Weight-Loss Binge eating

Weight-Loss
Bigreen

Bigreen

New member
I am a binge eater. How does one go about controlling this. I can do great for a day or two, then comes the binge. My binge usually involves a crapload of food. I eat till I can't and then eat more all day. I know it's phycological. I eat when Im not hungry, but my mouth is hungry, not sure if that makes sence.

Anyway, does anyone have any tips to avoid doing this? I do it like 3 times a week.
 
To control it you want to get to the source of what's causing it.

Try keeping a food/mood journal... and each time you eat, record your mood, or why you are eating... hungry, lonely, stressed, sad, etc... then see if there's a pattern.

some people i've seen binge because they've put themselves on a very restricted diet... one that deprives themself of something and thier binges are really cravings for what thy are being deprived of... whatever food pan you are on - make sure you aren't depriving yourself of your favorites... and they are being included in moderation
 
Bigreen said:
I am a binge eater. How does one go about controlling this. I can do great for a day or two, then comes the binge. My binge usually involves a crapload of food. I eat till I can't and then eat more all day. I know it's phycological. I eat when Im not hungry, but my mouth is hungry, not sure if that makes sence.

Anyway, does anyone have any tips to avoid doing this? I do it like 3 times a week.
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Bigreen,
One of two things:
1. This does sound psychological and it may be the type of thing that requires expert intervention. This is an eating disorder. Although you do not say that you purge after you eat, biinge eating is it's own disorder and you cannot wish away an eating disorder, because it isn't about the "eating" it's about something else.

Have a professional help you determine what the true issue is, then they can help you fix it.

2. On the days you "do good" are you eating healthy or under eating/dieting? Most diets fail because after awhile the extreme deprivation of calories and food that actually tastes good, turns into a binge (as opposed to changing your eating habits over a period of time, that lasts a lifetime).
 
Hi BigG - It makes perfect sense. I'm a binge eater too so I feel you on this.

I don't limit what I eat at all, if I want chocolate then I eat it. But I make sure to eat just enough to kill the craving and fit into my calorie range. If that isn't an option then I just find something else to do like go for a walk, exercise, come on the boards and read/talk, call a friend - anything to keep my mind and hands active... try chewing sugarless gum if you really need to have the chewing action.

Yes it tends to be pschological. Mal has a good idea in keeping your moods and foods together. Maybe that can give you a bit of insight into the why part. It's also a matter of habit. From what I read, habits take about 2 weeks to make or break.

If you don't feel you can control it on your own then please seek help for it.

I havn't had a really bad binge attack since I started here at the boards (a little over a month) and really started being consious of my eating habits. Hang in there - it does get better eventually. ;)
 
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Thanks for the info. As for my diet, well I eat pretty much what I want when I want. So the binge does not come from that. Usually I am overly hungry for some reason, then I just keep eating.

Lucky for me though, I love fresh veggies and fruit. My last binge I took down 5 nectarines and a massive salad. (It was monstrous) So I don't really binge on bad food necesaraly (i do sometimes, depends on what's in my fridge), i just binge on too much food.

But yeah, I'll make a better effort to keep my mind off food when I have eaten enough and im still "hungry".
 
Bigreen said:
I am a binge eater. How does one go about controlling this. I can do great for a day or two, then comes the binge. My binge usually involves a crapload of food. I eat till I can't and then eat more all day. I know it's phycological. I eat when Im not hungry, but my mouth is hungry, not sure if that makes sence.

Anyway, does anyone have any tips to avoid doing this? I do it like 3 times a week.
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U sound like an emotional eater to me from your saying above. Well, there is always a solution for every problem as long as you really INTEND to make it. I tell you that it could be either hard or easy for you to control your habitual eating lifestyle. All you need to do is " concentration " and keeps on telling yourself " Why do I have to give a damn about eating right and orderly? " And the answer should be " That's because, first, I wanna sweep off this unwanted weight for a better life both physical and emotion. Second, this is challenging how one can control one of the hardest thing in the world of human beings - eating! " ... Whatever your answer would be...I just wanna tell you to really FOCUS and THINK before you would eat and swallow something. That's not enough though. As a dieter, you should think further and more complex than that. Watching your plate, and tell yourself " Do I really need this food? or am I just eating to serve my mouth which is watering becuz of this delicious-looking food in front of me? " ...

Don't make any excuse to urself because that kind of excuse-making will eventually become ur excuse when it comes to cutting off those unneeded food.

Nobody can help unless yourself...at least you need to help urself first place. Others only can tell you but they cannot control you...

Being on diet is challenging becuz it's about '' self-control '' and if you can do it, you will make it to your goal weight!

