Binging, so hungry...

Countandsubtract

I'm in the middle of a binge. I think I waited until too late in the day to start eating.

I've probably eaten more than I normally would in two meals .

On the bright side, a big chunk of it is fruit and I'm only maintaining, but if I can figure out how to fix this in the moment, it would be great. I'm also NOT currently eating the pizza I wanted to buy earlier, so there's that.


I've also had water . Tried gum. Didn't work. Ate real food. Didn't stop there. Probably going to use more water again.
So hungry.

What are your tips?

sollyn23l2

Just pause and focus closely on your breathing. Step away, and remind yourself that you are in control. Make a cup of tea or coffee. Sit down and plan what you are going to do differently tomorrow. You already mentioned eating earlier, so try that.

Lietchi

Tips for bingeing? I think it really depends on what triggers your binges.

If there is something underlying (emotional issues) therapy might help.

If it's 'just' triggered by being too hungry, I would rethink meal timings and perhaps make sure to always have something small close by to stop the hunger before it gets too bad.

Some people have problems with bingeing because they choose a weight loss rate that's too aggressive and gives them a calorie goal that's too low. If you think that might be your issue, you could try a slower rate of loss with a higher calorie goal and see if that helps.

PS: don't try to 'make up for it' by eating very little the next day - that's a great way to start a binge-restrict cycle that will get you nowhere very quickly.

Countandsubtract

Just pause and focus closely on your breathing. Step away

That helped some. I did continue eating after a little while, but anytime I'm not shoving calories in my face is better than piling more in.

depends on what triggers your binges.
I don't think it's emotional because when I'm in a bad mood I tend to eat less, would I know if it was emotional?

don't try to 'make up for it' by eating very little the next day - that's a great way to start a binge-restrict cycle that will get you nowhere very quickly.
I didn't catch this the first time I wrote this response (it didn't save ), but that might be more or less what caused it. I had eaten some junk two days ago (because I was out an options were limited) and yesterday I probably underate. Not that I think this explains every time I binge, but I guess it could. I'll keep an eye out.

My goal right now is just maintaining, but, like you said binge-restrict...

I still want pizza. So. Badly. I also know the last time I had pizza it did nothing for me...don't know why.

Thanks for responding!

cmriverside

If I have not eaten all day and then start in on fruit, I'm likely to eat all the fruit.

I need protein and fats (along with those yummy fruit carbs.)

Try eating all snacks and meals with a combo of protein, fat and carbs. So maybe cottage cheese with that peach or a blended drink with fruit, nuts, milk, yogurt, some protein powder.

sherryashe

This may sound counter-productive, but it really works. Try eating something with healthy fats in it, such as avocado. Healthy fats give you a sense of fullness and your brain needs them. Steer clear of unhealthy oils such as canola oil, vegetable oil, shortening, etc. In addition, a boiled egg works great for zapping an eating frenzy, and they have minimal calories but healthy protein.

Lietchi

sherryashe wrote: »

This may sound counter-productive, but it really works. Try eating something with healthy fats in it, such as avocado. Healthy fats give you a sense of fullness and your brain needs them. Steer clear of unhealthy oils such as canola oil, vegetable oil, shortening, etc. In addition, a boiled egg works great for zapping an eating frenzy, and they have minimal calories but healthy protein.

Vegetable oils are healthy fats...

pootlermse

Eating cuz you ate is a horrible mindset to be in. You just ate a tonne of stuff, and now you're miserable, so you eat more. It's really hard to get out of. Ultimately, the way to do this is to learn when and why you binge and to cure the cause rather than the symptoms. I can really recommend The Binge Eating Therapist on YouTube. She's been there, and she has some great advice.

But, when you're in the middle of a binge, what works to help you stop can be highly individual and personal. Things that have worked for me:

• Setting a timer and stopping for ten minutes. I can just about manage that long and no longer, but it's long enough for me to calm down. I tell myself gently that if I still want the cake in ten minutes, I can have it. However, in those ten minutes, I do something else. But it has to be something nice. Not chores! Play a game, go for a walk, take a shower, do my hobby. Whatever works for you.
  
• Eat what you want. I've found that I can eat, oooh, ten times the calories that are in the Mars bar I was craving (especially since they keep reducing the size of the d&^n things!) by eating 'healthier' and lower calorie' alternatives. Bananas, Fibre One bars, protein bars, Alpen Lights, apples, grapes, yoghurts, a little nibble of chocolate, then another, then a Mini Milk ice cream... So eat the thing you want. With no guilt. Which brings me on to the next trick..
  
• ...One of the weird things about bingeing is that we think about food all the time EXCEPT for when we're eating it! That's how we can end up eating a whole packet of biscuits and be amazed when we reach for the last one. Like, when did I eat all those? So, when you do allow yourself to have the thing you really want, give it the attention it deserves. Sit down with it. Enjoy it. Really try to focus on it. Savour each bite. You might find that, once you've eaten it, you'll be satisfied and won't want more.
  
• Make sure you listen to your hunger and eat when your body tells you to. And eat enough. And if you're hungry at 7pm and have no calories left, have a filling snack anyway. It will probably cost you fewer calories than the panicked grab-anything eating that comes from letting yourself get too hungry.
  
