Just had a binge, undone all my hard work and feeling deflated.

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  • LeslieB042812
    LeslieB042812 Posts: 1,799 Member
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    All very good advice. I'll just add that since you know you like to munch while on your computer you might want to start chewing gum or drinking hot tea instead. Both of those things help me not munch when I feel like it (especially the gum because I'm still chewing). And if it makes you feel better, I did the same thing with a bag of potato chips last night. Definitely need to keep the big bags of chips out of the house!
  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
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    It can seem like a really big deal after 3 days, but maybe next time you'll go 4 days, then 5, then 6...and then a bad day will be just a blip in a long pattern of good days. Just don't give up. It takes time to get used to changes and develop new patterns to replace the old. Don't get down on yourself if you fall at the beginning, even if it's a lot. That's how we learn and grow.

  • savvyfantastic
    savvyfantastic Posts: 112 Member
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    ok.... so this is something that a lot of people deal with. The shame. The worst thing you can do right now is make yourself feel worse, or punish yourself by eating more (eg, I've eaten one chocolate, I am bad, time now to eat the rest of the packet!).

    It is one of the hardest things to move past for a lot of people. Know that so many people deal with this exact same spiral.

    I'm not going to write a lot on this, but in the interim... Relax. Sleep. Be grateful that you have been able to have and enjoy the food you did have. Tomorrow is a new day, the bigger picture matters more. If you want, in a few days add some chocolate chips to your morning oatmeal. A small chocolatey treat to work into a normal day.
  • aneesto
    aneesto Posts: 7 Member
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    Theres another story that can help motivate some people but may not work for others. Mym mum got breast cancer-non genetic and as part of her recovery she has to follow a strict diet- only natural fats, little meat only organic if anything, lots of veggies and fruit, and no fried nor processed foods. And she is doing great! :)

    We..... can let that one go. She....... can't, because otherwise sooner or later the cancer will return. It thrives on sugar and other nasties..

    So as long as we have a choice to be healthy we can celebrate it. And we can get away with 'that' one. -thats a more serious motivation so apply only if you feel it can help and not hurt you.
  • natijade
    natijade Posts: 146 Member
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    LeslieB042812 wrote: »
    All very good advice. I'll just add that since you know you like to munch while on your computer you might want to start chewing gum or drinking hot tea instead. Both of those things help me not munch when I feel like it (especially the gum because I'm still chewing). And if it makes you feel better, I did the same thing with a bag of potato chips last night. Definitely need to keep the big bags of chips out of the house!

    Oh god, I'm awful with them. We have Kettle Chips in the UK and they're really strong salt and vinegar flavoured and I'm addicted to them and dips. Seriously not going to be able to buy them for a while until I'm a bit stronger willed, I can't resist eating the whole bag!! :'( gum is a really good idea, only I worry that it would make me hungrier. You reminded me though, Weight watchers do those really low calorie sweets so maybe some of them! :)
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
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    I've had days like that. And I've lost a lot of weight in the last 2 years (this is my 2-year MFP anniversary). Just log everything, don't beat yourself up because you're not perfect, and move on. Being guilty about the past won't change it.

    BUT...before you move on, try to figure out why you didn't stop yourself, and what you could do next time to make the outcome different. Treat it not as a failure to feel guilty about, but as a neutral fact about how you responded to the chocolate, a fact that needs an explanation so you can make a change in the future.

    I used to find myself with an empty bag of chips and little memory of having eaten them all. I discovered that with chips and other food served in large containers, I do a lot better if I measure out what I want to eat, put the container away, and then eat it. I also discovered that I will eat a lot more if I'm concentrating on something else. So I measure out what I want to eat, focus on enjoying it, and then, when it's gone, do something that doesn't involve more food.

    Good luck!

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  • Roxiegirl2008
    Roxiegirl2008 Posts: 756 Member
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    Some days that just happens. You have not failed. Everyone on this weight loss journey has done it one time or another. I know it can be easy to beat yourself up about it but there is not really any point. The only failure is if you stopped trying.

    You Got This! Tomorrow is a new day with new choices.
  • DeeTee68
    DeeTee68 Posts: 198 Member
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    Forget about it and move on there is no use torturing yourself over it. I had a really healthy day yesterday up until about 8.00pm then I hit a bottle of jack daniels I got given at xmas, what a plonker. So I went and burnt 1000 calories doing exercise today to teach me a lesson. Then I poured the rest of the bottle down the sink to teach me another lesson just don't tell the person who bought me it ;)
  • cebreisch
    cebreisch Posts: 1,340 Member
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    Log it and move on. Probably wouldn't hurt like someone else suggested to maybe start a journal (for both good things and bad things) - for this, to address how it happened, what you were feeling when it happened, if there was another way to do things, etc.

    Meanwhile - realize that you are human. It's not a question of "If" you're going to stumble, but "when". Humans do that. We mean well, but stumbling is just unavoidable (unfortunately). There is absolutely no point in dwelling on something we cannot change - just try to learn from it and move on.

    THere are times when we have chocolates in the house, and if I'm having trouble staying away from them, I'll ask my husband or one of the kids to move them to another room. They do, and that usually helps immensely. That way I have to ask them where the stuff is.

    Anyway - don't dwell on it. Things happen. You can still do this!!! You are awesome!!!
  • Jhellman84
    Jhellman84 Posts: 6 Member
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    You mentioned that you knew what you were doing and you still ate the whole box...

    I just wanted to add my two cents in that you do need to be careful selecting how much of a deficit you put yourself into on a daily basis. If your cutting 1000 calories a day, your bodies hormones will go out of balance and you WILL have cravings. Our bodies are pretty smart and know when to little food is coming in.

