Binge Eating

shia23

So I seriously need some good advice on binge eating. I do ok during the day during the work week, but in the evenings and the weekend it's like I just give up. I need help. Food unfortunately has always made me happy and been my comfort. I had a bad childhood and food was the only comfort I knew. Now I use food when I happy sad stresses whatever. Today I literally ate an entire pie....which is so embarrassing to admit, but I'm to the point I just don't know what to do. My husband tries to be supportive, but he ends up enabling me because he knows food makes me happy. Now I just feel like a miserable fat depressed mess. I need some kind of outside help. I've never written on a blog before but I am getting desperate. Not only do I worry about my looks but my health. I get frustrated that I don't loose weight fast enough and then I just give up. Or I have one cookie chip ect and then decide well I might as well give up for today or I can just start tomorrow.... I've had hundreds of tomorrow's or Mondays.....now I just need some understanding and some advice. Thank you!

aem3328

I sooo understand! I do the same thing!

Kiyy

Friend me. You are the same as I am. I'm 51. I have battled this for years and always lost. I have been extremely athletic but I couldn't get this one problem fixed till now. I went to a counselor, got a trainer and got support. two things that mad the biggest difference. It really change everything for me. First make up your mind. Each time you see a food you shouldn't eat. know who is in charge. Second know you have to change or you will not get changes. Give up processed food. stick to lean meat and vegetables. If you do this you will win. Other things . Buy a scale. it helped me. Its the food we eat it sparks hunger and you cant win if you eat sugar, flower and processed crap.

cmdoiy

Feel free to friend me as well. Once I start eating "bad" stuff, I just can't stop myself. I thought I'd broken this cycle a year ago (when I lost 36 pounds), but now I've regained most of the weight back. I refuse to give up completely, though. What I've found has worked for me is to avoid problem foods, which for me are processed foods (chocolate, cookies, cakes, chips...all the good stuff). It's hard, but once I get used to not having it for a few days, I feel a lot better, and the cravings go away. Good luck.

fit_abbey

Binge eating is one of my problems. It is not even that I'll eat "bad" foods .... it is that I start in and just keep piling on course after course. I've nobody else in the house that I cook for anymore, so I'm working on eliminating the binge options from my cabinets and fridge.

timberowl

Friend me. I'm on the other side of the world, so your evening is my morning. I'm bored at work, and I'll chat with you all you want for support. Do NOT give in.
Also, recommend buying the book "your food is fooling you" written by the former director of the Food and Drug Association.

starryeyed251

So this was a huge issue of mine... somewhere along the line my mind got it twisted into thinking that I needed to feel uncomfortably full to feel satisfied and get that "comfort" I was seeking. I was fine at breakfast and lunch (primarily because you can't really binge eat in front of your coworkers) but at night I would ruin my whole day at dinner. I don't condone binge eating whatsoever but this is how I got past that hurdle. In the first few weeks of using myfitnesspal - I made sure I was saving enough calories for dinner time where I could eat until I was full, stuffed really. My dinners would look crazy - I would eat four oz of tilapia or chicken and like TEN cups of pan sauteed kale or spinach. Or I would make huge portions of roasted vegetables like mushrooms and bell peppers that are low calorie but super filling, especially in the quantities like I was eating. I made sure to weigh out my amounts of food on my food scale to get an accurate calorie count. After a few weeks, I didn't need to stuff myself anymore as my relationship with food became healthier. Mindful eating started to take over as my body adjusted to all the nutritious things I was eating. I still have the tendency to "clear my plate" at night - even if I know I'm satiated, but I definitely don't overeat anymore. Good luck to you! Getting outside help is probably a great step in the right direction!

healthygreek

It took me years but I discovered that I used to binge because:
1. I wasn't eating enough nutrient dense food such as healthy fats, proteins, fruits and veggies, so my body was starving for nutrients.

2. When I so-called "dieted", I would eliminate all my favorite treats like chocolate, ice cream, etc. so eventually I would have a huge binge of those treats and feel horrible.

Solution: I first make sure I'm eating lots of healthy fats, proteins fruits and veggies, but I also make sure I eat treats in the correct portions whenever I want them. Sometimes it's everyday, but sometimes not.

I very, very rarely have the need to binge anymore.

I also had some help in resolving some childhood issues and that helped also.

You can beat the binges if you put some effort into it-don't despair!

Kiyy

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/food-cravings-engineered-by-industry-1.1395225

Kiyy

http://authoritynutrition.com/how-to-overcome-food-addiction/

girlviernes

You may want to check out this group here: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/726-binge-eating-support-group

I really like what healthygreek posted. I'm now 10 weeks binge-free and posted a long thread in the group about what has been helping me, but biggest things are logging everything, lowering carb intake moderately and upping fat and protein, and not banning any foods.

skinnycow256

go to settingcaptivesfree.com and take their free bible based 60 day course.

