This has helped

laurenduffy1988

I said yesteday about my problems with binge eating and how tracking calories was really not helping... well today I just decide to eat when I was hungry and not keep count and I haven't binged or felt guilty at all,

I tracked my day yesterday with binges it was 5300 and out of curiousity tracked today it is 1250 so surely if I just be sensible and don't feel guilty of binge I still should lose weight feeling really positive

cerise_noir

Awesome. Have you been weighing the food, too? I find that really help stop binges.

laurenduffy1988

No no weighing as tracking every single calorie was really making my binges worse I just wanted to track to see an average of what I was eating x

ArtsyAlexis

laurenduffy1988 wrote: »

No no weighing as tracking every single calorie was really making my binges worse I just wanted to track to see an average of what I was eating x

I found this same issue happens with me. I keep my calories at a "maximum to lose weight" rather than how much I would need in order to lose so many pounds per week. 1800 has been my magic number. I rarely go over and find I never binge on it or have any issues. I try not to restrain myself at all, really. It just ends up being worse. My days of eating a flat 1200 were dark, dark days! I had no energy!

laurenduffy1988

It's definitely a physiological thing with me I use food to deal with emotions I think this is the way forward just eating when hungry healthy food occasional treat and not obsessing about the scales hopefully I will still naturally lose this way x

michelleepotter

This sounds like a personality issue, or maybe an eating disorder. You feel restricted, perhaps anxious, when you consciously limit and track your calories, so you're either freaking out or rebelling against that restriction and binge eating. I didn't see your previous thread, but I assume if you're here then you must have some difficulty with your weight. If you're trying to lose, you do need to find some way to eat less than you burn, but without making yourself feel so restricted that you can't handle it. Maybe a therapist would help you come up with a solution?

PaulaWallaDingDong

As long as you do it consistently, your mindfulness approach will work. Just make sure not to fall back into old habits, and track your results so you know if you're starting to drift.

CattOfTheGarage

I binge less if I keep the guilt to a minimum. I think binging for me is partly self punishment, and partly an attempt to feel better when self-loathing is making me feel really bad. I find cutting out any particular food will lead to binging, and attempting to "repay" binges with calorie cutting or extra exercise makes them worse.

Although calorie counting as such doesn't have a bad effect on me, it's the same general message - loosen up, don't beat up on yourself, don't make food a "forbidden pleasure" and binges gradually become less of a problem.