binge eating ?:(

jaysabanosh

i’ve struggled with my relationship with food for years and years and im not too terribly overweight but im seriously trying to start eating better and losing weight ,, any tips on how to stop binges?

runninggirltoo

When you find out, please let me know. I have my episodes. Sometimes I think it is because I deprive myself of so many foods that I love.

tirowow12385

You need to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, if you're in a deficit, you'll be hungry, you'll just have to decide if your health or whatever you're trying to achieve is worth the hunger and for you to push the extra calories away that is not in your daily allowance. Up to you.

concordancia

You have to start by identifying what triggers your binges. Are you undereating at other times? Overly restrictive? Emotional eater? Stress eater? Do you have trigger foods? Trigger people? Trigger places?

lilac_bunny

Mine is definately emotionally based. The funny thing is I don't even know it at the time. It's only afterward I realise. I have been trying to learn to recognise it straight away so I can find a healthier way to deal with my problems. Rejection has turned out to be a massive trigger (I have been dating recently)

kommodevaran

Are you bingeing, or just eating more than planned? Are you undereating? Or otherwise depriving yourself?

jaysabanosh

bingeing , like losing control

xionax

Hey,
Find the triggers
Get into a routine at set times (e.g breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack)
Write how you feel at everything you eat even if it's just one word
I'm still learning how to control it

Goober1142

Sometimes getting out of the house helps. And not keeping junk food around too. What exactly are you eating on your binges?

lauramom2

For me it was a cycle of binging, feeling guilty, over restricting, binging, self loathing etc. I found for me that advice that simply stated I lacked will power or the desire to stick to a deficit incredibly unhelpful. I already felt guilty for my behavior and this seemed to confirm that I was the problem somehow. What helped me stop was truly trying to accept myself as I am now. To try to treat myself with grace and understanding and forgiveness. Talk to yourself how you would a close friend. And I found being kind to myself actually stopped the restricting part of the cycle more than the binging. I ate to nourish my body because my body does incredible things and deserves to be nourished with all sorts of enjoyable nutritious food. And by taking care of my body I feel less of an urge to binge. If you do binge, try to forgive yourself but also try to be mindful. How do you feel physically? Emotionally? If I start to binge now I can slow and stop by remembering how physically uncomfortable I am afterward and by reminding myself that feelings aren’t permanent or the truth. They are fleeting and do not define me. You can do this!

Cpagali

My two cents. I struggle with binging, but less than before. I don't know exactly why things are a bit easier these days, but I have some ideas. First, the eating plan that I'm following right now doesn't restrict my calories very much. I think that I don't feel deprived as much as I did when I was restricting my calories more. I'm usually able to find a way to fit a sweet treat into my food plan every day, which keeps up the morale.

Second, I have dramatically cut down my consumption of caffeinated beverages, and I'm trying hard to cut down on artificial sweeteners. I have slowly come to realize that these two things make it hard for me to stick to my food plan. Third and similarly, I've started tracking my sodium intake through MFP. And I think I'm seeing that keeping my sodium down to reasonable levels (not restricting it -- just being sensible), minimized the cravings.

I'm also trying to get enough iron. I don't think I'm anemic, but I've felt more settled, somehow, since I started trying to get enough iron into my day. Maybe this is the case because many foods that are rich in iron are also full of other good nutrients.

Nevertheless, I *do* have a bad day from time to time. The last time I had one, I felt terrible until I found a youtube video by Stephanie Buttermore (a fitness fanatic) who deliberately had a massive cheat day (and I do mean massive) and then used a number of complex calculations to determine how much fat she might have gained as a result. While she did gain a bit of fat from her cheat day, her calculations made it clear to me that her binge was absolutely not the end of the world for her. She had some good guidance on what to do when a binge happens, namely, do your best to go back to normal the next day, without restricting. And maybe drink a bit more water for a few days. But otherwise, just love yourself, turn the page, and make the next day a new day.

I'll finish this by talking about your comment that you are an emotional eater, and I noticed you saying that it happens particularly when you are feeling rejected. Holy cow, this is incredibly insightful! If you haven't already, reading some resources on strategies for handling rejections, or getting a touch of therapy, might be avenues to consider. But even if you aren't able to do these things, the fact that you recognize this pattern is half the battle won. I thought I was an emotional eater, too. And I probably am. But for me, caffeine consumption contributed more than I expected to my emotional state. Until I cut down on my caffeine consumption, I don't think I realized how depressed it made me, and how that depression led me to reach towards copious amounts of unhealthy food. I'm much more even keeled without caffeine in my day.

Based on my experience, I encourage you to look for patterns in your food consumption also. Maybe you, too, have a food or foods that are contributing to your mood/emotional state much more than you thought.

jlynn1991

I’m definitely better with it now. But I think it is something we will all struggle with forever on some level. Especially if it is emotionally triggered. I’m honestly just really happy to see I’m not alone with that struggle on here.

kulwindersall

Wow! I feel like I'm reading my own thoughts. I self sabotage by binging. I eat clean for a couple of weeks and then something will happen to derail my efforts and it takes another couple of weeks to get back..thereby undoing all the progress I'd made. I'm going to be more mindful when I find myself binging to see if there are any patterns.
Thanks for sharing.

kommodevaran

kulwindersall wrote: »

Wow! I feel like I'm reading my own thoughts. I self sabotage by binging. I eat clean for a couple of weeks and then something will happen to derail my efforts and it takes another couple of weeks to get back..thereby undoing all the progress I'd made. I'm going to be more mindful when I find myself binging to see if there are any patterns.
Thanks for sharing.

Eating clean is possibly part of that pattern. Things happen, they always will, that's what things do.

sosp2727

I can totally relate to this, I Just give myself one cheat day aweek so I don't binge on things I crave. So this week I ate pizza+ hot cheetos "one whole bag"