To my fellow Binge Eaters...How do control cravings?

mnardi123

So I get theses cravings...more like CRAVINGS!! Not that "I could go for something salty" or "something sweet would sure be nice". I'm talking about day dreams involving me and a jumbo bag of Lays potato chips or me floating on a cloud made of Rita's frozen custard.

To top it all off I know I'm a binge eater, and I know that having a little bit of something, especially when I'm tired or emotional is just setting me up for one epic fail of a calorie day. So what do you do?

I've tried moderation but that only works when I'm just slightly craving not CRAVING. I've tried meditation and it works to an extent or telling my family that I need to stop...now.

I'm trying to stop the insanity that is part of my binge eating and I'm somewhat successful but there are urges that I get that make me feel like I'm going to go crazy if I don't indulge. I'd like to hear what everyone else has tried and succeeded with.

Thanks for any insight.

Veil5577

Serious binge eater here too. I'd go buy a whole bag of Lays chips and a box of snickers ice cream bars and eat both in one day.. I'd go to McDonald's for breakfast and order 4 breakfast sandwiches...

The only thing that has helped me is not buying the food and not keeping it in my house. I force myself to not buy foods I know I'll binge on.

HereLieWe

I eat a ton of broth or veggies, or drink, like, a gallon of water. Then if I feel hungry still I have a bit of what I'm craving. Or if I want a ton of a good food (like a whole bag of Doritos), I calculate the calories beforehand and subtract it from my daily amount.

klyn7788

I have a friend that swears by some weird tapping thing she learned from a book to overcome cravings. It's written by a hypnotist, but I'm not sure of his name. I Can Make You Skinny, or something along that line, is the name of the book. She's lost about fifty pounds ... Maybe it's a placebo effect, but it seems to be working for her. It's also funny to me when she does it in public.

MississippiMama87

Pre-log, pre-log, pre-log!!! I was at the grocery store hungry (horrible decision, NEVER do this) and saw my beloved Ben & Jerry's ice cream. I bought it (horrible decision, NEVER do this).

Anyhoo, I PRE-LOGGED the amount of calories because I knew I just had to have the whole pint.... Over 1000 calories! It sickened me. It is still sitting in my freezer and that was over 2 weeks ago. I keep thinking I might have it and just barely eat anything the rest of the day, but it just never seems quite worth it.

Pre-log what you want to binge on! A lot of the time, it makes it seem so less worth it.

tkillion810

There's loads of strategies to try. I think it ultimately comes down to what works for you. You might need to do some experimenting. I've been working with a holistic nutritionist, and we did some work to see what might be triggering the cravings or binges. My culprits tend to be lack of sleep or lack of a particular nutrient. I journalled my food, hunger level, and emotions for several days and then she reviewed it. It's hard but you have to be brutally honest when you do it. So perhaps trying to determine the cause of the cravings will help? I do still get them, so here's a few of my strategies that I use:
- I don't keep the trigger foods in the house.
- I will walk the dog or do a load of laundry.
- I get away from my desk, which is also another trigger - location specific.
- I try to make a healthier version of what I am craving.
- Pre log the food you are wanting to crave so you can see the impact it will have on your end result.
- Get family and friends involved to support you.

Hope this helps. Cravings and binge eating are tough demons but you can beat them!

pinkyslippers

I'm the same as the others, I try not to keep my trigger foods in the house. However, I don't live alone so that's not always possible! This book helps me a lot - it has a lot of easy techniques for dealing with emotions. It's not specifically aimed at binge eating but I have found it very helpful :flowerforyou:

Mind and Emotions: A Universal Treatment for Emotional Disorders (New Harbinger Self-Help Workbook) http://tinyurl.com/nlfchpy

1974lynnette

Binged on McDonald's earlier today & I still can't get that salt taste out of my mouth. I was craving it so bad & it just wasn't good anymore. Now it's a ton of water to flush all that sodium. Totally not worth it.

haydn24

I'm supplementing with tyrosine and it's doing wonders. After so many years of lost battles it's a dream come true. I no longer have cravings of any sorts and I can control myself very easily. It appears that this list is correct, at least the "general overeating" part which mentions tyrosine as a possible cause http://natureworksbest.com/naturopathy-works/food-cravings/ . I'm using a supplement because eating foods naturally rich in tyrosine didn't do anything, I don't exactly know why. Perhaps it's because tyrosine is an aminoacid and food never contains just one aminoacid but many different types, and they compete with each other for absorption.

ChristineRoze

Binged on McDonald's earlier today & I still can't get that salt taste out of my mouth. I was craving it so bad & it just wasn't good anymore. Now it's a ton of water to flush all that sodium. Totally not worth it.

why do we do it!!!

Meerataila

In my case, there is no medical or nutritional reason to eat a single food I tend to binge on. So I just don't.

SkimFlatWhite68

Ah yes, binge eating is an old friend that comes over when we least expect it and overstays her welcome...

