As with any journey, this one can be as much an adventure as it is an ordeal. And as in any journey, you are going to need a few tools and a few skills.

We are all born with an emotional compass. All we need to do is to learn to read it. Here’s how it works. If you do something and it feels wrong, or makes you or others feel bad – then it’s probably the wrong thing to do. When you do something and it feels right, then it probably is right. Simple? Well, it really is. If you do something that makes you feel angry, then it’s moving you away from where you need to be. If you do something which you feel guilty about, again you are heading the wrong way. So, steering towards where you need to be is not so hard. Suddenly, life gets a lot simpler.

Is it really that simple? Often, yes. The reason this is important for Group B people is that their binge/purge activity reflects anxiety. Each time we do something that moves us away from our comfort zone, we increase anxiety. So, the emotional compass is suddenly very important.
If someone is influencing you in a way that makes you feel negative, or guilty, then you should question how they fit into your journey. The same goes for activities. If you have a job that you dread, then the chances are you are in the wrong job. Relationships work the same way.

Remember, if you don’t change anything, things will stay the same. That’s just how it is. Don’t be angry about this – it serves no purpose. You job at the moment is to get yourself back to health. Doing so without being judgmental of others (and you will feel that some have let you down) will make you stronger and happier. Remember, angry people get sick. Keep things calm, and we’ll straighten everything out.

As you begin to listen to your emotional compass you will begin to find your anxiety reducing. You can do it in small ways at first, just choosing simple things based on your emotional compass. Even in small decisions you will find it makes a difference. Before long you will start using it increasingly, and with better effect.

As you progress on your journey you are going to need to rely on others from time to time. If you are able to depend on your parents, there is going to be a time when you have to tell them what you are doing. One of my Group B friends called her father when she was in my office, to tell him the nature of her problem. He had no idea she was bulimic. His response was unusual, to say the least.

“Thank god!” He said. “I’ve thought you were a drug addict for the last 2 years. Always going off to the bathroom. OK – now, let’s get some help!”
You probably don’t realize it, but most parents suspect something. While not all parents are supportive, in many cases you’ll find they are that first bit of help that you need. Because of the genetic nature of addictive personalities, it’s possible your mother has or had an eating disorder. Equally, because we know there is a disproportionate amount of addiction in Group B parents, there may be an addiction that is disrupting your home. In that case, you may have to look outside to some of your friends for support during your journey. Choose someone to confide in, and choose wisely. Listen to your emotional compass.

There is a download on this site call “How Do I Tell My Parents”. It is a short film that you can watch and then ask them to watch. It basically tells them, you have a problem. It’s not your fault and many normal people share it. However, you want them to understand it. It has been very useful to many Group B people, and also shows that others with this same issue are perfectly normal reasonable people.

On your journey you may find sometimes you need some additional help. Using a hypnotherapy download to reduce anxiety is one means to do this. Sometimes using homeopathic remedies is helpful. With the hypnotherapy downloads, you are really training yourself in a life skill that will help you manage anxiety for your whole life. The homeopathics should be thought of as a more immediate intervention to bring anxiety down quickly. These are tools you would think of as being in your backpack, for use when you need them.

There are several downloads in the Bulimia Download Pack. You may want to start listening to those nightly before you go to sleep for a while. These give you skills that will help you overcome these initial stages of your journey.

Measure
The first part of this trip is to measure  the frequency of bingeing and purging. To do this, you need to chart how often you binge/purge and how severe it is. Keep a note in a diary or day planner. This is a little like knowing where you are starting from on this journey.

Get Physical
Then, once you have an objective and clear idea of how intense this really is, then you can act. We know that if you simply keep doing what you’ve been doing, nothing will change.

Our first change will be physical. Feel better physically, and you will feel better emotionally. If, like many Group B people, you sometimes binge drink, or if you use recreational drugs, we need to reduce the effect to help you get rolling. An activity you can start early on, if this is the case, is to start getting into a sauna or steam room a couple of times a week. The idea here is that you are going to sweat out some of the toxins in your system.

You can also get some homeopathic help with this by using Nux Vomica. This stimulates the body’s cleaning system. You start to process out some of the things that have been hurting your body. You can buy Nux Vomica here.

