How to avoid binge eating

CrazyPixie12345

Hi guys!
I was just wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to avoid binge eating- I have a lot of trouble with this and it is a really stressful problem.
Thanks for your help, and feel free to add me as a friend on MFP!
Em

kommodevaran

First, decide if it is binge eating or just eating more than you planned. If it is binge eating, you need professional help. Are you getting that?

Then make sure you're not depriving yoursef, food-wise. Eat enough, and food you like. Eat regularly, and enjoy your meals.

Then avoid surrounding yourself with too much temptation. Schedule grocery shopping and only buy what you intend to eat.

Then get moderate exercise and sufficient sleep and rest. Practice handling emotions more effectively.

Zoejohnse91

kommodevaran wrote: »

First, decide if it is binge eating or just eating more than you planned. If it is binge eating, you need professional help. Are you getting that?

Then make sure you're not depriving yourself, food-wise. Eat enough, and food you like. Eat regularly, and enjoy your meals.

Then avoid surrounding yourself with too much temptation. Schedule grocery shopping and only buy what you intend to eat.

Then get moderate exercise and sufficient sleep and rest. Practice handling emotions more effectively.

This is spot on. Are you cutting out things you really like? You don't need to. If its a case of you open a packet of biscuits and can't stop at 1 or 2 then maybe set yourself up portions with a certain amount of calories in? Like 100/200 calorie goody bags. Or maybe if you feel you need to eat more maybe try and swap to healthy snacks? Like a punnet of grapes (is high sugar but low calories) - you can eat an entire punnet for under 300 calories (roughly). Or strawberries?

CrazyPixie12345

kommodevaran wrote: »

First, decide if it is binge eating or just eating more than you planned. If it is binge eating, you need professional help. Are you getting that?

Then make sure you're not depriving yoursef, food-wise. Eat enough, and food you like. Eat regularly, and enjoy your meals.

Then avoid surrounding yourself with too much temptation. Schedule grocery shopping and only buy what you intend to eat.

Then get moderate exercise and sufficient sleep and rest. Practice handling emotions more effectively.

This advice sounds awesome, thank you so much for your help!!! I'll start practicing these immediately! Handling emotions also sounds like a really useful tip

CrazyPixie12345

Zoejohnse91 wrote: »

kommodevaran wrote: »

First, decide if it is binge eating or just eating more than you planned. If it is binge eating, you need professional help. Are you getting that?

Then make sure you're not depriving yourself, food-wise. Eat enough, and food you like. Eat regularly, and enjoy your meals.

Then avoid surrounding yourself with too much temptation. Schedule grocery shopping and only buy what you intend to eat.

Then get moderate exercise and sufficient sleep and rest. Practice handling emotions more effectively.

This is spot on. Are you cutting out things you really like? You don't need to. If its a case of you open a packet of biscuits and can't stop at 1 or 2 then maybe set yourself up portions with a certain amount of calories in? Like 100/200 calorie goody bags. Or maybe if you feel you need to eat more maybe try and swap to healthy snacks? Like a punnet of grapes (is high sugar but low calories) - you can eat an entire punnet for under 300 calories (roughly). Or strawberries?

This tip is fantastic, thank you!!!

neugebauer52

Binge eating - such an individual thing: my trigger food which always leads to binge eating is bread, good quality bread and whatever I can load onto it. A "sandwich" (i.e. a whole 1 kg loaf of bread) and fillings can add up to 2.000 calories - and than I am hungry for more. So I have cut out bread some 5 months ago and replaced with salads and vegetables. Works for me.

kgb6days

I have found there are some things I cannot stop eating once I start. If I open a bag of Sunchips I cannot stop before the bag is gone. Therefore there are no Sunchips in my house period. If I restrict myself too much and try to change my entire diet at one time, I overeat on something I really crave (like pizza). If other parts of my life feel out of control my diet pays the price. These are just some of my triggers. Find YOUR triggers. Watch what you eat, how you eat, feelings and what seems to set you off. Then you can start to take control of those things. Good luck!

jjpptt2

I'm still working on it, but I've gotten better about it over time. For me, the learning process went something like this...

1. Recognize that a binge has happened. Admit it to myself, and own that I did it
2. Recognize when a binge is happening WHILE it's happening.
3. Recognize that a binge is imminent. Try to identify triggers (for me, usually sadness/frustration/disappointment).
4. Recognize triggers BEFORE the binge happens. What triggered those triggers?
5. Recognize triggers as they are happening, try to find a better outlet for those feelings.

