Food Binge

thesecret16tifm

Ok guys, second day of eating really well and this evening I had a lot of chocolate. I didn't have the motivation or desire to say no and I just gave in. Anyhow! I'm not doing guilt and I am walking around trying to up my steps to 'even out' some of the damage. Anyone else struggle with binges??

karafrench

I think we all do The important thing is to not let it overtake your motivation.. brush it off, do some extra steps, and try to do better tomorrow!

TavistockToad

Doesn't sound like a binge... just sounds like you overate chocolate...

kschwab0203

karafrench wrote: »

I think we all do The important thing is to not let it overtake your motivation.. brush it off, do some extra steps, and try to do better tomorrow!

Agreed! I've learned here to log it, no matter how bad the binge is and move on. Logging really helps to give you perspective. I still struggle with not beating myself up too much after, but I'm trying.

rosebarnalice

Yup. I strive for what I call "mindful binging"-- which for me means if I feel the need to overeat, or find myself in the midst of a binge, I take a "stop and think" approach to be AWARE of where I am in that moment and what is behind the binge:

• Am I stress eating? What caused the stress?
• Am I bored eating? Why am I bored-- what else can I do?
• Am I lonely or blue-eating (which for me is different than stress? Why?

And then I ask myself, "is there something else I can do aboutthis besides eat?

Sometimes the answer is "yes"-- I can stop moping and being lonely by logging onto Facebook or calling a friend.
But sometimes the answer is "no"--I am stress eating, and it was my horrible experience with that student that I'm stressing about, and what I'm doing about that stress is munching my way through a bag of Pepperidge Farm cookies.

Then the next day (or sometimes the next two or three days) when I'm skimming 100 - 200 calories off of my goal to make up for the binge, I know WHY. And I can use that experience to help make better choices in the future.

The way I look at it, the "stop and think" means that I try recognize what is causing the binge, and then I CHOOSE the cookies . . . .rather than feeling like the cookies have a mystical power over me.

thesecret16tifm

TavistockToad wrote: »

Doesn't sound like a binge... just sounds like you overate chocolate...

I didn't go into huge detail in my post, but trust me, I know the difference between a lot of chocolate and a binge. This was a binge.

courtneyfabulous

I feel like a lot of binges stem from over restricting...

Instead of trying to see how many days you can eat "really well" for, how about you plan to have a couple of treats every single day as long as they fit into your calories? Then you never feel restricted and never feel like you need to binge out on that forbidden food that you don't know when you'll get to eat again... because it's not forbidden at all and you know you'll get to eat it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.

I'm over half way to my goal weight and losing steadily while enjoying chocolate every single day.

chandraminick

Oh, ya. I could put away two boxes of raspberry zingers in one day if I took as much as even one bite. Eat the same thing every day to avoid stimulating your appetite, and then only vary from that menu at the beginning if next week. Also, what helped me is watching my macros. If you know how many calories you want to eat, try eating less refined carbs and real carbs. But, try only eating them in Certain ratios. I do well on 40/40/20 because it helps reduce cravings. Try it.