Why can't i stop bingeing?

britneyy32

Whenever I have gone on a diet I've had such a hard time with binging! I would always give up and end up pigging out. But I found that after upping my calories to the correct amount I should be eating (calculated from BMR and TDEE) I feel much more satisfied with this amount of calories and I find myself satisfied with eating just healthy food with this amount of calories, instead of restricting myself to some ridiculously low amount of calories. But I've been binging this whole week, since I got so frustrated with being at a plateau, but I'm going to start up fresh next week with this new amount of calories.

michellekicks

I think you have to try and lose weight with a few changes at a time. If you jump all in to MFP and decide to eat 1200 calories/day after regularly eating 3000 you're going to binge.

Set your goal to lose 1/2 lb/week and then eat normal foods that you like in portions that fit. Exercise to earn more calories to eat and then eat them. You will see the weight drop and the binges lessen...

Don't try and do too much too soon. Eventually as the caloric intake is comfortably reduced, you could reduce it again if you're up for it, or just make other changes - more veggies, more water, less sugar, more fiber, leaner meats, less packaged stuff etc.

fatty_to_fitty

It sounds like a habit to me first and fore most. What will it mean if you just say no outright to your friend?

Concentrate on eating the right foods and not having a calorie restrictions. Once you get yur sugar levels balanced you won't crave things as much and can separate the need from desire when you think about food.

It takes t e and it's trial and error.

crazybigchick

Honestly, I just have to be anti-social. The first few days I am fine, but when I hit day 3 or 4 HUGE cravings and starvation seem to kick in. I can not go out with people or expose myself to temptation at all. People who wont take no for an answer, I just tell I am not feeling well. Which if I ate with them, would end up being all too true. Not that it is easy to do, but I find it helps if on days 4 and 5 I exercise a lot more, drink at least 80 ounces of water, eat more, eat hot food instead of salads, and go to bed early. (like unisom early) If I can make it the first two weeks, my body adjust and the binge eating and cravings slow down.

Hope this helps!

smsgreaves

I'm only a few weeks in and I used to be a terrible binger.

I've found the best way for me to avoid the binge is to either A: earn it with exercise or B: have a good think about how much exercise it will take to burn it off. Try to log it before you eat it, and hopefully it will be terrifying enough to make you not go there!

I absolutely killed myself at the gym on Saturday so I could eat whatever I wanted at a birthday party that afternoon. I burned over 1000 calories doing Body Balance, then AquaZumba, then laps of the pool for another 1/2 hour. Almost 3 hours of exercise. I went to the party absolutely PSYCHED about being able to eat guilt free, and once I was there I thought "All that work, to throw it away on caramel slice???" And I ended up only eating back about 500, mostly on carrot sticks, dip and birthday cake! I had a calorie defecit of about 600 for the day, which is HUGE for me because I'm usually lucky to have 20 left out of my 1470 :noway:

You will get there, I promise. Hang in there. Think about why you're doing this. I wish you the best of luck on your journey!!

TracLC

I hear you . . . as I am writing to you I just finished off a whole bag of rice thins. There are many who suffer from emotional eating for different reasons. When I was a little girl I watched my mom eat spoonfuls of peanut butter whenever she was upset, I eat when I feel lonely or unable to find solutions to my frustrations.

I have started a blog on this site as of yesterday. By writing it down for all to read you become more acountable for your actions instead of hiding away like a big secret.

My suggestion would be to start a journal and talk to close friends about what your goals are. They are more likely to want to help rather than hinder your success. I have a coworker as my support and we text each other when we are feeling low and remind each other not to stress eat.

Remember binging is a habit and it takes time to change a habit.

In friendship,
Tracy

graelwyn

Still cannot find a solution to this myself. At home, once I am into it, I can eat pretty darn clean and junk free for weeks at a time, but as soon as I am in a different environment, like my mum's, I seem to totally let go of my usually rigid control and eat desserts, chocolate, cookies and whatever else I can while away from home, and away from the scale and the gym and my usual routine. I don't like feeling overfull, so intermittent fasting wouldn't work for me. I do know I have to totally avoid anything bread/pastry.refined sugar based to keep up the clean eating. It takes just one less clean meal for me to spiral out of control and eat what I want.

Yet I have more energy and my mood improves when I allow these foods, whereas eating totally clean with mostly protein, fruit and vegetables and dairy seems to leave me depressed and agitated all the time. It is really seeming impossible to find a solution for me personally.