How to stop cravings, well what has worked for me is to completely eliminate that food from my diet. For me it is sugar. Recreational sugar. if I don't have it, within about 2-3 days I don't want it. Then it's just a matter of not giving in to any temptation so a craving doesn't turn into a full on binge.

I remove ALL tempting foods from the house. If I buy something for my DD I get her a single serve. I can't trust myself, so I don't have the temptation there to eat later.

I make sure that I eat good healthy fresh food during the day so I am not hungry. I have dessert every night, but it's yoghurt with berries. Healthy, but feels like dessert.

At night time, watching TV - my danger time - if I feel a craving coming on, I have a cup of peppermint tea, chewing gum, and distract myself by painting my nails (it's hard to eat with wet nails and I don't want to ruin them after).

AND - focus on your GOALS!!! Why do you want to get where you are going? Focus on the positive that it will bring you, and how good you will feel the next morning when you have not given in to cravings.

How will you feel about yourself if you give in to the craving? Most likely horrible. Well, that's not good. Focus on the positive.

Good luck. Cravings and binge eating behaviour isn't easy to overcome.

gmallan

On top of what's already been said, my best tip for not binging is not to restrict too much. It's pretty hard to get the balance right between this and weight loss. I find my binges/desires to binge are strongest when I'm restricting calories the most. Set yoursefl up with a less-agressive deficit. I beleive the desire to binge often stems from the body wanting more calories (actual hunger), and we usually pick the most calorie dense foods to fill this need for this reason.

Other things that help are filling up on lots of healthy vegetables, lean protein and good fats. You can try having a little of what you crave every day although this can back fire for some people or if you're not in the right frame of mind. Buy single servings where possible and savour, don't eat trigger foods alone and make sure you aren't starving when you choose to indulge

kimothy38

I've never tried it but how about brushing your teeth so whatever you eat will taste awful. Personally, I'd just keep eating till the toothpaste taste eventually went away.

I agree with filling up on lots of whole foods (veges, fruit etc, anything unprocessed really). Distraction - take a walk, ring a friend, meditation, write in a journal about what you're actually feeling. It's hard.

Francl27

I tell myself I'll have some tomorrow. Then make room for it in my diet. And I make sure I prelog everything I eat before I even make it to the fridge/store.

For me it's easy - either I have none of the food and feel miserable, or I have a moderate amount of it. That's really the only two possible options because gaining weight is just not an option right now. It's really a state of mind thing... you got to want it hard enough.

When I have a real craving for some type of food that is hard to fit in my calories though, I wait a couple weeks and if I still have it, I'll indulge a bit though. It hasn't derailed me that much. But typically I try to fit things in my calories.

auburn3535

I like this suggestion. I am going to try it. I often binge then feel too guilty to log in the food.

kaaaaylee

I wanted lo mein so badly it almost hurt me Wednesday. Went to crossfit so I wouldn't be at home thinking about it. Still wanted it, made a flatbread pizza. Felt unhealthy, and held me over until bedtime.

AKA distract yourself and eat healthier things that feel like cheats.

fificrazy

Serious binge eater here too. I'd go buy a whole bag of Lays chips and a box of snickers ice cream bars and eat both in one day.. I'd go to McDonald's for breakfast and order 4 breakfast sandwiches...

The only thing that has helped me is not buying the food and not keeping it in my house. I force myself to not buy foods I know I'll binge on.

^ Real binge.

Most other "binges" on this website= REACTIVE eating.
Just saying. You're probably going to given some ridiculous advice from people who skimp on meals then wonder why their bodies want to compensate for it the next time they eat.

Odiliawine

I had my binges under control for a while and this last month everything seems to have gotten away from me and I'm having a hard time reigning it in. I have found a definite correlation between not going to the gym as often and my binging. The gym helps me keep my mind in the game and my endorphins up and I think the binging is a reaction to not taking care of myself. Try and find your trigger and work from there.

mnardi123

I can honestly say that my binge eating is attributed to emotions. As a child I hid and ate food to comfort myself for feeling different from the other kids and for being so shy. It then developed into a way to rebel against my mom and brother who always told me I was pretty but would be SO MUCH PRETTIER if I was only a few pounds lighter. In college binge eating became a way to relieve stress and again comfort my sense of not fitting in. As an adult, after having a difficult pregnancy that ended up with one of my three daughters (triplets) passing away after 3 months it was a way to stay awake and punish myself for not being enough that my one of my children didn't live (I blamed myself for years that maybe I didn't do enough to help my dear Juliet).

Even though I have lost 50 lbs, I'm finding lately that the need to emotionally eat because of stress relating to my family and my job. I'm trying to fight it with exercise, meditation and all the methods I dealt with in therapy after my daughter passed away but it's hard.

I thank you all for your suggestions but the trigger for me isn't a food or food group, it's an emotion or stressor, an event that triggers the stress response of reaching for large quantities of food. Large being a large ice cream cone, followed by large fries or bag of chips, washed down with an ice coffee and a few donuts all within the span of an hour. It is truly a Binge Eating Disorder that I have been dealing with since childhood. I continue to fight it and welcome everyone's words of support and wisdom.

