Binge help...I feel like I took a million steps back

KelseyLK1

So I've been using MFP for about three weeks and I've loved it..I've lost about 4 pounds and everything has been going great. however, this is my first "hiccup" ...last night I went on a big binge, and unfortunately it continued when I got home from work today. In the past three weeks, I haven't felt like I've been depriving myself at all..It seems like I've been consuming the perfect amount of calories and I don't deprive myself when I feel like I need a treat. I just feel like all of my progress has been erased, I pigged out on ice cream, chocolate, cookies, basically anything sweet. since i haven't felt deprived of things things, I'm assuming it's emotional eating. I feel a lot of pressure from myself to lose weight, and have terrible body image issues (It might not look like it from my profile pic, but I need to lose about 15 pounds) also, lately I've been feeling kinda depressed. I just moved from california to texas, and miss my friends. I also am having lots of random negative feelings come up from a bad relationship that ended about two years ago...I haven't talked to my ex for two years but recently I've had bitter, resentful feelings and I also just plain miss her. I guess I've been feeling lonely, and I've been associating happiness with future results of weight loss. is there any effective ways to get back on the wagon from this badddd two day binge?? I don't expect anyone to be a therapist and give advice on my personal issues, but I wanted to include them in this since it's the reason for my binging :frown: It sucks cuz it feels like I took five giant steps back, but I definitely don't wanna give up! that's not an option for me...I'm just feeling extremely discouraged and mad at myself. thanks for reading or for any advice!!

rich347

I think to avoid binging you should carry somr snacks around, drink lots of water and remember to be positive because you if you fall of the horse you can always got back on.

adioschubs

I simply cannot have sweets at home. It's way too tempting for me and I binge on them. Maybe try that?

heather_hearts_travel

You can't undo the past two days, and stressing about it won't help. Let it go. To recover, just put one foot in front of the other until you've regained your "five giant steps", then keep it up, one step at a time.

Oh, and welcome to Texas. There are some friendly people here.

conniemaxwell5

1 - Be accountable for everything you ate by logging it. That's always been a good wake up call to me that if I'm going to eat calorie rich foods, I need to do so in moderation.
2 - Forgive yourself - we all do it. Chances are you'll do it again, the secret is recognizing the triggers and finding other ways to deal with them.
3 - Just go back to what you've been doing these past three weeks. You will recover quickly.

It takes 3500 excess calories to gain or lose a pound of fat. Unless you consumed over your TDEE by 3500 calories, you won't gain any weight from one binge. The scale may show a pound or two, but that is more than likely water weight from eating foods you haven't been eating. It will flush out over the next day or so, especially if you drink a lot of water.

LizL217

Step 1 - Relax, and realize that you just took 1 wrong turn and you can get back on the right path. Reaching your fitness goals will be a long journey, and you're going to veer off and take the scenic route every now and then. Just recognize that as long as you are making more healthy decisions than unhealthy ones, you're eventually going to get to your goal.

Step 2 - If you haven't already logged your "binge", do it. Try to estimate how much you ate. It might not be as bad as you think (remember that it takes 3,500 above your maintenance calorie level to gain a real pound of fat). Logging your binge will help put you back in control. Take ownership of it, and realize that it's better to correct the error than ignore it.

Step 3 - Hit the gym and start thinking about how you can prevent binges in the future. Are you keeping foods in your house that will cause you to overdo it? Get rid of them. Personally, I will eat an entire pint of ice cream if I have it in the house. I still eat ice cream, but I go out to the ice cream shop to get it (that way I always order a small size, and it feels like a special outing rather than a shameful binge on my couch in my pajamas). Are your emotional issues causing this binge (it sounds like it)? Maybe make an appointment with a therapist if it's feasible, or start keeping a journal so you can express yourself in more productive ways.

Step 4 - If you "binge" again, don't exaggerate it (i.e. "I feel like I took a million steps back"). Think about it logically. How many calories did you actually eat, and how much did it put you over your maintenance level? How much effort will it take to burn it off? Chances are one really good workout can undo that "damage".

Good luck!

MoJoPoe

At first, after every loss, I ate too much and gained it right back. My son thought my protein was too low. You might want to check your protein - or other trends. These reports are great!

LizL217

1 - Be accountable for everything you ate by logging it. That's always been a good wake up call to me that if I'm going to eat calorie rich foods, I need to do so in moderation.
2 - Forgive yourself - we all do it. Chances are you'll do it again, the secret is recognizing the triggers and finding other ways to deal with them.
3 - Just go back to what you've been doing these past three weeks. You will recover quickly.

It takes 3500 excess calories to gain or lose a pound of fat. Unless you consumed over your TDEE by 3500 calories, you won't gain any weight from one binge. The scale may show a pound or two, but that is more than likely water weight from eating foods you haven't been eating. It will flush out over the next day or so, especially if you drink a lot of water.

Ha, I didn't see your post and wrote almost the exact same thing

PrayerOfHeart

What's done, is done. You can't go back, so start a new. Do workouts drink lots of water. Write your diary and eat healthy. You'll get back on track. You're not alone! Everyone has their good days and bad days! Cheer up! ♡♡

DoingItForME724

1. This is not as bad as it seems, it really is just a hiccup.
2. How many calories are you consuming per day? and how many do you burn through exercise?
3. Are you meals well rounded? protien, fats and complex carbs?

its hard to tell with your diary being private.

the binging has lots to do with how you are eating but also its a part of the learning process. It happens to everyone in the early stages while we tweek our calories and learn to eat more nutrient dense food.

