The Minnesota Starvation Study

ryanhorn

If you've never heard of the Minnesota Starvation Study, this might be an interesting read: http://www.seattletimes.com/health/how-binge-eating-starts/

In short, a sample of men were put on a "semi-starvation" diet of around 1600 calories a day. For many of us using/that have used MyFitnessPal for weight loss, that kind of calorie count is the norm or might even be considered a bad day for some. After several months, many of the men began hoarding food, obsessing over the things they ate (many began collecting recipes), and many began to develop the binge/restrict/guilt cycle many of us here are going through.

I know this may not be a popular argument given the website that we are on right now, but I'd love to start a discussion on whether or not you may believe that sticking to a calorie limit (no matter what it is) inevitably leads to binging because that limit is established psychologically that you know you can't go over.

For me personally, I've stopped logging everyday once binging became a problem, and now I only find myself binging when I start calorie counting on the app or in my head. What does everyone think?

kge0891

I've always been an overeater, but I don't think my bingeing got totally out of control until after several months of what I thought was successful dieting (1200 calorie diet). It was horrible and still is at times. I got back into the habit or bingeing and overrestricting/over exercising in the past 6 months, and while I dropped the weight quick after a binge, then next time it happened was always worse and always end with a "new high weight." Finally I said enough and that I was going to do this the right way, stop restricting myself, and eat around maintenance and I'm starting to make progress. If I go over my calories for one day, it's not a big deal, and I more so aim for a number instead of set a limit. However, logging helps me to follow patterns and see how my eating affects weight loss, so I continue to do so. But for me, I definitely know restriction is was leads me to binge!!

Sarahjay83

This is very interesting and makes sense. When one is restricting calories, it seems that all brain power is going into thinking about the next meal and if they're going to be satisfied or not. Thinking about food seems to increase hunger as well making you more likely to binge. It's torture... An uphill battle with little to no victory

totaldetermination

It's clearly the case for some people.
It's definitely not for me, though.

I have been binging for many years - way before I knew the calorie content of the foods I ate. The accountability of logging calories has absolutely helped me get my binging under control. For that reason I always log my binge days.

Also, the people in the Minnesota Starvation Study were at unhealthy weights. Their bodies were craving food, which might explain the behavior you described. I would be interested to know if an obese person on a 1600 calories diet would react the same way.

On the other hand, I tend to binge on foods that I think of as 'unhealthy'. If you told me that carrots were discovered to have something which in large doses was really bad for you, then it wouldn't surprise me if filling myself with carrots suddenly became a binge for me. I think that on a sub-conscious level there is an element of self-destructive behavior to my binges. But this is different to the point that you are making of people obsessing over something that they can't have.

I personally believe that binge eating is a symptom rather than a problem. The same way that a head-ache could be caused by so many other issues, and could also indicate so many other problems. I believe that if binge eaters all described the details of the binge (not just what they ate, but how it felt, why they ate it etc) the descriptions would fall into several very distinct categories - though one person might fall into more than one category. I have very limited experience with eating disorders, but this is based on what I have read of other's experiences, and comparing them to my own.

ryanhorn

totaldetermination wrote: »

It's clearly the case for some people.
On the other hand, I tend to binge on foods that I think of as 'unhealthy'. If you told me that carrots were discovered to have something which in large doses was really bad for you, then it wouldn't surprise me if filling myself with carrots suddenly became a binge for me. I think that on a sub-conscious level there is an element of self-destructive behavior to my binges. But this is different to the point that you are making of people obsessing over something that they can't have.

I personally believe that binge eating is a symptom rather than a problem. The same way that a head-ache could be caused by so many other issues, and could also indicate so many other problems. I believe that if binge eaters all described the details of the binge (not just what they ate, but how it felt, why they ate it etc) the descriptions would fall into several very distinct categories - though one person might fall into more than one category. I have very limited experience with eating disorders, but this is based on what I have read of other's experiences, and comparing them to my own.

This is actually a really interesting way to think about it (symptom over a problem), and I think that I completely agree with you now that I've thought about it for a little bit. Thanks for sharing!