Binge eating. Would like advice.

KristyDonovan

Over the last year I have successfully lost 60lbs. I went from 200lbs to 140. I'm so proud of myself. During that time I had iron willpower and skill power. Almost nothing could tempt me or keep me from my goals.

Now I am an exercise junkie. I have upped my calories from 1500 to 1650 because I was starving all the time. I'm not really interested in losing any more weight but doing body recomp.

However, over the last few months I've developed a habit of stuffing myself until I am practically sick. I am more stressed than usual and have been diagnosed with PMDD. I know why I binge but cannot get myself to stop. Luckily I have not gained much weight from this. But I imagine it's a slippery slope.

Does anyone have any experience and advice for me? I'm going to talk to my Pdoc about it. But until my appointment I would appreciate the support of the MFP community. Thanks everyone!

kommodevaran

I see no binge days in your diary, but some very low days. Are you recording everything?

I also see a lot of the same foods. Do you like that way of eating? I don't think getting to goal weight is worth a diet that sucks the joy of life out of us.

1650 would most likely be a deficit for you. Are you at goal weight?

Do you prelog? If you plan your meals out in advance, aim to hit your calorie goal with all the foods you like, so that you really look forward to eating your planned meals, and feel happy and satisfied after you've eaten, maybe the urge to binge will lessen?

janejellyroll

I find it almost impossible to control my eating when my deficit is too high. At 140 and "an exercise junkie," I think it's very likely that you 1,650 isn't enough for you and that's why you want more food.

That's not to say there isn't a mental element to controlling binges, I just know for me personally I can't even tackle the mental control when I don't allow myself enough to eat.

Good luck!

TavistockToad

I agree that 1650 isn't enough, find maintenance and see if that helps stop the binges.

cheryldumais

Setting aside the question of whether you are eating enough or not here are the things I have noticed that cause me to overeat. Not enough vegetables. When I find myself too hungry often it is because I have fallen back to old habits and eat alot of carbs and not enough veggies. Fruits and vegetables add bulk and seem to help me to be more satisfied. The other one is not enough protein. I have eaten carbs all along my journey but when they become too prominent I find I fall into over indulging. The last thing is what everyone else is saying. If I am eating too little for a few days I tend to splurge and eat too much. Keeping my blood sugar balanced by eating regularly seems to help. Good luck and congratulations on a wonderful loss!

JustRobby1

I would echo jane's sentiment above. Most of the episodes of binge eating that I have experienced have all 100% correlated with times when I ran up extremely unhealthy deficits. I distance run, so it's not uncommon for me to tab up high burn counts, but my mistake was not adjusting my calories accordingly.

Days like this would result in me waking up in the middle of the night starving and as if by remote control making a b line to the fridge and eating the first thing I could get my hands on. When this first started happening it scared me to death. My compulsions felt so uncontrollable that I figured I had a serious psychosomatic problem on my hands. The reality is the reason I was doing what I was doing is the same reason as people who are starving in a refugee camp in Kenya. Your body sends out tremendous compulsions to eat because it NEEDS food, and you can only deny this for so long by sheer force of will before the body decides to take matters into it's own hands.

This is not to say that there are not people out there who legit have a problem with binge eating, but your experiences seem so eerily similar to my own that I suspect you are in the same boat. Just something to think about.

cmriverside

I agree with everyone above, and to add to cheryldumais I would say that I find it difficult to maintain any kind of a deficit without paying really close attention to macros. If they get too far out of whack and if I am not eating enough vegetables and a variety of foods, I will start having binge days. (a binge to me is 1000+ calories over.)

I've read it various places that without the needed nutrients, the hunger drive is increased. I don't know if that's true, but it resonates with me.

jjpptt2

No one can offer any meaningful advice without knowing WHY you binge. If you don't want to share that, then that's more than fine... but that's the crux of this whole conversation. You say you know why you are binging... is there a better response to that than by eating? If it's stress, can you better manage your stress? If it's sadness/depression, is there a better outlet for those feelings? If it's cravings, is there a more strategic approach you can take? I could keep going, but you the point.

GlassAngyl

Too many carbs definitely has me binging and feeling starved when I shouldn't be. Veggies make a great filler but if that don't work, try sautéing them in olive oil or butter to add fat. Fat and protein can help you feel fuller. If you look at my diary, my over 2k calorie says all have a high carb count. My under 2k days (some under 1k!!) are low carb high fat and mid protein.

KristyDonovan

For a very long time my new lifestyle journey has created great purpose to my life. I am very ill and in a lot of pain and the stress has me bingeing. I also think I am probably not eating enough. I have been changing up my macros to see if that helps but no luck so far. I don't have a hard time eating enough filling food. I am vegetarian and I consume a wide variety of fruits, veggies, and whole grains everyday. I'm addressing the stress with the assistance of professionals and I have a great support system. I also do endurance training (inline skating). Everyone's support has been great!

TavistockToad

KristyDonovan wrote: »

For a very long time my new lifestyle journey has created great purpose to my life. I am very ill and in a lot of pain and the stress has me bingeing. I also think I am probably not eating enough. I have been changing up my macros to see if that helps but no luck so far. I don't have a hard time eating enough filling food. I am vegetarian and I consume a wide variety of fruits, veggies, and whole grains everyday. I'm addressing the stress with the assistance of professionals and I have a great support system. I also do endurance training (inline skating). Everyone's support has been great!

peanut butter

KristyDonovan

TavistockToad wrote: »

peanut butter

One of my favorite things!

diannethegeek

For me, the only time I've been able to stop a binge is to get in front of it and recognize the kinds of feelings I have when they're about to start. Recognizing and naming the emotions gives me ammunition and some control over the binge. "I don't want to eat, this is just anxiety. I don't need that food, this is just about xyz. No really, we'll get over this." And so on. It's still going to be a long night fighting it. The feelings can consume my life for hours when I'm trying to stop a binge. There are times when I think it would be easier to just binge (but not better).

HALT is an acronym I learned here. Don't let yourself get too Hungry Angry Lonely or Tired. These are times we're more likely to binge. I add an extra A for Anxiety for myself. Getting in front of those things can help some.

silvy1013

Are you getting enough rest? I noticed that when I stay up too late I tend to binge and then make poor decisions the following day. Once I started going to bed at 9pm the binging ended.

Another thing that could be helpful would be to add in a refeed day or two each week. Up your calories by 300 and make them come from carbs. It's not a free for all cheat day or cheat meal. You still eat healthy, but just a little more. It maybe be helpful.