Problem with reoccurring binge eating

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  • nbrady001
    nbrady001 Posts: 60 Member
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    I have this problem some days when I am probably not eating enough I get super hungry. I used to cave and eat whatever but now I keep bags and bags of my favorite frozen veggie mixes in the freezer. When I get the urge I microwave an entire bag and just binge on a veggie mix instead of junk. I feel full and maybe do about 200 or 300 calories worth of eating. Not bad for feeling totally full.
  • Florida_Superstar
    Florida_Superstar Posts: 194 Member
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    Good info here from others. I have been free of the binge eating for years now--I struggled with it for 20 years of my life. :( But I don't even have the urge anymore. Therapy helped a lot, so I'd recommend that. Here's what I did in case it helps you or someone else reading.

    I would always find myself in a frenzied state of mind in the grocery store buying a bunch of "forbidden" foods to eat--and feeling like I had no idea how it happened, as if I was on auto-pilot.

    My therapist got me to recognize what was happening before I got to the grocery store so that I could realize I was making a choice to binge. Before that, it had always seemed like something I couldn't control or something that was happening TO me. But once I saw that it actually was a choice, it was empowering because I realized I could make a different choice. That's how I started changing my behavior.

    As others said, I do believe that the binges were driven by emotions, but I have to say I've never understood exactly what my reasons were--and I got better without understanding the root.

    Something else I found helpful was realizing that I just really like to feel full and satisfied. I have a huge appetite and I always have. "Normal" portion sizes have never filled me up. So now I do something called volume eating, though I never realized there was a name for it. It is just a way of eating that uses lots of low calorie foods that take up a lot of space in your stomach. This allows me to have a feeling of being full and satisfied while staying within my calorie budget, eating healthy foods, and not binge eating. There is actually a volume eaters thread on MyFitnessPal that is very active. You can get some ideas there if you think that would help you.

    I don't eat any of my trigger foods. I just know they send me off track, and I find it easier to avoid them than to try to eat them in moderation. That's is just my personal strategy, but in general I think moderation is better if you can manage it.

    A few other things that help me:

    Learning to cook
    Pre-logging my food one day in advance
    Prepping food in advance (usually on the weekend)
    Reusing a lot of the same meals and copying them forward in MyFitnessPal
    Increasing protein keeps me full longer

    You can beat this--hang in there!


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