What stopped you binge eating?

Ian_Stuart

When people say they binge on food, they usually mean carbohydrates. Hardly anyone binges on chicken breast.
You see, carbs beget carbs. Eating a sugary dessert or high carb food spikes your blood insulin level while the sugar is processed, but then you run out of sugar to process and still have high blood insulin levels. This insulin finds nothing for it to bond with, which causes your body to think that you are low on sugar (because in our ancestral environment there weren't such things as cupcakes), which makes you crave sugar so you go in search of something sweet. Basically it is millions of years of evolution insisting that you must be starving because your insulin levels are higher than the available sugars suggest and thereby messing up your diet plans.
It used to be that fat and sugar were rare and our ancestors had to work hard to get them, which burned more calories. Our bodies learned to crave them so that we would be willing to expend the effort to climb that tree and get the sweet fruit, or hunt down the heavier (larger) fat carrying animals. Things like cupcakes and Snickers bars are super-stimuli. They push all of our ancestral craving buttons, but offer none of the nutrition that fat and sugar used to represent (healthy meat and nutritious fruits). One cupcake can be upwards of 500 calories. Do you have any idea how much meat that is? How many apples or oranges?
I tell you all of this because knowing it has helped me to say no to those things. It doesn't fix the cravings, but it gives me a mental anchor to hold on to when those cravings try to pull me into the local bakery.

My suggestion would be to change your macro goals to be higher in protein (at least 1g per lb of bodyweight (2g per kg) and then make your fat and carbs at least a 50/50 split for the remainder of your calories.

AcualyizDaren

I just started IF, so I kinda went the other way...

tjthegreatone

I don't think I'm out of the woods. But what changed things for me were a number of steps.

1. I moved more towards intuitive eating and stopped worrying about the red numbers on my MFP balance sheet at the end of the day.

2. I stopped starving myself to compensate for a binge - I just workout more.

3. I decided that food was one of my few pleasures in life and I wasn't going to deny myself anymore - I would eat only what I liked and nothing more - I would stop forcing myself to eat 'diet' foods or low calorie foods that I didn't like just because.

4. I track macros but only loosely - I am often short on protein but as long as I hit an average of 100g/day I'm good.

5. Far from denying myself my 'trigger foods' I decided to stop punishing myself and welcome them into the house and eat as much of them as I wanted. This means sometimes having cereal and peanut butter for supper but I'm a grown woman and can eat what I like *stamps feet*. It was a bit of an experiment/gamble - but once my body/brain realised that I wasn't going to deprive it anymore the overeating eased off a lot.

All this happened when I was in maintenance. So far I have gained 5-10lb from my low (goal) weight but my weight has stabilised and I'm happy eating all the junk I want without all the psychological torture I went through in the past. Sure I'd like to go back to having rock-hard abs but it isn't worth the aggro.

kirschkuchen

I've stopped compensating for binges by starving myself for weeks afterwards. That slowly broke the cycle. I forced myself to let the binge go and feed myself properly which led to less binges over time. This was harder than it sounds like but worked over time. I'm hardly ever have a binge now, and when I do they aren't as bad and not laden with guilt. But yeah, the first step for me was not compulsively restricting calories after being 'bad'. It was terrifying at first but so worth it.

ingeh

I agree about craving carbs. I loved to make a huge pot of pasta with sauce and meat and eat as much as possible. Pasta is my weakness so iv swapped it for cous cous and small amounts of pasta

Allterrain_Lady

My story:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1127935-bingeing-and-i-broke-up-and-had-closure

MyFoodGod

When you speak of a binge, are you referring to for example 3 pieces of cake or eating the while cake at one time? Are you stopping in at the gas station daily just to get food with no nutritional value? Do you eat the whole pizza or just one more than you should?

People on the extreme end if binging might want to ask themselves if this is how they want to live and do they see themselves spirally down to even larger amounts of food?

Binging just isn't healthy and letting ourselves off the hook jeopardizes our physical health, mobility, self esteem, and mental health. Thinking about food constantly is not a good thing nor is it " normal."

hgycta

It was a process, I didn't just wake up one morning and decide to stop. I had my moments where I fell back. What I did, though, was track everything. If I binged, I would force myself to eat at a deficit until I got back to where I was supposed to be and made up for the binge. By doing this I really came to understand how binge eating isn't worth the sickness or guilt you feel afterwards, because on top of that you're undoing all of your progress. By tracking my calories I realized just because I overate a little, doesn't mean it's okay to go off all the way and eat everything "while I can," as I had once believed. A calorie is a calorie, and you'll have to either make up for it after that binge, or not eat it in that moment, and eat normal full-sized portions on other days. Delaying immediate gratification that will only last a few moments can make your entire week so much easier. One binge will lead to other binges, because of that guilt and restricting, so you just have to try your best to tough it out and say no. Saying no is the only thing that will stop binges, it's just about how you reason with yourself to get that far. Again, if you start binging, forgive yourself and stop. Right in the middle of the binge. It will make a difference, no matter how much it seems like it won't in the moment.
I don't restrict any "trigger" foods, rather I have tried to incorporate everything I want into my food plan so I can enjoy things without feeling like I'll never get them again. When I allow myself a treat, such as a Reese's cup, I'll try to save it for the end of the day, and eat it if I earn it from following my plan throughout the day. This has motivated me to stay on track, and by the end of the day it's easier for me to say no to another pack of Reese's since I have already done so good that day.
Last but not least, I found I was binging mostly in the kitchen, when I was putting off something, or simply bored. For that reason I try to avoid the kitchen once I'm done eating, and go into my room to work on homework or browse the internet instead.
I hope this helps, and I hope you find what works best for you!
I know you can do this, just be patient and have faith in yourself

marniephie

Geneen Roth - Google her and do some research! x

about_time_4_change

What I'm noticing works for me is quite simple....I want to be in shape more than anything and that is what stops me from binging. If I want something "bad", I will do something active and on occasion, I give in and indulge.