Bingeing.....

1csdancer

hey guys i was wondering if you had any tips on bingeing. i haven't had this problem until recently and i can't seem to get a grip on it . any tips?

thanks for the help

britt_fit

I used to have some pretty bad binges before getting on MFP. For me, a lot of it was in my thinking. I'm an "all or nothing" kind of person and that's how I treated food. If I "messed up" once I thought I might as well throw away the whole day because I couldn't undo what I had done. With some encouragement from MFPers I've been doing very well. Here are some ideas that really stuck with me that helped:

- If you trip down one stair, you wouldn't throw yourself down the whole staircase because you slipped. The same goes with your diet. Don't beat yourself up all the time for having that cookie or chips that weren't planned for. Do the best you can and keep moving forward.
-If a car has a flat, you would fix the flat and wouldn't punch holes in all the other tires. Keep the car moving and fix the flat!

It's great that you're asking for help. Keep coming to the community if you need help! I know everyone has been so supportive!

leomentlines

Sometimes if I know the binge is gonna be inevitable, I just try to change what the foods are - instead of chips/candy/etc I seriously just load up on cereal.. not the best, but certainly not the worst, all things considered..

I'd say try and go do something active (get out the house, go somewhere etc) but if you're gonna overindulge, overindulge on something with some nutritional value in it

_SpeshK_

This is something I really struggle with also. If I could afford a psychiatrist, I'm pretty certain they would officially diagnose me as BED...even though it's not an "official" disorder quite yet. The main times I binge are on my graveyard shifts. I work 40 hours a week 11pm-7am in an atmosphere where I am basically the only person here, other than the hotel guests, who I rarely see. This leaves me a TON of time to nosh on the eats in the kitchen and the snacks in our on-site concession shop. In the past TWO months, I swear, just from starting this overnight shift I gained 30 lbs. IT SUCKS and it has a death grip. My only savior (this week, in fact) has been going to a local weight loss clinic where they give you the injections and (most importantly, for me) a strong appetite suppressant similar to the 90s outlawed Fen-Phen. This pill (called Adipex, or Phenterime) is the only thing that helps my binges. Rarely, I can control it on my own, but I knew I needed the help after all my "thin" pants weren't fitting. I had lost nearly 50 lbs, and in the past TWO MONTHS have gained 30 of it back. When I'm not working graveyards, it is a lot easier to control it on my own...I think it's something with the serotonin levels, etc....

Not everyone's cases are as severe as mine, and mine isn't as severe as others...typically you won't get diagnosed with BED unless your binges last 90+ days...eating approximately 3-4g calories a day. Either way...binging is something that makes us feel terribly out of control and hopeless....I have cried, thrown up from abdominal pain, you know...the works...after binges...and still somehow have an urge to eat. There are a lot of help topics on the internet, health forums, etc that help teach you how to FEEL and THINK about food in relation to yourself. Even if yours is not "severe" they perhaps can help you educate yourself on why you are binging...what might be your "triggers," etc. Here are some that I have used to educate myself:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/binge-eating-disorder/DS00608

http://www.eatingrecoverycenter.com/landing-eating-disorder.php?utm_active=1&src=AdWords&ad=44148&network=Search&kw=eating disorder help&st=&gclid=CIjG3-W-16cCFcfsKgodxBH29g&utm_source=256&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=eating disorder help&utm_content=44148&utm_campaign=7012

http://www.epigee.org/mental_health/binge.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binge_eating_disorder

http://www.win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/binge.htm

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/binge-eating-disorder/DS00608

amysambora

I'm sorry to hear you're struggling with this. I'm a recovered binge eater - trust me, I never thought I'd be able to say that but thankfully now I can. I think the trick is addressing WHY you're bingeing. This may take time to figure out and, if you're like me, may require sorting through a lot of painful issues from the past. But it's worth it. Are you comfort eating? eating out of boredom? Or maybe something else? You don't binge out of physical hunger, there's always another reason. Once you start to realize what that is, you can work on conquering it. You WILL get there!