BINGE EATING!

cmsp22

My biggest weakness is binge eating. I will be doing so well during the day and will come home after a good work out and I just sit and eat whatever I can find! It is usually chocolate biscuits and chocolate and crisps...oh! And chocolate I am testing out a new theory where I eat bigger, portions at meal times, for example, just now I have had a low fat sweet and sour chicken (400 cals) and a 0% fat strawberry yoghurt and I am hoping this will keep me going until dinner time? I am drinking lots of water too, to almost fill myself up, but if this doesn't work...I am stuck!

What do you guys do to prevent binge eating, or what do you do in order to make the cravings easier?

I reckon I could lose a lot of weight, just by cutting out my binging habits!

Cheers!

lamps1303

You are most likely bingeing because you have no self control and/or you're depriving yourself of 'treats'.

1. Don't keep anything in the house that will cause you to binge. You clearly have an issue with chocolate - limit the amount you keep in the house. I allow myself chocolate as and when I want it, as long as I stick within my calories and macros. Weigh out a portion and put the rest of the bar away. Eat your portion and be satisfied. If a large bar of chocolate is sitting in front of you, chances are you're going to want to eat it all.

2. Adjust your meal size and frequency to help keep hunger and cravings at bay. If you know you're most likely to binge after dinner, have a larger meal and make sure you load it with protein and some fat for satiety. I find a good balanced meal, which keeps me full, is turkey/chicken breast steak with sweet potato mash and a ton of veg.

3. Allow one treat meal every week or 2. I find that if I allow myself a blowout once a week (usually a takeaway, or meal out) it keeps me focussed for the week and stops me bingeing as I am satisfying my cravings from the week. There is usually one thing that I really want each week, that could be a large bag of pick 'n' mix at the cinema, chinese takeaway, pizza, etc. and I allow myself to eat it on one day. If you deny your body what it is craving for too long, chances are you're going to binge.

*This is all from my personal experiences and what works best for me. I am in no way claiming to be some sort of scientist or saying it will work for you - just providing some information on what works for me and my body.

eimaj04

I am guilty of the same thing!! What I have started to do is keep a granola bar for immediately after the gym to hold me over until dinner is done. I have a 45 min drive home from the gym so I am usually starving!! The granola bar helps! Also try protein shakes this seems to help too. Good Luck

Kr1ptonite

I eat about every 3 hours, so its not a big cap between meals. I find that has help me a lot. But at the same time you need to find control. Instead of eating those biscuits, chocolate etc, switch them for more healthier options.

cmsp22

Yeah! haha! I usually do it when I am stressed, tired or feeling a bit low...its hard getting rid of the chocolate in my house because my brother eats loads of it! but will try! thanks for the good advice Much appreciated and I will give it a go

slgghibli

I do this but while I am at work. I plan out my food, bring everything into work and ensure it is all healthy. If I'm not careful i scarf it all down before lunch then go devour the tuck shop. It's not cravings for the food it is boredom an tiredness. Perhaps I should not eat at my desk, I realise this logically but I don't follow through which is quite tiresome.

george7527

Hi read your post just to let you know you are certainly not alone. For me it only takes one biscuit and its a down hill spiral but i need to get it out of my system them i start afresh the next day
Feel free to add me
George (female)

megg0616

What @ lamps1303 said is the best advice. Nothing other than portion control, portion control, portion control. Oh and log everything even when you over eat. Seeing all the calories you really eat may help. I closed my food diary for awhile until I got my eating under control. That may help also if you feel embarrassed by it. Also opening it to the public could also help. Just a few suggestions. What works for one person may not work for another.

Up666061

Believe it or not i have exactly the same problem as im in a calorie deficit at the moment, heres what i do:

1. If you love chocolate and cant cut it from your diet, buy some chocolate whey protein and grab some 0% fat greek yoghurt. Mix the two together and you have a chocolate moose like food, this will be low in fat and gets a lot of protein into your diet.

2. If you really cant cut out junk food a small amount isn't necessarily bad, i'm a strong believer in IIFYM, so if it fits within the macronutrient that you need to lose weight there shouldn't be much harm as long as you keep under your deficit. Josef Rakich is a massive fitness model and is ripped, he still eats sorbet on the daily.

Hope this helps.

