a binge worthy appetite

aplhabetacheesecake

Hi- perhaps you are reading this in hopes of finding commonality, some answers, or just curious, whatever the case I hope you leave judgement at the door.

I am 33yrs old, mother of two, athlete, nurse, type 1 diabetic, wife, closet binge eater.

I have been skinny, I am fat, ive even been skinny fat. Why are some days flawless, the macros seem effortless and cravings are non-existent? While other days are oh so trying, every evil food that will destroy my perfect day seems to be calling my name and the HUNGER is real, its loud, it interrupts my thinking and concentration. On the days I wake up ravenous its almost like a deja vous feeling, it just hasnt happened yet, but I know there will be a binge, Im not sure when, or with what, but its like the calm before the storm.

Its not PMS related, atho I can use that as an excuse occasionally, its not even related to my emotions, I happily binge, I sadly binge, I socially binge.

So why?
This past month has provided me a giant learning experience- I looked at the foods that I binge on, or that trip me into a binge- see if you notice a theme
*bagels
*chips
*cereals
*cakes
*fresh bread, toast, croissants, pastries
*chocolate
*skittles
*gummy candy like gummy worms

notice a trend? HI sugar, HI fat, or HI carb

When I ingest these items it truly feels like a monster takes over my body, I feel out of control and yet I cannot seem to stop eating UNTIL ITS GONE, empty, out of the house.
It's embarrassing when hubby asks "wheres the cinnamon toast crunch cereal" and altho I just bought the box yesterday, I woke up at 11pm and ate the entire box

Its shameful, why do I do this, whats wrong with me? I can control my blood sugar, plan a perfect day of eats in my food log, workout like a fiend but I lose control around certain foods.

So at the risk of gaining weight I decided to do an experiment. Work has been busy lately and i'm tried and my usual breakfast of egg whites and greek yogurt was time consuming, I decided to flex my macros and have a bagel or toast in the morning, while keeping my calories in check and planning healthy eats the rest of the day. A bagel is a common breakfast food and should be filling with cream cheese for protein, or with an egg right?

What happened? On the days I start my day with a bread product- I binge, by the time i get to work I want a second breakfast and the hunger doesnt stop there, I eat my lunch and donuts and on the way home I get fast food before picking up my kids and then having dinner with the family- oh I am a monster!!!

On the days I keep to a high protein low carb breakfast, greek yogurt, protein shake, egg whites and cheese- my appetite is calmed, I can make it to lunch effortlessly. I feel back in control.

According to my food diary it looks like about 140-180g of carb is do able, and anything more than that the food monster is triggered. Is it my diabetes that complicates this? Am I an addict? who knows, I am hoping to keep an eye on this and see some long term results.

Do you have similar issues with certain foods? How do you cope?

gothchiq

yup, I have to avoid refined carbs and sugar for the most part too. They make me hungrier and it spirals out of control into binges. When I make bread at home it is whole wheat. Focus on protein and nonstarchy vegetables, then eat complex carbs. That's the best I can figure.

martyqueen52

Make a weekend day, (like Saturday) a day where you enjoy some of those foods in moderation, or fit them into your caloric intake daily.

Try eating some high satiety foods too. Like when you eat lunch, eat about 6oz. of chicken, a yogurt, and a huge spring mix salad with sugar free dressing. It should keep you full for a long time. Try adding more leafy greens to your diet.

husseycd

I also have to avoid refined carbs. I just pretty much eliminated them 90% of the time about 1.5 years ago. Couldn't be happier, and am now in the best shape of my life. Coincidence...? Maybe, but I'm still not bringing them back.

CrystalCM10

I'm reading a book called The Slow Down Diet. You might find it helpful with this topic of cravings as well. I'm on chapter 4 and have implemented some of the suggestions/theories and I'm finding it really does help with keeping my hunger and cravings in control.

No judgement from me. What you describe happens to me as well. When I binge it's on sugary processed foods, and when I eat it there is definitely some sort of chemical effect in my body. And I'm a closet binger and live alone, so no one ever knows what or how much I am eating. It's brutal.

Anyway, maybe look into the book; it might help you

Patttience

I'm not diabetic and didn't really know or understand anything about carbs being a particular at the beginning of the year when i started my diet. But apart from pasta and basmati rice, carbs i tended to eat are wholegrain ones. I never really binged on pasta, rice of bread. My problem was sugar as in sweets. Sweets are what i mean whenever i write the word sugar and it annoys me that i have to always spell it out.