Meggles63

Is it possible you are feeling deprived? From what I see in your diary, when you do log, it tends to be on the low side. I would suggest that you make sure to log everything you eat and possibly try to up your caloric intake. There is no reason for you to feel deprived/hungry.

alettep

This is always a struggle~I do try to avoid triggers, plan ahead, & keep my favorites out of the house altogether. I admit I blew today off....not really because of emotions but more we were camping & sometimes you just want a hot dog...or two. Anyway I know I'm often an all or nothing person so I tend to think "today is ruined so I'll just eat whatever I want now"_ I realise this is NOT true so am trying to focus on changing my thinking. I may have not followed my diet plan today but I will be back on track tommorrow & will still go for a run tonight to balance it a bit. Biggest thing is I will not give up!

heatherrose9

bump

AmyBecky74

I'm not sure if this will help or not but I would always start out eating "healthy" and fail everytime (i'm a very picky eater). I eventually gave that up, I am not able to cut out the pizza and burgers. So I still eat those things jusr not as much or as often. I follow the cals?carbs?fat on here and as long as I am a little under the alotment they give me I found the lbs still came off, they came off alittle on the slow side but having the lbs come off slow is better then them not coming off at all. Hope you find the right "formula" for yourself, Good Luck

caraiselite

cold turkey.
stop doing things that make you overeat.
don't go out to eat until you know what you can get that follows your eating plan.

for me, that was completely cutting out carbs. i don't eat sugar, potatoes, pasta, bread, etc.

i get zero cravings. i am rarely hungry. it was the perfect solution to overeating/bingeing.

carb addiction sucks, but you can overcome it.

or be fat and sad. whatever.

denisejelinek

"Fattitudes" is a wonderful book. Helps you identify the "why" behind your eating....love it! You can get it on Amazon for under $3. I have given a million copies to friends.

Check out this idea for immediate ideas:http://www.fattitudes.com/id12.html

It's o.k. Stop now. Begin healthy talking to yourself, now.
You deserve to be FREE from the chains of food.

Stuffing ourselves (as I had done) is NOT a privledge, reward, etc.

You can be free....I am here to offer help

kaseysospacey

There are some things I just can't eat without bingeing. Nutella or chocolate frosting, I can either 1. not eat at all and be fine or 2. eat the whole tub. I cannot just eat one spoonful of those things. I can't. I will literally think about them until I eat them all. Same with chocolate chip cookies. I can't have one. So most of the time I just don't have any, its the only thing I can do. And, right now, with a belly full from a large but vegetable and nutrient rich meal, I'm happy abstaining. Try to avoid your triggers.

Merrysix

I have found eating regular meals with protein helps and not eating my "trigger" foods which are things like sugary and floury stuff. I also go to Overeaters Anonymous for emotional/spiritual support which helps a lot. When I stopped binging the first 30 days are really hard -- basically my body as to detox from all the sugar, etc. but then it gets easier. Each of us is different, but for me it really works not to eat any of my binge foods. Some can eat any kind of foot in moderation and I am not one of them.

deanjcrawford

As well as some of the good advice given, i would suggest that one of the biggest things to do is to not tell yourself you're giving anything up. This drove me crazy when i first signed up to MFP, and the first chance i got i would binge like an addict.

Now, i tell myself i'm not giving anything up, but it's all in moderation. Last week i killed myself in the gym and played football on monday and sunday (not loggedon this site), so i let go ate with the team and had drinks too on the sunday. I will probably do this about once a month as it will give me something to look forward to. I don't know if this is right or wrong, but i know it's going to help me.

Another thing to try, is to make some delicious food of your own. I can see from this site and others that healthy food doens't have to be boring. Admittedly, i am mainly eating salads for lunch everyday due to time and convenience, but for my weekend and evening meals i hope to make some healthy "fast food". My main problem was curry and chinese food, but this is more than easy to make at home, healthily, plus you can track the calories. Burgers, pizzas, breakfast. It can all be done the healthy way or a way that can fit into your calorie limit.

I don't know why i binge, i just know that i do. But i hoping to stamp it out and hopefully continuing in this fashion will help me to do so. Good luck!

urbansmamma

I was a total binger and it really got out of control when I had my son. More stress, less social activity, tons more weight and no time. It made me sad and I felt completely out of control and hopeless, so i turned more than ever to food. By NYE I had had enough of the negative self talk and feeling hopeless. I watched two movies that changed my life: 1) Forks Over Knives 2) Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead. You can watch them on Netflix. After watching those movies I cut out processed foods, meat and dairy. It is not for everyone, but it really worked for me.

In my old days I would buy skinny cow ice cream, which is low in calories, but not when you eat the whole box and polish off a bag of chips, then hit the drive thru. .. It's some serious calories . For me putting real food into my body has completly cut the cravings. It took 3 weeks for me to detox, but I've been going strong for almost 8 months. I equate it all to reading the back of your food label and if you don't recognize the ingredient don't buy it.

The other thing I would suggest is tracking every single thing you put in your mouth. That is an eye opening experience and it really puts into perspective on what you are putting into your body and if it is really worth all the calories. The way I look at tracking is I'm working really hard to lose my pudge, so if Im making sacrifices I have to log my eating otherwise I will be gaining and ultimately wasting my precious time and my self esteem,

Hope this helps!!! You can do this! Just love yourself as you are today and focus on the positives: You love yourself enough to sign up for MFP. You have made some big changes and you've even reach out to others by posting this thread!!. You are not in this alone... We are here for you!!