SStruthers13

One binge will not make or break you. Log it, study it, move past it. I scheduled controlled binges once a week to avoid what happened to you. I never ate over my calories but I allowed myself one meal that consisted of sweet and salty junk food. I would get pretty stuffed instead of watching portions and if the food was healthy.

2 years is a long time to carry such emotional pain about your ex. I suspect the reason it came back to you is because there are other issues. The stress of moving so far away? Be gentle with yourself.

DempseyWRX

(1) Music and Youtube. Yea, I said it! It can completely change your mood but don't expect one song to do it or one video to change your outlook. Literally sit down and watch/listen to a few songs or videos of something inspirational, something motivational, hot people doing athletic stuff, or just listen to a few of your classic good mood tunes. Get in the car and drive with that music and get back to your normal mindset.

(2) Binge eating. This is a weekly issue for me. I spend 5 days eating 1200 calories, maintaining all my macronutrients, and avoiding anything that could be remotely considered bad for me... and then I eat/drink 3000+ calories in alcohol and pizza on Friday/Saturday night. SO, every single week I have the same issue as you, and every single weekend my shirt is coming off at the beach so that body dysmorphia and anxiety is quite prevalent with me as well. I've found the best way to deal with it is immediately getting back on it and going hard... with music and YouTube to get me reloaded

(3) If you can get back on the workout plan and be committed and level your head with music, You'll have a clearer and better mindset to think about this ex situation. I don't know how things ended with that, but personally I try to use exercise to put it out of my mind because I think that exercising and getting in better shape will lead to something newer and better. I'm doing that now and it's working for me.

1longroad

Welcome to Texas!! Not sure where you are, but when I moved from CA, is was a culture shock, to say the least. Now Texas has grown on me in a lot of ways!!

1 Any weight gain the scale shows is probably temporary, due to excess fluids, especially if you binged on items high in carbs

2 With all the emotional issues and lonliness, et alone changing everything in your life, something gave way!! As others have said, be accountable for it, log it, move on! This is only one day out of your life!!

3 Have snacks that you enjoy ready, for when you have cravings or the emotional need to binge!! Hummus and vegies, 100 calorie bag individual bags of snacks, etc!!

You can do this, you have already proven it to yourself!!

jnninn

Own your binge. I had cake for breakfast this morning. I was pretty mad at myself. I dont usually have this in the house and it was a trigger for me and I ate it. But I wont let messing up this morning define my day. I logged the cake, and I still worked out today. I looked at my calories and realized that in a perfect world, I would have eaten those calories in a more nutritious way. But, I didnt. I owned it and I need to make the rest of my day count.

I think that when we eat well and exercise, we arent using food to self soothe, and when we arent self soothing, all those bad feelings come rushing to the surface. I believe this may be part of why all the feelings about your ex are flooding in. Food can be like a drug, and numb our feelings or push them down so we dont deal with them. You need to deal with your feelings about this relationship and move on.

Its time for you to take care of yourself and understand that taking care of yourself is a good thing for you to do.

And Welcome to Texas!

katherine611

:sad: :explode: :grumble: :noway: Hello mfp team: I need to tell on myself in order to get the support that I need to read optimal health. I am a binge /emotional eater. I log in and complete my food diary and the majority of the times when I close I amj finished with the food. I work until 1130pm and aometimes I eat almonds and nuts after log in on the way home. I wonder where does the extra come from but I know.

I am honest about my exercise because one thing i KNOW IS CONSISTANCY EQUAL BETTER OPPORTUNITY. MY WORKOUT MAKES ME FEEL AND LOOK GREEEEEEEEEEAT!!!!!!!!!

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CALL ME ON MY LOG IN SO I CAN GET HELP
EXAMPLE: ARE YOU SURE THAT WAS IT FOR THE DAY?
FRIEND ME BECAUSE I NEED THE ACCOUN TABILITY
GOT TO TELL ON MYSELF AND IT AIN'T EASY

vermillionlove

Don't worry, it happens. Just as long as you are not doing that every single night. Eating consciously is the best thing you can do. I am feeling a little gross myself, just ate almost all of a burrito bowl in one sitting. :x but once the full feeling is gone, i'm going to go out and enjoy the weather with a nice calm walk. Don't beat yourself up over this, it's okay, as long as you continue move forward the way you have been.

laylaness

You have a lot going on in your life, and they're things that make everyone else stress out too.

The biggest thing is realizing what you're doing. You've already identified when you're emotional-eating. Now that you know that, you can identify when it's happening again and stop yourself.

I agree with everyone who told you to log your binge. I always do this, and sometimes it's not as bad as I expected.

Out of curiosity, what is your daily goal?

mulecanter

1 - Be accountable for everything you ate by logging it. That's always been a good wake up call to me that if I'm going to eat calorie rich foods, I need to do so in moderation.
2 - Forgive yourself - we all do it. Chances are you'll do it again, the secret is recognizing the triggers and finding other ways to deal with them.
3 - Just go back to what you've been doing these past three weeks. You will recover quickly.

It takes 3500 excess calories to gain or lose a pound of fat. Unless you consumed over your TDEE by 3500 calories, you won't gain any weight from one binge. The scale may show a pound or two, but that is more than likely water weight from eating foods you haven't been eating. It will flush out over the next day or so, especially if you drink a lot of water.

I completely agree.

Welcome to Texas, glad to have you. Now go for a long walk and sort through the emotional issues. Endurance exercise triggers endorphines, they make you feel better, feeling better helps control binges. A virtuous circle.