But as the year went on i kept on hearing about low carb and ketosis so i decided to try it. I started off at 100 carbs as my daily goal. It was good and fun. I was trying lots of foods i hadn't been eating. And i was enjoying eating more fat, mostly good fat but a bit of cream and more cheese. Then i had a go at 40 carbs a day and that was hard after two weeks and i suddenly gave up without any prior thought or mental chit chat about it. I'd just had it.

Transitioning back to something more normal took a little while but i got there by trying the 5:2 fasting diet. When you do fasts like in this diet, you eat some calories on fast days and the best foods to eat are high protein and vegetables. And as with low carb, you lose lots of water and your appetite. Loss of appetite is the best thing about low carb.

Anyway, I've been off sugar all year. I eat plenty of fruit. And have lost nearly all my weight and i'm intending to keep this program up for the rest of my life. The only time i really struggle is when have stress or emotional issues. Then i get counselling. You can read more detail about what i do on another thread i started called How do you control your sweet tooth. I think its in this folder food and nutrition. That said i didn't go into detail about my rules for no sugar. I've written out so many times i'm a bit tired of doing it. But i recommend if you are binger that you quit eating very sweet foods, except in small amount s in low risk situations and not often.

As to the other carbs, I can eat them but in modest quantities. I eat a lot of lentils and chickpeas etc and these do not trigger binges. It can only be because they are low GI and high fibre. They are also high in protein. I do not eat bread rice and pasta as much as i used to before i had my low carb experiment but its partly because i've recognised the value of lentils beans and chickpeas in addition to the value of eating a lot of vegetables.

Keeping binge tendencies away can be a challenge but i only get them when i've got some issues. I eat well and i avoid getting hungry. I've lost almost all the weight i need to lose. I am happy with myself at the moment. I had a short binge episode recently. I ate nuts and some high fat savouries but the binges were nowhere near as bad when i used to binge on sweet foods.

I do not miss sweet foods and the longer you do it, and the better your diet gets with high fibre, high quality low GI foods the less you will miss them too. But take away my fruit and i do miss that. I love my fruit. I don't over eat it but i love fruit. I mainly eat it fresh or stewed and with yoghurt and mixed seeds.

I also love my dairy and i eat cheese but not too much. I use high fat foods like cheese and nuts and seeds in my recipes mostly so that i don't eat too much.

you can get beyond binging as a habit but it takes commitment, focus and a change of diet and a willingness to address any emotional issues that come up. I used to most often binge as a habit. Originally it was for comfort food but it turned into a habit so that all i had to do was think of some type of sweet food and i would go and get it. And not just a little bit but a lot. And then i would eat it all regardless of how stuffed i felt. And i would put on weight really fast. And then it would be years usually before i could start another diet. To get started i seem to need to be first be in a good zone re my moods. Secondly, i needed a strong motivator. The last time i was a feeling of self -disgust which had been brewing for some time on top of my generally good mood. And then on a whim one day, i was ready. It was January 3 and i decided i would be at goal by the end of the year. I'm currently about 4 pounds away from goal. I have been lower just a few weeks ago. I think i've lost about 45 pounds.

Need2Exerc1se

Patttience wrote: »

Sweets are what i mean whenever i write the word sugar and it annoys me that i have to always spell it out.

I also find that annoying. I always wonder what those people hand someone when they are asked to pass the sugar.

ohiotubagal

Wow. Thanks so much for posting this. I did a little tracking and found that every day that I've binged in the past month, I've either skipped breakfast or eaten all/mostly carbs for breakfast. I never really thought about that before. So I think I will try to eliminate carbs from breakfast for a while and see how I do.

I do feel your frustration. Night time is the worst for me. Even if I save calories for a night time snack, it never seems to be enough. The only way I've found to deal with it is to physically go upstairs and stay in my room, and/or brush my teeth/chew gum.

laciemn

Yes, carbs alone are not filling for long at all...even with fiber. I recently ran out of my very healthy 45 calorie bread with a good amount of fiber, which I spread PB or jam or butter on for breakfast, but I eat like 4 pieces. So, instead I made a pork chop for breakfast. It was about the same calories, but I was full for a much longer time. I got a little hungry around 10:30 and ignored it until around 2 when I had lunch. After dinner, out of calories, so I ate almost a whole head of lettuce and about an hour later, I'm hungry again