Binge Eating Disorder My Lived Experience
My name is Katrina.
I live with Binge Eating Disorder, and my experience with it has been lifelong.
Growing up, there were conflicting messages about my body and independence. I was taught that being thin was the only way to be loved in my future relationships outside the home. At the same time, there were behaviours and expectations that encouraged weight gain and kept me dependent and close to the people whose intention it was for me not to leave.
For these same people, my being overweight served their purpose and agenda. These were the decisions and lessons set for me from a very young age.
It seemed simple. To be loved, and eventually leave that environment, I felt I had to repeatedly and drastically lose weight.
What I do know for certain is that across my adult life, my weight has varied by over 70 kilograms from its highest to lowest point, and neither end reflected good mental health.
Over time, these experiences shaped my relationship with food and my body in ways I did not fully understand until much later. I am still, at times, unravelling this, as it continues to show up in my life. I found it difficult to start or pursue anything without feeling that I first needed to be at a “perfect” weight.
I did not believe that self worth and success could exist alongside being overweight.
Understanding what actually happens in real situations with eating, built on a lifetime of coping and adaptation, is a foundation of my peer support and lived experience work. It defines the purpose behind what I do, and the value I bring comes from having lived it.
Cycles and Self Management
I would get my eating under control, restrict or diet, then lose that control and move into emotional eating, before trying again to regain it. This cycle repeated across my lifetime.
For many years I managed my mental health on my own, using what I describe as "an affordable" homemade band aid approach. I researched, I read, I reflected, and I built personal systems to cope. Some of these did sustain me for a time, but during major life transitions it proved insufficient.
Life Challenges
At 47, several changes occurred at the same time. My children were leaving home, and my role as a mother was changing as they moved into adulthood. All I could see was a future of loneliness. Work pressures increased, and I found myself in a toxic and unmanageable work environment. This period was the first time in my professional career that I experienced how much workplace relationship dynamics can affect health and wellbeing.
I was completely under prepared for perimenopause and the impact it would have on my body, my energy, and my mood.
During this period, all of my binge eating behaviours returned with a level of intensity and frequency that was the most severe I had ever experienced. I did not have the tools or knowledge needed to improve my health.
I reached a point where managing it on my own was no longer possible.
Seeking Support
When I disclosed my experience to a doctor, I was told that someone my age should have had a better plan in place and should be over an eating disorder. That response, followed by many others, delayed my help seeking and reinforced how stigma and misunderstanding can limit access to care. In clinical settings, these responses were often explained by limited knowledge, lack of training, it not being a specialty area, time constraints, and a lack of consistent empathy in how care was delivered.
Eventually, I found an informed and respectful response. That interaction changed the direction of my recovery.
What I needed was someone to say, “It’s okay. I’ve got this. I know what I’m doing. I know it may not feel like it right now, but you do too. We will work it out together.”
That is all I needed. That one person, that one professional and confident statement, was my turning point.
It also clarified something important. Many people navigating complex behavioural patterns, like disordered eating, experience fragmented care, dismissal, or oversimplified advice. Structured education and peer-informed understanding are often missing, creating a gap in support and recovery. Self-guided recovery is often explored out of necessity.
While support systems and recovery can be inconsistent, a useful focus for anyone navigating binge eating disorder is building self-sufficiency and advocacy skills. The goal is for every individual to have the tools to understand their needs, make informed choices, and seek the support that works best for them.
Life in Person was created in response to that gap. I do not believe anyone should have to experience disordered eating in the way that I have.
I will provide that same clear and confident support for anyone who needs it, until they no longer do.
Why I Do This Work
When I needed support, I could not find the right help. I encountered misunderstanding, oversimplified advice, and gaps in care that left me without support when it mattered.
That experience showed me how difficult it can be to access affordable, informed and respectful guidance.
Life in Person exists to provide structured education, reflection, and peer informed support grounded in lived experience and practical understanding.
About Life in Person
Life in Person provides peer led education and recovery support for people experiencing binge eating.
Services focus on practical recovery skills, connection, and structured learning through courses, workshops, and peer support sessions.
If you would like to explore the pathways available there is a free introduction course available to get you started in the right direction
This service provides peer support and educational services only. It is non clinical and does not provide medical, psychological, or therapeutic treatment. It is not a substitute for professional care.
This service does not provide crisis or emergency support.
If you are in Australia and experiencing an emergency or crisis, please call 000 immediately.
For mental health crisis support, you can contact:
Lifeline on 13 11 14 (24/7)
Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 (24/7)
