What do you consider a 'binge'?

GertrudeHorse

...being out of control, compulsively eating or being in a trance with no consideration for taste, food quality or pleasure. I would say that mindset, combined with eating a comparatively large amount of food in a relatively short period of time, would constitute a binge.

+ massive regret and shame after.

You are correct!

Illona88

Eating so much that my stomach hurts and that I feel disappointed with myself after.

Cainandable

That's exactly what happens to me, and I agree with your definition. Its when I cant and don't care at the moment it happens, but afterwards - deep regret!

10manda86

I consider it a binge when I just eat whatever and I don't care about logging it or stopping at a reasonable point. It is usually accompanied by some excuse: "I had a terrible day" or "I'm sick" (just recently did one of these and I ate double my goal for the day, which I didn't discover until I gathered up the nerve to track everything the next day).

So, it's not necessarily a number, but more of a mindset. It's when I'm doing it, I can't stop, and I don't care about the consequences.

i just did this today... and agree, this is a binge... mindlessness and WAAAYYYY over calorie goals
and then you feel sad and disappointed in yourself

SindyMcDougall1409

I consider it a binge when I just eat whatever and I don't care about logging it or stopping at a reasonable point. It is usually accompanied by some excuse: "I had a terrible day" or "I'm sick" (just recently did one of these and I ate double my goal for the day, which I didn't discover until I gathered up the nerve to track everything the next day).

So, it's not necessarily a number, but more of a mindset. It's when I'm doing it, I can't stop, and I don't care about the consequences.

i just did this today... and agree, this is a binge... mindlessness and WAAAYYYY over calorie goals
and then you feel sad and disappointed in yourself

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I agree with this & I'm fed up of doing this as I feel waaaaaay out of control when it happens

amcsouth

Consuming a large amount of food, beyond the point where I am full, with thoughts of consequences absent, usually for emotional reasons.

^^ Exactly this. As well as eating until I feel physically sick AND still eating more after that.

chunkilios

I agree, I agree and I agree... I am a serial binger. Mostly after I've disappointed myself. Whether that be that I didn't deal with something correctly or that I didn't react at all and instead of kicking myself, I binge. For me, Emotional ineptness = Binging This is a problem I know I have and now that I've joined MFP, it will hopefully become a thing of the past!! We have a choice, I need to just have a word with myself - loudly enough, to stop a binge before it gets a grip.
Negative people can't lead Positive Lives!!

HappyStack

I don't put a label on it.

I overate. It doesn't much matter if I overate by 500 calories or 5000. Saying it's a binge makes it sound like a disorder, in nutritional terms.

I have full control over it, so if I choose the whole carton of ice cream, or the whole pizza, or a whole tube of Pringles, I need to make sure the next time I'm presented with that opportunity I exercise some self control and eat a sensible portion.

YearsWorthOfFAT

When i start eating a lot of things suddenly, without stopping even though i'm not hungry, even full. Whether it be 500 or 1000 calories, i still call it a binge.

I remember when i thought a sandwich with cheese was a binge... sigh.

Josh_lol

I'd consider binge eating to be similar to comfort eating like eating something that contains a lot of energy or sugar that makes you feel good in the short term like ice cream or candy. And you just keep eating that thing until that emotional hole is filled again. It usually happens when your emotions get the better of you and you stop thinking about what you're eating so you don't consider any consequences of eating so much. And then you just try to blame it on something else like "I was in a moment of weakness and needed it" to justify binge eating in your own mind. Of course, some people reach for lots of different foods when it comes to binge eating though.

olehcat

I was having difficulty with my type of binges for about a year and a half recently (thankfully I've ended that pattern) and for me, it was getting super excited about eating ALL the foods, planning for it, ordering takeaway food when I wasn't even hungry, and then eating past the point of fullness in order to satisfy something else inside me (boredom, depression, stress). While I was doing it, it felt good, sort of naughty and rebellious, like saying f*** you to healthy eating and dieting. But I would wake up in the morning with awful regrets. So I don't put a calorie amount on it, but for me it was around 2000 calories (above what I normally/should be eating in a day), but it was more the feelings surrounding it that made me label it a binge. Also, I was keeping it secret from people.

Iwishyouwell

I use to consider a binge a period where I ate large volumes of high calorie foods.

But I now have freed myself from those notions, so I don't consider myself as "binging" on anything. I just east as much, or as little, as I choose and move on. Binging signifies a loss of control, as if food were a drug that is taking over my ability to chose. And I'm just not in that place anymore to see food, or myself, through that kind of lense.

neanderthin

Is when a person goes on a complete eating frenzy until they can't eat anymore and then either forgot they did or tries to.

Jaminjo2

Been there done that! I also like to "sneak eat" and for no reason. Food is not scarce at my house and the people I live and work with wouldn't care how much I ate. I guess that means I do care what people see, but not as much about how I feel afterwards.

WOW! That was deep.

hmaddpear

So, it's not necessarily a number, but more of a mindset. It's when I'm doing it, I can't stop, and I don't care about the consequences.

There's more than one person here who's said the same thing, but this is the one that resonates most with me. If I have that piece of cheesecake or extra slice of pizza because I want it, then it's not a binge. But if I find myself stuffing my face with anything, even though I don't need it and don't necessarily want it, then that's definitely a binge.

Luckily, not so much any more - I'm better at self-control these days.

MinMin97

Unplanned eating, in stressed or unfavorable circumstances, resulting in regret.
If I did the same thing in the context of friends, family and fun, I would call that a FEAST (and have no regrets).

Jkn921

A personal example for me would be fast food then chocolate/crisps/those types of snacks afterwards in big quantities. Now that I think about it, that hasn't happened

michellemybelll

Also, I was keeping it secret from people.

yes, the secrecy part of it has been key for me in the past. which only skyrockets the feelings of shame.

Therevengeofthekilljoys

I would consider a binge as maybe 500+ calories with in an hour or less.