Stopped a Binge in Its Tracks

Ferrous_Female_Dog

Just thought I'd share a little story. I know there are a lot of binge eaters around.

I suppose my lunch was too light yesterday. I took a PBJ sandwich to work, along with some carrots. Calorie-wise it was a little lower than my normal lunches and in terms of macros it was way carb heavy than usual. I usually have protein packed lunches because they provide me with the most satiety.

I got home and I was famished. Legitimately hungry, growling stomach, a bit grumpy, slight headache coming on. I looked around and there was nothing readily edible except cheese nips and ice cream. Both of those are things I would binge on, I hesitate to call them trigger foods, but if there is such a thing, then those are mine. I had purchased them weeks prior and they hadn't been opened yet, I suppose because I know I tend to over-do it when I eat them. They were my only option at the moment and I really needed to eat something before starting on dinner.

I tried to be good. I weighed a serving of cheese nips and poured a glass of water. That didn't do the trick so I had a half serving of ice cream. I finished my glass of water. I still wanted more. Part of me knew I didn't need anymore, but oh it was so delicious.

I started to eat the cheese nips out of the container. I caught myself, so I closed the box and put it away. But then I opened the freezer and started with the ice cream again. I was standing in my kitchen eating it and I just saw the future before me:

Clean out the pint of ice cream (1085 cals) then switch back to the cheese nips and finish the box (900 cals). Then pretend it never happened except for the feeling of hating myself, and feeling like giving up on my goals. Except for tomorrow when I step on the scale I am gonna weigh 1lb more. Cook dinner as plan, but make extra portions because I already ruined the day so whats the point of trying to have a normal sized dinner? Eat half of the chicken I was cooking for this weeks lunch while I cut it up. Go out and buy more cheese nips and ice cream to replace what I ate so that it doesn't look like I ate a whole pint of ice cream and box of cheese nips by myself. Then probably break into that later tonight.

Then I thought, "it doesn't have to be that way."

I put the ice cream down. I put it away. I logged what I ate. I had a hundred-ish left calories for dinner. Oh well. I went on to do what I had to do. When dinner time came I served myself only a slight bit less than what I had originally intended. When all was said and done, I was over my calorie goal by 524.

Only 524.

Yes only. That put me at just slightly over maintenance calories for the day.

If I had gone through with my normal routine, I'd have been 2500-3500 calories over.

It's so important for us to forgive ourselves. I think that's the key to stopping binges. I snapped out of my haze. Sure, I was upset with myself for going a little overboard with the cheese nips and ice cream but so what? That's no reason to turn a small slip into a caloric avalanche. In the past I would have been so angry with myself, that I felt it didn't matter and I wasn't worth trying for, so really I would keep eating almost as a punishment.

This time, I said no. This time I told myself, "Look, you can't undo what you've done but you can stop yourself from doing more. It's okay. This is such a small hiccup in the bigger picture. You have to think about the bigger picture, not just today, not just this moment. Forgive yourself and put it behind you."

And I did.
And it worked.


If you have any stories about how you've overcome a binge, please post yours!

coueswhitetail

AWESOME!! Congratulations on taking control!

quiksylver296

THAT. IS. AWESOME. I love how you detailed your thought process. I am definitely going to try to do that next time.

EDollah

Congrats, that's fantastic. 500 calories over on a binge day is a win. Over the time I've been losing weight, I've come to the conclusion that binge management is THE key to long-term success for me. The one main remaining lesson I need to learn is how to walk away, like you did.

Ferrous_Female_Dog

Thanks for the congratulations!

To be clear, this thread is so that other binge eaters (especially those who just read forums and don't post) can see that it is possible to overcome this and to stop binges as they are starting!

tulips_and_tea

Good for you! Thank you for putting yourself out there for the benefit of others. Nicely done, by the way.

llUndecidedll

I appreciate you sharing your struggles. Very inspiring.

concordancia

Congratulations on stopping and thank you for sharing!

erindunphy

Congratulations I was faced with a moment yesterday where I could easily have binged, but I stopped myself too! I was at work stressing out about an exam I had to write in the evening, and it was a coworker's birthday, so my boss put a piece of cake on my desk. And when I say piece, I mean a giant SLAB of homemade chocolate cake. COME ON lol but I let myself have a couple of bites, and then I tossed the rest!! Victories like these really add up! A year from now we're not even going to remember that cake or ice cream, but the payoff of our good decisions will still be around Congrats again!

purplemystra

I'm so glad you posted this. I had a similar situation happen last night. I was grocery shopping on the way home from work. In the check out line I saw a display for Lay's chocolate cover potato chips. I've been wanting these for several years but could never find it in the store. I told myself if I bought it only to eat the serving size. I tried to only eat 3 for 150 calories but instead ate the whole bad. 750 cal. Went home made dinner and eat what I wanted. I was over by 620 cal. I decided not to beat myself up and do better today. Your post shows me I'm not alone. Thank you.

