Help, Help, Help - how to break binge streak.

mccollumse

Ok. So, I have lost 50lbs. I weight less than 130lb. Was so close to 125lb goal. I have binged 5 of the last 7 days. Feeling stressed and upset. I have gotten rid of the junk in the kitchen .....by eating it all!!! Whole pints of ice cream, eating peanut butter and nutella straight out of jar. I am out of control. Can't seem to get a grip. Any words?

Tickateeboo

Don't keep junk in the kitchen!

81Katz

No offense, but telling anyone to simply keep the junk out of the house is easier said than done. We have no idea if the OP lives alone, has a spouse or partner, has a roommate. I am pretty good about buying good stuff, my DH while he eats only *some* of it (*edit i.e the good stuff *I* buy) he still buys stuff that I really wish he wouldn't because I sometimes find it tempting as it stares back at me in the fridge or cabinets. I have indulged at times, within reason and if/when it fits into my calories. Other times I didn't keep tabs on it, just ate ate ate it, went over goal, didn't log it, sometimes logged it.

Unfortunately I do not have the answer. It's different and personal for each person. But you are not alone, trust me.

BlowYourMind

Just drink some water and relax, weigh your outcomes and ask yourself "Do I really want this WHOLE jar of Nutella?" which is a short-term pleasure that inevitably leads to guilt or "Do I want the body of my dreams which I've worked so hard for?" a long-term pleasure you'll be proud to show everyone. I used to binge before, it was terrible, I self-assessed and realized I'm never happy at the end of the binge so I just quit and I ate my favorite foods in moderation instead.

Kai85

Bump?

lil_pulp

When I was close to my goal, I started to binge more often. Therapy has been amazingly helpful to figure out why i was doing it (I knew it was because the idea of being at goal was scary, but didn't WHY) and then deal with that issue. It's been a long and painful road (and expensive), but worth it.

orangesmartie

Don't have the junk food in the house. That way, if you feel the need to binge, you have to go to extra effort to get the food. So don't buy it to start with and don't have it in the house. If there is anything left now throw it away or give it away.

Unfortunately when the need to binge descends logic thought often disappears so it can be almost impossible to choose healthy or lower calrie foods to eat if the 'nicer' junk food is there, so you really need to remove the junk from the house.

Try keeping some deskinned bannas in the freezer. You can blend them with a bit of milk to make a reasonably tasty 'ice cream'. Also frozen grapes.

Stock up on some fruit teas (raspberry ones are great). This takes the edge of the need for sweet food and fills the tummy. Drink water.

Others things to each: Crackers and a bit of cheese with a dab of sweet chilli sauce; air popped popcorn;

The other thing is perhaps try and find something else to occupy your mind/hands - go for a walk, have a bath or read a book. Or come on here and post. Doesn't matter what you post, just keep your hands busy.

It is really hard to overcome, so just take it one day at a time. Good luck xx

abetterjune

Some things that help me:

--Setting a timer for 5, 10, 15, maybe even 30 minutes and telling myself, "If I still feel like eating this in X amount of minutes, I will!" Often after waiting 30 minutes, I'm like, "Hell no, I don't want that!"

--Pre-logging every last bite of what I Want to binge on BEFORE I eat it. This technique brings reality home. Often my binges seem like such a great idea in my head but when I put them down on paper or my mfp diary (and often ask for feedback from my friends on mfp) I realize how terrible I'll feel if I go through with it. Also, deleting every item after deciding not to binge takes a while but for me, I'm like, "screw you, food item I'm not eating! And screw you, and you... " etc. Haha

--Sitting down to a HUGE plateful of a low calorie option and pigging out. Anyone else ever tried to eat an ENTIRE bag of baby carrots? Trust me, you won't want to binge on anything after that...

Good luck, I hope this helps.

cardbucfan

For the stress-go workout. I can feel a huge difference in my stress levels when I do that and it helps keep the eating under control.

If the junk is gone now (no matter how it happened) try not to bring it back in the house for awhile-especially your trigger foods. I have kids and a husband and there are chips and they get doughnuts every weekend and we had homemade pizza last night. But those aren't my triggers. I can't have cookie or moose tracks ice cream in my house. So it's not here.

If somebody else is bringing it in-ask them kindly to help you by not having that stuff in the house for awhile. Ultimately though,the motivation does have to come from within you. Just like Blowyourmind says-you have to decide if you want to eat that stuff or if you would rather not.

Ravenesque_

i stop and say: am i actually hungry, or am i eating it cause its there?

when eating it is easier then putting it away, that is the time to stop.

Dave198lbs

go to Wal Mart and look at the fat people, then buy a shirt that fits your goal body and put it on...does it fit? if not, STOP

Christine1110

Don't buy it....If it's at your house it's to easy to eat when your feeling weak! You have to make step to find something else to keep you busy, after a few days being away from all the junk..... it's much easier to leave it alone!! Good luck : )

weightlossguy01

I recommend writing out a list of why you want to lose weight and how it will change your life and then turn to that list when you feel discouarged or need more motivation to get back on track. The reasons to lose weight have to be greater than the reason to eat those things.

Also you CANNOT skip meals. Most binging is from skipping meals, starving yourself and then you get out of control hungry and eat those things. If you CRAVE chocolate, start drinking more chocolate protein shakes and it can greatly curb those cravings.

Watch this documentary...