RodaRose

Kiyy wrote: »

http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/food-cravings-engineered-by-industry-1.1395225

^The food industry gives us foods with fat, salt, and sugar so that we eat (and buy) more.
Eat unprocessed food.

knight76306

Feel free to friend me too. Binging has been a problem since I was a kid. it's always worse when I eat crap. The urge wasn't as bad when I was watching what I eat. Eating junk triggers it bad. Mine started as a kid - mom had me at weight doctors when I was 12. It got worse as the years went on. It is a lonely road. You can't explain it to people, they just don't get it.

shia23

Thank you all so much for your input. I went and bought fresh healthy groceries today and already made up all my meals for tomorrow. I hope I can realy do this. Thank you again for all your advice!

SuninVirgo

Like with most issues, they stem from a bad childhood. I was researching binge eating disorder this week. Sounds like you have it. A true eating disorder. I urge you to read the signs and symptoms. You can get help for this

shai74

shia23 wrote: »

So I seriously need some good advice on binge eating. I do ok during the day during the work week, but in the evenings and the weekend it's like I just give up. I need help. Food unfortunately has always made me happy and been my comfort. I had a bad childhood and food was the only comfort I knew. Now I use food when I happy sad stresses whatever. Today I literally ate an entire pie....which is so embarrassing to admit, but I'm to the point I just don't know what to do. My husband tries to be supportive, but he ends up enabling me because he knows food makes me happy. Now I just feel like a miserable fat depressed mess. I need some kind of outside help. I've never written on a blog before but I am getting desperate. Not only do I worry about my looks but my health. I get frustrated that I don't loose weight fast enough and then I just give up. Or I have one cookie chip ect and then decide well I might as well give up for today or I can just start tomorrow.... I've had hundreds of tomorrow's or Mondays.....now I just need some understanding and some advice. Thank you!

This could have been written by me, 12 months ago. I'd be fine all day, and then bam. Food completely controlled my life. I would eat 2 McDonalds burgers on the way home from work and then cook dinner and eat with the family. I've sat and ate half a caramel mud cake on my own. I have bought 2 pies and a cake from the bakery and ate them. It's frightening the amount of food I've eaten in one sitting.

Part of it is related to childhood food lessons (my father would yell and make me sit at the table until my dinner was all gone and then reward me with a bowl of icecream for dessert), but part of it is also related to carb addiction.

I personally have never been able to do "just a little bit of this or that within my calories". Restricting those "trigger" foods just causes me to fall apart and instead of having a couple of squares of chocolate I'll eat the whole block, and then a bag of chips and a bowl of icecream. And still gaze into the fridge.

The only thing that's stopped it, in 20 years of "I'll start over tomorrow", was cutting out all of the things that caused the problem. As of earlier this year I'm sugar free, I also don't eat grains, pasta, rice, potatoes etc. I eat mainly protein, and foods high in saturated fat. I've lost 58.6lbs. I haven't fallen off the wagon, or had a binge, in 6 months. I also haven't been hungry. I feel like it's saved my life, I really do. I eat about 1700 cals a day, and this week alone I've lost 7.7lbs. I don't kill myself at the gym, I go horseriding once a week.

I could have spent the NEXT 20 years trying to control portions and restrict calories and ended up gaining another 30kg. Or not, I would have been dead most likely.

As always, I don't deny that some people CAN have "just two squares of chocolate" or save their calories and eat McDonalds for dinner and lose weight. So no need to jump on me. I merely share MY experience (shared by many many other people). There are those of us who can't do that. Who always feel desperate and on the verge of losing control.

wendym2011

I'm so glad to have stumbled upon these posts. I have developed into a binge eater over the years, and have no idea why. I'm ok if I'm not indulging in sweets, but it seems that I can't have just "one". I'm 5'1 and currently weighing 154 which is one of my heaviest weights yet. I know that I do it, yet it seems uncontrollable sometimes. I do two vigorous workout classes a week at my gym. I also walk, use the exercise bike at home and try to fit in other types of workouts. Some days I will work out and then undo it all by binge eating after. It's a horrible cycle to be in. Last night I did an hour long pilates class, and felt really good. When I got home I found myself eating way too many of the kit kat snack bars that I bought to give out at Halloween. This morning I felt sick, my stomach hurt from too many sweets. I wrote it down and need to somehow use that as a reminder to myself of how I will feel the next day if I let myself succumb to the overeating. I'm worried about Halloween coming, and my kids bringing home all of the candy. I try to keep temptation out of the house, but sometimes it's difficult.
Today my office ordered lunch for some customers that are here. I was proud of myself for only eating 1/2 of a veggie wrap, about a cup of veggies from a pasta salad (I didn't take the pasta, just veggies), and I didn't take a single cookie or brownie. I am hoping that today is the first day of a change, because I've been back and forth with this for far too long I want to take control!

111YoYo111

So much encouragement on this thread!! I currently have 4 days of abstinence from binge eating and I'm clearly white nuckling it as I think of food every waking moment. Please add me folks as I could really use the inspiration.