETE non-issue.

And I want to tell you how I did it.

How do I stop being bulimic? The answer

For me, bulimia was a big problem that only needed a small solution.

And that solution is The 3 Steps I share in my book:

Here’s some things people have been saying about it:

“The horrible mental obsession with dieting is gone”
– Clarissa, Student, UK

“In less than a month I’ve lost 6 kgs simply by doing as Kelly’s book suggests”
– Teagan, Homemaker, Australia

“Kelly shows you almost hilariously simple knowledge that WORKS”
– Catherine, Student, Australia

“I was dieting obsessively and this behavior was getting in the way of my work. I also felt guilty as my daughter was starting to pick up on some of my disordered eating behaviors. But since I’ve read Kelly’s book I’ve stopped bingeing. Life is so much easier.”
– Amanda, Physician, USA

“My binges are gone, which is a huge deal”
– Reese Spykerman, website optimization expert, USA

“Following your book has eliminated cravings, given me more energy and I’ve lost weight”
– Linda Barutha, Artist Income Strategist, USA

“The constant urge to overeat is gone”
– Kathy Rupff, Artist, USA

“Whether you want to lose 10 pounds or avoid an eating disorder relapse, Kelly’s book is for you”
– Dr. Cindy Childress, The Experts Ghostwriter, USA

“I’ve never not absolutely binged on Red Lobster. What are you doing to absolutely reprogram my habits? And undo probably 20 years or more of an unhealthy relationship with food?”
– Lindi Conover-Thompson, Grant-writing Strategist, USA

“Your info literally saved my life”
– Clare, Nurse, UK

“I’ve been on diets & restricting and caught in binging cycles since I was 11 years old. I’m 30 now. After reading your book food is not an issue.”
– Emily, Student, USA

The answer to How do I stop being bulimic? is hot off the press:

(Do people still say that?)

…clearly Rocky doesn’t have the same enthusiasm I have (or appreciation of how much work went into all the books piled up in the boxes behind me).

I mean, he’s not even trying to look interested!

To meet the amazing women behind the testimonials (above) and read more in-depth reviews about my book: It took me 10 years to lose 10 pounds that shares The 3 Steps that answer: How do I stop being bulimic? click here.

To order my book, Edition #2 (yay!), click here.

And a very special thank you to my partner, Alex, for all the long hours he spent on weekends and weeknights doing the book updates.

He’s a software engineer. But he learned how to do all the front-end graphic stuff for my website and my book because he doesn’t want anyone else to go through what I’ve been through with dieting, over-exercising, feeling hungry and bulimia.