Believe me that everything is not too hard to achieve if we really intend and give our best effort to it...


GOOD LUCK! :)
 
Hi people. I know I am new here, but I am an ex binge eater. There is no correct formula. It seriously just a case of self control. STOP BINGE EATING. I dont wanna sound harsh but from my own experience and it was not easy, is DISCIPLINE, DISCIPLINE, DISCIPLINE. YOu can read books and look in the mirror and say stuff to your self, but if you can not get it through your head that if you keep eating like this you are always going to be FAT FAT FAT and you will have some serious health complication later on down the road. SO KEEP THAT IN YOUR BRAIN and it help. I do not mean to sond harsh, but take it from me as I use to be one. It helps.
 
flipman416 said:
Hi people. I know I am new here, but I am an ex binge eater. There is no correct formula. It seriously just a case of self control. STOP BINGE EATING. I dont wanna sound harsh but from my own experience and it was not easy, is DISCIPLINE, DISCIPLINE, DISCIPLINE. YOu can read books and look in the mirror and say stuff to your self, but if you can not get it through your head that if you keep eating like this you are always going to be FAT FAT FAT and you will have some serious health complication later on down the road. SO KEEP THAT IN YOUR BRAIN and it help. I do not mean to sond harsh, but take it from me as I use to be one. It helps.
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I 100% agree with this. Having been a binge eater for all my adult life, I know that it is not only because of too restrictive diets .. I binged plenty when I wasn't on a diet. And the point about will power is true, but binge eating is just that ... some beast on your shoulder takes over. For me, binge is always junk food, chips, chocolate bars, slulrpees. And DISCIPLINE is an art that we learn through practise, so indeed we must simply continue to be aware and practise.

Bigreen you are already aware. I like Mal's suggestion for journal because it keeps us mindful and aware. What type of food exactly do you binge on? Why are you hungry? Are you nourishing yourself enough with healthy foods? This might help you in figuring out how to practise discipline. Another part of it is accepting ourselves with our foibles. You can go from 3 binges per week to 2 for a while, for example. Everyone wants to say there is only one way, but I believe there are as many solutions as there are people. And you will find what works for you. One thing is for sure ... once awareness kicks in, there's no going back. We may slip for a week or even a few months, but we always have the alert button go off to help us face the issue.

Binge eating is very similar to alcoholism to me. It's something I believe I will always have to be on alert for. Instead of sobriety, I pursue abstinence. So it's not about diet or even lifestyle change when it comes to this addiction. It's about awareness, vigilance, discipline.
 
I can only give you what I personal use to curve the cravings.

When i feel like bingeing its usually the urge to eat an entire pizza, or 2 for 1 wing night, or chinese buffets (The bane of my waist line), and salty snack crackers. I can eat so much in one sitting its rediculous.

Right now what i do when i get those cravings, i start feeling depressed, which reminds me of why i started this lifestyle change in the first place. I think about the progress I've made so far, and how binging on food would be a bump in the road so to speak, and the craving is curbed. Another way i prevent the craving is I have completely removed all un healthy food from my kitchen. When i go to the store and i pass by the food that i used to by, and I dont buy it now it makes me feel better.

When i do get that hungry feeling through, i eat a 180 calorie Nature Valley granola bar, or a peice of fruit. Once the hunger pain subsides I'm better.

Really your going to have to dig deep inside your self, and find that drive that will make you stick to your lifestyle change (i.e. not giving into those cravings) Every time i resist the urge to fall back into those habits, it makes the next craving all that much easier to handle.

you will get there man.

another way to look at it is, that this process is not shor term, it is a life time of change. So if you do end up binge eating, don't give up, its a bump in the road.

I
 
The first thing I would do is bring all your excess food in your house (leave like a weeks worth of food in the house) to the food pantry. Where people will actually put it to good use.
 
Discipline and time. But don't be too hard on yourself. We all have our weaknesses, addictions etc. And for some of us it can take a lifetime to understand them and work through them.

The food diary is a great idea. Or a food display board in your home where it is really on display. This way if you need to binge make sure you write each thing up as you start eating it.

Also rid your house of anything naughty. If you are that desperate for something walk to where ever it is to purchase it. At least it is some form of activity.

Organize and prevent the situation if you can. Premake lots of healthy snacks - vege sticks, fruit pieces, have herbal tea ready on the bench etc. Write down a list of distractors and use them when you feel the binge coming on

- call a friend
- go on the internet
- go for a walk or exercise
- write it out in an emotional diary
- do some gardening

Just keep trying. Every time you mess up, start again.
 
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