Day after a big binge?

jjjmc
jjjmc Posts: 3
in Motivation and Support
While I haven't seen a therapist or doctor for an official diagnosis, I have long struggled with binging and fasting. My question for you guys is, what to do the day after a big binge? I normally binge late at night and wake up feeling depressed, disgusting, etc. but also very sluggish and physically ill...what should I eat the next few days to recover? My normal reaction would be to fast to counter all of the excess calories (fear of gaining weight), but I know this isn't either and I need to advice to break out of the binge/fast cycle and create healthy eating habits so that I can lose weight and support my fitness goals!

Replies

  • AmykinsCatfood
    AmykinsCatfood Posts: 599 Member
    First you need to look at why you are feeling compelled to binge and fast... have you visited a nutritionist and a therapist? If not, I would highly suggest it. You need to learn what triggers it.

    Now for what to eat: Don't go crazy under eating to try to off-set the binge. I think the best way to deal is to move on like it didn't happen and go back into the normal calorie allotment that MFP gave you. It takes a while to build up good habits. The longer you stick with your new healthy eating, the more normal and routine it will become and you won't feel like bingeing. Also, are you completely depriving yourself of the foods you enjoy? If you don't allow yourself these things in moderation it can lead to bingeing on them. I still eat fast food and sweets or whatever else I am craving. I just make sure to either make sure it fits in my calories, or exercise it off.
  • JessicaPasieka
    JessicaPasieka Posts: 149 Member
    I've stopped caring the day after a binge or a cheat. Honestly, last weekend I had a 3000 calorie meal at a burger joint. It was worth every gained calorie. It was delicious. I loved it. I didn't feel guilty. One night isn't going to ruin my year and a half worth of progress. I just get back on track the next day. No use in beating myself up about it. I just implement a bit of extra workout onto each week day and I make up for it.
  • nickymarie011
    nickymarie011 Posts: 152 Member
    I've stopped caring the day after a binge or a cheat. Honestly, last weekend I had a 3000 calorie meal at a burger joint. It was worth every gained calorie. It was delicious. I loved it. I didn't feel guilty. One night isn't going to ruin my year and a half worth of progress. I just get back on track the next day. No use in beating myself up about it. I just implement a bit of extra workout onto each week day and I make up for it.

    Right on. I totally am with you. I cheat on my 'diet' (I hate the word diet) or binge probably once per week. It happens to usually be Saturday's cause that is when I have friends over or I go out to the local pub/bar. I will indulge in some wine and maybe have some slices of pizza along with other unhealthy snacks. However, I do not let it get to me much. I am human and I enjoy the yummy foods out there. They may not be good for me all the time, but sometimes, I allow myself to indulge and enjoy myself. Don't beat yourself up about it. If you just work out an additional couple mins every day where you don't cheat and stay on target the majority of the time, you will be A OK.
  • AquaFitQueen
    AquaFitQueen Posts: 218 Member
    I've stopped caring the day after a binge or a cheat. Honestly, last weekend I had a 3000 calorie meal at a burger joint. It was worth every gained calorie. It was delicious. I loved it. I didn't feel guilty. One night isn't going to ruin my year and a half worth of progress. I just get back on track the next day. No use in beating myself up about it. I just implement a bit of extra workout onto each week day and I make up for it.


    This is so awesome! We are human! I know very thin people who binge so it isn't just a fat person issue. The best way to deal with it is self love and not self hate.
  • 123dmc
    123dmc Posts: 13
    VERY healthy replies, ladies! I love it. :smile:

    I am still working on remembering this, but I just love this quote from Emerson:

    "Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." --Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • freddi11e
    freddi11e Posts: 317 Member
    learn to love yourself the same way you love others. If your best friend ate a 3000 calorie meal you would not say to her "You should be ashamed. You are disgusting." You would love her just the same.

    the things we tell ourselves are beyond cruel. Love yourself and don't beat yourself up. This is a healthy lifestyle.. not a diet.... The journey is far from over, and one day of indulgence will not destroy your body so don't let it destroy your mind. love you :)