To progress our physical situation a little further there are a few things we can do. If you are exercising to extreme, as some Group B people do, then hold on, and I’ll get to you in a moment. For most of us a little more exercise is a great idea. For Group B people it is essential. Here’s why. You express your self through a very physical means. A sound physical situation translates back very rapidly into a happier emotional place for you. Believe me, you will immediately feel way better. Just motivating yourself into that initial exercise is the trick.  You can use a hypnotherapy download for that, which is available here.  Try doing something you have not done for a while. Getting into a swimming pool is a great idea, as they often have a sauna or steam room attached. Think about yoga. We’ll come to that more latter.

For Group B types who exercise excessively, for the purpose of this you need to alter the type of exercise away from aerobic high impact exercise. Instead you might look at yoga, martial arts or even taking ballroom dance lessons. Yes, I know that sounds strange, but believe me it has worked wonders with some of my clients.

Adjust Your Diet
Some meals are safer than others. In the diet section of this website you’ll find some useful diet tips. However, as you start this journey you need to accept that your eating habits are probably very compromised. Even though you think you know a lot about nutrition, you have to suspend some of that knowledge until you can heal a little. I have had clients come to me literally in the throws of starvation telling me they won’t eat asparagus that is not organic because it’s bad for them. What you know, and what will help you now may be radically different at this stage in your life. So, just go with me for a while on this. A multivitamin is important for you in the early stages.

Because of the disruption to your system caused by the binge/purge cycle, we are going to take hunger out of the equation completely. This means going to a 5 meal a day plan. It’s not as bad as it sounds. Breakfast, mid morning snack, lunch, early afternoon snack, dinner.

Of these, dinner tends to be the one that is the most ‘dangerous’. Breakfast is safest. For that reason you are going to use your good knowledge of nutrition to ensure you have a solid high protein breakfast. Typically eggs, or salmon on toast if you can get it. Go easy on the carbs, they are not your friend yet.

Mid morning is often a high protein drink of bananas, strawberries or black berries or blueberries (the anti -oxidants help), milk or soy drink and protein powder (Progressive from New Zealand is the best if you can get it). Make about 500 mls, or around three quarters of a pint. The protein drink continues the protein input but also fills you up a lot and removes any hunger.

Lunch is simple. Salad.

Early afternoon fruit or a yoghurt is a good plan.

Dinner is your high risk time. However, by this time you should not be feeling hungry. A light snack is really all you need at this point. You may want ot shoot for something like fish or sliced meat and a salad in the early stages. Avoid carbs for a while. Following this would typically be when you work on one of your physical outlets like exercise or going for a sauna.  

Get Emotional
Now that you have started the physical and diet aspects of your journey, you will already begin to feel different. If addiction to a substance has been an issue, you’ll find it reducing. It’s amazing how that high protein breakfast reduces any cravings, same goes for the sauna. As you begin to feel a little different, you can start working on the hypnotherapy aspect of your recovery. This is like bringing in the power tools. Suddenly everything gets much easier, and much better. Make a selection of downloads, and start diligently listening to them before you go to sleep.

You are now beginning to let go of much of what has been hurting you. You are also dealing with that underlying condition that creates the bulimic symptoms. This is where you really start to change yourself, and your behavior.

Now you’ll start applying ‘derailing techniques’ because they will be deeply embedded in your subconscious. These techniques essential tell you to recognize when a behavior shifts from healthy to unhealthy. At this point you will simply ‘derail’ the binge/purge process. Because many people cannot purge in public, you are going to get out in public. Even at 4 am. You are going swimming, or to the public library, or to Starbucks.

Either way, you are going out of your way to position yourself where purging is not an option. Because this is a suggestion deeply made at a subconscious level, you will find it easy to act on. If you are someone who can purge anywhere, location is not the issue, it is activity. We’ll get you doing something that makes it impossible to purge.

Adapt
By now you will have seen substantial gains against your first measured frequency of bingeing and purging. More importantly, you will feel different. The changes that are happening are doing so at a deep psychological level. Because you follow your emotional compass, you are making better decisions, and bigger decisions. Because you understand you are in control, you can really start to take your life back. There are changes that you will make that will radically alter the shape of your life – which is what it needs. Now the fun starts. Adapt and move forward.

You are getting to where you need to be!