I binge eat as a coping mechanism for stress and loneliness, and it's starting to impact my health as I leave my 20s. It became particularly bad during the pandemic, and I'm about 40 lbs heavier now than I was a few years ago. As a former 'fat teen' I'd done a lot of work to get into shape prior to that, had built my self-confidence, and was on a good path, but a break up with my first real girlfriend that was immediately followed by the pandemic kind of killed all motivation to take care of myself.

I'm working on it now. Cleaned up my diet for the past month and have implemented moderate exercise the past couple of weeks. I'm feeling the benefits of providing myself with proper nutrition, and am starting to feel more ambitious about fitness goals again. I've also started practicing mindful eating, and have identified some key triggers for my binges (loneliness, boredom, and stress) that I've implemented strategies to avoid. I haven't been perfect, but I've already lost about 10 of those 40 pounds I gained. I'm hoping to get <200 lbs again by my birthday in April (about 15 pounds to go for that!).