Binging but not gaining weight?

jakeburmingham

Hi everyone! So I'm 18 years old, sedentary, 5' 11", male, and 133.5-134.5 pounds. 2 years ago I lost 85 pounds, and since then have kept it off. However, I don't understand how I have. About once or twice a week, I binge on upwards of 5,000-7,000 calories (besides my daily calories) and the days in between I eat about 1,700-1,900 calories on average. My question is, how could I have been maintaining my weight when I'm binging this much and I'm not burning it off? There will usually be 3-5 days between each binge, but one time I went on vacation for a week, and when I returned home and waited for my water weight to go down, I was exactly the same weight. I just don't understand it, I'm happy that I'm maintaining, but after I binge I hate myself and can't look at myself in the mirror or pictures for days out of fear that I'll be bloated or overweight. So any help with why I don't gain, how to defeat this binging, or how to get over the guilt and insecurity that comes with binging, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

bioklutz

You are probably under-eating for most of the week - does this trigger the binge or is something else going on?

jakeburmingham

I eat at 1,700-1,900 during the week so I am not undereating

AnvilHead

jakeburmingham wrote: »

Hi everyone! So I'm 18 years old, sedentary, 5' 11", male, and 133.5-134.5 pounds. 2 years ago I lost 85 pounds, and since then have kept it off. However, I don't understand how I have. About once or twice a week, I binge on upwards of 5,000-7,000 calories (besides my daily calories) and the days in between I eat about 1,700-1,900 calories on average. My question is, how could I have been maintaining my weight when I'm binging this much and I'm not burning it off? There will usually be 3-5 days between each binge, but one time I went on vacation for a week, and when I returned home and waited for my water weight to go down, I was exactly the same weight. I just don't understand it, I'm happy that I'm maintaining, but after I binge I hate myself and can't look at myself in the mirror or pictures for days out of fear that I'll be bloated or overweight. So any help with why I don't gain, how to defeat this binging, or how to get over the guilt and insecurity that comes with binging, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Are you, or have you in the past, undergone treatment for eating disorders? Because the stuff in bold above points strongly toward symptoms of disordered eating. 134 lbs. at 5'11'' borders on being underweight and that, along with the binging, fear of gaining weight, guilt/insecurity, etc. are pretty strong indicators that maybe talking to a therapist about eating disorders may be the best thing for you.

arditarose

You are at least 10 lbs underweight. Perhaps you need to speak to someone or get help?

jakeburmingham

I understand that I have an issue with my weight and I am seeking help now. But I am really curious on how I have not been gaining weight?

Unknown

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nxd10

Jakeburning - Binging like that simply is not healthy. Please get some help. In this case, your weight is irrelevant - it's simply not a healthy behavioral pattern. I don't have to list all the reasons it's not - you already know.

It doesn't feel very good does it?

starcollapsing

If you're an 18 year old guy and 5'11", 1700-1900 is definitely undereating. If you're bingeing, your body needs more food.

TavistockToad

starcollapsing wrote: »

If you're an 18 year old guy and 5'11", 1700-1900 is definitely undereating. If you're bingeing, your body needs more food.

this!

arditarose

Yep. You're generally under- eating. A binge isn't making you gain wait because you're not eating enough as is.

TavistockToad

starcollapsing wrote: »

If you're an 18 year old guy and 5'11", 1700-1900 is definitely undereating. If you're bingeing, your body needs more food.

I'm 5ft5 and 33 years old weighing 138lbs and I maintain on 1900 cals if I'm not exercising.

Gwen_44

Yeah you need to maintain the same amount of calories everyday!! Even if youre not gaining weight, that's not healthy!! You should try to eat the amount of calories MFP suggests everyday!!

Sabine_Stroehm

TavistockToad wrote: »

starcollapsing wrote: »

If you're an 18 year old guy and 5'11", 1700-1900 is definitely undereating. If you're bingeing, your body needs more food.

this!

THIS. THIS is why you're not gaining. THIS is why you're underweight. I'm 50, and a woman. And I eat as much as you.
Please consider speaking to someone. You under eat. You're under weight. You BINGE. All after losing a LOT of weight. Don't all of these make alarms go off for you?

funchords

Humans are emotional, we have to accept that. Think of it as a home with an adult (our rational side) and a child (our emotional side). We can put the rational side in charge and make the emotional side obey -- maybe it'll whine and cry, but it will obey and learn discipline.

Binges don't affect our weight as much as the math suggests because our weight is just not that fragile. You'll notice on a binge day that your heartbeat increases -- there's a thermic effect to all that food -- our intake and our expenditure are up on a binge day. Usually the days after a big blowout are light days, too. A string of binge days, and the body will definitely put on the weight. At the end of the story, calories count.

Tell your guilt to take a back seat, your rational brain is in charge. Log through your binges, you'll do better if you're logging even if you're way over. It's your log, not your judge. It's just a record of what happened so your rational brain has data to work with.

brianpperkins

jakeburmingham wrote: »

I eat at 1,700-1,900 during the week so I am not undereating

Yes, you are. Simple math puts 1900 below the maintenance level for 5'11, 134 pounds.

zoeysasha37

Please seek help. I'm a woman and eat more then that daily without including exercise.
Your underweight. Your binging because your severely undereating.

rankinsect

TavistockToad wrote: »

starcollapsing wrote: »

If you're an 18 year old guy and 5'11", 1700-1900 is definitely undereating. If you're bingeing, your body needs more food.

this!

Yes. 1700-1900 is what a typical 11 year old boy needs.

Also, keep in mind on both the normal days and binges, underweight people tend as a rule to do the opposite of overweight people - they underestimate their calorie burns and overestimate the amount they consume. A 7,000 calorie day is hard to do - that's what professional cyclists eat during the Tour de France, and they need to practice eating just to get it all down, plus they need to very carefully choose calorie-dense foods that are not very filling. Unless you're spending hours and hours per day just eating, it's unlikely you're getting to those levels.

sijomial

jakeburmingham wrote: »

I understand that I have an issue with my weight and I am seeking help now. But I am really curious on how I have not been gaining weight?

I'm 2" shorter than you, three times your age and eat 2500 - 3000 to maintain.

Don't let this problem blight what should be the best time of your life, please don't be too proud or stubborn to seek professional help.
Best of luck.

orchidee1987

As above posters have said : you are simply undereating most of the week. I am 5'3, female, 10 pounds lighter than you and am losing on 1800 kcals.
You need professional help. You are clearly underweight and seem to have an eating disorder

kshama2001

jakeburmingham wrote: »

Hi everyone! So I'm 18 years old, sedentary, 5' 11", male, and 133.5-134.5 pounds. 2 years ago I lost 85 pounds, and since then have kept it off. However, I don't understand how I have. About once or twice a week, I binge on upwards of 5,000-7,000 calories (besides my daily calories) and the days in between I eat about 1,700-1,900 calories on average. My question is, how could I have been maintaining my weight when I'm binging this much and I'm not burning it off? There will usually be 3-5 days between each binge, but one time I went on vacation for a week, and when I returned home and waited for my water weight to go down, I was exactly the same weight. I just don't understand it, I'm happy that I'm maintaining, but after I binge I hate myself and can't look at myself in the mirror or pictures for days out of fear that I'll be bloated or overweight. So any help with why I don't gain, how to defeat this binging, or how to get over the guilt and insecurity that comes with binging, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I'm more than 4 inches shorter than you, more than 30 years older, female, and am losing weight eating more than you do on your non-binge days.

Your urge to binge may go away if you eat more on normal days - what does MFP say you should eat to maintain? - but some therapy to help you develop a healthier relationship with food would be good as well.