What happens to your body when you binge...

Sheseeksstrength
Sheseeksstrength Posts: 138 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi!
I recently have been analyzing and researching binge eating in myself and through others. I am curious to process through what actually happens to your body during this time.
For example, lets say I had eaten 1000 calories before my binge set in. And let's say that I binge on a hotdog, hamburger, beans, macaroni and cheese, some ice cream and frosting, or whatever else a binge brings on that you want to eat. Let's say that all that food totals 2000 calories, add that on top of the 1000 and that gives the 3000 total. Then I burned 1500 calorie that day just by being alive and active, that puts me at a surplus of 1500 calories, which will result in some weight gain, I understand.
But what happens to your physical body internally? Does it know it has just binged? Is it trying to get rid of all the calories as soon as possible? Does your digestive system get overwhelmed?

Does anyone have any insight? I'm just curious.

Replies

  • bologna111
    bologna111 Posts: 57 Member
    I have often wondered the same thing. Thankfully I haven't binged in a few months. After binges in the past, I would feel horrible the next day. Headache, upset stomach, and very bloated. It was always awful!
  • Salazmic
    Salazmic Posts: 3 Member
    I did this on thanksgiving and felt awful the next day. Body weight went up 3.8lbs - I'm sure water weight/increased sodium etc... I couldn't eat until Friday night and just now back to where I was before the binge... For me, cheat meals every couple of weeks but couldn't imagine much progress with cheat days...! In any event, getting back to your question - my gut was completely destroyed for at least 15 hours (gurgling/churning/you name it) - I woke up the next day feeling terrible and bloated. Curious as well as to the scientific answer -
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    the human body is very adept at handling energy variances...you don't put on a bunch of fat if you overeat a day just as you don't lose a bunch of fat underfeeding or having a fast day. your body strives to maintain the status quot...it does this by making processes less efficient when there is a surplus of energy and more efficient when there's a deficiency. consistently overfeeding or underfeeding overrides your body's ability to maintain and deal with those energy variances. many people who have binge issues are consistent enough in their binging to hinder weight loss and make weight management in general difficult. gorging one's self with food is also going to cause a lot of discomfort.

    the scale weight that shows after a day of heavy eating is largely attributable to water, glycogen, and more inherent waste in the system.
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    the human body is very adept at handling energy variances...you don't put on a bunch of fat if you overeat a day just as you don't lose a bunch of fat underfeeding or having a fast day. your body strives to maintain the status quot...it does this by making processes less efficient when there is a surplus of energy and more efficient when there's a deficiency. consistently overfeeding or underfeeding overrides your body's ability to maintain and deal with those energy variances. many people who have binge issues are consistent enough in their binging to hinder weight loss and make weight management in general difficult. gorging one's self with food is also going to cause a lot of discomfort.

    the scale weight that shows after a day of heavy eating is largely attributable to water, glycogen, and more inherent waste in the system.

    You ALWAYS give excellent replies! :)
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
    You will gain fat like crazy!
  • Sheseeksstrength
    Sheseeksstrength Posts: 138 Member
    Thank you all for the input! Very helpful!
  • scolaris
    scolaris Posts: 2,145 Member
    edited December 2015
    Yes! Very informative answer @cwolfman13... Thanks!
    This wasn't really a 'binge' exactly but during Thanksgiving week I did a 3 day road trip with my husband from Dallas TX to the Bay Area, plus Thanksgiving day. I ate and drank a lot & sat in the car a lot. Lots of alcohols, rich foods, desserts. Felt very bloated at the end. I had set my calories to an approximate maintenance TDEE for my current weight. The scale was all over the place in the ensuing days, but the final change that emerged about a week out was that my weight increased by one tenth of one pound. That's all. It was a great illustration of how little a few days can matter if you mostly stick to your program.

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