Help! Sabatoge...

fitnowandforever

I've been using MFP for a while but I've only joined the community recently Anyway, I don't know how to keep myself from binging! I'll be eating fine the whole day, and suddenly I'll cave and eat one cookie... and then i figure that since I ate one cookie, I might as well eat six more. And since I ate all those cookies, I might as well finish a box of chocolate... and so on. Before I know it, my diet's down the drain, and I get so MAD at myself all the time. Ten minutes after eating a cookie, I'm just yelling at myself, and I promise to do better from now on - no exceptions. I'll do fine for two more days, and then it will happen all over again It's a vicious cycle. Is there anyway to keep myself from doing this? I've been trying to lose weight since last summer, and instead I've gained 20 lbs!
Thanks to everyone to responds

Thriceshy

I've been using MFP for a while but I've only joined the community recently Anyway, I don't know how to keep myself from binging! I'll be eating fine the whole day, and suddenly I'll cave and eat one cookie... and then i figure that since I ate one cookie, I might as well eat six more. And since I ate all those cookies, I might as well finish a box of chocolate... and so on. Before I know it, my diet's down the drain, and I get so MAD at myself all the time. Ten minutes after eating a cookie, I'm just yelling at myself, and I promise to do better from now on - no exceptions. I'll do fine for two more days, and then it will happen all over again It's a vicious cycle. Is there anyway to keep myself from doing this? I've been trying to lose weight since last summer, and instead I've gained 20 lbs!
Thanks to everyone to responds

Get rid of the cookies, or budget them into your daily food. Especially, plan for a later evening snack. It might also be a good idea to make sure you're drinking enough water so you're not mistaking thirst for hunger.

Good luck!

Kris

withchaco

There was a great thread someone posted here, comparing this problem to breaking eggs. If you accidentally drop an egg, you wouldn't go "well I already broke one, might as well break the rest too" and throw the remaining 11 eggs onto the kitchen floor, would you?

crazycat585

I do the exact same thing....I'm trying to stop doing that as well...But its not just with sweets but everything!

jeannette120

I would recommend reading the book "Shrink Yourself: Break Free from Emotional Eating Forever". The title is kind of lame, but it is an amazing book that really helps you focus on why we eat and how to stop using food for emotional reasons.

http://www.amazon.com/Shrink-Yourself-Emotional-Eating-Forever/dp/0470275375/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310623431&sr=1-1

Good Luck!

ACF2

get RID OF IT ALL!
if its not around you cant get it- night time is always a killer %^(

dragonbug300

I have the same problem. It's nearly impossible to stop at just one or two of anything (except one box of girl scout cookies... or one bag of trail mix)
Agree with Thriceshy... get rid of temptation, go a month without sugar, cookies, or any other binge foods. Then introduce them to your pantry and challenge yourself NOT to eat them once you've bought them.

If you live with other ppl and cannot get rid of the junk without invoking the wrath of housemates, then consider this a bump because I'm still trying to work that one out.

Leish81

OMGosh I feel your pain. I am, hmm sorry, WAS a binger. I ate like every manufacturer in the world was closed tomorrow and all the food was going to be bad and harmful TONIGHT. So Hey, why not eat it tonight. I mean who wants to be wasteful?... Well that was then, and I have to say I have FINALLY overcome my binge eating. Granted, it's like quitting smoking, you still have to control the urges.

So this is how I did it. I made a resolve to one stop, two find the common foods, and three find out why. But like quitting smoking, it was gradual. I'm not a cold turkey quitter. I'm a, ok now it's truly time to slow to a stop kind of girl.

I really had to think about what kinds of foods I tended to binge on. Was it all types of chocolate or just 1? Well mine happened to be ALL types of cereal and ALL types of peanut butter. So I had to say TATA See Ya Lata!! And I STILL DO NOT keep cereal or peanut butter in my house. Because I don't keep peanut butter I can't binge on my love of American cheese and PB. I LOVE IT!!!!! I don't even eat cereal anywhere any more. It is one urge/craving/binge that I still don't think I can control.

I then substituted. At first if I felt a binge coming on that I couldn't control, I allowed myself to binge on fruits or veggies. Then I learned to control those urges. Then I allowed myself to eat a piece of fruit and allow myself to drink as much Crystal Light as I wanted. (Calories and the sweeteners are bad for you. =[ ) Then I could control that.

If I honestly felt I was hungry, after I had a cup of water, I would eat cottage cheese with fruit mixed in. If it was the start of a binge I could now control, what I ate was not the worst thing for me. It was healthy and wouldn't harm me like some processed foods.

I realized why I binged. I still do get the anxiety-ridden, binge feeling. The one you get right before you lose ALL control. I have learned, slowly but surely, how to recognize it and to change what I am doing IMMEDIATELY!!! The other day I got up and started to examine my eyebrows to see if there was any minuscule hair to tweeze. It took my mind off of the binging long enough to control it. And when I mean change, I mean GET UP AND MOVE TOO!!! Get out of the area you were in. Change your scenery even if it's to a different room, wall or toilet.

I hope this helps. Oh, I also found that taking a daily multivitamin REALLY REALLY helps!!!!! I took mine twice a day for 2 weeks. I don't know if that did good or bad but I still did it anyway. Now I take it once a day. There are a few things I still don't let myself have. But that's me. That's how I needed to tackle. Not cold turkey but a gradual quit.

Pandorian

I find it's cravings, but one cookie / candy bar doesn't solve it. Experiment with your foods, are you getting enough Omega 3's? I find they help immensely with making my body realize I've eaten / feeling full. Try a few changes and see... are you grabbing a cookie when you "feel hungry" but not drinking your water for the day? I realized a while ago that my "hunger" was actually me being thirsty so I reach for the water first, see if that takes the edge off or if I'm still hungry afterwards then it's time for food of some type.

trud72

I've been using MFP for a while but I've only joined the community recently Anyway, I don't know how to keep myself from binging! I'll be eating fine the whole day, and suddenly I'll cave and eat one cookie... and then i figure that since I ate one cookie, I might as well eat six more. And since I ate all those cookies, I might as well finish a box of chocolate... and so on. Before I know it, my diet's down the drain, and I get so MAD at myself all the time. Ten minutes after eating a cookie, I'm just yelling at myself, and I promise to do better from now on - no exceptions. I'll do fine for two more days, and then it will happen all over again It's a vicious cycle. Is there anyway to keep myself from doing this? I've been trying to lose weight since last summer, and instead I've gained 20 lbs!
Thanks to everyone to responds

Get rid of the cookies, or budget them into your daily food. Especially, plan for a later evening snack. It might also be a good idea to make sure you're drinking enough water so you're not mistaking thirst for hunger.

Good luck!

Kris

TOTALLY with this one here i strip my whole house out of EVERYTHING even a little naughty,i am not one of the se people who can have just one i eat most of the pack,so they are banned!
kids will get used to it,just give them 30p instead to get some sweetys down the shop if they are dieing for a sugar rush! and make them eat them at the park(if they can manage to pull themselves from the xbox)! lol

fitnowandforever

Thanks everyone! It's kind of hard to get rid of the sugar in the house, because the people I live with l-o-v-e sugar. I'm definitely an emotional eater, and I try all the time to go sugar-free (which usually lasts all of about three days...) I'll try to drink more water and distract myself as soon I even think about sugar. The egg analogy was SO true! Just have to stay motivated

marquesajen

Throw out the sweets. Keep them out of your house, replace with healthier snacks and anywhere you leave your keys and by your exits: leave yourself notes. "Will you regret it later?" "Not again" "You're stronger than this!"