Binge eating

alynns12

I need help!

Ok, so I weigh 215 currently and it SUCKS! My calorie goal is like 1400 but I try to stay around 12 hundred. I do well at work but once I get home I go crazy. I eat everything in sight. Then I feel guilty and start hating myself. I can't find the motivation to do anything. Working out sounds awful. And I used to love working out. And I used to love eating healthy. I don't know what to do!!

daniip_la

I've fought binge eating my entire life (I'm 26 now). I got control of it for two years (a few years ago) in which I lost almost 100lbs, and then over the next year and a half I binged and regained 50+ of it.

There's no trick (that I know of), there's nothing anyone else can do (believe me, I looked everywhere for answers). It just came down to telling myself "No, you're not stopping for two orders of fries on the way home." I've been binge-free for several weeks now, hoping it'll last.

For me, stress and/or boredom set off the binge eating. What I did, which may not work for everyone, was to start walking any chance I could. I enjoyed it so much, I bought a Fitbit to see how much I was walking. When I exercise, it helps me to not binge because I know how hard I worked to burn those calories in the first place.

Now, I get up early every morning and walk a few miles. After work I rush home to walk a few more before it gets dark. And now, for some reason, I can get a small order of fries that fit into my calorie goal and not binge. It's a great feeling.

Long story short (sorry for rambling), find something to get your mind off of eating. And tell yourself no. I know it's hard, but I know you can do it.

ETA: Also, eat all the calories MFP gives you! Don't knock yourself down to 1200 until you have to.

st476

Are you really motivated this time or is it just a "ugh, I'm overweight and should probably try losing weight" type of situation? I feel like you won't do well unless you're really motivated to do well. Remind yourself all the ways you're feeling now and why you want to change

Maybe start with a less aggressive goal too? 1400 is a good goal!

allyphoe

Set a less aggressive goal and eat all your calories. Binge and restrict is a cycle.

AnnPT77

I'd suggest starting with eating at least the 1400, plus at least 50% of exercise calories. It's doing you no good to have a super-low goal if you can't stick to it, and are miserable.

Frankly, at 215, and at your age, even if you're sedentary you're probably burning a couple thousand calories a day, and 1200 is likely below your BMR (the number of calories you'd burn in a coma, just by being alive). I'd be surprised if you weren't miserable at that level.

Please eat more! Get enough protein (for my taste, at least 0.6-0.8g per pound of healthy goal weight), some healthy fat with every meal, and plenty of veggies/fruit to get your micros.

Deprivation, the bingeing that inevitably results from it, guilt, and self-hatred are not the path to success.

What is? A moderate, achievable calorie deficit; good nutrition, persistence, and consistency.

You can do it. Start by eating enough to keep it on the rails!

ogtmama

I'd get the temptations out of the house for now. Cut them completely out for a month or two until you feel like you can start introducing them back in slowly...if by then you even want to.

dolcemaria81

alynns12 wrote: »

I need help!

Ok, so I weigh 215 currently and it SUCKS! My calorie goal is like 1400 but I try to stay around 12 hundred. I do well at work but once I get home I go crazy. I eat everything in sight. Then I feel guilty and start hating myself. I can't find the motivation to do anything. Working out sounds awful. And I used to love working out. And I used to love eating healthy. I don't know what to do!!

Sounds like me!

datanner

I relate completely. I am a huge binge eater. At night is when I want to binge too. I succeed when I am prepared such as pre-made meals for supper. They are already measured and weighed and I just have to heat up. Also I enjoy peppermint tea at night with a little stevia. When I am craving something I just tell myself, "not never, just not now" and that is what gets me thru those moments. Also, I liked the the girl's post that suggested walking. It really does make a difference.

You can do this. Believe it.

CooCooPuff

allyphoe wrote: »

Set a less aggressive goal and eat all your calories. Binge and restrict is a cycle.

This.

1,200 seems unnecessary for someone our age.

JeromeBarry1

Keep using this site. Start logging everything you eat. Get a digital kitchen scale and then start accurately logging every thing you eat. Once you start logging, you start thinking. Once you start thinking, you start making better decisions. Once you start making better decisions, you'll get control of the binge eating.

an0nemus

alynns12 wrote: »

I need help!

Ok, so I weigh 215 currently and it SUCKS! My calorie goal is like 1400 but I try to stay around 12 hundred. I do well at work but once I get home I go crazy. I eat everything in sight. Then I feel guilty and start hating myself. I can't find the motivation to do anything. Working out sounds awful. And I used to love working out. And I used to love eating healthy. I don't know what to do!!

Stop it! Stop hating yourself, stop feeling guilty. That won't solve anything, and leads to a circle of failure.

