Anorexia nervosa and bulimia might be the conditions that first come to mind when you think of eating disorders. But tennis great Monica Seles fought a nine-year battle with a lesser-known issue, binge eating disorder.

Seles turned to food as a way to cope through two tragic incidents -- the death of her father and being stabbed in the back by a Steffi Graf fan while competing in 1993. Seles said, "Food became my best friend. I was lonely and I would just eat. It was my coping mechanism. Food was how I dealt with stress."

In time, Seles' unhealthy relationship with food caught up to her and she packed on 35 pounds.

Seles talks about her battle with binge eating disorder in her book, "Getting a Grip." She says she finally realized she had beaten her disorder when she competed on "Dancing With the Stars" and was able to take harsh criticism without turning to food.

Have you ever used food as a coping mechanism?

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When it's cold out and there's not much to do beyond hole up in front of the TV with a few good movies, it's important to be aware of what you're putting into your mouth. Mindless eating--done when you're focused on something else--can lead to a lot of excess calorie intake, and you'll wind up putting on extra unwanted pounds.

How to avoid mindless eating? Everyday Health has some great tips:

• Watch the containers. Bring a big bowl of chips to the table and you're likely to eat the whole thing without thinking. Instead, bring a small one and you won't feel bad when you polish it off.
  
• Read the labels and pay attention to serving sizes. Yes, a serving of chocolate rasins might only have 100 calories, but this 'serving' might only be 10 raisins.
• Remind yourself of how much you've eaten. Keep your empty wrappers around -- the guilt of seeing 10 candy bar wrappers on the table might help you keep things in perspective.
  

Want more tips? Click here.

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We've all heard of the 'freshman 15' -- the legendary 15 pounds that students tend to put on during their first year away at college. Apparently though, that weight doesn't necessarily come from too much partying and late-night study sessions fueled with lots of pizza.

According to the study reported on here, female students who go away to university and live in dorms are three times more likely to develop a binge-eating habit than those who remain at home with their parents. Girls who already had negative body images were also three times more likely to begin binge eating than those who did not.

The many changes that students have to deal with when they first go away to college can be incredibly stressful, and for young people who aren't used to dealing with such heavy levels of stress, binge eating can become a coping mechanism. It's dangerous because it can not only lead to significant weight gain, but developing a binging habit can also eventually lead to bulimia.

If you have a child who has recently gone away for their first year of college and you're worried about how they're coping, take a look at the full article for more information.

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In most cases getting pregnant is beneficial for eating disorders, with many commonly going into remission while the baby is growing. But binge eating, one of the most common eating disorders, has been found to actually get worse for some women during pregnancy -- especially for those with lower incomes.

This data comes from an enormous study of over 41,000 women in Norway, so the results are pretty scary. This urges all doctors and other pregnancy specialists to be aware of these risks when treating their patients, and the next step for researchers is to take a look at how these issues may affect the babies born to women with pregnancy-related binging disorders.

Have you experienced anything like this either yourself, or with a friend/someone in your family?

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Recognizing true hunger signals is difficult for many people. I don't know about you, but if I only ate when I was truly hungry I think I'd drop weight without hardly trying. I'm horribly prone to cravings, and I also just really love to eat. It's good times! But good times aren't always good times in terms of being healthy for you, so it's important not to indulge every time you feel like it. But sometimes it's so hard to resist, and you can bet more than just hunger pains are contributing. The way you think about food and how you feel about eating play a huge part in your failure or success at getting to (and maintaining) a healthy weight. Figuring out just what part they're playing can really help you figure out why you eat the way you do, and help you start to control it.

These steps will help you get started:

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I totally know about the "happy binge." I just really love to eat, and whether I'm feeling bummed out or celebrating something awesome, I always tend to think of it as "extenuating circumstances" that give me permission to put my diet on hold. Of course there's nothing wrong with treating yourself every now and then when something special happens, it's just important that you make sure it doesn't get out of hand. Pretty soon what started at "I got a promotion!" turns into "It's Saturday!" or "My favorite TV show is on!"

This post on iVillage.com tells a sweet story about a girl who had a great day followed by a "happy binge," and how talking with her friend helped her feel better about the whole thing and less likely to binge again over emotions, good or bad.

I don't think any amount of talking can prevent all "potato chip attacks," but I bet it can help stop a few.

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'I cheated on my diet by having that piece of cake. The day is blown, so I might as well have another. Ooh, chips. Why not have a few? I'll do better tomorrow.'

Does this sound familiar to you? It does to me -- I used to tell myself these kinds of things to justify pigging out. It happened especially around the holidays, when I am surrounded by treats and firmly loyal to the promise that once New Year's hit, I would make a resolution and stick to it. But over the past couple of years, I have come to realize that there will always be excuses to binge on junk food and there really is no time to be healthy like the present. That's not to say that I can never eat cake again -- I can and I do. But now I understand that even though I had the cake, I can still make healthy choices for the rest of the day.

If you find clever ways of justifying your overeating, read this. It exposes these justifacations and offers suggestions to avoid them. They also have some great healthy holiday cooking tips at the bottom. Check it out -- you might be glad you did.

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Are you guilty of holiday binging? I know I am not entirely innocent. But it's hard when you're faced with turkey, stuffing, endless desserts and your mom's famous garlic mashed potatoes. And let's not forget the array of beverages. Plus, with the way Canadian winters can get, it often find it hard to motivate myself to go for a walk. I can usually avoid binging during the rest of the year, but something about the Christmas season makes me particularly susceptible to cravings.

You can put an end to binging, but it takes from introspection. You need to figure out why you binge and you need to also rid yourself of counter-productive thinking, such as, "well, I've already blown the day by eating that chocolate bar; I might as well keep going and polish off this pie".

Do you have any tips for avoiding the dreaded binge?

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