a few questions: exercise, binging, timing...

[tri2bbetter]

hi, im new to this site and joined in hopes of getting a few questions answered. i occassionally binge eat (this might mean a jar of peanut butter, half a jar of NUtella, or just too many random things like popcorn, dried fruits etc etc.) i am desperately trying to kick my habit and develop healthy eating patterns again and focus less on food. but until i get there, when i do binge, i try to go work it off at the gym. if i exercise for two or so hours (i.e eliptical, maybe some light weights) at night and then another hour or so in the morning, without eating anything until after my morning workout- how bad is this for my body? am i burning muscle or the tremendous amount of fat from a jar of peanut butter? how long will it stay in my muscles as glucose? and also- how much would i need to workout to workoff a big binge like this? thanks for the help. i know i need it!

 

[Feuer]

I think the important part is to focus on not binging. Maybe start keping a journal around your binges. Ask yourself why you might be doing it. Look for a trigger. And see if you can stop the binges. For example, if you find yourself sitting there with the jar of peanut butter in hand and half of it already gone, then force yourself to go put it away.

If your focus is on "how can I exercise enough to workoff the binge?" then you are just focusing on a band-aid, and really you are leading yourself into bullimia. Because really, that is what Bullimia essentially is-- binging than purging (including through excessive exercise following the binge). I am not saying that you shouldn't work out after a binge. I just think you shouldn't focus on ways to become a better bullimic.

I have binge problems also. Long ago I began to keep a journal and starting noticing my cycle. Light eating/ maybe 700 calories a day for 4 days, then a binge day where I would consume like 3000 calories of fatty foods all in one day. Now I am working on eating more than the 700 calories a day because I am wondering if it is the deficit which is causing the binge. So, If I eat more on all days, and spread out my meals, then maybe I will not binge. I have been doing great lately NOT binging, but part of it is because I develped a dairy allergy and cannot have most of my favorite foods.

Your binges might be from different reasons than mine. I read a book once that said our body will crave foods that we need. Like if we are low in iron then we may crave iron rich foods. Maybe you are having this problem with peanut butter and nutella. Maybe there is something in them that your bodies needs more of and it is triggering the binge. Try eating well rounded meals daily-- even if you have to throw in a peanuts or peanut butter. Take a multivitamin. Focus on eating the right things everyday and enough of them. If you have to, do not buy peanut butter or nutella. Keep things out of the house that you have the most problem binging on. But don't deny yourself those things.

I wish you the best in changing your eating habits! It is very hard. I have been working on mine for years and I am still working on them! In some ways, developing my dairy allergy has been the best thing for me. LOL

 

[Lula3]

I struggled with binge eating for many years. The best way to get away from it I find is stop worrying about food, calories, working the binge off etc. The more you obsess about it, the more likely you'll binge.

Something which made me binge was under-eating, as Feuer said. In a way it's your body's psychological response to starving: if you deprive it, it's going to try make it up somehow, and I like to think my body used to fight against starving by over-eating. Obviously its a lot more complicated and intricate than that.

I also only store "safe food" in the house - even though I very rarely do it anymore, I keep chocolate/sweets/biscuits/potato chips/nutella/etc out of the house, or if I have some, I only keep very small portions, so that if I get triggered to binge, well there is nothing to really binge on except bland food like rice, oat crackers, cereals, fruit etc.

I also made a point of eating normally after I binged - don't beat yourself up and think positive. Binged yesterday? Not the end of the world, you'll get better. Didn;t binge for 2 weeks and just did, and feel really shit? Congratulate yourself instead: you went binge-free for 2 weeks - an improvement. Try to find what triggers these binges, and avoid such situation in the future.

Most importantly, learn to love your body and what it does for you - your body will carry you all the way to old age, through pregnancies (if you're female), through bringing your children up to your grandchildren etc. If you love and appreciate your body, with all its beauty and flaws, you won';t want to harm it by bingeing.

