How do you avoid going on binges?

Slasher09

My biggest "binge" trigger times are mid afternoon and bedtime....I now have ALL of my calories in 4 meals between noon and about 9pm, or one decent meal every 2.5 hours or so. I plan lunch and dinner in advance and I use leftover calories and exercise for my 3pm and bedtime "meal." 3pm is usually a fruit, a protein, and a grain...and I like cherry coke zero (idk...it helps me), and bedtime is usually something "healthier" and something "fun." last night that was cottage cheese with mandarin oranges....and tortilla chips and salsa. I've found that I'm sustained and not deprived and don't binge because of it

BarneyRubbleMD

hughjazz74 wrote: »

haha. for those who do like Halo Top, what's your favorite flavor?

Peanut Butter Cup

dsboohead

Cheetos just plain cannot be a guest in my house or they will be stripped down to an empty 7 serving bag

kristenseager

I have binging issues. I couldn’t figure out how to get control of it, so I bought a $10 book on Amazon called Never Binge Again by Glenn Livingston. It’s helped! Understanding why your binging in the first place may help you learn to better control it.

150poundsofme

As many have said, I absolutely cannot bring it into the house, and I am talking about every carb on earth (except the fruit and veggie carbs). I have not binged in like 70 days. Many times though I feel like a snacky type of food - chips or popcorn or pretzels. If they were in the house fuggedehboutit. In a restaurant I "allow" myself about 2 carbs (ex. 1 roll and mashed potatoes). I cannot keep butter in the house because I would binge with any type of bread/toast/pancakes. We actually now have 2 sticks of butter in the freezer because company was coming but we didn't use it. No problem right now because we have no bread or crackers in the house. Many times when I thought I was doing well on my eating plan, I would go and buy a large bag of dried apricots or dried cranberries. For the first number of days I would measure out a serving. But I see that I would eat it every day as a snack. I try now not to have snacks, 3 meals a day. I did start eating a clementine every evening figuring it was good to have for flu season, it takes me a while to eat because I don't eat that innier "skin". I do feel like it's something snacky and like something just to have because I was used to eating while watching dinner. I think when this bag is done, I won't buy them for a while and see. I have to be careful when I am at a friend's house and they have lots of snacks out or offers them to you. The other day at a friend's for lunch she wanted to have 3 long pretzel rods. I ended up having 3 and you know what, I did not eat any of the potatoes that night that was in the beef stew. Anyway, good luck and stick with it.
p.s. I like what Fflpnari said above "...I will just eat them to eat them." So very true. That's just the reason. And JayedMiss also said "...just accept how I am". I don't think I will ever be able to trust myself to keep all those favorites in the house.

lucerorojo

Foods that I can't stop: potato chips, bread. I do not buy bread unless it's a small artisan roll. I cannot stop at one or two slices. I do not buy chips anymore unless it is pop chips in a 100 calorie bag. I tried with the smallest bag of Lays last week (which is 2.5 servings) and I ate the whole bag. Not a binge, but puts me out of my calorie allotment. Before MFP, I'd buy a big bag and eat it all.

I can sort of handle fine chocolate, homemade baked goods. I will bake whatever, eat one or two slices and put the rest in the freezer in .5 or 1 servings. I do not buy commercially made baked goods--don't taste good enough for the calories. Chocolate is a borderline for me. I can sometimes control and just have a serving each day but more often than not, so I rarely buy it.

I am lactose intolerant, so I avoid cheese (another trigger food), ice cream and pizza. They make me sick so not worth the calories or the digestive issues. Before the intolerance got intolerable, I used to overeat on pizza. Not really on ice cream though.

Overall I find that I do better when I increase the calories of my meals. If I eat at least 500 calories in a meal (my allotment is 1500 per day now) then I will not crave anything. Small meals (more like snacks in terms of calories 200-300), other than breakfast can cause me to crave and overeat those items. If I find that it is happening more than once in a while, I will take a mini diet break--increase my calories for a few days, then go back down.

I also prefer having a "cheat day" once a week (or whatever you want to call it) when I can eat sweets and not concern myself with calories. I will log and track them, but if I go over it is okay. (I rarely will go over maintenance) For me it is preferable to have one day that I eat that stuff rather than a bit each day.

I have an assortment of fine loose teas (mostly herbal) and decaf coffee. Usually cravings can be quelched with one of those.

blambo61

JerSchmare wrote: »

blambo61 wrote: »

I don't consider 3-5 cups of ice-cream a binge. Would most consider this a binge? I had ice-cream a couple of nights ago and had 3-bowls, each probably more than a cup. I thought it was a lot but not a binge. I would have to eat a 1/2 gallon and do it uncontrollably without hunger for me to consider it a binge. I have eaten that much a couple of times in college but I was hungry and ate it all intentionally. I considered that really a lot, but still not a binge since I was hungry and didn't want to not eat it.

I agree that that’s not really a binge. A binge is like 1 cookie turns into an entire pack, which then turns into a bunch of Reese’s peanut butter cups, a half gallon, or whole gallon of ice cream, 5 bowls of cereal, a whole pizza, a large burrito with chips and salsa and 5 beers, and then an entire box of chocolate covered almonds.

I would consider that a binge. I've never had problems with bingeing and I don't even think I could possibly eat that in a short time. A day, yes but not in a couple of hours.

lay011

150poundsofme wrote: »

As many have said, I absolutely cannot bring it into the house, and I am talking about every carb on earth (except the fruit and veggie carbs). I have not binged in like 70 days. Many times though I feel like a snacky type of food - chips or popcorn or pretzels. If they were in the house fuggedehboutit. In a restaurant I "allow" myself about 2 carbs (ex. 1 roll and mashed potatoes). I cannot keep butter in the house because I would binge with any type of bread/toast/pancakes. We actually now have 2 sticks of butter in the freezer because company was coming but we didn't use it. No problem right now because we have no bread or crackers in the house. Many times when I thought I was doing well on my eating plan, I would go and buy a large bag of dried apricots or dried cranberries. For the first number of days I would measure out a serving. But I see that I would eat it every day as a snack. I try now not to have snacks, 3 meals a day. I did start eating a clementine every evening figuring it was good to have for flu season, it takes me a while to eat because I don't eat that innier "skin". I do feel like it's something snacky and like something just to have because I was used to eating while watching dinner. I think when this bag is done, I won't buy them for a while and see. I have to be careful when I am at a friend's house and they have lots of snacks out or offers them to you. The other day at a friend's for lunch she wanted to have 3 long pretzel rods. I ended up having 3 and you know what, I did not eat any of the potatoes that night that was in the beef stew. Anyway, good luck and stick with it.
p.s. I like what Fflpnari said above "...I will just eat them to eat them." So very true. That's just the reason. And JayedMiss also said "...just accept how I am". I don't think I will ever be able to trust myself to keep all those favorites in the house.

You're lucky that you don't binge on fruits. I buy a big bag of clementines and I eat them ALL IN ONE NIGHT :-( I can't be trusted with anything sweet.