    Slow and steady wins the race :)
    Keep up the good work and GL.
  • natijade
    natijade Posts: 146 Member
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    bwogilvie wrote: »
    I've had days like that. And I've lost a lot of weight in the last 2 years (this is my 2-year MFP anniversary). Just log everything, don't beat yourself up because you're not perfect, and move on. Being guilty about the past won't change it.

    BUT...before you move on, try to figure out why you didn't stop yourself, and what you could do next time to make the outcome different. Treat it not as a failure to feel guilty about, but as a neutral fact about how you responded to the chocolate, a fact that needs an explanation so you can make a change in the future.

    I used to find myself with an empty bag of chips and little memory of having eaten them all. I discovered that with chips and other food served in large containers, I do a lot better if I measure out what I want to eat, put the container away, and then eat it. I also discovered that I will eat a lot more if I'm concentrating on something else. So I measure out what I want to eat, focus on enjoying it, and then, when it's gone, do something that doesn't involve more food.

    Good luck!

    34527787.png

    Some very sound advice. As I've mentioned, I eat when I work, so maybe I need to ban this. I only eat and snack when I stop, give it my attention and then return to work afterwards. Perhaps this will be a useful strategy. Wow, I've had so many ideas and so much support from this thread I need to write it all down!
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,952 Member
    edited January 2015
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    Something I really liked reading.
    Assume you have a binge 2 times a month. That's 24 times a year. Out of 365 days, that's only 6.6% of the time - the other 93.4% of the year, you're eating well. Do you really think that the 6.6% of the time undoes EVERYTHING from the other 365 days of a year? I bet not.

    If it were true, then it would haven taken WAY more than 1 week to get rid of the 8 lbs I gained over Christmas. But the truth of it was that most of that was bloat so even the 10 days that I binged didn't derail.

    If you drink lots of water and eat well and exercise, that weight, IF you even gained any (and you might not even see a scale difference) could be gone in as little as 2 or 3 days.
  • natijade
    natijade Posts: 146 Member
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    Jhellman84 wrote: »
    You mentioned that you knew what you were doing and you still ate the whole box...

    I just wanted to add my two cents in that you do need to be careful selecting how much of a deficit you put yourself into on a daily basis. If your cutting 1000 calories a day, your bodies hormones will go out of balance and you WILL have cravings. Our bodies are pretty smart and know when to little food is coming in.

    Slow and steady wins the race :)
    Keep up the good work and GL.
    Hmm, I think I'm in deficit of roughly 600-800, eating 1200-1300 and then exercising the rest. I think it was more bad habits and poor self control. There were 2 things different today 1) first day with no exercise and 2) first time I got my laptop out to do some work at home. They're both triggers I need to work on I think :) but useful to bear in mind, I definitely think I need to plan myself in some treats!
  • natijade
    natijade Posts: 146 Member
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    Just want to say, seriously everyone thank you so much. I'm overwhelmed by your support, I didn't expect this many people to comment and give such fantastic advice. I'm actually going to print this thread out and keep it for inspiration. I genuinely think I'm going to read this thread again and again and touch wood, you wonderful people have really made a huge difference to my health. Thank you!

    If anyone wants to add me to see how I get on/kick me up the butt, feel free!
  • Nataliegetfit
    Nataliegetfit Posts: 395 Member
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    so, now that you have all the chocolate out of the house, tomorrow will be better. If there is still chocolate around, give it away, I know it's the worst thing for me too. If I know it's there, it's very tempting. Don't let it get you down. It's just one mess up, and you will remember how bad you feel after working so hard and doing so well this week. You are still off to a great start. Just keep it up and keep logging. You will do it.

  • healthygirl101mfp
    healthygirl101mfp Posts: 33
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    natijade wrote: »
    So I've been eating better for a few weeks but I started logging on Monday. I made such a good start, eating clean, healthy cooking, gym Monday and Tuesday and even today I've done really well with just 3 small chocolates in a long, depressing meeting at work. But I've just came home and after my healthy casserole I sat down with my laptop and friends on the telly to do some work...and I just got a whole box of chocolates left over from Christmas and ate them. All of them. Undoing everything I've done so far. It was like I just couldn't stop myself, I had no control. I knew what I was doing, I knew I was ruining it but I couldn't stop. I feel awful now, like this is just going to keep happening. I just can't believe I ate them all, even half would have been bearable. I'm hoping to get a fresh start tomorrow, putting a healthy meal in the slow cooker and hitting the gym after work. I'm also starting slimming world tomorrow with a friend. But I just feel so useless right now, I'm only 3 days in and I've already messed up. I'm so cross with myself :(:(

    never think of a bad day as "undoing" all your hard work :) there's tomorrow and the day after that to get back on track.
  • epido
    epido Posts: 353 Member
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    The fact that that box of chocolates has survived a month past Christmas says a lot to me! I know, without a doubt, that they would have been gone long before now if they had been in my house.

    So you at a box of chocolates. So what! It's one incident on one day, and it isn't going to ruin anything unless you let it. Get back on track with the next meal or snack. Don't completely cut anything out of your diet, unless there is a medical reason to do so. Enjoy your chocolate, and whatever other indulgences you want.

    The key to all of this is doing so in moderation. That, and picking yourself up and dusting yourself off when you fall. We've all been there! In fact, I struggled with this quite a bit this past fall. While it may seem like a huge deal to you right now, I promise you in the big picture, it isn't.
  • w0den
    w0den Posts: 84
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    Every day is a struggle! We have to keep fighting! My grandma had fresh brownies on the table this evening :( It was sooooo hard

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