How do you talk yourself out of a binge?

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  • hannymull
    hannymull Posts: 1 Member
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    Dont buy it, remember how hard you worked to lose the weight. A binge of high calorie food not only puts on weight but starts the cycle of addiction again! Fat & sugar are addictive and the having it makes you want more. I suggest researching healthy snacks, sugar free jelly, soya desserts, nuts, fruit etc. Whenever I find a new low calorie snack I feel like I have won.
  • CaliforniaRower
    CaliforniaRower Posts: 187 Member
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    About a month ago, I hired a hot shot sports nutritionist who has coached athletes in my sport. She was SO expensive! But she told me I don't have a binge eating problem. I have an eating problem. She noticed that the days I binged were the ones when I hadn't eaten breakfast and/or lunch. I binged twice since then, and both times, they were on days when I was so starving. The starve days happen when I'm overwhelmed at work. Which is why I thought they were triggered by the bad days at work - when in truth if one has eaten only 150 calories and it is 6 PM, of course I'll reach for any calorie-dense thing I can get my paws on. I came to MFP 10 days ago to get really serious about not letting myself skip meals AND to be more honest about what I do put in my mouth. It's working! I'm amazed!
  • lawnis04
    lawnis04 Posts: 20 Member
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    First of all, I have to agree with llaurenmarie. I feel people use the term binge way too liberally and it has started to invalidate what an actual binge is, causing people who actually struggle with binge eating get swept under the rug because, "Hey! We all binge!"

    Overeating compulsively is a better term. Because you are eating more than necessary, but you aren't bingeing.

    For example, eating a whole pint of Ben and Jerry's? Not a binge. A whole bag of chips? Nope. A binge would have to be a considerably large amount of food in a "short" amount of time. I say short, but really I mean more than what most people would eat in that amount of time. I know of people that will binge for hours. Also, extreme bingeing can be so bad that they try to ruin their food but eat it anyway, or take things out of the trash... not necessarily their own.

    Regardless, compulsively overeating is still a problem. I just prefer people don't use the term binge. (I'm also not saying no one on this thread actually binges, but definitely not all the examples were binges.) Also, if you've reached a point where you're sinking your food in dishwater to stop yourself from eating it, you REALLY need to reevaluate your relationship with food because this is disordered and extremely unhealthy mentally. If your attitude towards food doesn't change, it can become a really big problem.

    So then... how to stop bingeing on a diet? Eat more throughout the day, and allow yourself treats more often than you have been. Compulsively overeating is usually either a reaction to your body not getting enough food, or an emotional/psychological reaction. If it's a reaction to not enough food, the easiest way to fix that is to eat more frequently during the day. Perhaps adding more snacks. And if you want some "junk food", allow yourself a bit. At first, it may take a while to adjust, so you may continue overeating at first, but your body should eventually realize that it's getting what it needs and your hunger cues should normalize.

    (Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or a doctor so I'm speaking from experience and what I've researched over the last couple years. My facts may be somewhat inaccurate, and if so, I humbly apologize.)

    Best of luck!

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