TavistockToad

My biggest weakness is binge eating. I will be doing so well during the day and will come home after a good work out and I just sit and eat whatever I can find! It is usually chocolate biscuits and chocolate and crisps...oh! And chocolate I am testing out a new theory where I eat bigger, portions at meal times, for example, just now I have had a low fat sweet and sour chicken (400 cals) and a 0% fat strawberry yoghurt and I am hoping this will keep me going until dinner time? I am drinking lots of water too, to almost fill myself up, but if this doesn't work...I am stuck!

What do you guys do to prevent binge eating, or what do you do in order to make the cravings easier?

I reckon I could lose a lot of weight, just by cutting out my binging habits!

Cheers!

you probably need more fat in your diet... fat doesn tmake you fat, excess calories do.

SuperstarDJ

You know your 'danger' time and some of your triggers e.g. tiredness, so it might be helpful to shake up your routine when you get home from the gym to break the link between home -> kitchen -> binge. With your triggers, e.g. tiredness, it's better to find healthier ways to deal with it and other ways to relax like a bath maybe? There might also be unhelpful thinking patterns going on that you need to look at, e.g. I've worked my *kitten* off at the gym so I deserve to 'treat' myself. Hurting your body with large amounts of sugary foods is never a treat. How much money do you think the binge costs you? Could you treat yourself to something else with that money, like your favourite magazine or rent a movie? Both would be a nice way to relax in the evening too, instead of relying on food to help you.

Just a thought?

craftywitch_63

I've been a binge eater for many years. Lately I haven't even wanted to binge. I eat every 3 hours or so. I log every bite that I eat. Seeing the numbers make it less likely that I will binge.

I've been working out in the morning since I've had a slight schedule change but when I was working out in the evening, I would take along a protein shake or protein bar to eat on the way home from the gym. By the time I got home to make dinner (this is the worst time for me, too. The food is there, I'm there, I can smell the food cooking, etc.) the edge was taken off my hunger.

Water does not work for me, it just makes me feel sloshy and slightly nauseous. If you work out at home, add a protein shake or bar to your calorie count, sip or nibble on it while you're preparing your meal, or fix some crudites and hummus, a small amount of popcorn, something like that to nibble on while you're waiting for dinner. If you work out at a gym, bring something to nibble/drink on the way home. Just be sure to log it. It might help.

:flowerforyou:

mzbek24

I try and find/make alternatives for my sweet tooth. Sometimes is fine, I add small treats in to my calories and use a large deficit from workouts if I go out to eat.


I brush my teeth if I am at my calorie limit for the day, to prevent night snacking. You could brush your teeth or chew gum between meals so that anything you ate would probably taste yuck.
And sometimes I also make up a bowl of sugar free diet jelly which is really low cal but makes me feel fuller.

I won't buy large packets of cakes or biscuits or chocolate from the supermarket at a time, but small amounts for treats. That will prevent reaching into the cupboard. It can be hard when my mum buys a lot of that stuff, but I hide it out of view as well so that when I open the cupboard I can't see it.

aft85

what if you binge eat because you're depressed, lonely, feel completely superfluous and know eating fills up some time?

cmsp22

Thanks everyone for the advice! I will definitely think about my options when it comes to treating myself and look at what I eat at meals, and of course, how much I am eating! As for the emotional thing, I think I might just look at treating myself in ways that don't concern food! so yeah, having a bath, buying some magazines or a cd...I have also been looking at alternative snacks and found some great looking recipe's to kick my sweet tooth and are low in fat!

Thanks everyone! Much appreciated! Feel better already!

Sara2652

Binge eater here, I even went and got help by professionals. Some goals they had for us....

1. Eat 6 meals a day; 3-5 hours apart and plan ahead. 3 meals and 2 snacks. Have a protein and produce at each meal and snack s should just be one protein and a produce. However when starting out just stick to your times, have what ever you want but practice delaying urges to your set time (times can change day to day- you set them early in the morning). If you slip up, ok, just pick up at your next eating time. The point is to end the binge restrict cycle.

2. Eat mindfully: No more eating on the couch in front of the TV.

3. Log, Log, LOG. This has been proven from effective long term weight lose. The didn't have us log calories even just what we ate when we ate and note urges and intensities. They even have us daily weighing (not every one can or should do this) now it just feels like data to me.

Also It is not about will power

So much more but I got to get to work.

I'm newer to MFP forums, it would be great to have some friends, add me if you'd like too.