    Drink a lot of water and tea. eat up on veggies.
  • ApocalypticFae
    ApocalypticFae Posts: 217 Member
    The next day I focus on a lot of fresh vegetables, fruits, and some good protein (egg whites or fish especially), and stay within my calorie goals without going too low. I drink tons of water (almost a gallon). And I'll get a good workout in, usually low or moderate intensity for a longer period of time (cycle or elliptical for 40+ minutes). These are my every day goals and they help me get back on track no matter how much I've eaten the day before.
  • lilawolf
    lilawolf Posts: 1,690 Member
    If I overeat, I try to cut a couple hundred extra calories the next day or two either by working out more or eating less. If I'm very hungry then I won't even do that, but I am usually still pretty full so it isn't that hard to go a bit lower. Beyond that, I pretty much just forget that I did it. Even if I set myself back a day or two on this journey, who cares? I've been at it for nearly a year now, so a day or two won't hurt.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    The day after a big binge is a day to recognize that binging is not a sustainable habit if one wants to get healthy. It's a day to say, "Harrumph, I still don't have a balanced relationship with food." It's a day to be honest with yourself and to recognize the difference between the immediate, short term satisfaction of the binge and the longer term satisfaction of feeling better.

    You see, a "day" may be several and a binge can be a series of off-diary snacks but it all results in steps backward into feeling lousier than we feel when we are doing right. This is just such a week for me. A week of too much snacking, bloated body, and sore back. A week that the siren call of freshly baked bread and butter have had me in their spell. And I feel lousy, physically lousy.

    Old habits die hard. The saying is true. There is a certain known comfort in sitting still, back aching, while inhaling bread and butter. But the results suck.

    We only turn it around by turning it around. I want to feel all full of piss and vinegar like I have the last few weeks not like the stale bread pudding I had become.

    So today, we eat right. Today, we exercise. Today, we do the ground work that will make us feel better tomorrow. And tomorrow, when we feel better, it will be easier to continue eschewing the downhill spiral.

    Today, however, we just have to let our intellects overcome our emotions and do what's necessary to get back on the right path, sucky as that seems at the moment.
  • kellijauch
    kellijauch Posts: 379 Member
    Do not feel guilty. That's a bad cycle. Just do not eat again until you are hungry again (that's when you have burned all those calories off finally)
  • CarlaNeverGivenUp
    CarlaNeverGivenUp Posts: 108 Member
    What great replies and suggestions! You all are awesome! The theme I notice here is forgiveness. I've beat myself up for years about my weight and I have decided that I just have to live. Forgive myself for my mistakes and it's a new day. What I'm learning is when I have a bad day or 2 like last week when company was in and I lost control and over ate...when I get back up and go back to what I was doing how quickly in a few days...that I'm on the right track again! I'm learning to just get back up and continue in a healthy way...not looking back. Looking back for me is not helpful! Also recognizing that this is a journey for a lifetime...and the tortoise always wins the race! I was under weight for 20 years over weight for 25 and am working to moving to a healthy weight for the rest of my life here on earth! Blessings!
  • slowlow1
    slowlow1 Posts: 31 Member
    I agree with the comments that have already been posted. First I think that you should talk to someone to figure out what is causing this behavior. Until you can come to terms with what is triggering this you should go back to your alloted calories and move on. Not eating the next day is just as bad as the binge. Your body needs energy so you have to eat.
  • owensdad68
    owensdad68 Posts: 2 Member
    I agree with ll the positive comments if you find yourself having a binge night wake up and get back on your fittness routine eat well and workout a little harder just move on new day as for why your doing it ?? If it's just a good night out with friends drinks and bad foods so what no worries enjoy keep strong
  • scb515
    scb515 Posts: 133 Member
    You can't undo a binge.

    But the next day, you can work even harder to make sure you don't repeat the same mistake. Then once it's over, you've managed a whole day of being healthy - and if you can do it one day, you can do it the next.

    The trick is to stop beating yourself up. All that does is make you hate yourself and want to binge again. Let go, move on. Start afresh with renewed positivity. Don't feel like you can do it? Fake it until you make it, i.e. pretend you think you can do this, and at some point, you'll realise you're not pretending anymore.

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