Binge Eater what’s the best way to eat and lose?

cristylee12

I’ve tried everything (weight watchers, low carb, calorie counting,etc) and have a hard time sticking to it. I’m a binge eater and wonder if a certain way of eating would work best for me. Most recently I’ve tried low carb but I can’t seem to stick to it and when I fall off the wagon I fall hard and long. I can’t keep going like this, struggling to lose the weight that has snuck up on me over the last 10 years. I am now at 200 pounds and would like to lose 50. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated.

nicolehorn0114

I would suggest using MFP. Set a realistic goal (maybe a pound a week) and eat foods you enjoy. Don’t set an overly aggressive goal (losing 2 pounds a week) because if you feel deprived or hungry you’ll be more likely to binge.

Work treats into your calories while making sure you’re getting adequate protein and fat.

If you still struggle with binge eating, I’d suggest talking to a therapist. They can really help you deal with underlying issues.

I’ve also found that yoga helps me with my binge eating. It helps me learn mindfulness and handle stress better.

L1zardQueen

You could try tracking your intake for a week or two, the good, the bad and the ugly. Just log what you eat and see if you can make any small changes for next week. In other words, figure out what your maintenance calories are and then subtract 500 or even 250 calories from your day. I find that, for me, binging occurs if my calorie intake gets too low.

nowine4me

Binging is one side of the coin, restricting is the other. As a fellow binger, I try to keep my defecit as small as possible while still losing weight (250 cals). It took me 2+ years to hit my goal, but it did happen.

Another tip is to eat very high volume, lower calories meals with plenty of fiber. Tons of fruits and vegetables.

Danp

Perhaps try volume eating. Find foods that you can eat a large quantities while not blowing out your calorie intake and binge on them.

Alternatively, if you can do it, perhaps try a different eating pattern. Using myself as an example I realised some time ago that during the week while I was at work I was only eating lunch because it was 'lunch time' and that I could skip lunch entirely if I had a light Breakfast at around 7am and a small snack at around 4pm. This left me with a huge amount of calories left over for dinner and I could have a much larger/satisfying meal at night when I was genuinely hungry. If you find yourself bingeing at a particular time of day then make that your 'main meal' and cut back at other times.

In the end whatever works for you is what you should do. G'luck

SCoil123

I’m in recovery for bulimia, binge and purge. The thing that has helped me the most was having a daily calorie range as my goal. If I stayed in range I wouldn’t restrict or binge and having a range felt less restrictive than a set number to aim for. This likely made my loss take longer but I’m at a healthy weight now and got here a healthy way.

emmamcgarity

It might sound odd. But you might consider setting your calorie range to maintenance for a while to practice logging your food. Then after a few weeks start with small changes. Maybe cutting so much at once and changing quickly is setting you up for not being successful.

kommodevaran

I recommend eating planned and regular meals, made up from foods you like from all the food groups, portioned out to hit your calorie target, after you've set up your account to lose 1.5 pounds (or less) per week.

doittoitgirl

Have you/are you seeing a counselor about this? I have had food issues for quite some time. The main thing that helped me was talking to someone about it and figuring out why I binge in the first place.

Secondly, I need to set my calorie goal higher. If I set MFP to lose 1.5-2 lbs per week, I just end up getting frustrated and binging anyway. If I aim for .5 lbs per week I feel like I can get through it without feeling hungry and spiraling into a binge.


Third, I don't follow a diet plan per say. They are too restrictive for me and make me feel like some foods are "bad" and others are "good" (therefore I am bad or good). I just look at all food as sustenance which should not be judged. I focus on eating more whole foods instead of focusing on cutting things out of my diet. My attitude about food had to change before my diet could. Practicing mindfulness before every meal was a big help too.

rikkejohnsenrij

I was that too once but using MFP I'm controlling it. I actually do 5:2 to increase my deficit in the start of the week, and end up having enough calories for a "controlled binge" in the weekend. I log everything - including cake, white bread and snacks...which means I overeat less than before I started logging. Not sure if it will work for you though, you need to find a way that will work

xelsoo

As a lot of the other users said, I recommend setting a reasonable goal in MFP that will allow you to have treats while eating mostly healthy (volume) food.
Even try to just track what you eat for a week with NO restrictions, eating whatever you feel like eating. Even though this might sound counterintuitive, it's the start of letting your body know it's not going to be deprived of any of the foods it enjoys and that there's no need to binge. It will also give you an idea of how many calories your body really needs to have energy and feel satiated (listening to your body, not stuffing in food like there's no tomorrow), and how much over this you actually go when you binge.

Binge eating has underlying issues that usually have little to do with hunger. Seeing a therapist, talking to someone with good advice or even reading an informative book are steps to start understanding why binge eating occurs and how to stop it. I found the book 'Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works' by Evelyn Trybole and Elyse Resch particularly helpful and full of insight.