MustLoveCats21

Usually when I crave something I close my eyes and imagine eating it. I imagine it's taste, it's texture, and that I eat unlimited amounts of it.

This has helped me stop binging. Because when I imagine eating a slab of chocolate again...and again...and again...

....and again....

That gets boring and I lose the desire for it. I believe its called habituation. You get used to it being around you that way without having the need to jump for it.

Not sure if this will work for anyone but it has for me.

Cortneyrenee04

I've been able to talk myself out of a few binges lately and I say exactly what you did: it doesn't have to be this way. It's like my feet lead me to the kitchen and my hands get food ready and I'm thinking, "but didn't I just eat? I'm not even hungry. Why am I about to eat?" I slowly back away (hahaha) and stay out of the kitchen.

Very glad you're able to do this!

AngryViking1970

That's so great. I know how you can almost "black out" during a binge and not really realize what you're doing. Good for you for being present in that moment and having the strength to step away!

purplemystra

erindunphy wrote: »

Victories like these really add up! A year from now we're not even going to remember that cake or ice cream, but the payoff of our good decisions will still be around Congrats again!

Wonderful way to look at it.

auddii

Awesome. Right now, I haven't really gotten to the point where I can stop a binge. I've upped my calories some, gone over most days, and had a few days of splurges (visitor in town and lots of eating out and not the best decisions). But, no true binges where I can't feel like I can't stop and then the shame. It's a step in the right direction, but now I'm going to have to work towards staying closer to the calorie budget.

If nothing else, I'm excited that I'm logging everything and not hiding from what I'm eating.

jgnatca

I want a thumbs-up icon! Way to go!

conniebug76

Ferrous_Female_Dog wrote: »

This time, I said no. This time I told myself, "Look, you can't undo what you've done but you can stop yourself from doing more. It's okay. This is such a small hiccup in the bigger picture. You have to think about the bigger picture, not just today, not just this moment. Forgive yourself and put it behind you."

And I did.
And it worked.

Thank you so much for posting this. You have no idea how much it has helped.

Ferrous_Female_Dog

conniebug76 wrote: »

Ferrous_Female_Dog wrote: »

This time, I said no. This time I told myself, "Look, you can't undo what you've done but you can stop yourself from doing more. It's okay. This is such a small hiccup in the bigger picture. You have to think about the bigger picture, not just today, not just this moment. Forgive yourself and put it behind you."

And I did.
And it worked.

Thank you so much for posting this. You have no idea how much it has helped.

I'm so happy it helped!

CharleneMarie723

Thank you for posting this. In the past, I have had terrible binges. One day while at work, I bought a Ben and Jerry's ice cream cone. I had a killer workout that morning and was feeling weak. I deserved the ice cream I told myself. I am a flight attendant and stopped quickly in between flights at the airport. I walked to my gate while enjoying said ice cream. I wrote it down in my food journal (was following Weight Watchers back then) and found out my flight was delayed. Boy, that ice cream was so good, I went back for a second one. Then a third one. And a fourth one. Without realizing it, I had somehow attracted attention by doing this. A man then asked how I expected to fit into my uniform if I went back for another.

It opened my eyes to a few different things: 1) I was severely underrating. No period, I needed to eat more, and I needed that ice cream. I had deficits of 1500 calories per day and my BMI was about 20 as I trained for a triathlon. 2) I was eating also because I was bored. I would never have thought about ice cream #2, #3, and #4 if my flight left on time. 3) I was embarrassed. I pinned a quote on Pinterest that said "You wear in public what you eat in private." Binging for me since has been curtailed.

Ferrous_Female_Dog

CharleneMarie723 wrote: »

.

It opened my eyes to a few different things: 1) I was severely underrating. No period, I needed to eat more, and I needed that ice cream. I had deficits of 1500 calories per day and my BMI was about 20 as I trained for a triathlon. 2) I was eating also because I was bored. I would never have thought about ice cream #2, #3, and #4 if my flight left on time.

Undereating and boredom are two huge triggers.

As in my story, I got started because I had under-eaten in the beginning of the day. I also used to binge out of boredom or anxiety, so now I have a list of things to do when I am bored. It's all about preparation!

oedipa_maas

What an amazing post. Thank you so much for sharing. It's funny, I wrote a post with the exact same title some months ago! I've been really struggling recently, though, and having trouble stopping eating. I really got a lot out of this post. Thanks again.