Never thought about it but I was a binge eater

OAS5

I never thought of it but I guess I was a binge eater. Now that I have lost 72-73 pounds with just 10-15 more to go I think back to what the hell I was doing to myself. I would eat pretty normal at work, so 5 days a week at work during the day being limited to my access to food I would eat pretty normal. Now I say for then it was normal, my standards now it would be WAY too much and unhealthy. When I got home I would eat like the world was ending soon. I just calculated what I think I ate in just calories when I got home from work. I would say a guestimate for the day at work, 1,000 calories but I really have no idea. When I got home I would say I ate somewhere around 3,000 calories.
I would eat cold cut sandwiches with mayo on bagels or rolls/sub type roll. Yes that is multiple sandwiches with mayo, full fat mayo. I would probably have 2 and half of them. I would say each sandwich was around a 1,000 calories and God only knows how much fat. Then I would eat again later on because I get home from work early.
So that is binge eating correct? Would you classify it that way? How the heck I changed that I don't know but thank goodness I did. That all was a recipe for trouble, BIG freaking trouble. Diabetes, hypertension and more.

RelCanonical

How did you feel while you were eating? I don't really define a binge by a calorie amount, but by the lack of control and the compulsion to eat beyond fullness despite knowing logically it won't end happily.

cmriverside

Yeah, what RelCanonical says.

If I'm eating compulsively it's usually either because I've been triggered emotionally in a negative way or I've just decided, "Don't care. Want this particular food and I know it will cause me to overeat. Doing it anyway."

missy2kids

I'm in the same boat!!!! Been dealing with the same thing. I can eat and eat and eat until no return. I'm starting over again today drinking water and eating good. Will try to exercise today too.

ellie117

Did you eat all of that because you felt hungry, or for another reason? For me, a binge was eating beyond being full. Eating an entire family-size bag of potato chips just for the taste and satisfaction of finishing a bag, not because I'm hungry or stopping when full. Eating a normal dinner, then an entire pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream and then a bag of popcorn and then some Cheez-its. Or, eating an entire box of Cheez-Its. Eating an entire gallon of Turkey Hill Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream.

That was my experience with binge eating. It was thousands of unnecessary calories just for the sake of, well, the act of eating. I'm not sure if it was the taste, the hatred for myself in general that lead to an "I don't care about calories" mindset, or what.

RelCanonical

cmriverside wrote: »

Yeah, what RelCanonical says.

If I'm eating compulsively it's usually either because I've been triggered emotionally in a negative way or I've just decided, "Don't care. Want this particular food and I know it will cause me to overeat. Doing it anyway."

Ah yeah, for me the premeditation for the binge was another layer to the compulsion. I couldn't go to Target for a while because I used to go into the food aisles and spend an hour deciding exactly what I was going to binge on that night and trying to figure out just how much I could actually handle because I knew I'd eat it all that night no matter what. Was not fun.

OAS5

Ya know it's funny you guys mention hunger, I never really felt hungry. I was almost a bottomless pit. In ate for taste definitely and I could eat a lot. I guess your saying maybe I want a "binge eater". Thanks for all the replies.

peggy_polenta

binge eating is a real and serious eating disorder - BED- and is very different from 'over eating'. people throw the word 'binge' around inappropriately in this community very/too often. If you think you suffer from BED you should do some research on BED and if it sounds like you, you may wish to consult with your doctor.

NovusDies

peggy_polenta wrote: »

binge eating is a real and serious eating disorder - BED- and is very different from 'over eating'. people throw the word 'binge' around inappropriately in this community very/too often. If you think you suffer from BED you should do some research on BED and if it sounds like you, you may wish to consult with your doctor.

I have tried to get in the habit of calling it overfeeding. If it was the result of super strict dieting and deprivation I might call it a "binge-like overfeed" or simply "rebel eating".

I can remember the end of a few of those diets and I did feel like I was not in complete control but I was also in a "I don't give a..." mood so I probably could have stopped if I really wanted.

Whether or not a non-disordered person can fully experience a binge in the right set of circumstances and then resume life with no need of therapy is something I will let other more qualified people debate.

cmriverside

RelCanonical wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

Yeah, what RelCanonical says.

If I'm eating compulsively it's usually either because I've been triggered emotionally in a negative way or I've just decided, "Don't care. Want this particular food and I know it will cause me to overeat. Doing it anyway."

Ah yeah, for me the premeditation for the binge was another layer to the compulsion. I couldn't go to Target for a while because I used to go into the food aisles and spend an hour deciding exactly what I was going to binge on that night and trying to figure out just how much I could actually handle because I knew I'd eat it all that night no matter what. Was not fun.

The Dollar Store messed with me for quite a while, too. If I were to go to Target, I could really only buy one type of snack food because I stop when the package is empty, but at Target each container or package is 1500-2500 calories. I would rationalize at the Dollar Store, "Oooo, 400 cals. I'll buy five things for 400-600 cals each and have one per day," Yeah, right. I eat five things for 2000 calories because no off switch once it's in the house. So now my strategy is, "Pick two," at the Dollar Store.

I don't even know if therapy would help me at this point, and there are more pressing issues for me than a 2000 calorie "event." Not even getting involved in this whole, "What's a binge?" discussion, because, really?

