At what point do you consider yourself as having 'binged'?

girlr94 · May 2014

I've had a stressful day (which I know is no excuse) and when I was waiting for my dinner to cook I decided to let myself have a teaspoon of Nutella. Normally I find Nutella quite sickly so I can't stomach much anyway, but today I just thought sod it and probably ended up having about 4x a recommended portion, if not more. I could have easily eaten the rest of the jar this time! I don't completely regret it though, because I've been very good up to now and I've had a hellish day.

A few months ago I wouldn't have considered this a proper binge. I used to buy sweets and chocolate sometimes twice a week and just snack on 1000 or so calories in one sitting. (I could eat a full bag of Haribo in 5-10 minutes). But now I've been really controlling what I eat recently, the Nutella thing is a bit of a binge to me. Not a total one obviously, and I definitely don't feel like it's halted my weight loss forever or anything, it just feels like I've overdone it when weeks ago I wouldn't have cared. I probably could still eat 1000 calories of crap easily though!

When do you guys differentiate between a binge and just a bit of an indulgence?

BigT555 · May 2014

fine line between the 2. my definition is if i feel like a bag of *kitten* afterwards, it was a binge. its really your own distinction though

yopeeps025 · May 2014

Indulge for me is half a medium pie around a 1000 calories. Binge is the entire pie in one sitting which I used to do weekly and still loss fat and gained muscle.

elleloch · May 2014

When I eat til I hate myself. That's a binge. lol

BlueBombers · May 2014

Puking and or feeling like death the next day.

Francl27 · May 2014

For me a binge is uncontrolled eating - can't reason with myself even though I know I should stop. Could be going for more chocolate after I already ate the 2 I had planned to eat, finishing the ice cream pint even though I said I would only have one serving, etc. Basically, it depends on the initial intent - if I'm planning to eat 4 chocolates, it's fine. But if I'm planning to eat 1 and end up eating 3, then it's a binge.

dmenchac · May 2014

One of the better questions I've read on this forum.

bcattoes · May 2014

When do you guys differentiate between a binge and just a bit of an indulgence?

When I'm hungover.

elleloch · May 2014

When do you guys differentiate between a binge and just a bit of an indulgence?

When I'm hungover.

^^LOLtruth.

No_Finish_Line · May 2014

when the garbage is over flowing with candy wrappers?

i too have felt the food hangover lol

madworld1 · May 2014

For me, a binge is eating nonstop for an entire day or night. I'm not hungry, but I keep going. It's like I lose all control and I am on autopilot. My stomach hurts and I am miserable... but, I keep going. Then, the next day, I "make up" for it by exercising for hours.

BigT555 · May 2014

Indulge for me is half a medium pie around a 1000 calories. Binge is the entire pie in one sitting which I used to do weekly and still loss fat and gained muscle.

you lost fat and gained strength, not muscle. we've been over this before, yopeeps

No_Finish_Line · May 2014

Indulge for me is half a medium pie around a 1000 calories. Binge is the entire pie in one sitting which I used to do weekly and still loss fat and gained muscle.

you lost fat and gained strength, not muscle. we've been over this before, yopeeps

he's special, can't you tell?

runningcat76 · May 2014

For me, a binge is eating nonstop for an entire day or night. I'm not hungry, but I keep going. It's like I lose all control and I am on autopilot. My stomach hurts and I am miserable... but, I keep going. Then, the next day, I "make up" for it by exercising for hours.

This !

seltzermint555 · May 2014

For me a binge is uncontrolled eating - can't reason with myself even though I know I should stop. Could be going for more chocolate after I already ate the 2 I had planned to eat, finishing the ice cream pint even though I said I would only have one serving, etc. Basically, it depends on the initial intent - if I'm planning to eat 4 chocolates, it's fine. But if I'm planning to eat 1 and end up eating 3, then it's a binge.

This exactly.

After other threads on MFP have opened my eyes to the extremely large binges that some have, who have binge eating disorders, I am hesitant to refer to even some pretty major uncontrolled eating as a "binge"...but yeah. This!

Flutterloo · May 2014

fine line between the 2. my definition is if i feel like a bag of *kitten* afterwards, it was a binge. its really your own distinction though

Haha....this is my answer too.

Ldbg289 · May 2014

I've only truly binged once. I ate a whole container of ice cream by myself even though I kept telling myself to stop. I know I shouldn't make excuses for it but.......I was highly emotional.

goshnames · May 2014

Indulge: I could stop eating this, but I'm not going to worry about it today. Feeling good! Treat yo self!

