Overeating/binge eating

jugsosa2333

Hey everyone. I've been tracking my food and eating nutritiously for a while and i've been getting good results, which in my case is cutting down fat.

I still have a problem with binge eating on my cheat days. I know it's okay to have cheat days and indulge, but I don't like the fact that I eat so much to the point of feeling sick sometimes, it affects my mood, physical well being and my workouts.

This only happens on Sundays, which is my "cheat day". I'd like to indulge in food I like but I don't want to overeat. Anyone has gone through this? Got any tips to help me with this?

Thanks!

kommodevaran

If you eat too little, you get hungry. When you're hungry, and there's food, you eat. If you've restricted food intake too much, for too long, you overeat. Your calorie need is based on your height and weight. How many calories are you eating on average on non-cheating days? And what is your height and weight?

I'm sure you can see where I'm heading with this - don't undereat, eat food you enjoy every day, and don't have cheat days.

You may also want to investigate whether you really are getting in sufficient and balanced nutrition. Opening your food diary can produce a surge of more or less helpful advice

jugsosa2333

For example, this last sunday I over ate and I had been doing 2600 calories a day (maintenance for me), so i'm starting to think this is more of an emotional/mental issue I have, since I am getting enough nutrition.

Im 6' tall and 176 pounds at the moment.

I just opened up my food diary!

kommodevaran

I have to take my reservations back after having looked at your diary - some familiar words, others googlable - your diet looks amazing!

I read "cutting down fat" as "losing weight", but I take it you're recomp'ing? You have a good weight for your height so you don't need to lose weight.

If you're maintaining your weight, it means that what you eat through the week - good, bad and delicious - evens out to keep you at the same weight. Your overall diet is fine and healthy. Maybe you're slightly undereating on weekdays - if you're overeating but hitting weight goal you must be, to some degree - but not much.

Now you just have to find a way to avoid eating until you are uncomfortably full... Exactly how to do it effectively will depend on your personality. For me, a structured eating plan helps me not overeat. But if you feel restricted just by the idea of planning your meals, more strict Sunday rules aren't going to help you. Or maybe that's exactly what you need? I'm not sure at all. What if you remind yourself, before you eat, how eating too much makes you feel afterwards? I hope others can chime in...!

Old_Cat_Lady

I figured out cheat days were destroying my weight loss efforts. If I want a mcdonalds quacamole burger on a Saturday, I will save calories during the week for it!

sofchak

Hi OP, my recommendation is to portion control in advance of eating on your cheat day. For example, I really love cottage cheese. I could eat an entire tub (and I have) in one sitting. However, after eating so much dairy at once, I get quite nauseous and I hate that feeling - but damned if that feeling, as much as I hate it, doesn't deter me from doing it again.

What I started doing is pre-portioning out reasonable serving sizes that I know from experience won't make me feel sick. Then after eating a normal serving, it's then a conscious effort to get up, go to the fridge and take another serving - a serving that I know isn't going to be of benefit to me. Of course sometimes I still eat the extra serving anyway because nom nom cottage cheese... But most of the time, just the conscious effort to make myself go get another serving and knowing the impact is enough to break the cycle of overeating that particular food. Hope that helps!

oolou

This will be tough to do if you have an association with Sunday and indulging in food, but in the end trying to change that way of thinking and breaking that habit is the way to go. I know it's hard but ... yeah. I'm going through the same right now.

In June I started to buy a large bar of chocolate every Friday which is my grocery buying day. I would then eat most, if not all, of it that evening. Started to think of grocery day as my chocolate night. Then throughout summer I've started to overeat on those evenings, continuing on from the chocolate to anything else I could find in the cupboards as additional snacks.

To stop - I've just gone cold turkey on the chocolate because I know that right now I won't stop at a couple squares of chocolate. I'm also heading to bed earlier on the evenings I would usually associate with overeating snacks.

The trick for you will be finding your way to break the association of overeating and Sundays. In the end, it's a head thing - trying to think of it differently, but there could be practical things you can do too to help yourself. It really depends on the situation of when and where you are eating, and with whom.

jugsosa2333

I generally just lay around and eat on Sundays. Maybe I should consider doing an activity on sundays and going out, sharing with friends or some other thing. Being alone and lazy leads me to overeat. Thanks for your help!

I know my weight is alright, but I just started cutting again, cause I have a lot of leftover fat in my body (I used to be very overweight). I'm cutting then I will bulk!

HeidiCooksSupper

Cheat days don't seem to be working for you so stop thinking that way. Instead, on occasion, go over on your calories and then figure out what to do about it. If you want to lose a pound a week, you need to eat, on average, 3500 calories fewer than you expend each week. A "cheat day" can easily wipe out that 3500 calories. Calling it a "cheat day" implies you are getting away with something but you are not. Call it what it is: a decision to over eat. Log it and decide what to do about it.

inertiastrength

Do the math on your deficit. My maintenance is on average 2300 so x 7 that's 16K I eat low during the week (1575 x 6 = 9450) so that Sunday I can eat 3K and net a 1lb/week loss 16K maintenance - 12450 = 3550). I can have a REALLY nice day with 3k hehehe