I hope these tips help - this is what I did. It takes a long time, and as I said, the less you obsess about food and calories, and the healthier your attitude to food and exercise, the less likely you'll binge or over-eat.

 

[Lula3]

I think the important part is to focus on not binging. Maybe start keping a journal around your binges. Ask yourself why you might be doing it. Look for a trigger. And see if you can stop the binges. For example, if you find yourself sitting there with the jar of peanut butter in hand and half of it already gone, then force yourself to go put it away.

If your focus is on "how can I exercise enough to workoff the binge?" then you are just focusing on a band-aid, and really you are leading yourself into bullimia. Because really, that is what Bullimia essentially is-- binging than purging (including through excessive exercise following the binge). I am not saying that you shouldn't work out after a binge. I just think you shouldn't focus on ways to become a better bullimic.

I have binge problems also. Long ago I began to keep a journal and starting noticing my cycle. Light eating/ maybe 700 calories a day for 4 days, then a binge day where I would consume like 3000 calories of fatty foods all in one day. Now I am working on eating more than the 700 calories a day because I am wondering if it is the deficit which is causing the binge. So, If I eat more on all days, and spread out my meals, then maybe I will not binge. I have been doing great lately NOT binging, but part of it is because I develped a dairy allergy and cannot have most of my favorite foods.

Your binges might be from different reasons than mine. I read a book once that said our body will crave foods that we need. Like if we are low in iron then we may crave iron rich foods. Maybe you are having this problem with peanut butter and nutella. Maybe there is something in them that your bodies needs more of and it is triggering the binge. Try eating well rounded meals daily-- even if you have to throw in a peanuts or peanut butter. Take a multivitamin. Focus on eating the right things everyday and enough of them. If you have to, do not buy peanut butter or nutella. Keep things out of the house that you have the most problem binging on. But don't deny yourself those things.

I wish you the best in changing your eating habits! It is very hard. I have been working on mine for years and I am still working on them! In some ways, developing my dairy allergy has been the best thing for me. LOL

Great post, however eating 700 calories a day is insane so I'm happy you're eating more - hopefuly more than 1200 cal a day. It'll only slow down your metabolism and make weight loss harder otherwise in the long run, and for prolonged periods of time, you'll eat up your muscles and end up with a very unfirm looking body due to loss of muscle tone.

This is exactly what I did (starving - that's eating under 1200 cal), coupled with binge eating, which completely screwed up my digestion (I have IBS now, which started with a diary/wheat intolerance), and when I did get thin, I was "wobbly thin". Then I became overweight because of the binge eating. It's taken me at least 3 years to get back to normal weight wise, and my IBS got worse (lots of food intolerances - as I said I'm convinced it started because of disodered eating), although I'm working on it.

 

[tri2bbetter]

i really appreciate all the feedback. this is my first forum ever- and its really helpful. I used to have disordered eating really bad- restricting all the time becasue i too suffered from IBS and bad food allergies- according to the docs. but i dont know if they were as accurate as i once thought. now i dont restrict- and instead i binge- which is obviously still a eating disorder and a big problem. i am also a competitive triathlete- although i wont be training for several months as i am out of the country.. but i do want to stay in shape- which is also why the binges are so frustrating. restricting calories absolutely triggers binges- but i really dont restrict until the day after the binge and even then- its not by much- maybe 400 calories max. do you guys think i should restrict more then that the day after a binge? i want to be healthy and back on track, with much less thought and emphasis on what and when i eat. i know i over-focus on food which makes everything worse. That and i really struggle with moderation- i wish i could just have one cookie- and be done... not eat 5 and then feel guilty. any tips on how to rid of the all or none complex?

 

[Lula3]

any tips on how to rid of the all or none complex?

1. Re-read what has been written! We gave you lots of useful tips!
2. Be patient - it takes a long time to get rid of habits you've had for a long time
3. Stop focusing on resticting and using negative words like "restricting" - Restricting rimes with fustration and bingeing to me
4. Eat normally and do not undereat/cut down
5. Stay active and keep yourself busy
6. Accept and love your body, at any weight