• And, of course, learn what fills you and keeps you satisfied. Play with your macros. It's 50% carbs, 30% fat and 20% protein at the minute for me, which is very different to what my macros used to be. When my meals look like that, then I tend to feel satisfied. This has meant unlearning everything I had learned previously about carbs and fats being bad and needing to have lots of protein.
  
• When the binge is over, and even in the middle of it, speak kindly to yourself. Because beating yourself up for it will probably lead to more eating cuz you ate. Do not punish yourself by over restricting. That will put you in a horrible cycle that is hard to escape. Eat again normally the next time you get hungry. I don't think many bingers ever completely stop doing it, but you can definitely reduce them to a handful of episodes a year just by learning how to treat yourself with more kindness using these strategies.

PravaSagitta

I'm strength training, and it requires a crazy amount of protein, which I try to make sure I hit my protein goals first, then I fill the rest with what I want (sticking to primarily whole foods, but allowing for a daily treat that fits). I struggled to hit 1800 yesterday just because the protein made me so full. So my advice is to eat all the protein (smartly, not tons of bacon or slim jims/my weakness 😓). I recently got an air fryer and make some tenders for a snack. Tasty and when made thoughtfully, mostly just protein. Hope this helps.

Countandsubtract

"Eating cuz you ate is a horrible mindset to be in."
Oh, I took it more as a "eat this not that" next-time-you're-craving oil-thing.

I think I'll at least give it a try and see how it works. "Oily" is definitely one of my common cravings.


"Play with your macros. It's 50% carbs, 30% fat and 20% protein at the minute for me, "
That's a good idea. I haven't tried that one yet. It should be pretty trackable with meal tracking.

' back later!

Countandsubtract

Technical difficulties.

Retroguy2000

The transfer effect works quite well for me. Basically, working out frequently leads to not just physical changes in what kinds of foods you may crave, but also mental benefits of wanting to eat well to complement the other good thing you're doing. I don't know if it applies to your situation OP, e.g. for me I'm more likely to binge if I've procrastinated and then bailed on working out. Maybe doing some light exercise when you feel like this would be helpful?

Something else I do is time a weights workout for a day I expect to be eating a lot, such as going out for dinner, or picking up pizza. I can mentally justify that to myself as protein and fuel, even if it means going a bit over total calories for the day.

You also said you maybe started eating a bit late in the day. I usually aim for 16 hour IF, but if it feels like my body is saying I want something now, I'll start earlier that day with no downside. After all, it's total calories that matters most.

One last thing, you said you were eating a lot of fruit. That's not bad for snacking, but you'd probably feel more satiated with more protein. Get some powder and have a shake with fruit in it, or a protein bar or high protein yogurt.

Countandsubtract

"..One of the weird things about bingeing is that we think about food all the time EXCEPT for when we're eating it! That's how we can end up eating a whole packet of biscuits and be amazed when we reach for the last one. Like, when did I eat all those?"
Interesting.
I hadn't heard that before, but it kind of makes sense.
I might try to use that.


"you'd probably feel more satiated with more protein. Get some powder"
Yeah, there was a good conversation about some of those recently, a couple of them seemed worth trying.

"Eat what you want. I've found that I can eat, oooh, ten times the calories that are in the Mars bar I was craving"
Ha! Actually, yeah, now that you mention that, I might do that too.

Good advice, thanks guys. Sorry that my responses are all over the place.

I just feel so hungry sometimes.

pootlermse

Countandsubtract wrote: »

"

I just feel so hungry sometimes.

One thing I forgot to specifically mention is that eating balanced meals might help. (I know, yawn) First time around, when I lost half my body weight, I was mad into focussing on protein. So while I wasn't cutting out carbs or doing keto or anything like that, I ate a lot of meals that had protein and fats but very few carbs, like salmon and salad. I thought that would keep me full. I was hungry a lot. I binged a lot.

I learned eventually that it's less about feeling full and more about feeling satisfied. I'm all about balance now. I rarely hit my macros, but I do use them as a rough guide. So all my meals have carbs and fat as well as protein, plus plenty of fruit/veg. That seems to make me more satisfied. In fact, I sometimes have trouble hitting my net calorie goal for the day because what I'm eating is keeping me sated for longer. (This blows my mind. It really does. It's just... weird.) This is fine, because peanut butter fixes that pretty easily and it's full of goodness.

I think my best advice to you is to not follow any advice religiously but work out what works best for you. Even if it means eating at maintenance for a while so you can figure it out. Abbey Sharp on YouTube is a gentle nutrition expert who I found very helpful when I was trying to work out how to best fuel my body for health and sanity.

ReenieHJ

I can relate. Tuesday I started off by having 1 thing that I really didn't want but just *needed* something KWIM? Then the whole day went south. And I'm definitely not hungry in the traditional sense when that feeling comes on. At least not hungry for food. More like I need to fill my emotional needs, kick my Dopamine levels into high gear......something. And for some reason food has always been my fix for those feelings. *sigh*

Best thing I can do to steer clear is to be consistent with my logging, and I've been very erratic with that over the past 2 weeks.

Good luck with the binges and we all need to limit those days. Me included!!