Binge: xxxx calories later, lying in pain in the fetal position with an alien baby trying to crawl its way out of my belly.

a_stronger_me13 · May 2014

Binge eating is about control or lack thereof. It's not a set amount of food or calories, it's a mindset about what you are eating.

najatmarie · May 2014

As someone that suffered from BED there is definitely a big difference between over eating and binge eating. Over eating is when you eat just a little too much and are uncomfortably full. For me, binges were a complete blur. I would just keep eating anything and everything even if I was full. I knew in my head I needed to stop but my compulsions to keep eating took over. I would consume over 1500 calories within 20 minutes just by standing in the kitchen and grabbing anything that I could. Normally binges would happen in private too. This in turn lead to bulimia (which I've thankfully recovered from as well). A prime example of over eating is me on Thanksgiving. I indulge because I don't get a meal like that very often. Try not to beat yourself up. Slip ups happen. Just gotta pick yourself up, brush yourself off and move on

mlt2908 · May 2014

For me, a binge is eating nonstop for an entire day or night. I'm not hungry, but I keep going. It's like I lose all control and I am on autopilot. My stomach hurts and I am miserable... but, I keep going. Then, the next day, I "make up" for it by exercising for hours.

This !

Me too!

No_Finish_Line · May 2014

I've only truly binged once. I ate a whole container of ice cream by myself even though I kept telling myself to stop. I know I shouldn't make excuses for it but.......I was highly emotional.

i'm going to go ahead and say that your ahead of the curve if you've only done something like this once

No_Finish_Line · May 2014

For me, a binge is eating nonstop for an entire day or night. I'm not hungry, but I keep going. It's like I lose all control and I am on autopilot. My stomach hurts and I am miserable... but, I keep going. Then, the next day, I "make up" for it by exercising for hours.

This !

Me too!

sometimes i'll log some of the binge in the next days food and eat accordingly. usually not that bad because if i binged enough, i'm not that hungry till later in the day

lemon629 · May 2014

I've only truly binged once. I ate a whole container of ice cream by myself even though I kept telling myself to stop. I know I shouldn't make excuses for it but.......I was highly emotional.

i'm going to go ahead and say that your ahead of the curve if you've only done something like this once

No kidding. I have gone through periods where I did this once or twice a week for months on end!

nancy10272004 · May 2014

I'm in recovery for Binge Eating Disorder and a binge doesn't have anything to do with calories. It has to do with loss of contro, the speed at which you consume the food and the frequency. There are also many, many emotions that go along with a true binge.

If you eat a pizza over the course of a day, that's just overeating. If you eat a pizza every Sunday afternoon and scarf it down in a half hour and don't really even think while you're doing it, that's a binge.

People throw the word binge around like they do with OCD. As in "I make my bed every morning, I'm so OCD!" No, you're not. You're neat.

Same with binge - "OMG - I had an entire sleeve of Oreos! I binged!" Nope. You just overate.

bexcobham · May 2014

When do you guys differentiate between a binge and just a bit of an indulgence?

When I'm hungover.

For sure. This is one of the reasons why I stopped drinking.

I think a binge is when you feel out of control, you eat mindlessly and don't really enjoy it. The first few bites are good, but you just end up in a trance, munching your way through loads of crap. You do it until you feel uncomfortably full or feel sick and you feel hungover and digusted at yourself the next day.

I don't consider overeating, or eating the wrong thing to be a binge if really enjoy it and stop eating when I start feeling full.

lemon629 · May 2014

As someone that suffered from BED there is definitely a big difference between over eating and binge eating. Over eating is when you eat just a little too much and are uncomfortably full. For me, binges were a complete blur. I would just keep eating anything and everything even if I was full. I knew in my head I needed to stop but my compulsions to keep eating took over. I would consume over 1500 calories within 20 minutes just by standing in the kitchen and grabbing anything that I could. Normally binges would happen in private too. This in turn lead to bulimia (which I've thankfully recovered from as well). A prime example of over eating is me on Thanksgiving. I indulge because I don't get a meal like that very often. Try not to beat yourself up. Slip ups happen. Just gotta pick yourself up, brush yourself off and move on

This is how I think of the two concepts, as well.
I was never diagnosed as having BED, but I also never sought help for it. I think I did.

fun_b · May 2014

When I am full but I just want to keep eating. I have days where I go over my calories but they feel different to me. When I am binging I am aware that I don't need any more food but I just feel like I want something more and no longer care about how many extra calories I am consuming.

tibby531 · May 2014

if I have any sort of idea of how to log it afterwards, it was an indulgence. when I find myself debating the number of candies, or spoonfuls, or handfuls of whatever, and can't remember everything I shoveled in my mouth... THAT is a binge. just mindless nomming.