I mean, I've been at Goal/Maintenance weight for over a decade. I still have these events, I just limit them to once a week or less. That's how I therapize myself.

JeromeBarry1

1. I am just a dude on the internet.
2. That's not what I'd recognize as binge eating. That's a habit, the sort of habit that is easily slipped into with regularly scheduled grocery trips and regularly scheduled purchases.

youngmomtaz

I have not been diagnosed(live in the sticks with no access) but my binges are not normal meals. I do not plan them. But suddenly I have eaten half a jar of pb on saltines, a pkg of Oreos, all the fruit in the house, etc. If you are making choices about what you are eating I, personally would not think that is a binge. When you eat with no control until in severe pain and keep eating, that is closer.

OAS5

Thanks guys, I think you are right. I think it was just nothing over eating. I had no idea how much went into binge eating.

brenn24179

you remind me of my husband with all that sandwich eating. I am more of a sweet junk food eater that I have had to give up. I think a lot of it is just a bad habit especially eating at night.

RelCanonical

Cavallaro65 wrote: »

Thanks guys, I think you are right. I think it was just nothing over eating. I had no idea how much went into binge eating.

We don’t mean to trivialize what you’re going through. Overeating is a tough thing to overcome on its own. However, saying that your experience is binge eating kind of normalizes binge eating, when it reality binge eating has a whole different layer of compulsion and emotions behind it. I would just be afraid that if we treat binge eating and overeating the same, that those with serious binge eating issues would be less likely to seek help because they would think they just didn’t have enough willpower to overcome it - that their problem is common, when it is not nearly as common as general overeating.

OAS5

brenn24179 wrote: »

you remind me of my husband with all that sandwich eating. I am more of a sweet junk food eater that I have had to give up. I think a lot of it is just a bad habit especially eating at night.

Yeah, I think it's a Italian thing but I rarely eat sandwichs anymore and it's never cold cuts and NEVER ever mayo. Definitely was just bad habits and overeating.

OAS5

RelCanonical wrote: »

Cavallaro65 wrote: »

Thanks guys, I think you are right. I think it was just nothing over eating. I had no idea how much went into binge eating.

We don’t mean to trivialize what you’re going through. Overeating is a tough thing to overcome on its own. However, saying that your experience is binge eating kind of normalizes binge eating, when it reality binge eating has a whole different layer of compulsion and emotions behind it. I would just be afraid that if we treat binge eating and overeating the same, that those with serious binge eating issues would be less likely to seek help because they would think they just didn’t have enough willpower to overcome it - that their problem is common, when it is not nearly as common as general overeating.

I agree and honestly had no idea how much went into it.

kshama2001

Cavallaro65 wrote: »

I never thought of it but I guess I was a binge eater. Now that I have lost 72-73 pounds with just 10-15 more to go I think back to what the hell I was doing to myself. I would eat pretty normal at work, so 5 days a week at work during the day being limited to my access to food I would eat pretty normal. Now I say for then it was normal, my standards now it would be WAY too much and unhealthy. When I got home I would eat like the world was ending soon. I just calculated what I think I ate in just calories when I got home from work. I would say a guestimate for the day at work, 1,000 calories but I really have no idea. When I got home I would say I ate somewhere around 3,000 calories.
I would eat cold cut sandwiches with mayo on bagels or rolls/sub type roll. Yes that is multiple sandwiches with mayo, full fat mayo. I would probably have 2 and half of them. I would say each sandwich was around a 1,000 calories and God only knows how much fat. Then I would eat again later on because I get home from work early.
So that is binge eating correct? Would you classify it that way? How the heck I changed that I don't know but thank goodness I did. That all was a recipe for trouble, BIG freaking trouble. Diabetes, hypertension and more.

You can pry my full fat mayo (and cheese) from my cold, dead hands

seltzermint555

This is a quick yet eye opening look at binge eating for sure.

I don't think I was ever a binge eater but I definitely overate. Much like the OP, I can relate to snacking way too much and then still eating regular or large meals plus decadent desserts. One of my biggest cringes on starting MFP was realizing my go to meal at Applebees has more calories than I need in 2 days. I thought nothing of getting boneless honey BBQ wings with ranch, sharing bacon cheese fries, and then eating the maple walnut blondie sundae. I truly did not even think that was a big deal. Other days I ate a ham sandwich and pudding cup and I still felt "full" from the overeating the previous day. This is why my hunger cues were poor, and still are not great (in my opinion) even as I maintain a major loss.

OAS5

seltzermint555 wrote: »

This is a quick yet eye opening look at binge eating for sure.

I don't think I was ever a binge eater but I definitely overate. Much like the OP, I can relate to snacking way too much and then still eating regular or large meals plus decadent desserts. One of my biggest cringes on starting MFP was realizing my go to meal at Applebees has more calories than I need in 2 days. I thought nothing of getting boneless honey BBQ wings with ranch, sharing bacon cheese fries, and then eating the maple walnut blondie sundae. I truly did not even think that was a big deal. Other days I ate a ham sandwich and pudding cup and I still felt "full" from the overeating the previous day. This is why my hunger cues were poor, and still are not great (in my opinion) even as I maintain a major loss.

Yes, this is exactly. 90% of the battle is being conscience of what you are doing, what you are eating. Its really a big thing when you get that under control.