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Real Life Diet Questions Answered

Angela Dowden
Nutritionist

Posted 05 Mar 07

I feel tired & sometime binge eat - is it lack of nutrition?

Wonderful to have a nutritionist now at our finger tips. I have been debating finding one in my local area to help me. I am clueless about nutrition. I have read books etc but still anything past the 5 a day and 8 glasses or water I am lost. When ever I look at nutrition guides it all looks a lot off effort packed with beans and lentils. As lovely as they are it is not how I eat.

I always eat my 5 a day and stick to my cals and always under my fat. I burn 200 - 300 cals a day and always have my 8 hours sleep, BUT I am permanently tired and weak. What should I do. I take a multi vitamin and always eat fresh fruit and veg, I just don't understand. Any comments?

Also I don't know if this is the forum to mention binge eating. I cant help myself it makes me feel ill too. I pig out and eat as much as possible in a short space of time and towards the end I think I should stop but I just keep stuffing my face. I am really worried about this habit. Is it normal to be like this? I get very upset too after and debate my options on how to rectify it. It takes me days to get over it as well.

I try and control it by having just one thing but then I give in and have the lot. I don't keep things that are bad at home but that does not stop me I will have cereal fruit and thing you can think off. Does this happen because I am missing something from my diet? Thank you for your help

Our expert says...

I think perhaps you lack food confidence - this is not at all uncommon in today's society when everything you read seems to over complicate the subject of food and what you should eat. But congratulate yourself about how much you do know and don't sweat about the latest super food, celebrity diet or fad eatng plan and you can't go too far wrong. To reassure yourself you know the basics, the Food Standards Agency web site is very good - I'd suggest you have a look at http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet/ which shows you the basics, including 8 top tips which are very easy to follow.

If you're permanently tired and weak I'd look very closely at your iron intake. Heavy periods, or not eating enough red meat can reduce your levels, and I'd recommended you get your iron level checked by your GP to see if you need iron supplements or just to adjust your diet.

As far as the binge eating goes - and the disgust that goes with it - I'm sure that many a fellow dieter can identify with this and be glad you are discussing it here. However binge eating is a complex topic that is closely related to your psychological wellbeing so it's hard to give pat answers.

Practical solutions can include keeping the food you overeat (if it is one particular type) well out of reach, at least at the beginning, until you have a healthier relationship with food. Simple things like not drinking alcohol - which inhibits your self control - and writing a list of distraction activities you can do when a binge beckons, may help. But as much as anything your need to work out what triggers the over eating event which is where the Nutracheck food diary approach documenting what you eat is so helpful.

You may also need to be less perfectionist and not as hard on yourself when you do slip. A lot of binge eating is related to "all or nothing" behaviour that leads you to believe that once you've started being "bad" you might as well just continue. It also tends to be related to the idea - perhaps enforced in childhood - that there are "good" and "bad" foods (nutritionists prefer to believe their are only"good" or "bad" diets).

Only you know how much of a problem this is and what level of help you might therefore need. There are a number of self help books to tackle psychological eating problems (look on www.amazon.co.uk), or if you feel you need further help seek out a dietitian who deals with psychological eating problems (ask your doctor, or call 0121 200 8080 for a list of privately practising dietitians). The eating disorders website at http://www.b-eat.co.uk may also help.

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