I STOPPED tracking & now binging has returned...?

LaurenGetsFit2

My FitBit died a couple days ago & I decided to make that the day I give up tracking food too. It’s been an obsession & a growing problem that I feel SO much more free for giving up.
However, an old habit of binging has re-emerged. I’m in grad school & I have midterms, projects, & papers coming up & honestly I’m stressed out with that. But I’m worried that the binging might replace the tracking.

How do I get past it? The first day I didn’t track I was fine; I looked at food as “fuel” instead of good/bad. But after that day I still struggled not to keep looking at food as a list of Calories.

I’m not sure if the binging is due to stress, a lingering disordered view of food, or both.

kommodevaran

You could try to plan and schedule regular, satisfying meals, and practice enjoying them, mindfully.

goatg

I can only imagine how much stress you're under. I feel like I relate to you because I always used to binge eat during finals (I was <115 pounds, and would literally gain 5-10 pounds in 2 weeks each semester).

If tracking works for you, keep it up. Make time for a quick run, even if it's a fraction of the distance you normally go. You'll feel better, and like you've earned your food. Also, maybe keep healthy snacks around; carrot sticks, hummus, cucumber, etc.

RadishEater

You sound stressed out about grad school and also about food. I am in grad school too and I understand the stress. The biggest help for me at eating healthy and managing stress is separating food from stress. Placating myself with food for stressful times in grad school means I would be treating myself way more than necessary. Investing more time into dealing with stress and managing it (even if you don't feel like you have time to spare) will help you in the long run.

Do you find yourself stressed around all the types of food you eat maybe just carby foods or high fat foods s? Or is it the quantity that is stressing you out? You keep going back for more even though you think you should be full?

For me it was specifically chocolate that was stressing me out, I tried eating small portions of chocolate but eventually I realized how much chocolate I ate that day would dictate whether I was proud of myself or sad because I kept eating more and the numbers kept going up even if I eeked in under my calorie allotment.

amberkins

I too am a binge eater. I've been binge free for about 3 months now but once in a while I feel the urge. I just have to remind myself of my goals, and why they are important to me. I still over eat once in a while when stress or emotions run high. I have to forgive myself in the moment so I can stop and get back on track and not let it derail me for any longer. It is a tough, daily struggle but with persistence we can make it through!

lorrpb

It sounds like tracking helps keep you accountable to yourself and you’ve abandoned the tool that helps you.

amusedmonkey

You could track intermittently, that's what I did when I didn't have daily access to the internet a few years back (was changing providers). Create a routine, an example 2000 calorie routine: 400 calorie breakfast, 500 calorie lunch, 800 calorie dinner, and 300 calories of snacks. Collect a few recipes and snacks you know the calories of that fall around the limits you set for yourself, and every time you want to add to them you track and calculate a new recipe/snack. You will have a small slowly growing database for your eating blueprint without having to obsess every day. For example, if you want breakfast you glance at your breakfast recipes (all of which are around 400 calories give or take but don't have calories listed) and see which one sounds appealing today. It's a bit rigid as is, and you can always pop in to calculate something if you want to deviate, but may be a good start to building your own working eating structure that doesn't involve too much counting or too much binging.

ETA:
a tip for snacks if you decide to try this. I broke up my snacks into 100 calories servings and I could eat 3 different 1 serving snacks or 3 servings of the same snack at once, or any combination I wanted.

The recipes don't need to be actual recipes. For example you could record ready prepared foods or fast foods that fit the calorie range you have for yourself as some of your meal options.