It's a work in progress for sure, but it has helped. The self-awareness is a big part of it.

sophia162

People seem to have so many emotional triggers for bingeing and I all I can think is that each time I binge, it's purely out of my love for food, my good appetite... and because I miss eating in non-moderate, non-sensible amounts.

It's really hard for me to stop after an episode (so it doesn't turn in to a full day) or a day (so it doesn't turn in to a set of days or worse yet a week).

I'm getting MUCH better though --at avoiding the binges and at bouncing back on track. The biggest help, for me, has been time.

After much time of falling and picking myself back up, I've learned. That's what I mean by time. I honestly don't know if there's something I could have known that would've kept me from bingeing the times I did. It's not like I wasn't aware I was consuming in a surplus and I was taking steps backwards from all my hard work!

The main thing is getting back on track, never let it go past one day. If you can stop mid-binge, you're golden... I don't know if I've ever done so hehe. BUT, I have stopped the urge. That urge... it really does go away, just don't give in. Make a choice = )

genpopadopolous

I found that a change in my habits made a big difference.

I would sit on the couch and just plough through anything I could get my hands on at night.

So I switched it up. First I quit buying the junk I really liked- like m&ms and doritos. And I started portioning and freezing leftovers immediately so that easy food wasn't there for me. Instead of sitting on the couch- I moved to reading in bed. I hate eating in bed, so I was making it less mentally appealing.

I haven't binged in a long time. I still overeat at social events or occasional nights out- but I stop and it's a choice I am making versus a compulsion.

mgalsf12

For me it's all about eating often enough so that I am not hungry. Eating protein helps me feel full longer and makes it less likely that I will binge eat.

Machafin

Ice water or gum helps me from doing that. If it is late at night I will just go to bed.

thinkpink73089

Hey everyone!
I have struggled with this issue for a few years. I realize that I started compulsively over eating and bingeing because I was restricting my calorie intake way too much. Using MPF has helped me stay at a healthy calorie goal and keeps me accountable for the times I may over eat. I’ve learned to be a lot more patient and forgiving with myself. Just because I over eat a little doesn’t mean the whole day is ruined or that I should go crazy on a jar of peanut butter.
I’ve also learned my triggers tend to be times of the day when I’m alone, so trying to anticipate those and trying to keep the self talk positive has helped a lot with surfing the urges.

cesse47

I've eliminated all snacks and sweets from my house. When I really crave something - like icecream - I go to a nearby dairy and get a single scoop cone and eat it very slowly. Or, if it's chips, I pick up the smallest bag I can find at my gas station.

I know that if I don't satisfy my craving, I'll end up grazing through everything in my kitchen. So my better choice is to find a way to minimize my choice to a very small portion and eat it ... then log it in my food tracker.

Strudders67

I don't have snacks and sweets at home as they're not something I have ever typically bought. However, cakes, biscuits, crisps and other goodies seem to be on the spare desk at work almost daily, for one reason or another. When possible, I walk to my desk via a different route so that I don't pass them, although I still usually have one item a day if anything's available. One small chocolate bite, one sausage roll, one handful of crisps - that's fine but then I need to not walk passed them or I'd have more. I also log it immediately and adjust whatever I eat for the rest of the day / how much I exercise that evening, to ensure I meet my daily allowances. I also try to ensure I have healthier alternatives on my own desk so that I can have a handful of almonds or an orange or whatever, to stop my brain thinking that I want chocolate.

Last night I was at a bring-a-buffet-item supper with a large group of friends. Whilst I'd pre-planned what I thought I'd probably eat, of course I ended up picking at sausage rolls, mini pasties, mini pork pies, chicken nuggets, cheese chunks and crisps (as well as having the chicken drumstick that I intended to eat) whilst standing chatting. Yeah, I felt disappointed with myself but it's not a daily occurrence and it motivated me to spend a bit longer in the gym this evening so that over the week I'll roughly average OK. Mentally, I know it's a blip, it was a social evening and not all days are like that.

So, to the OP, perhaps one question is "how often are you bingeing?" and "when / where are you bingeing?". Can you avoid the situations? Can you change something small to make a binge less likely to happen? Can you exercise or cut down the next day to cancel out the binge? Can you have alternatives available so that you don't binge on things that then stress you out?