Angiehanzen1013

bump

mandyneedtolose

Eating is okay it's what your eating that is the problem. It's okay to have a "treat" every once and while, but stay clear of binging on sweets. Try loading up on veggies and protein. Protein will help you feel full so it may help you to stay away from the binge eating. Plain greek yogurt topped with fruit is a sweeter option and may help if you are craving sweets and is better then chocolate. Or buy some 90%-100% cocoa chocolate and have a piece with some almonds, tastes a bit like chocolate bar and not as bad for you. When you are hungry for snacking munch on some veggies - carrots, celery, cucumbers, cauliflower all crispy veggies that give you a some crunch if you were to be craving chips. And add in some protein - chicken fish. Good luck!

lamps1303

I brush my teeth if I am at my calorie limit for the day, to prevent night snacking. You could brush your teeth or chew gum between meals so that anything you ate would probably taste yuck.
And sometimes I also make up a bowl of sugar free diet jelly which is really low cal but makes me feel fuller.

I do this too! Always chew gum to prevent snacking when I have reached my calories for day

DeterminedFee201426

to prevent my binge eating instead of eating my normal calorie intake i bump it up 500 cals more
normal intake:1850 +extra>500=2350 basically just eating as much as i burned total for the day which is normally 2390-2590 max
its better to bump up the cals a bit then to binge and eat about 3800+ calories its a big difference and water does not help me either i can be walking around with a bubble belly from so much water it still does'nt work .. to sustain hunger.. brushing my teeth does not help at all gum on the other hand can help i eat about 5 peices somedays and it really helps its sweet and chewy maybe you just want a taste of something in your mouth not an actual meal also

ettaterrell

I'm not reading all these post so someone might have already said (I don't have this problem so no need to read what others do) I never allow myself to get hungry! If I get hungry I will do what you do, so eat every 2 or 3 hours. Plan Plan Plan, Plan what your going to eat for the day have everything ready for the time you are to eat and eat it at that time! If I get hungry and don't have it planed I eat a boiled egg (protein fills me up!)

ransaka

what if you binge eat because you're depressed, lonely, feel completely superfluous and know eating fills up some time?

Been there myself. I beat it with exercise. Want to eat because you feel crap? Put on trainers, go for a short jog, jog for long enough to get your endorphins up and come home feeling a lot better about yourself. Size etc is no excuse, I'm 237lbs and over 30%bf, am recovering from an ankle injury and I can do it.
Regular exercise makes me feel awesome, even though I'm still a big fat tub of lard I've regained so much confidence because I'm doing something about it.
Take the stuff out of your house you tend to binge on, leave a little bit of it so you can still satisfy cravings and get out into the open. You can totally do it, you're not superfluous, you matter as much as anyone else.

DeterminedFee201426

oh and yes eating 5-6 small meals perday do help aloot! so try that with a food that actually fill you up thats low in calories like 2 potatoes with 2 cups of veggies that works for me too

kommodevaran

You need more fat and real food and some occational treat, but don't keep large quantities of temptations in the house. Oh, and you need something to eat after exercising, no wonder you were hungry.

aft85

I live in a terrible neighbourhood. Jogging is not something i feel comfortable doing.

ransaka

I live in a terrible neighbourhood. Jogging is not something i feel comfortable doing.

Then go elsewhere to do it if you can. Stepping out of your comfort zone can be pretty liberating, you end up realising that really there was nothing to worry about in the first place. Or, look up some at home exercise routines on youtube that will get your heart rate up and get you sweating.

I lived in a ****ty neighbourhood at uni to start with so I get what you mean but I just to walk elsewhere to do outdoor stuff.

lwestcott1

I do the same thing! Long day at work, done with the gym and come home and eat my healthy dinner. Then I sit on the couch after the kiddo has gone to bed watching TV and that's when I tend to want to eat eat eat. Finding healthier alternatives helps me cut out sweets and stop the binging at night. Also making sure my dinner is healthy and filling enough helps alot.

Instead of chocolate, try the suggested chocolate whey protein and greek yogurt. You can also try various yogurts that taste like desserts - Yoplait makes a bunch of them, and Chobani makes some too. These have always helped my sweet tooth. Low fat frozen yogurt can be a huge help. And portion control only helps if you have the willpower to eat ONLY one thing. I tend to eat a reasonable portion of one thing, then go back for something else, eating a reasonable portion of that, and so on.

Another thing that really helps me is watching my alcohol intake. One or two glasses of wine = bing eating. I just don't have anything during the week, and usually only a drink or two on Fridays and Saturdays.