Deviette

It sounds like there might be an underlying issue which is the reason for your bingeing. It may well be nothing to do with food at all, but without dealing with that issue, you're never going to easily be able to control your binge. This is on the assumption that your binges are regular (more than once a week). If you have a binge day once a month or so, well that's not actually the end of the world.

One of your problems may have something to do with an all or nothing attitude. When it comes to weight loss, to make real changes, its not a case of "well today's ruined, might as well eat the rest of this pizza, and then some cake, and then all the biscuits in the house". There's not a line when suddenly your day has turned bad. I have a sliding scale of calorie intake that I mentally judge how well a day is going. And only when that scale goes above my maintenance amount that it even becomes anything less than, an "okay" day. (for reference I have: 100 under goal - amazing, goal - perfect, 100 over goal - good, maintenance - okay, 200 over maintenance - must do better, anything above that - not great now move on and make sure tomorrow is better)

Some tips:
- If you know you have vices, do not have them in the house
- Try prelogging your meals
- 5:2 could work well for you (or as a friend did 4:2:1, where the "1" day was a designated pig out day, and the "4"s were slightly under what you'd normally have for "5" days. This meant that the total weeks calories were still at a deficit)
- Don't deprive yourself of food you actually like, just have it in much smaller portions, or less frequently.
- If you feel hungry (or bingey), do something to distract yourself. Preferably something moving or using your hands, being bored can make you hungry. Go for a walk, tidy a room, dust the shelves, finally get around to polishing your jewelry. Anything that's more than sitting on the sofa watching tv, or scrolling through your feed.

Remember, all you need to do is eat less calories than you're currently doing to lose weight. It doesn't have to be a big difference, you don't need to become a super health freak, just eat a little bit less

categ78

I’d maybe suggest eating and if you need to tracking at maintaince for a while, consider the triggers for binges when you’re not restricting and lookat ways to address them , set up a healthy but realistic exercise schedule,tweak your macros and practise healthy habits that will set a foundation for losing later. Only then look to start cutting kcal.

I had to do something similar over the last year albeit for very different reasons and although it was hard emotionally to stand still or in my case reverse with my weight loss goals it has defo been a positive experience and I feel ultimately healthier for it.

jjpptt2

The best way to eat is the one that helps with your binging tendencies the most. Or, at the very least, doesn't trigger them. In most cases, that will be less restrictive, not more.

Figure out why you're binging and work on that. As it is, you're coming at it from the wrong end.

cristylee12

Thank you all for your responses. You’ve given me a lot to think about. It scares me to not be so restrictive but I can see how that would hopefully lessen the urge or at least frequency to binge. It’s so embarrassing to admit and I could never tell my family or friends so I really appreciate your support, it means everything!

jjpptt2

As long as you can admit it to yourself, then you can start working on it. It took me a long, long... long time to to get to that point.

mkculs

If you haven't yet, see a therapist. One thing that seems to help me is putting away all the food I've used to make a meal before I eat the meal. So if I'm having a peanut butter sandwich, I put away the peanut butter and bread, etc., before I eat. I'm a "clean as you go" cooker, so my kitchen is spotless before I eat, and that helps me avoid dipping back in when putting things away after a meal. I keep all food out of site (my daughter is getting better at this, for my sake). Bring it out, prepare meal, put it away, then eat. Good luck, whatever you try.

teebirderv8

This is tough since you're a female and (probably) don't want to get stacked. lol.

I was always a bit of a binge eater. My solution? Nutrient dense low calorie foods and intense training.

If you want to eat more.... put in the work so your body needs more! Start training like an athlete. Lift heavy weights. Increase the intensity of your conditioning. I can guarantee if you starting working towards training like a high level athlete your body will use the excess.

When you binge, binge on healthy things. Lean meats, chicken, fish, fruit, and vegetables. If you're eating a lot then make up for it in the gym! Calculate what your eating, and how many calories you need to burn to have a deficit.

You might find after awhile that you'd rather eat less then not run that extra two miles ;D. Either way it's a win-win.

cristylee12

How many calories would you recommend? I would usually try around 1300 but I wonder if 1600 might be better. I need to lose 50 pounds but more importantly get my eating problem under control.

nicolehorn0114

If you plug in your stats, activity level, and desired weekly weight loss (preferably a pound) into MFP, it’ll give you a number.

happytree923

I am a binge eater and tried to start to lose weight a million times. I'm down 25 pounds and have stuck to it for six months this time and I think the difference this time is that I started exercising more first before I did anything with my diet. Diet is more important than exercise for weight loss but the exercise is so good for your mental health and tires you out so you're not binging due to emotions or boredom or for entertainment. That and keeping my deficit relatively small, I'm losing slowly but I'm not falling into a binge-restrict cycle.