10 Things you need to know about losing weight


In it they mention that a chemical in the brain called ghrelin is released that triggers the desire to binge and eat those unhealthy things if you skip meals! My take on it is because you know they inject fast energy (sugar rush) into your body and when you starve yourself your blood sugar drops so low that you gravitate towards them to get the FASTEST RELIEF. So eat regularly and you can better fight it. It's not just about self control, chemicals in your brain fight you on it if you skip meals!

I recommend eating every 4 hours. I'm a very big guy and what works for me is a lean cuisine and a protein shake and I simply cannot eat anymore because my stomach is completely full.

If you still struggle, DO NOT GIVE BACK YOUR GAINS. For the love of god, please don't. If you have to, go buy some sort of weight loss pills because many have things added that boost energy and curb appetite. Start fighting it by curbing your appetite.

Something I remember when I was in high school was I took XENADRINE and lost a lot of weight. What it had in it was a very strong appetite suppressant. When I was in high school we had ridiculous amounts of junk food in the house and it didn't matter. I literally ate out and anywhere I wanted all the time. I couldn't afford lean cuisines or healthy foods, I ate what was around and I still lost tons of weight simply because I ate much less of it! The truth is you can eat whatever you want if you eat less of it and still lose weight. Consider trying to either curb your appetite with pills or do what I do and beat it to the punch by eating every 4 hours!

GOOD LUCK!

Dave198lbs

. Consider trying to either curb your appetite with pills or do what I do and beat it to the punch by eating every 4 hours!

GOOD LUCK!

HORRIBLE ADVICE

esprit36

start drinking large amounts of water, get outside head for a walk, run whatever, come home add the exercise into your fitness pal
start tomorrow's breakfast in fitness pal this evening ,knowing you already have your day planned ahead helps to stay on track.
you may laugh....but if you ever have a binge like that again brush your teeth get the taste out of your mouth it helps with cravings when the taste is gone. Hope this helps..

cpozeznik

Try chewing sugar free gum (the "teeth brushing effect"), go for a walk, and/or drink calorie free soda instead? Another idea that is most desirable would be to come up with a "pseudo cheat meal". One that is healthy and calories are kept in check. I personally get my sugar fix from a smoothie I made that tastes awesome and is filling.

3 cups frozen berries (strawberries, raspberrries, blueberries, blackberries)

1 cup Coconut Milk

3 cups of Raw Spinach Leaves (you won't taste this plus it adds volume to the meal)

1 serving of Vanilla flavored Whey Protein Powder (Nature's Best, Optimum Nutrition, or Designer Whey are brands that taste good to me)

Total Calories for this "bad meal" is around 360 calories, yet it is quite filling

weightlossguy01

. Consider trying to either curb your appetite with pills or do what I do and beat it to the punch by eating every 4 hours!

GOOD LUCK!

HORRIBLE ADVICE

I used to think this way, but now I strongly disagree. Go on bodybuilding.com forums and search it out and you'll see many who have lost a lot of weight have been on a number of appetite suppresant type things. They are proven to help and I know they aren't the best way but for the love of God, DO NOT GAIN THE WEIGHT BACK AND LOSE ALL THE PROGRESS YOU'VE MADE. Go to a GNC and see what they have and try it out to see if it can get you back on track if you are having that hard of a time. I hear OXY ELITE PRO is pretty good. Do your research and see what works for you IF YOU NEED IT.

But like I said, you don't have to have it, you can do it by not skipping meals and upping your protein intake.

SuperSneaky

For the people who are telling her to keep it out of the house, that's good advice... but ...

I was a secret binger. I'd go to the grocery store LOOKING for foods to binge on while I was home alone. I'd eat a tub of sherbert, half a bag of bbq chips (I'm sure at the time I'd keep going, I just couldn't eat anymore) and a whole bag of frosted animal crackers. Terrible, terrible things for me. That I actually walked to my neighborhood grocer (hah, I walked to go buy binge food)...

I was so ashamed, but my life felt out of control and I was so depressed that it was the only thing that "felt good." I remember wondering if I could have a heart attack from eating so much in one sitting. It was a very scary, dark place.

I'm still fighting off binge eating. I was at the grocery store and had to talk myself out of buying those frosted animal crackers. I really had to take a step back and analyze why I wanted to buy it, and think that this pleasure that might last a few hours while my husband is away is not worth ruining my success.

I still struggle with emotional binge eating. If you'd like to add me, we can help motivate and keep each other accountable. I wish I had some good answers or advice, but I wanted to empathize that it's a very sad, scary place to be. Hug.

liftingheavy

When I go way off the wagon with food I do two things:

1. Forgive myself for it and realize it will not make me gain 20 lbs unless I keep it up.
2. Drink a cup of green tea

Don't know what it is about the green tea but it calms me and allows me to refocus and even double my efforts to make up for the binge days.

Hope that helps a little.

emrys1976

go to Wal Mart and look at the fat people, then buy a shirt that fits your goal body and put it on...does it fit? if not, STOP

Reverse Thinspiration... not cool

emrys1976

Breathe

Double-check your morning intake - I binge less when I have a good (i.e., high protein) breakfast.

Double-check your overall intake - I binge less when I'm eating enough.

Therapy works once you find a good therapist. In the meantime - consider what you are trying to get out of that food (or the process of eating it). What are you expressing with your actions - hopelessness, fear, frustration?

Best of luck to you!