I'm a binge eater too..always have been, and probably always will be.

First, set your caloric goal to be sustainable. The weight loss may seem slow, but its faster than if you just go off of it entirely. If MFP says you can lose weight at 1400...stay at 1400. I work in an office and there's a starbucks about .75 miles away from the office so I walk there and back at lunch for an americano (just espresso and water).

Personally, I'm not a big breakfast person...so what I tend to do is eat a smaller breakfast and then shift the calories to after dinner for snacks. For snacks I try to keep raw carrots, lettuce, raisins, and flavored water.

Second thing I've done is drop diet food.....ie no more light bread or skim milk. What I realized is they didn't satifsfy me so I would eat 4 slices of bread (2 sandwiches) and put meat some cheese (or pbj) ...so the calorie content of the bread was up to the same amount as 'regular' bread..but now I was eating more sandwich stuff.

reinventingjessica11

Binge Eater here too. Well I'm in recovery, and have binge free for almost 2 years now after seeking professional help. The biggest thing that helped for me is to stop depriving myself. I find that when I tell myself I can't have something, or set my calories too low, I tend to feel like I'm going to relapse, and that's what always made me fail at losing weight before. On this current approach, I set my calories higher, and I make sure to eat whole foods, ie natural foods but also allow myself to fit in things I used to call forbidden.

Take it one day at a time, be sure to pop in and log what you're eating and you'll get the hang of it. I think this is a problem I'll battle for the rest of my life, but it is manageable. You just have to get your mind to cooperate.

WBB55

I also recommend setting your daily target higher than 1200 if you find you have urges to binge at that level. If you're accurate with your logging of your food, you could probably find you'll lose just fine eating 1600-1700 calories per day. Maybe if you try eating that for a while, you'll be able to stick to it and not have urges to binge.

Cheesy567

The boom "Brain Over Binge" might be helpful for you. Listening to the podcast "HalfSize Me" has really changed the way I view and deal with binges. The woman who makes it lost over 170 pounds, while dealing with binges, and has kept it off for over 5 years. She's very upfront with how she learned to deal with the binges and her change in mindset that finally allowed her to drop the weight.

Try to remove the shame from the binge. Log what you eat honestly, and see what your patterns are. Chances are, you need more protein to help mitigate physiologic hunger cues. You might need more calories overall. By honestly tracking it, you can see your average daily intake, and make adjustments from there (i.e. start by decreasing your calories by 200-300 of your current average, rather than trying a drastic cut in calories. Weightloss might be a bit slower, but hopefully easier by removing the psychological repercussions of binges driven by physiologic hunger.

Great job reaching out for help, instead of quitting. You'll make it!

ames105

Binge eating is also my problem. I know its psychological. I can even tell that I am NOT hungry but I want to eat anyway because it 'tastes good' or I have a craving.

The best things I've found to do are to stay busy. Clean the house, give myself projects to do, take an evening walk, go right to my bedroom and bypass the kitchen in the evenings. I cannot read or watch tv because that leaves my hands free. Idle hands lead to snacking which fast tracks me to binge eating.

It can also help to plan your calories so you can have an evening snack. I tried to make sure it was pre-portioned so I wasn't tempted to have more. Good luck!

megomerrett

I binge too. I also know I like a drink or snack in the evening when the kids and husband are in bed (he works early signed up earlier than me) so I factor it into my day. I eat a tiny breakfast, an ok lunch and a big tea and have a snack and maybe a booze drink in the evening.

I think having to log EVERYTHING helps stop me binging as I can't be arsed to log loads more than actual meals and a couple of snacks. When I have though it does help show how destructive that behaviour is and I've definitely stopped doing it so much as I feel MFP makes me realise what a doofus I am if I binge on cereal or whatever in the evening and then get down about getting heavier and heavier.

If it helps you, you could plan out meals, measure out portions for evening meals at breakfast time when you've got more willpower.

Or if it's being at home that's dragging you down then just get out! Go to a class, walk a dog, watch a telly show while on an exercise bike.

leahkathleen13

I noticed you said that you go crazy when you get home. How about packing a high protein and high volume/fiber snack for the ride home? A large amount of water, a huge chunk of cabbage or celery and a cheese stick may fill you up and hydrate you so the binge attack isn't activated.

daphnec1994

You definitely need to increase your calories

mitch16

YMMV, but some things that work for me: having a snack in the car home (like a granola bar or apple), working out after work, brushing teeth (don't want to get them dirty again immediately), chewing gum, drinking copious quantities of plain green tea or water, distracting myself, not keeping binge-worthy food around the house...