Tips for recovering from binge eating?

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  • gracegettingittogether
    gracegettingittogether Posts: 176 Member
    It helps me to drink some zero calorie carbonated water, when I want to binge. I really wanted to eat past my calories last night but drank some instead. It's more satisfying than water and kind of fills me up until the point where I can realize that I was thirsty, or stressed or tired instead of hungry.
    Also saving room for some kind of treat every day really helps prevent binging in the first place. Then I can look forward to it, if I start to feel the urge to binge.
  • chase7612
    chase7612 Posts: 24 Member
    IIFYMKaren wrote: »
    chase7612 wrote: »
    I bully myself, will literally punish myself for failure. I use failure to motivate myself to try harder. Whatever extra calories I ate I will subtract from future meals over the next few days of the week making the end total about the same. I also tend to force myself to chug water when I think about eating because I'm bored or stressed to condition myself into not using that as a crutch. It has gotten to the point that I do not binge because I will always think of the consequences of my actions before it even do them.

    That's a really interesting approach!

    From my experience in life there are at least two ways to go about objectives. One, you can enable failure by making excuses and not hold yourself accountable, always taking 3 steps forward and 2 or 3 back. It is insanity to do the same things expecting different results. Two you can learn to MINIMIZE YOUR FAILURES making them into successes. When you fail make yourself do something to improve yourself always taking at least 3 steps forward. Everyone is human, they will fail... What matters is how you react to it. Make yourself remember not to make the same failure over again. If your last punishment wasn't enough to remember make the next one worse. It's worked for 84lbs so far I think there has only been one week I have failed to lose 2lbs next week I lost them and more. It also works with any other aspect of your life in whatever you want to improve about yourself.

    Kinda like Rock Lee offa Naruto if anyone out there is a fan! :P
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
    Practice mindfulness. What's going on when you normally binge? You said that your recent binge was at a school meeting? Carry a sensible snack with you and eat that (and track it) instead. Chew gum. Carry a water bottle. Remove yourself from the situation if you can't control yourself--move away from the food. If people are hanging out and socializing and you find yourself grazing instead, consider whether you should stay or excuse yourself early. At home carry a notebook with you--write down what you are eating as you are binging through the cupboards. It will put a lot in perspective, especially if you also journal your feelings or thoughts at the time. Were you stressed? Angry? Bored?

    Consider seeing a professional...
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    IIFYMKaren wrote: »
    boehle wrote: »
    IIFYMKaren wrote: »
    That's kind of the difficulty. When I binge, I have a really hard time recounting what I actually ate. I really can't tell you how many crackers I had, how much cheese and dip for example. I carefully weigh pretty much everything when I'm not binging but when I do, I'm not really aware of the amount of food.

    Log them before you actually insert them into your mouth.
    Just have to keep that in your mind to do.

    I usually track everything. Maybe I'll have to put post it notes on stuff to remind me to track in a binge situation. When I binge, I kind of give up and don't want to track... it's part of the issue.

    This may be a little new-age-y, but bear with me.

    In some of your replies, I perceive you as countering a suggestion with some variation on "but I am like this, so that may not work". Self definition, "this is how I am", can be part of the problem. It can be a wall we construct in our thinking as an obstacle to change.

    Instead, try to focus on behavior, not "am-ness". Try to think in terms like: "In the past, in situation X, I have done Y. Y is not helping me reach my goals. It's a habit, but a behavior I can change. When X happens, what can I do instead that will be more effective?"

    What are the triggers, what are your responses? What are some new, more effective responses to those triggers? What are some ways you can make that new response easier/more likely, and the old one less likely?

    Think of a new plan, and rehearse that script in your head a few times. Visualize the new script as vividly as possible, especially how good and satisfying it will feel.

    Set things up in your world to remind yourself of the new script, ideally somewhere on the path to your old behavior. Prep the supplies for your new behavior, so the new behavior is easy, keep those supplies where you see them if practical. Make the old behavior less convenient and its supplies less easy to access.

    Just a dumb, simplistic cartoon example for illustration: Suppose you tend to power eat crackers when you feel stressed. So, think of another response to feeling stress. Let's pretend the new response is a warm lavender aromatherapy bubble bath.

    Visualize yourself feeling stress, maybe thinking of the crackers, but stopping yourself and saying - "wait, a bubble bath will feel so. much. better!". Visualize running the water, how the steam relaxes you and makes you breathe easier, more deeply and slowly. Imagine the delightful lavender scent of the bubble bath, how good it will feel to slip into the warm water, feel how your tight neck and jaw muscles will relax, . . . etc. Run this little movie in your head a few times, in full vivid sensory detail.

    Meanwhile, put the cracker box in a ziploc bag, and write "lavender" in big letters on the bag with a fat Sharpie marker. Put the crackers in a high shelf, out of sight. Buy the bubblebath. Put it where you'll see it regularly, and when you do see it, remind yourself how good it will smell and how relaxing that bath will be when you really need it.

    Next time you feel stressed, even if it's maybe not quite a crackers-binge level of stress (but almost!), take that bath, and really luxuriate in it.

    It doesn't have to be crackers, it doesn't have to be bubblebath - it's just an example.

    TL;DR:

    Think of it as behavior, with a trigger and response. Think of, and vividly rehearse, a new response. Make the new response easier, and the old one harder. Then, next time the trigger happens, run that new response. It's not about who you are, its about actions you take. :)

    Best wishes!

    Excellent technique to short-circuit a binge - sounds cognitive/behavioral to me, not new-agey ;)

    Pre-logging can help me short-circuit mindless eating. I sure don't want to prelog, but if I can force myself, that's often enough to bring enough awareness to make better choices.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    IIFYMKaren wrote: »
    cmriverside wrote: »
    Why don't you start your own support group? Helping others will help you.

    Start at work and ask around, "Anyone want to meet up for food issues and discussion?" Or if work seems like not a good idea, how about at church? If you don't go to church, how about neighbors? It's a common problem with a spectrum of behavior.

    Have you read the Beck Diet Solution? It's CBT based.

    I don't have the bandwidth to start my own group. I just signed up for something at supportgroups.com I don't know if it's a poor or good strategy to do an online group but I will try it!

    I will check out the Beck Diet solution- have never heard of it.

    cmriverside beat me to recommending The Beck Diet Solution, but here's more:

    This book on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for overeating was available in my library system, so perhaps yours as well.
    The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person
    Can thinking and eating like a thin person be learned, similar to learning to drive or use a computer? Beck (Cognitive Therapy for Challenging Problems) contends so, based on decades of work with patients who have lost pounds and maintained weight through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Beck's six-week program adapts CBT, a therapeutic system developed by Beck's father, Aaron, in the 1960s, to specific challenges faced by yo-yo dieters, including negative thinking, bargaining, emotional eating, bingeing, and eating out. Beck counsels readers day-by-day, introducing new elements (creating advantage response cards, choosing a diet, enlisting a diet coach, making a weight-loss graph) progressively and offering tools to help readers stay focused (writing exercises, to-do lists, ways to counter negative thoughts). There are no eating plans, calorie counts, recipes or exercises; according to Beck, any healthy diet will work if readers learn to think differently about eating and food. Beck's book is like an extended therapy session with a diet coach. (Apr.)
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