Today I pray, for "God to deliver me to my own true self, to make of my body a perfect container for who He created me to be, and to teach me how to live within it in happiness and peace." (A Course in Weight Loss, 21 Spiritual lessons or Surrendering your Weight Forever by Marianne Williamson)

pattyebricker

Stop binging. Do it not because you WANT to but because you HAVE to.

murth208

Thanks I'm going to try that.

mnardi123

Stop binging. Do it not because you WANT to but because you HAVE to. This is what separates adults from kids.

You are so right! How could I have not seen the light. Thank you so much...I'm cured. Here I thought working every day then dedicating my time and efforts to my three kids, working on a loving relationship with my husband, volunteering at church and school, I thought these things were what made me an adult. Thank you for showing me the path. I think you've missed your calling and should go into eating disorder therapy. There are thousand of people who could use your wisdom. God Bless.

Francl27

Stop binging. Do it not because you WANT to but because you HAVE to. This is what separates adults from kids.

You are so right! How could I have not seen the light. Thank you so much...I'm cured. Here I thought working every day then dedicating my time and efforts to my three kids, working on a loving relationship with my husband, volunteering at church and school, I thought these things were what made me an adult. Thank you for showing me the path. I think you've missed your calling and should go into eating disorder therapy. There are thousand of people who could use your wisdom. God Bless.

Yeah if only it was that easy.

I still binge occasionally, but I focus on the big picture and I usually manage to limit the damage. Like, I had 3 brownies yesterday, and ate really light the rest of the day to make up for it. For me, if I log the stuff before I eat it, it helps when I start seeing big red numbers... it's a bit of a wake up call... It translates straight into weight gain in my mind and that stops me... mostly. Sometimes it doesn't though but then I just move on and try and do better the next day!

pattyebricker

God bless you to, baby girl.

Odiliawine

Stop binging. Do it not because you WANT to but because you HAVE to. This is what separates adults from kids.

What an ignorant thing to say on so many levels.

kelly_e_montana

I exercise hard almost every day and incorporate yoga/mediation/grounding exercises to prevent binge feelings in the first place.

I don't keep food that triggers me in the house. I only eat it for treats at a restaurant or somewhere I can leave it. Some foods I just don't eat all all because no amount will satisfy me.

Every time you give into a binge, you are strengthening neural pathways. Every time you don't, you are re-wiring your brain. It takes quite a while but it really works. I don't binge anymore after struggling with bulimia and BED for 30 years.

Graelwyn75

It is hard. I am still battling emotionally based binge eating/bulimia myself, and I am speaking of genuine binges, sometimes totaling over 5k calories. I am also very hard on myself about this, and often call myself all manner of names for being what I view as 'weak willed' and 'greedy'. I find I am better when I keep on top of my exercise and remain active, but I find the sugary foods I tend to turn to when I am stressed/bored/depressed/lonely to trigger more cravings and it can be very difficult to counteract. It is as if all logic and all goals and all perspective of the outcome of the binge, disappears once in that state.

I am reading a book called 'brain over binge' which is quite interesting and available on Amazon. It takes a different perspective on it.
I also try to remind myself of how physically damaging the binge eating is, and how counterproductive it is to my fitness goals.
I have always been an all or nothing personality, so that in itself makes moderation very difficult. I simply try to not buy in large quantities of any food I am likely to seek solace in. That in itself can be a battle if I am in a certain frame of mind.

CarlynMatthew

Same here. Only thing that works for me.

pattyebricker

Read the MFP forums. The people who have had success losing weight and keeping it off tell us over and over to eat at a deficit and exercise to lose weight. At some point these HIGHLY successful people quit making ever excuse known to man, grew up and started doing the right thing. Don't you think they had cravings, addictions to sugar, emotional issues etc, etc, but they made a decision to do what it took to get where they wanted to be, through hard work and determination. I for one will listen to them and just suck it up and do it. Eat at a deficit, exercise, get the weight off , quit making excuses for over eating and don't ever let yourself go again. You either want it or you don't, the decision is yours. I truly do wish all of us the best. Sorry for the baby remark. These are harsh words, but we all know it's true.

Mangopickle

When the cravings come I ask myself what is wrong. If I had my good healthy meal and am not due for my healthy snack why am I obsessing over junk. Something is obviously bothering me and I am trying to justify medicating with food. I find what is bothering me and deal with it. I no longer medicate with food I deal with my problems. Medicating with food never solved my problems it only made them worse. The pleasure never lasted more than three min and the problem was still there waiting to be solved. For 34 yrs I was in a food prison. I ran to food for everything. I finally fell in love with myself as a 43 yr old obese woman and completely accepted and forgave myself. That said I also don't eat my trigger foods of wheat, rice, potato and processed corn anymore. I have a 34 yr history of being unable to portion control them. There can be a couple tbsp in a recipe but they cannot be the main ingredient. I spend a lot of time and energy making sure my food is not only healthy but really delicious. I eat a lot more fat than I ever did before and I find my meals very satisfying.